Deleting an Iphone off an account

[mrudman]

I bought my daughter an IPhone off Ebay last week and received it Saturday, and am having issues because the seller did not/has not deleted it off their account.

I have e-mailed him several times and have received several replies that he was waiting on customer service to find out how to do so, and then the last e-mail was yesterday stating that he did delete it from his account. But it's still showing me the screen that states it is locked to another apple account and I can't get beyond that screen.

I've filed a claim with eBay, but am still trying to work it out with the seller before I request the refund. He has good reviews so far, and everything has checked out on the IPhone (has a clean ESN), so I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here. It came with the original box, and unused cable/ear buds, so am doubting it was a lost/stolen IPhone.

Normally at this point, I would go ahead and return it and request my money back, but we're leaving to go on vacation in just a couple days, and would love to get this resolved with this seller so that my daughter could have it on the trip (if I returned it and bought a different one through ebay, I'd never get it in time).

Is there any way of getting his account taken off the phone? I even thought that if I go to the Apple store and show them a copy of the ebay listing and a print-out of all the e-mails we've sent back and forth, would they be able to help?

Thanks for any help!

 

[RoxyJ]

The previous owner needs to follow the instructions under "If the previous owner is not present" here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4515

If he has in fact deleted it from www.icloud.com/find then you will need to turn off the phone by holding down the button on the top, and turn it back on again.

 

[mrudman]

The previous owner needs to follow the instructions under "If the previous owner is not present" here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4515

If he has in fact deleted it from www.icloud.com/find then you will need to turn off the phone by holding down the button on the top, and turn it back on again.

Yea, that first link is the one I sent him. He told me he tried it, but when I hard reboot the phone, its still showing the same screen,

 

[sillysmom]

I have sold MANY iphones on ebay and I've never actually deleted it from my account. If when you replace that phone number with another phone it automatically does it, I guess thats the case with me. But, the seller would still be paying for the phone if he didn't tell them that he is just cancelling the service and not putting another phone on that line no?

 

[mrudman]

I have sold MANY iphones on ebay and I've never actually deleted it from my account. If when you replace that phone number with another phone it automatically does it, I guess thats the case with me. But, the seller would still be paying for the phone if he didn't tell them that he is just cancelling the service and not putting another phone on that line no?

I'm really not sure how it works, since this is the first IPhone I've had. But it seems as if he does have to take it off his account. It's bringing up a screen where it's asking me to put in an e-mail and password for his account, and I can't get beyond that screen.

 

[princessfionasmom]

That generally happens when the phone has been remotely locked from find my iphone. The only way to get it off is for you to enter his Apple ID and password (or send it back to him to do it). Once in the phone you need to go to settings-general-reset and erase all content and settings. This was put in place as a security feature so people cannot activate stolen or lost phones (Disclaimer: I am by no way insinuating that this phone was stolen). Going to the apple store probably won't help, I'm pretty sure they are not allowed to do anything as this is a security feature. I hope it works out for you. Good luck.

 

[mrudman]

He is now telling me he definitely deleted it off his account, and does not have access to it anymore.

Is there something I am missing/need to do to reset the phone?
I've hard rebooted it several times, but is there anything else that I might have to do to get it to reset?

Thanks!

 

[wenrob]

He is now telling me he definitely deleted it off his account, and does not have access to it anymore.

Is there something I am missing/need to do to reset the phone?
I've hard rebooted it several times, but is there anything else that I might have to do to get it to reset?

Thanks!

As mentioned above its a security feature. If he did not remove the info from the phone itself from iCloud there is nothing you can do. Apple or a carrier will NOT override that. If he is not willing (or able) to provide you with the info to do it then you need to file a complaint and get your money back. There is no other way to over ride it.

 

[sillysmom]

I would just call Apple, they are so helpful.

 

[wiigirl]

I would just call Apple, they are so helpful.

 

[wenrob]

Apple will not/cannot override it. This feature is set up so that if your phone is lost or stolen someone can't just take it and set it up as their own. The original ID and password is the only way to get past this. Apple has no way of knowing how/where the OP got this phone, just that they are not the original owner.