Hey everyone! I'm in a jam here. I manage a nightclub, and we have a policy where we take a customer's phone as collateral if they don't pay their bill. One customer left their iPhone 13 Pro Max with us, promising to return the next day to pay up. Fast forward two years, and they never came back to claim it. We've decided to sell the phone to offset some of our losses, but now we're faced with a problem: the phone says it's 'Locked by the Owner', and we have no way to contact them since their number is out of service. I'm looking for advice on what to do next. Is there any legitimate way to unlock it, or should I just forget about it? Should I try going to the Apple Store? Any guidance would be super appreciated! Thanks!
5 Answers
You could potentially get a court order and request Apple to unlock the phone. If you have the iPhone's serial number, you might be able to subpoena Apple for the owner's name and try to track them down. But keep in mind, attorney fees can be steep, so you’ll need to weigh if it's worth the effort.
I think it's time to rethink your collateral policy. With modern phones being so easy to lock, it's tough to keep them without any guarantee of getting them back. Just some food for thought!
Honestly, it sounds like you're out of luck. The phone is basically a brick unless you can find a way to unlock it. You might consider selling it for parts on eBay if it's just sitting there. That's about the limit of what you can do with it.
Your best bet might be to just cut your losses. That phone isn't worth much without the owner's info. Sometimes you just have to let it go and move on.
Honestly, there's nothing you can really do at this point. It's just stuck like that.
Wow, that sounds way too complicated and probably not worth it! Can you even do that? Seems iffy to me!