Unlocking a smart phone

[Luna Baby]

Just curious as to whether anyone has ever purchased a phone (purchased outright-not discounted with contract) and attempted to have it unlocked by the carrier. We currently have cellular service with one company and son managed to drop his phone and it has been rendered useless. The phone he wanted was not available yet through our carrier but we've been told that we can purchase the one he wants through another carrier and that they can unlock it to use with our service. I called that carrier yesterday and was told, "Yes, you may do that. Go to blah blah website and key in the information and we'll send you an unlock code within 30 minutes via email." This is a well known, very popular provider in the US so I really had no reason to doubt the information. So, we trek off 45 minutes down the interstate last night for son to purchase the phone ($685 after taxes! ) and drop by the local book store to hang out and access the web to submit the request. I had trouble with the website taking my information so I called again. This time, I'm told, "Yes, we can do it, but not that quickly. It could take several days, hopefully just a couple."

So, now I'm completely paranoid that this isn't going to happen. Thankfully, the store where the phone was purchased has a 14 day return policy, even on opened electronics, so if something doesn't happen soon, I can return it for a full refund. I just hope we don't have to do that. I'd like the son to have the phone he wants and is willing to pay for and not have to settle on something less just because our provider doesn't offer this phone just yet.

So, anyone else successfully had a provider unlock one of their phones to use on another service? Our provider is the mart of walls family plan and the phone we are trying to use is the Galaxy S5 from AT&........

[Sapphire Silk]

I bought an unlocked phone from Apple (iPhone), but haven't tried to get an unlock code. However, I have also heard lot of people doing this. As long as you get the code from the provider, you're OK. If you try to unlock the phone yourself, you could void the warranty. Which might not be an issue for you, but just fair warning.

Just FYI: I did not find buying the phone outright to be very cost effective for me in the long run. Even though I did not have a contract, my monthly fee was the same as having a contract. Since the phone companies don't reduce your monthly fee once you pay off your subsidized phone, there really is no point in buying a phone outright.

Note: this applies only in the US, which is one of the few, maybe even the only supposedly civilized country that makes you buy your phone with a subsidy at a cost that is ultimately much higher than if you bought the phone outright. Europe and Asia don't indulge in this nonsense; while the upfront cost is higher, the overall costs are lower.

[Luna Baby]

Thanks, SS. I'm still waiting on the provider to send me the unlock code. Hoping I have it by Tuesday, if not, I have to call them back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed everything works out.

I did send a FB message to T-Mob... in hopes that I could get an answer about why the store would not sell me a phone without service. Turns out, I can and the store was wrong. Guess they lost a nearly $700 sale!

I've done the math, and it would cost me roughly the same whether I purchase the phone through a contract or purchased outright. For us, it's just so much better to go contract free rather than be tied to a company in the event we want to change. As it stands, we have 4 lines, unlimited talk, text and DATA (yep, unlimited data!!) for $160 and change/month. Any other company will charge us upwards of $200 and data is limited.

Kiddo purchasing the phone is nearly grown, has a job and will be starting college in the fall. He has plenty of money to purchase what he wants, I'm just hoping that it works.

**side note** we as parents are only involved in the purchase due to using our credit card for the extended warranty that comes with our card. Son will pay the purchase off in full.

[Luna Baby]

AT & T failed me

Spent 30 minutes Friday night on the phone trying to set up the request with AT & T to get an unlock code for the phone we purchased and paid full price for. As of today, no one at AT & T could find my request or information. I've returned the phone to the retailer (within their return policy rules) and am going to look into a contract for our family phones. This has been much too much stress on this ol' gal to try again.