[Q] Carrier Unlock with AT&T If I Purchase 32GB HTC One at Full Price? - AT&T HTC One (M7)

I have never purchased a phone from AT&T without a contract so I am not sure if I will be able to just walk into AT&T with the phone and ask them to unlock the phone for oversea use. Other than the bloatware they put on I was thinking the free Media Link HD feels like a better deal than buying directly form HTC (I missed the free case promo...)

At the very least, you'll have a return period to get it unlocked. If they don't, you'll be able to return and then order the dev edition.
Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

Last time I tried, it depended on whether or not my 2 year agreement was up, not on how I bought the phone.

Some folks on XDA have reported being able to get SIM unlocked by paying full retail, but I don't think its a set policy, and don't assume it will be a sure thing. It probably has more to do with how long you've been a customer, and if you have multiple lines.
AT&T reserves the right to withhold the SIM unlock code for a period of 10 months after a phone's release, regardless of how you purchased it. They sometimes make exceptions to this. But this is what the policy is.

Related

[Q] Off-contract and Unlocked

I live in Brazil, and a relative of mine is going to the US and I'm eager to get this phone.
I wonder if i can get it off Contract and Unlocked, or just simply off contract since i believe Unlocking it won't take long.
And i'm wondering if it will go for U$500 or close to it.
599 USD off contract but i dont know if is unlocked
I am in same situation.
On Verizon site is clear like cristal, 599 USD off contract
But i dont know if is unlocked too...and for me that is a real ****, cause i dont know how to unlock the beast so i need an answer, like u 2!
I am in the same situation, 'cause I'm italian...but I really, really want this phone, is absolutely amazing!
The HTC Droid DNA Verizon is SIM unlocked - yuuuuuppppiiiii
Phli from androidcentral was the one who give us the good news:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ve...a-sim-unlocked-means-works-t.html#post2324080
Sephaq said:
I live in Brazil, and a relative of mine is going to the US and I'm eager to get this phone.
I wonder if i can get it off Contract and Unlocked, or just simply off contract since i believe Unlocking it won't take long.
And i'm wondering if it will go for U$500 or close to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is already unlocked. The off-contract price is $599.
Selling the phone start at 21st november. Guys! Who leave in the USA could you test this phone for GSM support with any gsm sim card.
I def will I'm in new York paying full. plan to test on att at least ..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Engadget said they put an att sim in and it worked
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Why don't you just wait for the international version?
Will Verizon sell the phone without activating it?
geoff5093 said:
Will Verizon sell the phone without activating it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they should, i have bought many a phone from them in store and just told the sales rep to leave it boxed i will activate it at home. did have one try to tell me that they had to activate it before it could leave the store, so i just told them it was a gift. (which that one actually was)
Yes , looks like it is GSM unlocked , but dont forget those phones were all pre release models & the actual ones that come out on 21st may not have GSM Unlocked. I hope it is unlocked though
Only time will tell !

HTC One Blocked

So my dad bought an HTC One off of Craigslist brand new a few months ago. Today, it randomly stopped recog izing the Sim. It turns out that the original owners decided to call in the device as stolen and got theirs replaced from their insurance. He called T-Mobile and they said that there's nothing they can do about this.
Is there any way to make the phone usable again? Changing the IMEI, flashing a custom ROM, or whatever. Everything works, except the SIM is not recognized.
Thanks for your help.
Your SOL. You won't get imei changing help on XDA. Advise I seen given in this situation, is to sell it overseas as it useless in AT&T too.
HTC One
You're screwed, unlock it if you can. Hopefully it was fully paid for so you can do that, then like the other guy said sell it on Ebay to someone overseas. Be honest and say it's blocked. It will still sell. The thieves have a good racket going, and the carriers refuse to stop it by adding kill switches.
jawmail said:
You're screwed, unlock it if you can. Hopefully it was fully paid for so you can do that, then like the other guy said sell it on Ebay to someone overseas. Be honest and say it's blocked. It will still sell. The thieves have a good racket going, and the carriers refuse to stop it by adding kill switches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would adding kill switches do. ? You take your chances with buying from Cl just this last month I had two htc ones and a iPhone 5. Switched back to a used HTC one and have had no issues. I've met every one of those people at the store. The thing is the system will only grant someone a warranty or insurance claim on a device used last. If enough time passes or the other person registers a new phone the insurance/ warranty system will register a new device. Any claims on the only one will be invalid. I believe scammers are waiting just long enough before that or not registering new devices to their account so they can still claim the device as lost or stolen.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
monkeypaws said:
What would adding kill switches do. ? You take your chances with buying from Cl just this last month I had two htc ones and a iPhone 5. Switched back to a used HTC one and have had no issues. I've met every one of those people at the store. The thing is the system will only grant someone a warranty or insurance claim on a device used last. If enough time passes or the other person registers a new phone the insurance/ warranty system will register a new device. Any claims on the only one will be invalid. I believe scammers are waiting just long enough before that or not registering new devices to their account so they can still claim the device as lost or stolen.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kill switches would prevent the phone from being used domestically and possibly internationally. Similar to how Verizon does it by locking the phone IMEI or MEID whatever they call it on Verizon phones. If you buy one that's locked it "lost or stolen" and doesn't work on their network.
Read this, explains what might be done if the carriers agree. Right now they make too much money from insurance to care. Don't know if I can post links but Google 'cell phone kill switch'. http://www.today.com/money/push-get-kill-switch-smartphones-2D11897060
I ran into this a while back with a GS3 on TMO.
Heres what usually happens. Scammer has insurance on his phone. Sells it to you. Then waits up to 30 days to file a claim. Lost / Stolen.
Once a claim has been filed they have an additional 180 days to pay the deductible and finalize the claim. Once that happens the IMEI gets entered into the system and bam you have a WiFi only device.
I went to the TMO store by my office and spoke with a manager.. The system is flawed in favor of the insurance companies and carriers.
I can prove that unit was active and in use on my account for 3 months before it got shut off. Yet TMO refuses to do anything.
I emailed Assurion twice to let them know the user who filed the IMEI as lost/stolen was performing insurance fraud and it fell on deaf ears.
Why? Because they keep selling the monthly subscription to the scammers and honest users plus they collect the deductible.
Carriers wont do anything because most of the time it forces the user who got scammed to buy buy a new phone.. Rarely will they change carriers. So TMO still gets paid.
IAmSixNine said:
I ran into this a while back with a GS3 on TMO.
Heres what usually happens. Scammer has insurance on his phone. Sells it to you. Then waits up to 30 days to file a claim. Lost / Stolen.
Once a claim has been filed they have an additional 180 days to pay the deductible and finalize the claim. Once that happens the IMEI gets entered into the system and bam you have a WiFi only device.
I went to the TMO store by my office and spoke with a manager.. The system is flawed in favor of the insurance companies and carriers.
I can prove that unit was active and in use on my account for 3 months before it got shut off. Yet TMO refuses to do anything.
I emailed Assurion twice to let them know the user who filed the IMEI as lost/stolen was performing insurance fraud and it fell on deaf ears.
Why? Because they keep selling the monthly subscription to the scammers and honest users plus they collect the deductible.
Carriers wont do anything because most of the time it forces the user who got scammed to buy buy a new phone.. Rarely will they change carriers. So TMO still gets paid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that is very typical. It's so sad they do not stop the theft and the fraud. It will happen it's only a matter of time.
Nothing you can do. Sorry but that's just how it is. I refuse to buy any phone that's not from the company I'm with. That being tmobile. That way I have a record of buying my phone and they can't block it
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Sucks man.
I'd say to check your imei against the stolen registries, but that wouldn't have done you any good.
Sent from my LG-V510 using xda app-developers app
If you have even a phone number or any contact information from when your dad bought the phone, you should report the seller to the FBI or your local US Attorney's Office and perhaps even attempt to file a lawsuit for fraud. I'm shocked that people are willing to commit federal crimes for $300.
Actually you are all wrong, Any locked/blocked/stolen/blacklisted tmobile phone be unlocked for att, Tmobile only blacklisted on there own network, I am currently using a blocked htc one that checkesnfree.com says it blocked by tmobile and it says no service when I put in my tmobile sim card, I bought an unlock code form ebay for $4 and am currently using the tmobile htc one on H2o wireless (atat) towers
works perfect
jqwest said:
Actually you are all wrong, Any locked/blocked/stolen/blacklisted tmobile phone be unlocked for att, Tmobile only blacklisted on there own network, I am currently using a blocked htc one that checkesnfree.com says it blocked by tmobile and it says no service when I put in my tmobile sim card, I bought an unlock code form ebay for $4 and am currently using the tmobile htc one on H2o wireless (atat) towers
works perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you're mistaken.
A "blocked" device on T-Mobile is still usable on AT&T. A "blocked" device is not a blacklisted device, and therefor is eligible for use on another carrier (not MVNO of the blocked carrier).
A device can only be blacklisted if it has been reported as lost or stolen. If the device is just blocked on T-Mobile, then it wasn't reported as lost or stolen.
I buy used phones as a business and if a tmobile phone is blacklisted/lost/stolen/blocked for non payment. they only blackliston tmobile cell towers. This is fact any bad tmobile phone after unlocked can be used on atat regardless of imei status with tmobile, Im currently using a tmobile htc one that is blacklisted/blocked by tmobile, Im using it on atat

Best way to buy a v10 with no contract.

I thought I could buy the v10 through Tmobile without a contract. Pay full price but the person on their chat told me it wasn't possible. So, Im looking for suggestions as to the best options to buy the phone w/o contract and with some type of warranty.
L0x said:
I thought I could buy the v10 through Tmobile without a contract. Pay full price but the person on their chat told me it wasn't possible. So, Im looking for suggestions as to the best options to buy the phone w/o contract and with some type of warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can buy the phone from T-Mobile without a contract but you do need a plan.
Just talk to a different person imo.
If all else fails you can purchase it with a cheap pay as you go plan.
The cheapest I think is $3 for 30 min.
You however will have quite a few hurdles to jump through to get it unlocked from T mobile.
They require at least $100 to be spent on your account and 40 days of active service to unlock it.
You can get around those if you are lucky, some people have not been able to.
If you can do without warranty, your best option may be to use a service like swappa.com
You can buy new and used phones from people there.
Just make sure to check the condition of the phones before purchasing, also note if they are unlocked or not if you will be using a service other than T mobile.
If you must have a warranty of some kind, there are after purchase options available from places like squaretrade, however they are more expensive than I personally think they are worth.
Good luck finding your new phone.
You sure can buy it outright.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
Buy my cracked lol
Milimbar said:
You can buy the phone from T-Mobile without a contract but you do need a plan.
Just talk to a different person imo.
If all else fails you can purchase it with a cheap pay as you go plan.
The cheapest I think is $3 for 30 min.
You however will have quite a few hurdles to jump through to get it unlocked from T mobile.
They require at least $100 to be spent on your account and 40 days of active service to unlock it.
You can get around those if you are lucky, some people have not been able to.
If you can do without warranty, your best option may be to use a service like swappa.com
You can buy new and used phones from people there.
Just make sure to check the condition of the phones before purchasing, also note if they are unlocked or not if you will be using a service other than T mobile.
If you must have a warranty of some kind, there are after purchase options available from places like squaretrade, however they are more expensive than I personally think they are worth.
Good luck finding your new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
blackhemi4x4 said:
You sure can buy it outright.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sanadrate said:
Buy my cracked lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks guys.
@L0x -- any luck??
I got mine from AT&T right after the release. I spent a bunch of time on various chats until I got someone who told me that I could get the phone unlocked within 3 to 5 days after purchase. Added to cart with the cheapest plan & ordered.
AT&T auto-activated the phone when it showed delivered. As I am using the phone in Europe on Vodafone, this was a problem. It took, all said and done, probably 8 hours across a month and a half on chat, twitter, and phone calls to get AT&T to send me the unlock code, cancel the plan, and wipe the account balance to zero. Unlock code was immediate, the rest took the longest. I didn't mind harassing them very much because I had my unlocked phone.
After it was all said and done, I have the AT&T variant with an unlock code, running on Vodafone, with nothing paid to AT&T except the cost of the phone. It takes time, persistence, and patience to make it happen.
schlager said:
@L0x -- any luck??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet per say. I'm about 2 weeks out from purchasing. Holiday kicked my ass. But I will update this thread when I purchase. I'm weighing right now actually going with a Tmobile plan. I use Metropcs right now. Just not liking the 20$ more a month for less data.
I'm in Canada. Bought mine from Best Buy in NYC. They give the option for a friend to pick up. Works great
[email protected] said:
I'm in Canada. Bought mine from Best Buy in NYC. They give the option for a friend to pick up. Works great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just checked on best buy's website and its only listed with an AT&T or Verizon plan. how much did you pay?
$699.00

Ouch Pixel 3 sim locked to Verizon!

That's a bummer!
I hear it's just phones bought from Best Buy
iamnotexisting said:
I hear it's just phones bought from Best Buy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to this article (and others I have read), it isn't just on ones bought from Best Buy. It is "even" if you got it from BB, but also on ones from the Verizon stores. Looks like the unlock requires putting an active Verizon SIM in the device for anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight. If you don't care about unlocking the bootloader (or are willing to wait on an exploit that may never come), then this is bad news indeed if you want to be on a different carrier immediately. Bottom line, buy it from the Google Store and pay the premium or deal with big red's nonsense.
https://www.androidauthority.com/verizon-pixel-3-sim-locked-915857/
This might be an anti theft precaution. Here in Canada, phone must be sold unlock. The big three, due to these theft problems, ship all phones locked, then unlock them when sold.
https://www.droid-life.com/2018/10/19/verizon-stops-sim-locking-pixel-3-and-3-xl-for-now/
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
This is why the last phone I purchased directly from VZW was the first Pixel XL. We got lucky and found an exploit. From that time forward, I refuse to by any VZW sold phones. I got my 2XL and 3XL direct from Google. They offer the same free 2 year interest free payments so to me, there is zero upside to buying a phone direct from VZW unless you plan to leave it totally stock.

Metro Dirty Unlock practices , after thier insurance replacement phone telling me another 189 days till I can unlock

Ok, so I have been a Metro cistomer for over a year and while they are the cheapest here you surely get what you pay for. The support is aweful. Well twi weeks ago I cracked my screen and called their insurance and got a replacement. Welm yoday I call Metro and they refused to unlock it. i asked to soeak with manager after manager and eCh one told me they could not unlock it because it is a new phone and has to be on the network for 180 days i was like Boyght this phone over a year ago, this is a replace through insurance. How dies that reset my 180 days. I am so angry right now and Metro is no help How are they able yo keep me network restricted after being with them for that long. To use an insurance replacement to lock me in for another 189 days. Any advice would be great.
Thanks,
VEC
Unlocking is a per device basis, it seems.
Every time you get a new device from them, that device has to be on their network for a specific amount of time before they allow you to take it over to a new carrier if you wanted to.
This insures that you have to use their service, and therefore pay them, for at least another 6 months. It prevents people from getting good phones for cheap or maybe free then jumping ship to a different carrier before they can at least recoup whatever they lost on the phone. Same way with contract carriers you can get phones at a major discount if you agree to be locked into a long term contract. (Eg. my first smartphone retailed for $600 back in 2011, but the family member that paid my bill at the time only spent $200 after rebate by agreeing to have my line on a 2 year contract)
By allowing a replacement phone to be unlocked right off bat that means someone considering switching carriers can intentionally break their device, get it replaced on insurance, then jump to a different carrier with a brand new device and leave the old carrier eating the cost of the replacement.
They are probably within their right to do so, as it probably is in the fine print of their Unlocking Policy, or written in hard to understand yet still valid legalese.
It's kind of sucky, but it's understandable why when so many people are looking for ways to get one over and exploit loopholes and stuff.
There is another N10 thread here where someone did this to have their phone unlocked BEFORE the 180 days........ file an FCC complaint online that they are being unfair with their unlock policy. In your case OP, it even makes more sense to do this. Once you file the complaint stating your problem, the FCC contacts Metro, and Metro contacts you. Then you tell them they are being unfair and you want that device unlocked. No guarantees but it is worth a try. Apparently FCC complaints are never ignored by carrier.
Device unlocking is based on IMEI.
If you got a new phone for any reason, it's a new IMEI which means a whole new deal.
Like poog said, take it to the fcc.

Categories

Resources