On August 16, 2019, I decided to buy an unlocked iPhone XR from Best Buy for my wife. I had a Best Buy credit card, so I preferred to use it rather than buying the phone from Apple. The price was the same anyways. I buy unlocked phones because we travel, and we like to use our phones in other countries. Also, I like the freedom to change carriers whenever I like. Going to Best Buy to purchase this iPhone XR ended up being the worst mistake I have ever done! When I purchased the phone, we were using a Prepaid phone plan by H2O Wireless which uses AT&T networks. Everything was fine until in July 2021, we decided to change the carrier and go with Spectrum mobile, which uses Verizon networks. We are already using Spectrum for internet, so their plan was interesting, specially because it supports Apple watches. When we switched to Spectrum, we discovered the trick that Best Buy did to us 2 years earlier. Best Buy sold us a “Universal” iPhone not an “Unlocked” one! Nothing is written on the box, and the receipt has “UNV” written somewhere. Of course, as a customer, when I saw “UNV”, I thought it is unlocked, exactly like what I asked for and what BB guy told me. BB never actually say anything about universal phones. They just say unlocked. I believe some of the sales guys don’t even know the difference, exactly like me in the beginning. Universal phones lock themselves to the first carrier once the first SIM card is inserted! So, our phone was locked with AT&T! After hours of calling H2O, Apple, and BestBuy, and after vising the store twice, I discovered this trick, so I called AT&T to ask them to unlock the phone. Since the phone was already paid off, AT&T unlocked it. So, the phone was able to work with Spectrum/Verizon carrier and make calls or send text messages. However, cellular data never worked! So, if I am away from WiFi, there is no way that I can go online! When we were using AT&T network, the cellular data was working fine, but now with the new carrier, no more! I thought it’s an issue with the carrier, but my iPhone 11 which went through the exact same transition, has cellular data with no problems! I spent hours talking with Spectrum and trying to resolve this issue assuming it is from their side. I did everything that could be done: I got 3 new SIM cards, I reset the network settings multiple times, I restarted the phone many times, everything that could be done was done, but still no hope! I also did a factory reset once. Now we are stuck! The phone is only 2 years old. My wife took very good care of it by keeping it in a water-resistant case at all times. So, it’s in a like new condition. The manager of the Best Buy branch said that it has been 2 years and they can’t do anything now. They asked me to call BB customer service. I called BB customer service 3 times and made a case. Weeks passed and they never responded to the case. All calls with BB ended the same way: they ask me to be placed on a hold and I wait for a long time, then they hang up! So frustrating and disrespectful! Spectrum can’t do anything! AT&T can’t do anything! Verizon can’t do anything! Apple can’t do anything! And the poor customer is stuck! I need help to get cellular data to my phone.
hockeycanuckjc
