AIBU to be furious with Apple

Ruby when you buy a new iPhone it has to be registered with your provider so that they can connect it to your existing number. If you have a previous I phone you should be able to put the old sim in the new one. Unless the new one is a 6 or 7.
The EE shop or Carphone warehouse will be able to do it for you.

Thanks for sharing this Smileless, worth being aware it can happen and the importance of proof of purchase - glad it's been sorted. Someone I know tried for 4 weeks before Apple unlocked her iPad.
I got mine from John Lewis and for an extra £20 you have access to their instore IT help desk which has been very useful to me. No queues or appointments unlike at the Apple Store.

As you suggested trisher, Mr. S. contacted them again and said if they think his iPad had been stolen it would be a matter for the police; they replied saying they didn't think it had been but couldn't unlock it due to data protection.

He got an email last night at 11.15pm telling him they were unlocking itand hey presto, this morning he's up and running again.

Well done Mr. S. for your tenacity; it only took 3 weeks. Be warned everyone, if you're buying an Apple product, make sure you go to an authorised dealer.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

We ve all had wonderful treatment from Apple all have iPads and grandkids iPhones and they have been extremely supportive both over the phone and in their nearest shop I ve had my iPad 2 years in March and have had no problems (to date) but my grandkids and daughter have used them and been very satisfied My 80 year old friend recently bought one and through her lack of technical knowledge has had quite a few blips including locking herself out but she can't sing the praises of the shop and phone staff enough and said how patient and caring they had been with her
My granddaughter dropped her iPhone recently and she got an envelope to send it back within 2 days and it was back within one week and that was just before Christmas
It's a shame you ve had all this trouble it must be so frustration I can understand your annoyance and sadness but just felt I had to give both sides of the story

I've recently got an Apple iPhone 5s and cant get connected on it. I will phone EE (off my other mobile) and see what they can do, but they can have it back if it won't connect. It will be of no use to me.

I bought my husband an iPad pro from the Apple store in Bromley .. service was excellent and when his Apple watch went wrong earlier this year , they returned it to Apple and replaced it within 3 days , I have always had excellent service and the staff are always so helpful and knowledgable .

I don't think for one moment that the iPad was stolen. Mr. S. has had it for just over 3 years and it would have been reported stolen long before if that were the case.

I don't believe this is the real reason they wont unblock it. If they wanted too, they could have suggested that we buy another Apple iPad (fat chance) from an authorised dealer who could contact them to have the original one unblocked for the dealer so all his information, photo's etc. could be transferred.

If there were genuine concerns about the providence, why didn't they ask for the suppliers proof of purchase in the first place? This is the last thing they asked for after 2 weeks of contact.

We use Apple all the time. If you have photos on it are they not stored/shared in iCloud? It is not an App.
If someone has activated find my iPad you must have been issued with a stolen one so it is not surprising security has clamped down. Are you sure the seller was genuine?
Given that they were then visit an Apple store. You can make an appointment online. There are other shops such as ispecialist who can usually retrieve photos.

I'm one who has had excellent service and support from Apple, so far!

Our main computer stores all the photos and is backed up to an external drive. Being old fashioned people many are takenwith a camera not a phone and the camera cards are stored and annotated as alternative backups. We also have yards of photo albums! I don't worry about the photos of the grandchildren as their parents have far more if we need them. The ones I worry about are from our holidays and the old, family photos. I can't imagine losing them all and feel for anyone losing irreplaceable photos.

My son told me not to buy any of their products. I didn't listen. After recent experiences I'm listening now! Funny how the tables turn.

And here we have yet another example of a company getting too big for its boots.

Using hard copy as your main backup is not really advisable, but I think "stupid" is a bit harsh.

ALL my photographs (digital from camera, digital from phone, and scans of old analogue) are stored as working copies on my PC. From there they are backed up to Cloud storage (so that I can download them to any of my devices when I am out-and-about, if required) PLUS they are also backed up twice on 2 separate external 3Tb drives (I'm only using about 1Tb at the moment but I like to keep room for expansion). One of those drives lives by my PC and the other one lives in a fireproof safe in my spare bedroom when I am not using it.

The cost need not be excessive. 3Tb drives cost less than £100 each, and if you could manage with 1Tb then you could get drives at less than £40 each. Cloud storage costs $10 per month (currently about £8) ongoing. Balance this against what your memories are worth.

I back up my photographs every time I download new photos from camera or phone, or I have spent some time scanning old photos. I do it at least weekly.

If anyone is so stupid to suggest make paper copies..

Any home printer has fugitive dyes and the image might not last 1 month, unless you are using you are using an Epson and archiveal quality paper for giclee prints.

My stepson has these types of troubles and takes them to a 2nd hand phone/computer shop and they 'get into' whatever he is having trouble with.

You will be surprised that you are not alone and there are hacks for these things...even for Apple.

I have only had excellent service from Apple! I bought my iPad from the Apple shop in Cardiff a good few years ago and we then bought an iMac there about two years ago. The staff in there are all very helpful and we have never been given the run around when we have gone back for an appointment. I once needed help about downloading an update and they rang me from their technical dept and helped me do it - all at their expense.
The prices for Apple tend to be standard wherever you buy them as shops are not allowed to discount them - when we bought our iPad it was the same price as John Lewis but with Apple we got an iCloud account free. I have now upgraded the iCloud to store a lot more information for 99centimes a month. I keep all my photos on there and they are available from both machines - very useful. DS Has a digital camera (Canon) and has it set so that when he enters the house the photos are automatically uploaded to the iMac and iCloud - but I have no idea how you do that!

By the way I had another phone call today from those nice people at Microsoft!!

I hate Apple. DH has an IPod Classic. The headphone socket doesn't work properly. I phoned Apple who said it could be repaired and made us an appointment at the nearest store Meadowhall Sheffield (over an hour away). Our appointment was for 3.30pm. We arrived at 3pm and were told to come back at 3.15pm....fair enough we were early. The shop was packed but we decided to look around. There were no prices on anything in the shop. I asked an assistant if someone could show us how the television worked and were told we'd have to go on a waiting list for assistance. I kid you not, if you want to buy an expensive television from the Apple Store at Meadowhall you have to wait for an assistant by having your name added to a list.

Finally at 3.30pm we went to the service area only to be told that it wasn't an appointment as such just a time to arrive but that we'd be seen in 10 minutes. We got chatting to a chap who had been waiting since noon!!!! Now I had no intention of doing that. Another chap was going ballistic with an assistant because he'd been waiting an hour and a half. At 3.45pm I asked the assistant how long an Apple 10 minutes was and pointed out that the chap we were talking to had been waiting since noon. I was told that there was no way that could happen. This wound up the chap so he spoke to the assistant and miraculously it was his turn next. At 3.50pm I again pointed out that our appointment was 3.30pm and I expected to be seen around that time. Other people who were less assertive were being sent to stand in a corner of the shop and being forgotten. I told him I had no intention of being sent to the corner.

We were seen at 4pm. A technician came, looked down the hole with a magnifying glass and brushed it with a paint brush. He then told us it was unrepairable but we were lucky has he just happened to have a reconditioned IPod Classic which he could let us have for £279. I pointed out that the online service had told us that it could be repaired but he said that it was a sealed unit so couldn't be replaced. He then tried the old trick of saying that they only happened to have the one reconditioned IPod Classic in stock and we'd have to decide quickly as another customer was about to be seen and they were sure he'd buy it. We told him to sell it to the other chap and we'd manage without the headphones working properly.

Apple cons people. We were assured that it could the repaired so travelled all the way to Sheffield so that they could attempt to sell us a reconditioned item. The technician actually had it and the paperwork with him when he came to look at our IPod. Then he said that tbh it was very old anyway (7 years) so we should expect it to be obsolete. Also we'd be better to buy an IPhone 7 were everything was done on Bluetooth and via the cloud. I suggested that perhaps we didn't all want an IPhone 7 to which he snapped, 'Well don't buy Apple then!'

You know what.....we won't.

You are not being unreasonable, sounds like they are giving you the runaround for no good reason.
You have produced all the documentation you could reasonably be expected to have.
I know there are security issues but really. ...........
At least you gave forewarned everyone about Apple now. Do hope you can retrieve your photos at least.
Have a before you continue the battle.

That's a good idea trisher, thank you. Yes Margaret it is indeed a bitter lesson learnt 2 in fact, make paper prints of photos and don't buy anything from apple.

A bitter lesson learnt. Always make paper prints of prescious photos. They are not 100% safe on a computer nor in a camera.

Could you tell them that as they appear to think you are in receipt of illegal goods you intend to contact the police and to pursue the matter as a crime, which is what they seem to be saying has happened? Not sure it would help but when you are desperate anything is worth trying.

We had the same runaround over an i-phone which was broken. In the end Vodaphone advised us to say it was lost and claim on the insurance. It went against all I believe in but we did it. Apple are the most unhelpful people to deal with that I have come across. To mitigate what we did the phone was probably beyond repair but we needed Apple to confirm this.