For all cellphones Activated on the Verizon network on or after November 23, 2021, the cellphone will be remotely unlocked automatically 60 days after paid Activation and 60 days of paid active service.
Unlock Policy, Effective April 1 [tfwunlockpolicy.com]
expiredFrugalForever posted Apr 07, 2025 03:30 AM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expiredFrugalForever posted Apr 07, 2025 03:30 AM
Total Wireless Samsung Galaxy A35 Smartphone + 30-Day Total 5G Prepaid Plan
New Customers w/ Port-In & ID Verification$55
$280
80% offTotal Wireless
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The a35 is good, and is likely the last of the "good" Samsung a-series phones with an SD slot. The a36 and a56 don't have them.
I got the previous (nearly identical) a54 deal and was very happy with it. The two phones are architecturally almost identical (same processors and ram). It's not a speed demon, but is fast enough to do all "normal" stuff, like social media, email, phone, etc... without any real performance problems. Maybe a gamer would be disappointed with it, and it will be getting OneUI 7 very, very soon.
Porting in a number is a hassle -- if you don't already have a phone number.
The whole ID verification is just...how do the kids say it nowadays...."totes wack".
No idea how they're storing your image and credentials -- or who has access to them -- or what the process is for them to expunge that data -- or who is ensuring they're following best practices.
Oh who am I kidding, your DL and image are being sold to the highest bidder. We all know that.
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She offered a workaround: to keep my account active for another 30 days by purchasing a $10 plan (plus tax, total $11.73) that includes unlimited calls and texts but no data. I agreed and paid for the plan over the phone. She assured me that my phone would be automatically unlocked on May 15. On my account, under "Line Details," it now shows: "TW 1 Line Stay Connected."
Fingers crossed.
I'm sure you could try push back with the FCC since you activated yours long before the police was changed and your purchase was done based on the policy at the time. Policy was updated after the 5th of April, with an effective date of April 1st, retroactive to activations all the way to 2021.
That should work perfectly fine, provided you're activating the phone with the TW plan when you receive it. After 2 months of paid service has past, the phone should unlock and immediately be able to be used on your T-Mobile account.
Before lots of these phones were IMEI locked to the network even when 'unlocked' so these TW phones would only be usable on Verizon network operators. However based on what other comments have stated the IMEI has been shown to work on ATT & thus should work for T-Mobile as well.
https://consumercomplai
FCC forwards your complaint to TW, and the TW- Govt Affairs dept called me back the next day. My case is not resolved yet, as it's escalated to another dept.
Note: I feel I have a valid claim since I bought and activated my 2 Samsung A35 phones in Feb, and so the new unlocking policy effective 1 April should NOT apply to me.
Hi, has your case got resolved yet?
I activated my total wireless moto edge 2024 on Mar 1 and it's due for unlocking by Apr 30 or so.. anxiously waiting to see what happens
After the TW one month service expiry, I inserted my tracfone sim which I am maintaining for over 6 years in to the total wireless device and the TracFone service is working fine!
I am not sure if that's good or bad..
Ty for that input, my TW account is not showing my line and the device at all after I placed the TracFone sim in it. So I moved the TW sim back in to the device and so far my TW account is not reflecting the line. Hoping it may happen overnight.
If that do not happen, I can put my tracfone sim back in the TW device and will unlocking happen through the active TracFone service? I have validity till next year.
With the new 60 day service policy if it doesn't unlock there's no way to know - could be another 30 days service required or a messed up registration.
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- Phone activated: 02/07/2025
- Original unlock date (per old policy): 04/08/2025
- FCC complaint filed: 04/09/2025
- Phone call from Total Wireless (TW): 04/14/2025 – A representative informed me that my complaint had been escalated to upper management and that they were working to resolve the issue. I was told I should receive an update within a week.
- Second phone call from TW: 04/15/2025 – The same representative called me back with a response from upper management. She explained that even though my phone was activated before April 1, I still need to complete 60 days of active service for the phone to be unlocked under the new policy.
She offered a workaround: to keep my account active for another 30 days by purchasing a $10 plan (plus tax, total $11.73) that includes unlimited calls and texts but no data. I agreed and paid for the plan over the phone. She assured me that my phone would be automatically unlocked on May 15. On my account, under "Line Details," it now shows: "TW 1 Line Stay Connected."Fingers crossed.Thanks
Thanks
I don't think it will get unlocked under TF. Since your you have originally activated your phone under the old unlock policy, I suggest you wait and see what happens. If it doesn't get unlocked, then file a complaint with FCC. TW will contact you and either unlock it for you or they may offer you a discounted $10 plan for a month and guarantee in writing that it gets unlocked 30 days later from reactivation.
Seeing that I had the Chase offer of 25% (max $15) off, I went ahead and just paid $85 for 2 lines ($55 + $30 for 2nd line). Figured it's still a decent deal to pay extra $70 for 2 Samsung a35s, and get them unlocked asap. Well, the next day (15 April) it turns that only one of the phones is unlocked (checked Network status in Settings) - the one with unlock date approx 14/15 April was unlocked, BUT the phone with unlock date 6/7 April was still LOCKED! 🙄 It's never simple. And, the phones are with old folks out of the country, and they don't even want to bother with swapping the sim, so I don't know if sim swap and reboot method works. I am going to try figuring out unlocking over this weekend (with TW and/or sim swap, reboot etc).
So...paying the 2nd month and reactivating lines (but non-consecutive 60 days paid service), sort of works. Both my phones are past 60 days since activation, but only 1 shows unlocked.
As for the FCC complaint - l will follow up with TW and hope they can refund me the 2nd month. Lol
EDIT: I hadn't read about the user up thread who was offered to pay $10 for 2nd month, otherwise I'd have tried that instead of paying $85 for 2nd month.
Seeing that I had the Chase offer of 25% (max $15) off, I went ahead and just paid $85 for 2 lines ($55 + $30 for 2nd line). Figured it's still a decent deal to pay extra $70 for 2 Samsung a35s, and get them unlocked asap. Well, the next day (15 April) it turns that only one of the phones is unlocked (checked Network status in Settings) - the one with unlock date approx 14/15 April was unlocked, BUT the phone with unlock date 6/7 April was still LOCKED! 🙄 It's never simple. And, the phones are with old folks out of the country, and they don't even want to bother with swapping the sim, so I don't know if sim swap and reboot method works. I am going to try figuring out unlocking over this weekend (with TW and/or sim swap, reboot etc).
So...paying the 2nd month and reactivating lines (but non-consecutive 60 days paid service), sort of works. Both my phones are past 60 days since activation, but only 1 shows unlocked.
As for the FCC complaint - l will follow up with TW and hope they can refund me the 2nd month. Lol
EDIT: I hadn't read about the user up thread who was offered to pay $10 for 2nd month, otherwise I'd have tried that instead of paying $85 for 2nd month.
So, does that mean that the phone that was unlocked on April 15th was automatically unlocked after 60 days?
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