New Member
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6 Messages
How to unlock my Mother's and Aunt's Lumia 640's
I'm trying to help my mother (76-yo) and aunt (79-yo) unlock their Lumia 640's. They have been ATT customers for 6-years and 8-years respectively and had an old 3G plan that was just sunset. However, when they tried to get unlocked, ATT first stated they couldn't confirm that they were purchased from ATT. They protested as they have the original boxes and the receipts. The agent instructed them to go into the ATT store and show them so the store could verify the receipt. The store agent said they can't do that but offered to enter the info into the portal. However, when checking the NUL cases, the unlock was denied. I spoke to tech support on their behalf for an hour on Monday and they got the unlock approved by their manager and entered a case, CM20220411 and stated it would be 24-72 hours and that I would receive an email (yes I provided my personal email). My mother received a "free text message" from ATT yesterday stating unable to unlock and to call customer service at 800-331-0500. The agent told them they don't have the unlock codes for the Lumia 640 as they deleted the whole dataset. (Edited per community guidelines) is that, are you serious or what? My mother and aunt have been good ATT customers and they're just getting a runaround. How do they unlock their phones?
Accepted Solution
Official Solution
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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113.5K Messages
2 years ago
It's not going to be possible to get unlock codes because a t & t no longer has them.
Those phones are unsupported. Have been for 4/5 years. Just like any other old and unsupported phone AT&T no longer has unlock codes or cannot provide any help to get the phones unlocked .
There is a long list of phones that cannot be unlocked from AT&T anymore. It includes iPhone 4S and older. The fire phone from Amazon. All 2G only phones, ant qwerty basic phones, The Razor phone , red hydrogen one , any phone by Panasonic, Sony, HTC , and any older Microsoft Lumia phones.
They aren't lying.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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113.5K Messages
2 years ago
I don't think those phones will be allowed on any other US service provider. So there's no point in unlocking them. It's time for them to get new phones that are still supported and still have security patches available..
You can check the IMEI against T-Mobile's IMEI checker. T - mobile is also shutting down its 3-g Network in June. If they won't allow the phones then no one will. In which case unlocking them is pointless
https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/bring-your-own-phone
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
2 years ago
In addition to the above, there is no such thing as “an old 3G plan that was just sunset”. Whatever plan they had also had access to 4G/LTE, all they need is 4G/LTE capable phones. Their old plan may well have been discontinued but they can keep that plan, they just can’t get it back once they give it up.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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113.5K Messages
2 years ago
@sandblaster since those phones were LTE for data, it was certainly not a plan limited to 3G issue. Pretty sure the phones were kicked off At&t as they aren't capable of VoLTE (voice over LTE)
The only old MS still capable are the
Lumia 640 XL and Lumia 950
I gig of ram and low storage, no security updates, and a 2015 phone.
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ATTHelp
Community Support
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225.6K Messages
2 years ago
We can definitely share some insight about the 3G sunset @GrumpyGramps13!
As you may have heard by now, we have phased out our 3G network in February 2022. This will help us make room for an even better network that will improve your experience.
To ensure our customers are prepared for this change, we have helpful information that will answer some of the most common questions:
You can find answers to these questions and learn more by visiting our 3G sunset article.
We hope this helps, and let us know if you have any questions.
Ashley, AT&T Community Specialist
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GrumpyGramps13
New Member
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6 Messages
2 years ago
@ATTHelp Ashley, I work in a large matrixed corporate organization and your response is a canned response that doesn’t actually address the question posed above. It attempts to paint a roses picture instead. I understand you’re moving on.
But, how do they go about unlocking their phones? They satisfy all the criteria but can’t seem to get their phones unlocked. They don’t want to upgrade. They’re on a fixed income.
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JefferMC
ACE - Expert
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33.5K Messages
2 years ago
@GrumpyGramps13 read the posts other than the ATTHelp one. They're not canned and answer your question in detail.
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GrumpyGramps13
New Member
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6 Messages
2 years ago
I want an answer from ATT. That’s who my family has been doing business with. That’s why I put it in ATT help forum.
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JefferMC
ACE - Expert
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33.5K Messages
2 years ago
You've gotten the answer from AT&T. If you want the same words rearranged, keep waiting, maybe you'll get it. Or move on with your life.
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skeeterintexas
ACE - Expert
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26.8K Messages
2 years ago
@GrumpyGramps13 said
Here you go:
As you may have heard by now, we have phased out our 3G network in February 2022. This will help us make room for an even better network that will improve your experience.
To ensure our customers are prepared for this change, we have helpful information that will answer some of the most common questions:
You can find answers to these questions and learn more by visiting our 3G sunset article.
We hope this helps, and let us know if you have any questions.
in February 2022. This will help us make room for an even better network that will improve your experience.
To ensure our customers are prepared for this change, we have helpful information that will answer some of the most common questions:
You can find answers to these questions and learn more by visiting our 3G sunset article.
We hope this helps, and let us know if you have any questions.
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