How can I manually unlock my Metro PCSs phone if I'm not eligible?

[Android Central Question]

Supposedly you need to be active with them for 180 days to be eligible

 

[anon(10614692)]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

You will have to pay for it by using an unlocking company. Just do a Google search

 

[hallux]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

Officially - you can't. Those restrictions are in place for a reason, bypassing them could be considered theft...

 

[belodion]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

Note that what you’re really asking is ‘how can I do something that I may not do?’

 

[methodman89]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

Officially - you can't. Those restrictions are in place for a reason, bypassing them could be considered theft...

It's a stretch to call it theft if the op owns the phone. Here in the US, some providers unlock as soon as you buy it, others make you wait for a contract to fulfill. These are contractual conditions, not criminal violations. Have a great day.

 

[hallux]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

make you wait for a contract to fulfill

Until the contract is fulfilled (the phone is not paid off) the phone is not entirely the buyer's...

 

[methodman89]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

With t-mobile, and att, you can buy a phone and be under contract. The phone belongs to the purchaser. It is a civil, or tort law which would be violated if the op is in one of these contracts.

 

[Mooncatt]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

In short, wait the 180 days (or whatever the contract you signed states), then get the phone unlocked. It removes the legality issue, and is the morally correct thing to do. After all, you agreed to those terms when you bought the phone and signed a contract. If you didn't like those terms, then you shouldn't have bought the phone.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: How can i manually unlock my metro pcs phone if im not eligible

With t-mobile, and att, you can buy a phone and be under contract. The phone belongs to the purchaser. It is a civil, or tort law which would be violated if the op is in one of these contracts.

And, if the purchaser left the carrier (or MVNO in this case) and had a contractual obligation, it could be considered theft of service (the service is available, but he's not paying for it). It depends on the wording of the contract. If the contract calls it theft of service to stop paying the bill, the user agreed to be bound by that, so it's criminal. (And, in all the time I owned cellphone stores, I've never seen anyone, even attorneys, go over every line of a contract. Then just sign them, the same as people who know almost nothing about law. I've even had a few attorneys try to get out of contracts, until I pointed out where on the contract they signed [I always kept copies of all contracts that were still in force] it said that they couldn't do what they wanted to do. They might not have liked it but they understood. [One even remarked that he should have read the contract before he signed it.])

 

[methodman89]

'If the contract calls it theft of service to stop paying the bill, the user agreed to be bound by that, so it's criminal.'
While I've never seen a cell phone contract call late or failing to pay "criminal", under US law, it would be treated as a civil matter, or tort. In the pleading or complaint to small claims or circuit court, theft of service can be alleged, but this will not be going through the criminal justice system. England had debtors prisons.
I don't make the laws.