He is going to try today Dave. Problem is he no longer has an active account with Sprint. Not sure if they will do it.

Of course, my partner now has Sprint so wonder if they will do for him even though the phone was not under his account.

Sprint might not if the account isn't active. But your partner might be able to - especially if he tells them he wants to use it as an extra phone while traveling or something like that.

Well, Sprint was no help whatsoever.

They would not unlock for our friend since he is no longer a Spring customer.

We took the phone in last night and asked if they would unlock for my partner as he was a current Sprint customer. They would not do it.

So, does anyone know of any simple/inexpensive way to hack/unlock this phone? Would love to get it done before he leaves for Colombia next week.

GGGrrrr.... why do they make it so difficult?

Check your PM box....

And via CL: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mod/4111517045.html. One of many hits after searching: unlock sprint iPhone [from NYC area].

Should not cost more than $10-15 and done electronically, usually within an hour or two.

Not an active link.

Well, the saga continues.

Sprint refused to do any unlocking. Partner took it to a store that says it is able to "unlock" any phone.

They tell him Sprint needs to release the serial number before they can do anything.... and Sprint is refusing to do it.

Any other options anyone might know of to resolve this?

We were also told that the original iPhone will not work down there even though it was properly unlocked through AT&T. Supposedly, there was some difference in the original iPhone than subsequent models. He tried putting in a Sim card... and it will not work. The 3Gs phone worked perfectly, but not the original phone.

You might consider getting a second unlocked 3gs.
Today icemonkey.com is offering the 8gb model for $90 & the 16gb model for $100. I picked up the 8gb model a couple months ago for ten bucks more and it has been working fine.

I hate to spend more money of a phone... when we had others sitting around.

He is in Colombia right now.... so trying to resolve issue there. If we have to buy and ship later; it gets expensive.

Sprint phones will not work in Colombia because they are CDMA and not GSM

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6170242AA6R84D

AT&T phones should work though

Johnny,

I wonder why the "unlocking" people think it should work if Sprint unlocks? Oh well.

The original AT&T phone will not work due to some technical reasons we are being told.

Nope a CDMA phone will not work outside of the USA (maybe Canada in case there are pedants reading)

Who is telling you that the AT&T phone is has a technical issue?

It was the agent he was at with the Sprint phone. He asked about the original iPhone he had with him. He had tried the Sim card... and it did not work.

Perhaps I should have him give them to you... :) That will get them fixed! :)

I felt good that I just got his problem with his Dell laptop fixed just now with Dell international! :)

Are they in Colombia?

Colombian culture dictates that one provides the answer which will cause the fewest hurt feelings and makes you appear the least incompetent.

It is the same as getting an answer you don't like from an airline agent. Hang up and call again, or in your case, take the AT&T phone to someone that knows what they are doing.

Johnny,

Anyone you recommend in Bogota? He is there now.

He is there now... being told that the original iPhone is the problem.... network different. The 3Gs was no problem. Just the original.

And, sad about the Sprint phone....

Cannot really recommend anyone. Unilago is their best shot. But they could spend all day with no-hopers staring at it and pretending they know how to fix it

I finally got to talk to him in Bogota.

When he took the SIM card out of his mom's Blackberry into the AT&T 3GS, the iPhone works perfectly.

When he takes that same SIM card and places it in the original AT&T unlocked iPhone, he gets a message that the phone can only be used for emergency calls. Cannot even get to the keyboard. Not sure what else to try.

His brother is also bummed about the Sprint iPhone issue. He was sure the agent told him it would work.