So, I had just under a month left on my contract, and I contacted Sprint to cancel, pay the ETF, and get my iPhone 6 unlocked. They processed my cancellation request, but since it was under a month left, they stated I didn't have to pay an ETF (nice?). They immediately deactivated my service and told me it would take 24-72 hours to process the unlock request. Until then, my new sim card and iPhone could not be used. It was a pain, but I waited.

I then called today to get an update on the situation, and technical support informed me that my phone would automatically unlock on the date my contract was supposed to end (October 7th). They told me it was impossible for them to manually unlock it before this, which seems weird since people pay ETF's after the first year for the ability to unlock before that "automatic" deadline. Seems to me like a clear FCC violation. Am I missing something? I'm not trying to rant, I am just genuinely curious if anyone understands why they wouldn't be able to do this.

If you meet all of their eligibility requirements, what prevents them from unlocking it on their end instead of waiting out the last few weeks for the device to automatically unlock?