Bought unlocked phone and took it abroad, but unlocked phone not working

[chochu444]

I bought an unlocked S23+ phone in July in the US. I had bought the phone for my father, who lives in Nepal. I took the phone to Nepal but when he tried to use it, he kept getting this message:

"Sorry, your device can't be activated on another carrier's network right now. For help, contact Verizon at (800) 922-0204 or (888) 294-6804 (prepaid plans)"

I have tried to use an eSim from Nepal, but the Nepal Telecom network only lasts 20-30 seconds, when the eSim works, and then I get the same message above. 

I have contacted customer service and even filed an FCC complaint but have not had any luck resolving this issue. Apparently trying to use the phone directly outside the US leads to this problem, but the phone was bought as unlocked and it has been more than 60 days since I bought the phone, meaning it should have been unlocked by now. 

Someone from Verizon mentioned that the phone must be activated in the US before it can work elsewhere. But it is impossible for me to send this phone back to the US and then bring it again to Nepal. Surely this is a software issue, rather than a hardware one, so I would have thought there would be a way to activate the phone from the US. Someone else from Verizon even said that the phone is not locked, but using it is not possible. 

I am so frustrated that more than 6 months later, my father still cannot use this new phone. The phone was sold as unlocked, and I have all the receipts that show that this was a legitimate purchase. It is not easy or possible to send the phone from Nepal to the US, which is quite expensive. I would thus be grateful for your help in dealing with this so that the phone is unlocked from afar so that my father can use the phone please. 

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello Chochu44. We definitly want you to be able to use your phone. You can find our full unlocking policy at the following link https://www.verizon.com/about/consumer-safety/device-unlocking-policy

Prepaid phones require that a prepaid plan is set up and used with the device to start the 60 days. Simply buying the phone does not start that countdown.  -James