cingular unlock policy

What is cingulars unlock policy?

Thanks

Chip

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On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 07:13:49 -0400, Ralph Blach
<[email protected]> wrote:

>What is cingulars unlock policy?
>
>Thanks
>
>Chip


Most users say after 90 days of service. I was a customer for 2 months when
I called CS and requested my unlock code and received it in 5 days.

call them and tell them you are going over seas and need the unlock code. They do have a 90 day policy but sometimes you can get lucky. Just keep calling, you will finnally get a cs that will get it for you.

I know many have related that in their contacts with Cingular CS, they
were told that their phones could be unlocked. So I tried to have them
unlock a phone I had and wasn't using anymore so I could donate it. Below
is the main part from the response email I received. Can anyone explain
this?

[.....
We would like to inform you that Cingular phones cannot be unlocked to
use them with other wireless service provider. Hence Cingular phones
work only for Cingular rate plans. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

Thank you for choosing Cingular Wireless. We appreciate your continued
business with us.

Sincerely, .....]



On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 06:54:14 -0700, topsy <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 07:13:49 -0400, Ralph Blach
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> What is cingulars unlock policy?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Chip
>
>
> Most users say after 90 days of service. I was a customer for 2 months
> when
> I called CS and requested my unlock code and received it in 5 days.
>
>

I know this may seem like a dumb question but what does it mean to "Unlock"
a phone?
Joe

"Ralph Blach" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What is cingulars unlock policy?
>
> Thanks
>
> Chip

I know many have related that in their contacts with Cingular CS, they
were told that their phones could be unlocked. So I tried to have them
unlock a phone I had and wasn't using anymore so I could donate it. Below
is the main part from the response email I received. Can anyone explain
this?

[.....
We would like to inform you that Cingular phones cannot be unlocked to
use them with other wireless service provider. Hence Cingular phones
work only for Cingular rate plans. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause.

Thank you for choosing Cingular Wireless. We appreciate your continued
business with us.

Sincerely, .....]



On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 06:54:14 -0700, topsy <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 07:13:49 -0400, Ralph Blach
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> What is cingulars unlock policy?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Chip
>
>
> Most users say after 90 days of service. I was a customer for 2 months
> when
> I called CS and requested my unlock code and received it in 5 days.
>
>

Thanks for answering his question! I, too, had wondered (although that
is what I suspected was the answer) and figured the answer existed
somewhere in cyberspace but was too lazy to go hunting. It was a
pleasure to discover that someone would have the courtesy to answer
knowing that the answer was already available somewhere else.

Steve

Joseph wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:16:02 -0500, "Joe" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>
>>I know this may seem like a dumb question but what does it mean to "Unlock"
>>a phone?
>
>
> This question has been asked and answered umpty-ump times and likely
> you could find the answer yourself if you went to google, but the
> short (or long) of it is that when someone gets a "free" phone for
> signing up with a carrier that "free" phone was not given to the
> carrier. The carrier had to buy it from the manufacturer. Because a
> carrier has "invested" in you they don't want you taking your
> equipment to the carrier across the street and using their equipment
> on the competition's network. To do that the carrier (especially if a
> GSM carrier) has the manufacturer lock their handsets so you can only
> use the carrier's SIM. All other SIMs when inserted will be rejected.
> Many/most phones can have the lock defeated so any SIM can be used.
> For some phones you can download an unlock code generator and others
> you likely need to take it to someone who has the expertise to unlock
> your phone.
>
> - -
>

> That was AT&T Wireless' policy which carried over to assumed accounts
> on cingular. It was cingular's decision not to provide any codes.
> You see cingular's aim when they acquired AT&T Wireless was to screw
> their "captive" customer base as best as they could so they decided to
> not cooperate or make any effort to make it easy to transfer to
> cingular by refusing to accommodate AT&T Wireless' customer equipment
> and to boot to give them the "privilege" of charging them $18 to come
> over to cingular plans and phones.

Or, it could be Cingular's goal to allow the handsets the customer uses to
be FULLY compatible with the network, including GPRS settings. If
Cingular would give out unlock codes to ATTWS, it is implied that Cingular
will also take responsibility for supporting those handsets on the
Cingular network. Although you can take your SIM out and put it in
another phone, Cingular would not be responsible for YOUR switch, however
if Cingular does the switch, it implies otherwise.

TH