Verizon acknowledges “pain” of new unlock policy, suggests change is coming

“Without regard to website update timing, the new device unlocking policy went into effect on January 27,” Verizon’s statement said. “Customers who purchased or upgraded since that date were (and are) being presented with the full terms of the new policy at their point of sale. We will ensure all of our public information is clear and consistent across all channels.”

Phone buyers are still presented with incorrect terms

But the information is still not “clear and consistent across all channels,” even when it comes to terms presented directly to phone buyers. For example, the version of the device unlocking policy on Verizon’s webpage for ordering an iPhone 17 says that the 35-day delay only applies if a customer uses a Verizon gift card to purchase the phone or pay off the balance. We found the same language in Verizon’s listings today for other iPhones and devices made by Google, Samsung, and Motorola.

This version of the policy presented to phone buyers would lead the consumer to believe that the phone will automatically unlock once the device financing agreement balance is paid in full, as long as a gift card is not used. This is not accurate, as we described in this article and our article last week.

In another development we discovered after this article was published, Verizon changed its Device Unlocking Policy Again today and the effective date was updated to February 18th. The new policy is similar to the old version; It details the 35-day unlocking delay after payment with a gift card, but removes the part that applies the 35-day delay to payments made online or in the Verizon app. This omission is curious because Verizon’s statements to other media outlets indicate that the 35-day delay for online payments is still in place.

This omission is clearly explained by the new language in the policy that says, “A secure payment method is required to instantly unlock the device when paying off the entire device balance.” But as far as we know, the only “secure payment methods” that currently result in instant unlocking require payment at a Verizon corporate store. While a separate Verizon FAQ still describes the in-store limit, a A user reading the policy after today’s update may be misled into believing that paying for the device on Verizon’s website will result in instant unlocking.

The Verizon unlocking policy discussed so far in this article is for postpaid customers. Verizon’s policy for prepaid customers locks the phone to its network “until 365 days of payment and active service have been completed.”

AT&T’s unlocking policy states that postpaid phones purchased at least 60 days in advance can be unlocked once the device is paid for in full. T-Mobile policy says that postpaid phones that have been active on the T-Mobile network for at least 40 days can be unlocked after full payment has been made. AT&T imposes a six-month waiting period to unlock prepaid phones, while T-Mobile has a 365-day waiting period for prepaid phones.

This article was updated with another change in Verizon’s unlocking policy and a statement reported by PCMag.