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I think their system will only have the ones that they have sold. Even if it is locked from the manufacturer, i don't think unless it goes through their warehouse they won't have the imei on record.
What are you trying to do?
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Hey chrislia92! tidbits is correct regarding our database - by default it includes IMEIs of equipment sold by T-Mobile. I do want to echo the question about your needs, though - why were we looking your IMEI up? Is there something we can help with?
- Marissa
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A T-mobile rep told me if I bought the phone directly from Samsung it would be unlocked. I discovered that wasn't the case the day I got the phone. Because unlocking requires imei, and my imei isn't in the system, it's considered a phone that cannot be unlocked. I'm now returning the phone to purchase an unlocked variant before my 30 days are up. Samsung also said unlocks are up to carriers as well. So Samsung locked the phone to T-mobile, but T-mobile doesn't carry the imei because it came from Samsung. Therefore I'm stuck when I leave the country.
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Oh no! I'm so sorry we passed along bad info here. It's true that you can purchase an unlocked variant from a manufacturer (I haven't looked at Samsung's site regarding an unlocked S8, but that's the case most of the time) - but it has to be advertised as unlocked and sold as such. The T-Mobile variant will have the benefit of our software, but the downside of being locked to our network (which for frequent travelers without an already-unlocked backup may be a no-go). Can I ask if we're sure that the only hiccup here was the IMEI? We can sometimes assist with equipment not in our database if purchased from an authorized retailer, although that timeline does take longer to complete than unlocking equipment that we retail ourselves (as we have to work directly with the manufacturer themselves to confirm eligibility), and proof of purchase may be required. We have network usage and account requirements for Unlocking your mobile wireless device - and this device launched so recently, I'm not sure that it would have been active on the network long enough!
Either way, if you're traveling soon and you travel often, I think the unlocked variant sounds like the best bet. I'm sorry about the hassle of the return process! Thanks for following up here to let us know what was happening.
- Marissa
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Yup the only problem seems to be the IMEI not being in T-mobile's database. I could use third party sites and they all say T-mobile, but T-mobile's imei checker says it doesn't recognize the device. It's difficult to unlock something you don't have. If I wasn't leaving so soon then I wouldn't mind trying to solve this issue with you guys, but I don't have enough time to fulfill the requirements.
Sad life
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No worries, I totally understand. If I were on a time crunch, I'd go that route as well. I'm sorry again that we weren't able to support you here - but thank you for posting, this may clarify a situation for a future Community member trying to decide between purchasing carrier branded or factory unlocked equipment from the manufacturer directly. Please let us know if we can answer any other questions for you!
- Marissa
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Hello Marissa. I am having the same problem. I ordered my device through Samsung with the T-Mobile kit, and I have been unable to unlock it. I have called up T-Mobile several times and they keep telling me that the device is not in their system. I would sincerely appreciate some help with this, as it is extremely frustrating and I've wasted a lot of time trying to unlock it.
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Hi, magenta2094686! Sorry for the delayed reply here. Our database by default will only include the IMEIs of devices that we sold, so a T-Mobile branded device purchased from Samsung wouldn't have inclusion in the database. However, if you meet all the other requirements for account standing and usage here: Unlock your mobile wireless device, our Care or T-Force teams may be able to file an unlock escalation request to see if our offline unlock team can contact Samsung directly to work with them on this. Just a heads up that you may need to be ready to provide a proof of purchase, and I can't guarantee that this will work (the circumstances are different in each case), but it is worth a shot if you're still having trouble getting your phone unlocked!
- Marissa
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1 of 1 people found this helpful
Note: Read on for a solution if you're having this problem.
I spent about a month trying to get this issue sorted. Several of these escalations you speak of were made during this period but nothing worked. At the end of the day, it came down to you guys tossing me over to Samsung, and them tossing me right back, which was quite a frustrating and annoying loop. It became clear very early in this process that this was a T-Mobile issue that had to be handled internally. If the device has all the T-Mobile apps and is carrier locked, you guys have a duty to have it in your database. It's registered with you. The carrier lock is a T-Mobile software aspect. Samsung has no control over that.
However, as a last resort before returning the phone, I decided to email the CEO himself Now I'm not sure whether this email is truly the CEO's email or whether it is redirected to a dedicated team that can actually get things done, but I was contacted by a gentleman within 2 days with the news that my device could now be unlocked using the pre installed Device Unlock app.
I urge whoever is having this problem to do the same as early as possible, because quite frankly, nothing else works.
For the T-Mobile team, I urge you to attempt to do something about this for the future. If you're rolling out your software to a phone company, you need to make provisions for such issues and have the device in your database, even if it's just a special database exclusively for these purposes. I'm delighted this has been sorted out but for it to have taken a month highlights that there is a major problem.
Thank you for your help though.
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Im experience the exact same problem, i expect you to add the imei number to your database, i know you have your rules, regarding unlocking, and i accept it, but you have to add the imei number to your database, when its sold as a carrier locked device
Thanks in advanced
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