I was super excited to see the news that AT&T would start unlocking iPhones as of April 8th, at least if you were free of your contract obligations. I’m at the point now with my travels where I’ve decided my next iPhone will be unlocked—legitimately and not via a jailbreak—and making that happen sooner rather than later was super appealing. Of course, I’ve got several months left on my contract, but the news reports were that you could buy your way out of your contract by paying the early termination fee.
So, since I’m out of the country and don’t want to spend time making calls and sitting on hold, I wrote into AT&T’s email support. I first wrote on April 7th and got an answer that unlocking wasn’t an option. Ok. My mistake. I wrote again on April 8th requesting that I finalize my contract by paying the ETF, continuing service, and having my iPhone unlocked. The response wasn’t quite in line with the news reports:
Mr. Davidson, after researching your request, I found that we do not have a way to charge the Early Termination Fee without canceling your service. So, unfortunately we will be unable to complete the process that you are requesting.
Huh. Probing further, I got the following:
Mr. Davidson, after reviewing your account, I found that your current contract for the Apple iPhone on mobile number 503-XXX-XXXX expires on 07/03/2012. You will be eligible to request the unlock code on 07/04/2012.
Breaking this down, I am willing right this moment to pay AT&T the early termination fee now and get my phone unlocked. I’d end up paying more to AT&T than I would otherwise, but I’m traveling a lot internationally between now and July 4th, so it’d be worth it as I hate carrying multiple phones with me on the road. But, apparently that’s not an option for my current iPhone.
So close, yet so far. Too bad.
Posted by James Duncan Davidson.