Rogers unlocking - was I scammed?

[amoda]

Hey!

So I called Rogers today, my cell phone provider in Canada, to ask if my iPhone 4S which I purchased off an individual privately was eligable to be unlocked.

The person who sold me the phone told me it was a Rogers phone, so I figured that he bought it with a contract and wanted to flip it.

Rogers informed me that the person had purchased the phone at full price "partially unlocked". Meaning that the phone is unlocked untill the moment you pop in a sim card from any provider then it's permanently locked.

I questioned him a bit more, he kept saying the same thing and as I didn't have a simcard from another carrier to test the phone I paid the $50 unlocking fee.

I've been googling and I can't find any mention of a such called "partially unlocked" iPhone. Especially one at full retail price. Does such a thing exist, or did they pull a fast one on me?

Thanks for any help!

Tl:dr Does Apple sell a "partially unlocked" iPhone that is carrier-free until you place a sim card into it?

 

[amoda]

Any insight? It would be really appreciated!

 

[kunaalarria]

All it means is that he paid full price, and can unlock it for $50 as per Rogers' rules. It's locked because he bought it through Rogers, and all phones bought through Rogers are locked, but it's partially unlocked because all you have to do is pay $50 to unlock it. The seller was misinformed and assumed cause he paid full price through Rogers that it meant it was unlocked.

I did this when I left Rogers a few months ago to move to the US

 

[VPrime]

Apple doesn't sell partially unlocked phones.. But the carriers here do.
When apple sent every carrier a 4s thy didn't send them specific ones for each carrier. They sent them all the same phones then locked to that carrier as soon as it was activated.

So if you got t any carrier and buy a 4s but don't unwrap it and activate it there than that will work on another carrierof your choice......

This is how it was explained to me last year, and I know of at least one person who did this.