Prepaid iPhone 4S eligible for international unlock?

[sbell10]

I have an iPhone 4S on the All Set plan. I will be leaving the country on Wednesday to study for a year in London. I bought this phone with this plane in May specifically so I could unlock it and take it with me to London. Now I'm hearing that prepaid iPhones are not able to be unlocked at all. Please tell me I didn't just waste over $400 and will have to buy a new phone in London?

Thanks

[vzw_customer_support · Accepted solution]

We will miss you while you are away! Was the device purchased directly from us or through a 3rd party? To discuss unlock options in detail it would be best to contact our Global Support team at 800-711-8300.


Thank you,

YaleK_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWsupport

[sbell10]

I did call Global Support, and they informed me that I must be with Verizon for six months before my prepaid phone is available for an unlock, and I have only been with them for 4 1/2 months. I am obviously upset by this, mainly because when I knew I was going abroad, I called Verizon to ask about this very situation. I was with AT&T at the time and my contract with them was up in May. I wanted to get a phone with more storage space, and Verizon had a better prepaid plan. I saved up $250 so I could buy this phone and only have to pay $45 a month for the 4 months before I left. I called Verizon to make sure it would be okay for me to unlock my phone and use it abroad after only 4 months and the person I was on the phone with said yes. They never mentioned anything about having troubles because I was on a prepaid plan, or that I would need to be with Verizon for six months. If I had known that I would have just used a cheap phone and bought a new iPhone when I was in London! I was completely mislead into believing this would be a smooth proess and I am VERY upset. Now I have to pay another $45 (almost $50 with tax!) for a phone I can't even use just to WAIT for it to be available to be unlocked, and then just to get charged even MORE to call Verizon while abroad. You need to educate your customer assistance personel on these kinds of things, especially with unlocking phones becoming more common. I am furious. I was LIED to, and wasted over $400 because of poor training and blatant ignorance. I will be calling Verizon again to complain because it is complete BS that I should pay for something when I was lead to believe I wouldn't have to.

Thank you for your time and your help, I know you are not to blame for this. But please understand I am spending a lot of money just to get across the ocean at this point, and financial surprises like these are very unwelcome after I have budgeted so carefully.

Thanks