iCloud Catch 22 - Cannot sign out of old dead Apple ID on iPads

I have two iPads, both upgraded to IOS 9.02. I can't use iCloud on either pad because I can't change the iCloud Apple ID. Here's why:

I changed the Email address of my Apple ID primary account since the old one was at my previous employer and is no longer accessible. I made this change at Apple.com.

On both pads, I had no problem changing the App and iTunes store apple ID. I can download Apps and make purchases on both pads.

When I try to change Settings|iCloud it asks me to

Sign in to iCloud for
Apple ID "[email protected]".

Attempting to sign out brings up:

Enter the Apple ID for the "[email protected]" to turn off Find My iPad.

No password is acceptable here. I cannot change the Apple ID back to since I cannot verify the email and the change doesn't take effect until verification has been completed. I have tried changing back to the old ID get a

Account is Locked

message on the iPad when I try to use it - probably because of the unverified address.

Catch-22.

This appears to be the same unresolved issue from last year.

As well as this one.

Apple's 'community' has been less than helpful, filled with people saying to go to the useless Apple iForgot and other such nonsense. It would appear that others just got sick of the whole thing and quit trying.

Solution 1:

Prior to the upgrade to iOS 9.02 this was unresolvable without going to an Apple Store with proof of purchase. With 9.02 it you can work around it. The steps I used were:

1. At the Apple ID site, change the Apple ID email to "[email protected]" -- this will never be verified.
2. On the iPad go to Settings|iCloud - It will ask for the password.
3. I logged on with the correct password - it now greys out the entire iCloud area and puts a Validate Email message at the top of the form, BUT does not grey out the Sign out.
4. I Signed out and it asked for the password twice again, paused for a long time and then was asking for a new iCloud Apple ID.
5. Back at the Apple ID site, change the Apple ID back to the valid account.
6. From the mail client, validate the Account with the correct password.
7. On the iPad, Settings|iCloud enter the new Apple ID and password.

Poof - problem solved