[david22585]

I just got my Sprint Tour, and I was wondering if I could use a T-Mobile SIM card? In an area that I go, Sprint doesn't get service but T-Mobile does. So is this possible?

[gimpyviper]

Only if you unlock your phone

[noto220]

Call sprint to get your phone unlocked. Tell em your going overseas for work.

[david22585]

According to Sprint.com, it says its already unlocked:

Unlocked SIM Device
Use in-market carrier SIM cards while traveling abroad.

But according to the guy at Sprint, you can only use international SIM cards and not domestic SIM cards.

[GregCbb]

Call sprint to get your phone unlocked. Tell em your going overseas for work.

Calling Sprint to Unlock your new Tour will not happen.

For everyone out there who has tried to get their new Sprint Tour Unlocked by Sprint, it is not possible at this time. The CSR just told me that Sprint does not have a solution. He even said that the Tour was supposed to come unlocked as someone quoted, but in reality they came locked. He didn't say if there was a time coming up in the near future to allow us to get them unlocked.

Having said that, it seems like we will be getting or should have our Tours unlocked for free by Sprint as promised. Don't quote me on that, but so far the phone has not come as described in this department.

If you need to unlock your Tour, you can try a 3rd party unlocker service, but I haven't read anyone who was successful at unlocking their Tour by a 3rd party unlocker.

FYI

GC

[GregCbb]

According to Sprint.com, it says its already unlocked:

Unlocked SIM Device
Use in-market carrier SIM cards while traveling abroad.

But according to the guy at Sprint, you can only use international SIM cards and not domestic SIM cards.

If you can only use international SIM cards, then it should work. On the contrary. I have an active Tmobile UK simcard and it does not work in the Tour. Even after setting the tour to try to log onto the USA Tmobile cell towers, it does not. It says on my screen: invalid simcard, which means the phone is LOCKED. I put the sim card back into my old treo 700w GSM phone and it logs onto the USA Tmobile network. Therefore, my Tmobile UK simcard IS valid.

We just need to wait until Sprint comes up with a solution. I'm just lucky I'm not heading to the UK in the next few months.

GC

[Mojary]

Calling Sprint to Unlock your new Tour will not happen.

For everyone out there who has tried to get their new Sprint Tour Unlocked by Sprint, it is not possible at this time. The CSR just told me that Sprint does not have a solution. He even said that the Tour was supposed to come unlocked as someone quoted, but in reality they came locked. He didn't say if there was a time coming up in the near future to allow us to get them unlocked.

Having said that, it seems like we will be getting or should have our Tours unlocked for free by Sprint as promised. Don't quote me on that, but so far the phone has not come as described in this department.

If you need to unlock your Tour, you can try a 3rd party unlocker service, but I haven't read anyone who was successful at unlocking their Tour by a 3rd party unlocker.

FYI

GC

If sprint (or any phone carriers) advertised a particular product as a certain thing (like an unlocked device), and you go out and sign-up or renew your contract with that company because of that, and their store reps and CSR's says the phone is unlocked, that is one of the terms of the contract. If you got a the Sprint Tour and it's a locked SIM device, Sprint needs to unlock it. If they say they can't and there's no way, that's a bunch of BS! It is possible for carriers like Sprint to unlock their phones (all of them). Because all they need to give you are a series of numbers that the manufacturer (RIM) programmed on the phone as the unlock code. Sprint has the unlock codes and don't believe them if they tell you otherwise.

Phone carriers by a court decision (both by California courts all the way up to the US Supreme Court) were found guilty of predatory practices by locking customers' phone(s) into their network even after the customer's contract ended. Wired.com has a bunch of articles regarding this ruling. The articles specifies California, so I am not sure if it has caught on continent-wide since these lawsuits were won by the California consumers. Here's one of the article:
Supreme Court OKs Cellphone Unlocking Suit | Threat Level | Wired.com

They're supposed to give you the unlock code for the phone when you ask for it, regardless what your reason is for asking for it. If the phone was advertised as being an unlocked phone and you get it locked, and they give you the run around and say that they can't and there's no way to unlock the phone on their end, that's FALSE ADVERTISING AND THEY ARE IN BREACH OF THE CONTRACT YOU SIGNED WITH THEM. The reason why you agreed to get in a the contract with the carrier was because they told you the phone was unlocked. Don't let the CSR's give you the run-around. All phone carriers have the unlock codes for all the phones that they market/sell.

[xenithflare]

I always have luck with simply hanging up and calling back. If a CSR tells me they can't provide me an unlock code, or try to tell me they need to "submit a request," I hang up, call back, and usually get a different rep who will cooperate.

Of course, my experiences have all been with AT&T; Sprint I hear is notorious for being difficult.