Fully paid brand new att phone not able to unlock

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@senthilag wrote:

I bought new samsung s9 phone yesterday, paid for my new samsung s9 in full. It is locked with att. When I put my imei number it is saying " Looks like the IMEI number you entered doesn’t match an AT&T device. Try entering it again. Dial *#06# on your mobile phone to make sure you have the right IMEI.". When I call the att support line they are saying in their internal system this IMEI number is showing up but in the portal it is saying a different message. The customer service through phone saying they will not be able to do anything if the portal not working to show this imei number. I paid for this brand new phone in full and I am stuck. Can you help to resolve it

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where did you buy the phone?  You also have to wait 14days from purchase to unlock the phone.  Or you can pay a unlock site to unlock it now.

Thank you for the quick response. I bought from samsung.com. I did not pay fully to wait for 14 days. I will be returning the phone to Samsung today and both of you loosing a customer today / may be life time. But I really appreciate your quick response which I did got get clearly when I called ATT customer service  and spent good amount of time and neither from samsung after spending even an hour. This support line is great but unfortunately you lost me for ever.

@senthilag

Why is this ATT fault?  You could have purchased the unlocked version.  You knew you bought a locked phone.  This one is on you 

As for the 14 Day return period..   its universal for all carriers that lock phones.  

Why is this ATT fault? - This is because of your portal issue (Samsung system shows it is att IMEI number but your portal showing it is not att device) - Took screen shot of that as well by the samsung agent for escalation. [I found about this issue even in this forum some where that this is a portal issue]. Regarding 14 days locking period, it was not mentioned when I bought it and I did not sign up for any agreement of such when I paid it in full in samsung site. Either way I am learning more and this could be information for many over here. Yes you are right, I could have bought a unlocked phone for little bit more price. This whole process made me work for more hours with no resolution. When the problem becomes public, I see more information coming out. It is good for all. Once again thank you for your explanation.

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@senthilag wrote:

Why is this ATT fault? - This is because of your portal issue (Samsung system shows it is att IMEI number but your portal showing it is not att device) - Took screen shot of that as well by the samsung agent for escalation. [I found about this issue even in this forum some where that this is a portal issue]. Regarding 14 days locking period, it was not mentioned when I bought it and I did not sign up for any agreement of such when I paid it in full in samsung site. Either way I am learning more and this could be information for many over here. Yes you are right, I could have bought a unlocked phone for little bit more price. This whole process made me work for more hours with no resolution. When the problem becomes public, I see more information coming out. It is good for all. Once again thank you for your explanation.

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Like I said pay 30 bucks to have the phone unlocked on a 3rd party site..  

You bought a ATT s9 for more than a few buck cheaper..  More like 200...  Samsung does not have to disclose ATT's terms on their website...  They should but they don't...  I also know samsung is being slow to report to ATT that those device were sold....  You can be honest you never planned to be a ATT customer in the first place.  You were just trying to save a buck and I get that.

@senthilag  Had it occurred to you there is a catch for the discount?  

FYI carrier branded phones can be carrier unlocked, but will never work well on another carrier.  Can’t stress that enough - NEVER work as well....

To be honest Yes and No.

Yes - trying to save bucks.

No - Not yet decided on which network I have to go and wanted to switch when required since the biggest cost is the data plan.

I did ask the samsung agent before I placed the order saying am I liable for anything if I pay off in full? and will att unlock the device for me immediately? they said yes and att is liable for it if you pay it in full. This changed only in this forum not with the agents chat and phone from both samsung and att and neither in the agreement. There is nothing to be defensive here. As a customer I spent lot of time in this and frustrated as the information was not shared with me when I placed the order and when I looked up for help through dedicated channels of chat and phone. This is good forum to bring the information out. Thank you once again this may be helpful for people trying to buy the phone from various storefronts.

Message to All: When you buy products of att from other storefronts / websites including samsung.com and pay the full money to get the phone, it cannot be unlocked for minimum of 14 days. As per the att agent, the phone can be unlocked however from 3rd party sites  (I do not have experience in this and I am not sure how secured it is as well (disclaimer))

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@senthilag wrote:

As per the att agent, the phone can be unlocked however from 3rd party sites  (I do not have experience in this and I am not sure how secured it is as well (disclaimer))

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The reply you got suggesting a 3rd party unlock was from another customer, not an ATT agent. This is a customer to customer forum, we are all customers, not agents.

The 14 day period only applies to upgrades.  This clearly isn't an upgrade.  The phone was purchased out right from the manufacturer and paid in full.

The Samsung S9 has the exact same hardware regardless of the carrier to which it is locked (or unlocked).  

To say "FYI carrier branded phones can be carrier unlocked, but will never work well on another carrier.  Can’t stress that enough - NEVER work as well...." is simply not true, and is very misleading.  The phone can be flashed with unlocked firmware and/or the firmware of the intended carrier.  It will be identical to a new phone intended for the carrier of which it is activated.

I understand that everyone here is a customer, but spouting out misconceptions without any reference doesn't help anyone.

Poorly trained AT&T reps will (and do) use these posts as reference material, as wrong as that is.