Joseph-“Broadband internet providers in most of the U.S. are duopolies, so there isn’t much competition.”
-Thats the problem, and internet is probably more expensive than when it first came out and with absolutely no reason aside for the fact that they can take advantage of the customers, being that they are the only provider offered. Everything else went down, tv,, phone, cell phone plans which you can get for $20 unlimited. Internet which is so popular and required nowadays just keeps going up. Totally unfair.
“It is only locked if you buy it on a payment plan. Once you finish paying off the phone they will unlock it upon request.”
– Yes but as I’ve mentioned they also sell packaged “prepaid” phones that you can buy at the store and they will not unlock those for you unless you pay for service and for an extended amount of months. I mean your paying for the phone so why does it hurt them? If anything if its not the service you want then you wont buy the phone from them. But if it were able to be used on any service of choice, more people would buy their phones and the sales would go way up. So in a way, they are actually limiting themselves by locking these “prepaid” phones that they sell. Besides maybe that customer would choose their service anyways so by locking the phones they are just losing.
Takes2-“Try amazon or ebay. Ive personally had luck with amazon. Just make sure to vet the sellers before buying”
-ya i know that its possible to buy unlocked but the price gets jacked up and also almost all sellers are unreliable. They advertise new but they are in fact refurbished especially ebay. Maybe only if you buy directly from Amazon and not a seller you have a better chance. I dont know why companies just cannot let the consumer be happy with their purchase and use the product as they wish. Its like this forbidden feeling that the companies have regarding not locking your phone.