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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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