Help!! Tracfone will not unlock my Galaxy S5 SM-903VL

[AC Question]

I was buying a used Galaxy S5 (model SM-903VL) off Craigslist. The guy said it was used on T-Mobile. I searched the IMEI on several websites and all said the IMEI was clean. I bought the phone and brought it home. I soon found out that the phone was on Tracfone/Straight Talk. I placed my T-Mobile SIM card in the phone and it said Network Locked - Invalid Sim. I contacted Straight Talk to get it unlocked and they refused to unlock it. They had all kinds of rules to unlock it, worst of which was they required 12 months of uninterrupted service and the phone had to be active. T-Mobile said there was nothing they could do. Samsung said there was nothing they could do.

Right now I have an expensive paperweight. Is there a way to jailbreak or root this phone in order to unlock it? I am new to Android and not sure what my options are. Thanks in advance for your help.

TC

 

[hallux]

Is the phone actually T-Mobile branded or was it bought from Tracfone? If it was bought from Tracfone, that's a valid requirement from them.

Sadly, you have little buyer protection on Craigslist, it's a marketplace for "as-is" sales and no after-sale support.