why doesn t apple tell you when you buy an iphone from them they will lock it to first s card inserted

Apple doesn't lock iPhones either, not after purchase. Unless though you purchased your iPhone as unlocked directly from an Apple Store, the only source of factory-unlocked iPhones, then the iPhones were locked to Orange. There's a difference between a phone that is without contract and one that is unlocked. Or the iPhones were hacked to unlock them and the software update removed that hack.

Only razmee said, only Orange can unlock an iPhone, and if they have a charge for that service, you'll have to pay it unless you have purchase receipts from the Apple Store showing that you purchased unlocked iPhones in which case you can discuss the issue with Apple.

Regards.

I have already sent the original reciepts to apple as the issue is since the 5.1.1 update.

I dop not believe the issue is with orange as the sims are PAYG and I have already sent the reciepts to Apple as they requested.

The phone is 100% original and has never been hacked or changed from original purchase.

If the receipts show that the iPhones were sold as unlocked, then you'll have to work with Apple to resolve the issue. This is again not Apple policy, to lock an iPhone sold as unlocked, so this is a technical matter to be resolved. If you aren't getting anywhere with technical support, ask to speak with someone in Customer Relations, if you haven't already, and explain the situation to them.

Regards.

I have tried technical and customer services. The latter promised to get back to thursday and again on Friday. They did call Thursday and explained that the Apple engineers were not willing to accept my issue and would not unlock the phone. CS said they would try again Friday, so far I have not heard from them. If the unlock is only done by carrier why does it have to be done via i tunes which is Apple's system. Nothing to do with Orange.

As with any phone, the carrier makes the decision to lock or unlock.

This decision has nothing to do with the manufacturer of the iphone, as they could care less if the phone is locked or not.  They just want you to use their phone.  The carrier to which it is locked must request the unlock from the carrier.