Hopefully somebody can explain this to me or tell me where I'm misunderstanding something.
I have the T-Mobile version of the Z3, but I am a T-Mobile customer so ordering the T-Mobile version of the phone was no issue. After 30 days of use I tried unlocking the phone through the T-Mobile App with no success, it said to contact customer support. So after calling T-Mobile they said that my IMEI was not a registered T-Mobile phone and the only way T-Mobile phones were unlocked was through the app. Now this is clearly a T-Mobile phone with the branding on the back, on the startup, and all the apps pre-installed. So then I called Sony multiple times to ask them what they knew about unlocking the T-Mobile Z3 and phones in general and got basic definitions that I had already found on the internet. I even got a Sony and T-Mobile representative on a conference call to get them to talk to each other about the issue - still no resolution.
So far this is what I've know, maybe I am misunderstanding something?
1. My phone is a T-Mobile Sony Xperia Z3 with preinstalled apps and branded packaging and works with the included T-Mobile sim card.
2. T-Mobile phones can only be unlocked through their unlock app
3. My phone's IMEI number is not recognized as a T-Mobile phone
4. Phone unlocking is something cell phone providers control not Sony
5. Neither party can say how the manufacturing process works and how they provide information on to each other on which phones are locked to a carrier
If this phone is indeed T-Mobile which it physically appears to be, why does the IMEI number not appear in T-Mobile's database? (They have a website to input the number) Is there some point in the manufacturing process that the phones sold to a certain carrier get registered with that carrier? I've searched the internet to see if anybody else has had a problem unlocking the T-mobile Z3, but it seems like the few cases I saw either gave up or sold their phone.
Any help clearing up my confusion would be appreciated.
