Box of iPhones

[rafemoody]

We have a box of old iPhones (5 & 5s) which are corporately owned but which end users associated with their personal email account. We would like to remove this association so we can use the iPhones again. We are unlikely to redeploy but we might be able to donate the phones. We contacted apple to get this removed but because we don't know or have access to the email address which was used as the appleID they told us there was nothing they could do for us. I don't have a lot of experience with iPhones but this doesn't sound correct. I would think that Apple would be able to break the association even if we needed to provide extensive paperwork proving we own the phones. Does anyone have suggestions or a contact number at Apple where we might find assistance?

Also, our previous admin added recovery email for the appleIDs which he created. Unfortunately, he set the recovery email to an email address which was not a group email and now our end users cannot reset their passwords for their corporate appleID. I know that if the old admin set his work email as the recovery we can resurrect his email and use that. Does anyone know of a way we can resolve this if they did not set the email address to the work account?

Thank you all for any responses or tips. I really appreciate your help.

[gachowski]

I am 80% sure Apple can help you out, as long as you can prove that your org bought them... At one time the provide us with an template to email them.. but that was when Apple 1st locked the phones to IDs.. I would be shocked if there isn't a more automated way by now... something with GSX?

C

[mradams]

I had the same issue with unlocking my iPhones. Ended up boxing up the ones we could not unlock and stored them. I contacted our wireless vendor and now all iPhones that we purchase are enrolled in DEP. It was suggested to contact the wireless vendor for support unlocking the phones as they are the origin of the purchase (i have not done this as of yet). If you purchased outright you can use your purchase receipt as proof and contact the nearest Apple Store.

[mpermann]

@rafemoody if you are talking about the iCloud activation lock, then what @gachowski said is correct. If you can prove ownership of the device to Apple they will remove the iCloud activation lock for you. Get your proof of purchase and serial numbers and give Apple a call.

[guidotti]

Just to triple confirm, we do this all the time.
It involves having our AT&T or other purchasing agent rep send the relevant purchase details to Apple. They then provide us with an Activation (un)lock.

[jarednichols]

Horse's mouth here... just confirming the above. If you do not have an AppleCare OS Support Agreement, call into AppleCare. If you have an AppleCare OS Support Agreement with a TAM, they can facilitate the process. Start with them.