AT&T’s Unlock Policies Cost It Yet Another Loyal Customer

I have been an AT&T wireless customer ever since I got my iPhone 3G. AT&T service has been average, with a lot of dropped calls from time to time. Overall, I am okay with the service and was planning to stay with them. A recent rejected unlock request changed my mind.

I had a HTC One X last year. Before I traveled internationally, I submitted an unlock request. It was approved right away even though the phone was still under contract. This year, I got a new iPhone 6 plus, and I am planning to travel again.I submitted an unlock request again, but the request got denied.

After multiple attempts to use the web form, I tried to call them and explained to them that I am planning to travel internationally and wish to use my phone with a different carrier. No dice. They said I needed to finish my contract first before they could unlock my phone. I explained that I submitted a request last year for my HTC phone that was still under contract and that got approved. They didn’t know why my previous request got approved but kept insisting that I had to finish my contract first. One representative told me that some users got their phones unlocked, went away with the unlocked phones, and never returned to US. That’s why they did not approve unlock requests for international travel. I could see that happening with new users, but I have been with AT&T for several years. How can they treat a loyal customer like this?

I can understand the they have policies in place to keep their customers. However, I think it’s doing quite the opposite for some customers. I researched the unlock policies for AT&T’s competitors and found that Verizon does not lock their 4G LTE devices. If I bought an iPhone 6 plus with Verizon, I do not need to unlock my phone at all because it’s already unlocked. Here is Verizon’s unlock policy.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/commitment/safety-security/device-unlocking-policy.html

When I mentioned this to a representative, she said she is happy to help me terminate my contract. It does not seem like they want my business. They would rather lose a customer than help me unlock my phone. I finally gave up and decided to leave AT&T after my current contract ends. I don’t want to deal with this anymore every time I want to travel internationally.