Unlocked Mobile Phones

If you’re a T-Mobile customer and need to get phone unlocked there are many ways to do it (both safe and unsafe).  Depending on your situation and how long you’ve had your contract, sometimes the easiest way to get your T-Mobile phone unlocked is by calling their customer service.  Their customer service number can be reached by dialing 611 (if you’re calling from a T-Mobile phone) or by calling 1-877-453-1304.   You can reach their live customer service representatives from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. PT every day.

Under T-Mobile’s terms of service, you can have your phone unlocked after having your account open for 90 days.  Once having a phone unlocked during this period, you have to wait another 90 days until you can have another phone unlocked.  T-Mobile also will only give unlock codes to original T-Mobile phones.

If you have had your T-Mobile plan for 90 days, you can call them to request an unlock.  When you call their customer service number, tell them you need to have your phone unlocked.  If they ask you why, tell them you need it unlocked because you’re going overseas (don’t tell them you’re unlocking the phone to use with AT&T or another carrier).  While they probably won’t do anything because you told them you were switching carriers, there’s always a chance a “hidden fee” may pop up so avoid it with the overseas excuse.

The T-Mobile representative should happily give you the information you need to unlock your phone (assuming you said and are doing the right things).  Hopefully this will be as far as you need to for getting your phone unlocked.

If, for whatever reason, you aren’t able to get T-Mobile’s customer service to take care of you, there are other ways to get your phone unlocked.  One way is using a website or business to unlock your phone for you.  Many websites sell or provide software that decipher the codes from your phone and generate the secret unlock code.   Each unlock code is unique to the phone so you have to be careful what you type in.  Local businesses or cell phone stores sometimes provide T-Mobile unlocking services too.  They often charge around $15 to $30 to unlock your phone but often can do it without you having to worry about having your cell phone damaged.  So, besides using T-Mobile’s customer service, my most recommended option is to use a local business to unlock your mobile phone.