They purchased a T-Mobile locked iPhone from Best Buy. Best Buy don't sell new unlocked iPhones (only used store with reviews saying they're sometimes locked). They then activated the phone on a T-Mobile MVNO which allowed the phone to work.
They had an unrelated issue with Google Fi (terms of service violation), purchased a foreign SIM card, found out they had purchased a locked iPhone and then contacted Google Fi support accusing them of causing it.
Google Fi's support rightfully said that they don't sell locked phones (least of all iPhones), and that they couldn't unlock a T-Mobile locked phone. The writer accuses them of acting illegally.
People seem to be under the mistaken impression that cellphone operators just have this red "unlock" button, whereas the reality is that T-Mobile is the only one capable of generating an unlock.
As a Best Buy part time employee the correct answer is that we don’t sell the newest iPhone models unlocked in stores. Refurbished models are the only iPhones we sell unlocked in our store. Online that’s is a different matter entirely and yes there are some newer models we sell unlocked online but it’s minimal because of fraud.
That is a used iPhone with multiple reviews saying it was locked when it arrived e.g.:
> Phone was Locked
> I bought this phone for my son so that he can reach me while he's at school. The product description for this phone said "unlocked" which was a major reason I chose it. It is a beautiful phone and like new. However, I quickly realized that it was an AT&T phone meaning it is locked. That was disappointing because I had planned on using Verizon. I didn't want to go through the trouble of returning it and waiting for a different phone, so I decided to keep it and get an AT&T plan.
And:
> Locked preowned phone. Garbage
> Zero stars. Bought a preowned Iphone X that was still locked from previous carrier. Could not be hooked up to new carrier.
Terrible customer service, no resolution of our problem. Spent 2 hours on the phone with best buy, apple, and sprint.
Best Buy sold us junk. DO NOT BUY PREOWNED FROM HERE.
And:
> Unusable phone (and arrived late)
> Not only did the phone arrive 3 days late, it arrived locked and unusable. Was not able to activate with tmobile as they said the phone was not in their system.
Best Buy don't sell unlocked new iPhones, never have. And all of their used inventory has similar reviews.
I just went to Best Buy's website. There's unlocked phones. It's typically the carrier branch stores that don't sell unlocked devices, though they often do in my experience (you'll get the phone cheaper somewhere else).
If you read carefully, the carrier selection on the website is really just for carrier compatibility; you are offered the option of paying the entire price upfront.
The shocker to me here is you can pay the entire up front cost and have your phone remotely disabled.
They had an unrelated issue with Google Fi (terms of service violation), purchased a foreign SIM card, found out they had purchased a locked iPhone and then contacted Google Fi support accusing them of causing it.
Google Fi's support rightfully said that they don't sell locked phones (least of all iPhones), and that they couldn't unlock a T-Mobile locked phone. The writer accuses them of acting illegally.
People seem to be under the mistaken impression that cellphone operators just have this red "unlock" button, whereas the reality is that T-Mobile is the only one capable of generating an unlock.