DirectUnlocks is a well-known online tool that offers unlocking services via IMEI for people struggling with carrier lock, iCloud unlock among other issues. Their official website advertises having a safe, quick, and easy unlocking process, and here we will put that to the test with all the services they claim to provide.
What is DirectUnlocks?
DirectUnlocks is a website that offers official IMEI unlocking services and network lookup services, they have been on the internet for the past 8 years (since 2015) which has given them a certain sense of credibility.
They offer three services: carrier unlock and IMEI checker; being the carrier unlock service their principal source of income and an extra one being the iCloud unlock. the IMEI checker is more like a secondary tool (but still it requires a payment, it costs approx. 3.37USD) to help customers to confirm whether their device is in fact locked or not.
How is DirectUnlocks’ Graphical Interface?
The website is easy to understand and the instructions to complete the unlocking process are clear enough, however, it is missing a lot of organization when it comes to accessibility to all the services offered. When you are on the home page, you will see a menu bar on the top that contains the following:
- The first three options are for customers to look up their phone’s brand and model. Remember that they unlock Samsung, Apple, Alcatel, Blackberry, Google Pixel, HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus, Sony, and ZTE devices.
- The fourth option “Networks” will get you to a list of the supported networks in the US, UK, Spain, Canada, and Australia. They cover networks such as T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and Virgin Mobile, among others.
- The fifth option is the IMEI check (where you have to pay for them to check if your phone is locked or not and if it is, to confirm what carrier is your phone locked to).
- The sixth and last option is “Tracking”, it will lead you to a page where customers that have already started their unlocking process can check the order status.
- The last service being the iCloud unlock is hidden on the menu and can only be found doing a google search.
In the right corner of the screen, you will see an icon with a flag, if you click on it, you will be able to change the currency to select the one in which you would like to pay. However, it seems like it’s not working because when we went to try it, it was still showing the price in euros.
Now, continuing with the structure of the website, there is something to highlight, and it’s that the services that they offer are not clear enough and not well distributed. When you take a look at the homepage and all the tabs to get to other pages, you only see things referencing the carrier unlocking service and related stuff (like the IMEI checker).
However, turns out that they offer iCloud activation removal as well, but it is nowhere to be found; this can be confusing for users and a great disadvantage for them because the design of the website doesn’t help visitors to access all the services available.
Pros & Cons
Here we have for you the principal pros and cons of DirectUnlocks:
Pros
- User-friendly platform: The website is easy to use, and the instructions are clear.
- IMEI checker: A great complementary tool for you to confirm what carrier is your phone locked to before paying for the unlocking process.
- Multiple countries: The unlocking tool works in multiple countries and with different network carriers.
- Safety: They have SSL protection and in general a very safe unlocking process.
- Effectiveness: The unlocking does not seem to work, they only check for eligibility and they you will be asked to pay an extra fee with no guaranteed it is going to work.
- Tracking page: It is pretty useful that they have available for their customers a tracking tool for them to know the status of their devices.
Cons
We checked every detail of the services provided by DirectUnlocks and we found couple of things we consider important and that are very sneaky. Luckily we did the job reading the terms of service, so you don’t have to.
It is really expensive
We have done a lot of reviews and this website is by far the most expensive one, they have a starting point of $28 for the unlocking process, but if you have a good model they will increase the price, also, according to their terms of service “There may be an additional price to pay if the phone is brand new and you’ve only owned it for a very short time”.
This for us is a very big disadvantage, not to mention that they also charge you for the IMEI checker when it is a tool that gets them users and that it is used just to confirm that your device is in fact locked (which is free if you just call your carrier to verify with them).
There are non-refundable hidden charges
You have to make a prepayment before getting to the actual unlocking service for them to check if you are eligible, those are called “Pre-orders” or “Eligibility Checks” and are not covered by their money-back guarantee.
Can you cancel it?
Once you’ve paid for your order, you cannot cancel it. Pre-orders, eligibility checks, and unlocking fees start accruing the moment your order is placed.
When you select Credit/Debit Payment, they take that as authorization to start making charges on your card, and you cannot cancel the service once you’ve been charged.
Limitations
If your device seems to be blacklisted, appears in iCloud lost, is blocked by Apple, has an FRP lock, or you choose the wrong network carrier, they won’t be able to unlock your device and you won’t be covered by their guarantee.
Now, this seems like an issue for us because if someone needs the unlocking service is probably because they purchased a second-handed device, and with those devices, it is not weird to find other types of locks on the device, and the fact that they just take the money and then if they find another lock on the phone don’t complete the process but keep the payment seems unfair.
Slow process
On their website, they advertise a 6-hour unlocking process, however, according to our test and the comments of multiple users that left their reviews on SafeSite.review, the process takes approximately 24 hours and even more in some cases.
A common complaint among people who have used DirectUnlocks is that it takes a long time to unlock a phone and compared to other (and better) unlocking services that offer the same benefits, they all have better timeframes and don’t charge people this way much.
Would we recommend DirectUnlocks?
The whole point of this review is to provide you with feedback as honestly as possible, and we think the answer is no, we would not recommend you use DirectUnlocks. It is so expensive, takes a very long time to do what should be done in minutes, and their warranty is not the best.
If you don’t know what unlocking tool you should use, we would recommend SafeUnlocks, just go and check out the benefits that they offer, you will be amazed. They take minutes to unlock your device, the price of the service is only $1 per unlocked device, and it doesn’t really matter if it is blacklisted or has some other kind of lock (which is very common because we are talking about second-handed phones).