Bluegrass Cellular's Deceit! Why will Verizon allow change but not Bluegrass Cell.

Premise- The two carriers have a reciprocal agreement between the two and via that contract, Verizon supplies equipment (specifically LTE tech) onto Bluegrass towers, agreeing to share towers and equipment while Verizon agrees not to compete with BG Cellular in their small 34 county area.

Details- My wife gets a healthy corp discount through AT&T. We make the decision to move all family phones to AT&T for huge financial savings. Prior to finalizing our decision, I called Verizon for an unlock code. The support person tells me their iPhones aren't locked, at least that she's aware. Still cautious, I take my Verizon Phone to the AT&T store, insert an AT&T SIM and after a network reset, sure enough, the VZ iPhone 5 gets an AT&T signal. It's not LTE due the the difference in the two networks but it is4G HSPA+ Which I fully expected. We also spoke with Bluegrass Cellulars Corp people from the AT&T store in order to port numbers and make all necessary Changes on the spot. We asked what Bluegrass needed from us in order to complete necessary changes and they told us Nothing; they would take care of everything. They went on to tell my wife, via conf call (she wasn't with me at the time nor did we have her phone with us) what time (the following day) to turn her phone off, insert the AT&T SIM CARD, and turn back on. At that time she was to be fully functional with an AT&T signal. I completed all paperwork, paid for amenities, and we had just added 5 lines to AT&T.

Problem- after turning her phone off, inserting the new SIM AS TOLD, message on phone came up stating the SIM card would not work with that phone. Without going further into a real cluster of a mess, I'll finish this with just necessary facts in order to provide enough detail to hopefully find an answer that makes sense. I called Bluegrass Cellular requesting an unlock code in order to finish making this change. 3 times I called talking with 3 different people, all giving me the same answer...Bluegrass Cellular doesn't lock their phones. I believe that each support person honestly believed what they were telling me was true; problem is, I know it isn't. After several days of my wife having to travel for work without a phone, I just went to the AT&T store and purchased a new 5s.

We sent a complaint to the BBB just because we felt we were treated with deceitfulness. Bluegrass's response was that they did not lock their phones and the reason the phone wouldn't work was due to the different networks Bluegrass CDMA and AT&T GSM worked with. I kept telling them that answer didn't hold water because I was talking to them on a CDMA VZ phone proving they had not been admitting their phones are indeed locked.

Question- what, if anything have I overlooked? I was out $700 additional I wasn't planning on before changing her over. Can this Bluegrass Cellular phone be unlocked by a 3rd party. Bluegrass refuses to do anything. If they helped me now, they would just be admitting their deceitful practice. I'd love nothing more than to make educate the Bluegrass customers in some way. I paid my dues but don't want others blind-sided by their diligent intent to tell people whatever it is they think someone wants to hear as opposed to what's needed in order to make informed financial decisions.

Sorry for this long post but I wanted to add enough factual information and hope for I helpful replies based on good factual information. I'd love to post their BBB response as well as my rebuttal but I don't see any good coming from it. The facts are here!!!

Thanks for any help someone might provide us.

Sincerely,

Bhelson.