Unlocking iPhone

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Can anyone please help? In trying to upgrade to iOS 7 I lost everything on my iPhone. Two years ago I was advised by my provider to get my phone unlocked "a few doors away" as they could not unlock it. This I did (Now I know to be unwise) but I am not highly technical and thought nothing of following this advice. I appealed to the CEO of Apple. They said only Orange (my first provider) could unlock it. I then appealed to the CEO of Orange who never replied. So I have a useless iPhone and cannot interact now with my iMac or iPad. Can anyone please advise as I am a 74 year old man who up to recently enjoyed using all these items. Many thanks Terry Davis
 
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Have you tried walking into an Orange store and ask them to unlock it?

EDIT: I do have another concern... that by trying to upgrade your iPhone that was previously unlocked using a "hack", you have irreversibly bricked the phone. Doing a proper factory unlock isn't going to fix this What exactly is the problem with your iPhone right now?
 
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Hi Lifeisabeach,

Thank you for your reply. Yes I went to an Orange store. They said that as I was not a customer that they could not do anything and nor could they raise an invoice for any service for the same reason. I cannot believe that I am the first person with this problem , nor can I believe that the mighty Apple and Orange cannot rectify this.
 
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Thank you for your reply. Yes I went to an Orange store. They said that as I was not a customer that they could not do anything and nor could they raise an invoice for any service for the same reason. I cannot believe that I am the first person with this problem , nor can I believe that the mighty Apple and Orange cannot rectify this.

You didn't tell me what problems you are having with the iPhone, besides it not being unlocked. So I assume the iPhone does (seemingly) work fine, you just can't activate it?

It's not that Apple "can't" unlock it. They likely are contractually obligated to not unlock devices sold under contract and leave it to the carrier to do so once the terms are fulfilled under that carrier's contract with the customer. Yes, it is silly that Orange won't do it since you aren't a customer, and maybe they won't because whoever sold it to you hadn't yet fulfilled the terms of the contract that they bought it under.

Your options are to either become a customer (see if they will unlock it if you buy a cheap pre-paid SIM card, or something like that), or re-sell it on the condition that it is usable (for now) only on Orange.
 
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iPhone unlock

Hi Lifeisabeach,

Thanks again for the follow up. I bought the phone new originally from Orange, but they screwed up right from the start (put £10 on a Pay as You Go contract the day I bought it but the amount never registered and it appeared that I had lost it) Only by threatening legal action was the problem solved. I eventually switched to 02 and never had any problems. I did go to Orange with this problem, so I don't understand why they did not suggest switching back and buying a new SIM card. The phone can be fully charged but a "No Service" message appears in the top left hand corner. I cannot even use it just as a phone. When switched on all my Apps icons appear but I obviously cannot use those requiring internet access. Something else I don't understand, if it was unlocked previously, why does it need to be unlocked again? There may be a simple answer but at my age (74) I a not technical enough to comprehend. However many thanks for your assistance. Everything helps
 
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Thanks again for the follow up. I bought the phone new originally from Orange, but they screwed up right from the start (put £10 on a Pay as You Go contract the day I bought it but the amount never registered and it appeared that I had lost it) Only by threatening legal action was the problem solved. I eventually switched to 02 and never had any problems. I did go to Orange with this problem, so I don't understand why they did not suggest switching back and buying a new SIM card. The phone can be fully charged but a "No Service" message appears in the top left hand corner. I cannot even use it just as a phone. When switched on all my Apps icons appear but I obviously cannot use those requiring internet access. Something else I don't understand, if it was unlocked previously, why does it need to be unlocked again? There may be a simple answer but at my age (74) I a not technical enough to comprehend. However many thanks for your assistance. Everything helps

If it was unofficially locked using a hack, then the vulnerabilities used to unlock it were patched in iOS 7.

Here's a website that spells out what it (should) take to get an iPhone unlocked on Orange:
How to unlock your iPhone from O2, Orange, Three, T-Mobile or Vodafone | Ken's Tech Tips

If you have trouble with the people at one Orange store, try going to one of their other stores.

EDIT: One other thought... if you know someone who is on Orange, maybe you can get them to take it in for you and get it unlocked.
 
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Stayahead said that he switched to O2. Thus, if he's a customer of O2, perhaps they will unlock it?
 
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Hi Chas_m,
Tried that. O2 wouldn't touch it. Now situation worse. My iPhone does not even register on iTunes. Can't tell if it is charged or charging. Absolutely nothing. I am accepting now that nothing can be done, unless there is a genius out there who can help. But thanks to all who tried to help

Terry Davis
 
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Hi Chas_m,
Tried that. O2 wouldn't touch it. Now situation worse. My iPhone does not even register on iTunes. Can't tell if it is charged or charging. Absolutely nothing. I am accepting now that nothing can be done, unless there is a genius out there who can help. But thanks to all who tried to help

It's entirely possible that the iPhone got "bricked" when updating to iOS 7 while still unlocked using whatever hack was used to do so. Unfortunately that's the risk taken when these are unlocked using any method but the "proper" one via Apple or the carrier. You can try taking it to Apple or to the carrier to see if they can reload the firmware, but it doesn't sound promising.
 
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Hi Chas_m

Thanks for coming back! Yes, inclined to agree with you. It's a long story, initially not my fault, but now a lost cause I think!
 

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