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Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
I think the threshold for repossession of collateral is somewhere around cars; stop paying your car lease, they'll take the car; stop paying for your house, they'll kick you out of your house. But I don't think it's worth it for phones.
Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
Markets exist where SIM locking has been prohibited for a long time (Wikipedia says Canada, Chile, China, Israel, and Singapore at least). Financing still exists in these countries. The phone is absolutely not "collateral". The carrier does not take it back if you default (even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get anything of value for it). Unlocking is just an inconvenience that prevents enough people from ch…
Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
Markets exist where SIM locking has been prohibited for a long time (Wikipedia says Canada, Chile, China, Israel, and Singapore at least). Financing still exists in these countries. The phone is absolutely not "collateral". The carrier does not take it back if you default (even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get anything of value for it). Unlocking is just an inconvenience that prevents enough people from ch…
One caveat: carriers do not really pay for your phones. Your phone bill would list two separate charges: service charge, for calls, internet use, etc., and then the monthly payment for your phone. If you add all those monthly payments over the whole contract period you get maybe 5-10% discount to the regular market price.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Markets exist where SIM locking has been prohibited for a long time (Wikipedia says Canada, Chile, China, Israel, and Singapore at least). Financing still exists in these countries. The phone is absolutely not "collateral". The carrier does not take it back if you default (even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get anything of value for it). Unlocking is just an inconvenience that prevents enough people from ch…
They'd still make you pay off the full amount before you could close off your account. Pretty standard in the US. Locking is just an evil way to add more friction.
Until you pay off the collateral, it isn’t your ownership, simply permission to use while servicing the debt.
The carriers are terrible about this. I have a Samsung sitting on my desk I still cannot use because I can't get it unlocked.
Why 60 days? Why not zero days? If you're going to take away their extrajudicial means of contract enforcement, what's the point of this residue? The only purpose for leaving it would be to confuse the customer about whether they can unlock, and to allow companies to make the process burdensome and confusing. The reason carriers fight to preserve this isn't for enforcement of the contract at all, it's because of the…
As someone received a perfectly packaged empty box this year, I think this is not ideal but reasonable.
Without provisions for equipment installment plans, this would likely end financing of phones by carriers (potentially pushing consumers to higher cost mechanisms, like credit cards or other traditional credit instruments). When locked, the phone is the collateral. Free and clear phones should be unlocked immediately.
Markets exist where SIM locking has been prohibited for a long time (Wikipedia says Canada, Chile, China, Israel, and Singapore at least). Financing still exists in these countries. The phone is absolutely not "collateral". The carrier does not take it back if you default (even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get anything of value for it). Unlocking is just an inconvenience that prevents enough people from ch…