Just as a note before jumping into the story, I will be calling Pixel 2s bought from the Google Store "Google Pixel 2s" and the ones from Verizon "Verizon Pixel 2s".
Before we get into the story here, it's important that you have a very general idea of what the Bootloader is, and how you unlock it.
The Google Pixel 2 ships with an "Unlocked Bootloader." This is an advanced feature that mostly only advanced users use. It allows users to overwrite the preinstalled software on the phone. Google themselves actually instructs users how to unlock the bootloader on this page.
In December of 2017, I bought a Google Pixel 2 for two reasons. I am working on becoming a Android developer, so I wanted to have the latest versions of Android to test the app I am currently developing. The second reason is the unlockable Bootloader. I enjoy running my own custom firmware on phones, one that I can tweak and modify ever tiny thing if I wanted to, and the unlockable bootloader would allow me to do so.
When I got my Pixel 2, everything was perfect. I had Android Oreo (the newest version at the time), I could run my own firmware, it was the Android device of my dreams. But I was stupid, and didn't put a screen protector on it. By February the screen, although still usable, had some minor issues. So I decided to use my warranty plan and have the phone replaced.
Returning the phone was easy. They sent me a replacement device and I sent back my original Pixel 2. At first everything seemed fine. I didn't try to unlock my bootloader on my replacement device until about two weeks after I got it.
And this is where the problem is. When I tried to unlock the Bootloader on my replacement device, the "Fastboot" tool used for unlocking the Bootloader gave me an error, with the following message: "FAILED (remote: Flashing Unlock is not allowed)" And the "OEM Unlock" option in Developer Settings became grey and had the text "Please connect to the Internet or contact your carrier" under it.
Confused by this error, I searched the internet for reasons behind this error. At first I found two things, that lead me to assume either this was a early run Pixel 2, which was reported to have the same error when unlocking, or a Verizon Pixel 2. In both cases I thought the answer was clear: contact Assurant, which is the company Google uses for the Pixel 2 warranty, and get sent another Pixel 2. If it was an early Pixel 2, it would be counted as defective or if it was a Verizon Pixel 2, they would have made an error, so they should send me a proper one.
Once again, Assurant was actually pretty easy use, and they sent me a new Pixel 2, no problem.
This time, I tried as soon as the replacement devices arrived, to unlock it. Again, I got the same error. "Flashing Unlock is not allowed"
And this is where I sit now. I am now on my 5th replacement device, all of them getting the exact same error when I try unlocking. I have tried contacting both Google and Assurant, both have sent me replacement devices and neither have sent me a correct device.
Now I'd like to share the info I've gathered. In my long journey I've found three useful things:
1) I am not the only person suffering from this problem. There are multiple reports of this issue on the XDA developer fourms, a website for phone hacking.
2) I do not in fact have a Verizon device, I do indeed have a Google Pixel 2. And I would assume they've weeded out all the defective early Pixel 2s.
3) It appears that this has something to do with the fact that they are sending refurbished devices. Although, I don't know if you BOUGHT a refurbished from Google if it would has this problem, as I don't have the money to spend on finding out.
I'd like to be direct here. In my eyes, Google is doing something very wrong here. If you return a Pixel 2 device via their warranty services, they send you an incomplete device. Even if you won't ever use the unlocked Bootloader, they are sending you a device without a feature that your phone should have.
I have tried to talk with Google tech support about this issue and they won't tell me any fixes or any explanations for why my device is not the same as the one I bought in December. The most I've gotten out of them is: "It is unlockable, we just can't tell you how to do it" even though their website gives that information freely, at least for normal Google Pixel 2s.
If you read Google's terms regarding the warranty policy, they claim they cannot be held accountable for "lost data", so they may claim that this feature is just "lost data" but they should, at the very least explain why they take this feature away from refurbished devices, and include a warning that you'll lose this feature.
Here, at the end, I'd like to request that you share this post as far as you can. This is not right that Google is modifying replacement devices, let alone not warning people before hand, so as many people as can should be warned about this. And maybe if this explodes enough, maybe people like me stuck in this situation can get a explanation from Google.
Even if you don't share this post, I want to say thank you for reading this blog post, and taking the time out of your day to read why I'm upset with Google. Thanks for reading, and have a good day.
UPDATE! (11/9/18):
So. This warranty thing never worked out. Google never replaced the phone with a working bootloader. But they did agree to give me a refund. They made it clear to me that this is a special thing for them, and they don't normally do this. But I felt it was a good idea to update this blog post. I now have an iPhone XS because Google doesn't deserve my money right now.
UPDATE... (11/17/18):
Well. I can't stand iOS. I can't program it on enough of my computers. So I returned the iPhone and got a Pixel 3 XL. It has the same issue as the Pixel 2 does above. Although I have not fought it Google support yet. This may need a bigger update later.
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