Stuck with Regional Lock - iPhone is from US and I am in Canada

I know the chances are bleak, and you are not a mediator that would help resolve the issues, but I also know that media has the power to move many a mountain, so I do see some light of hope.

I am writing this Post as my last hope of resolution... I have made a mistake of buying an iPhone on Launch day from Best Buy in the United States. Despite making it clear to the staff at the store and discussing with them if it would work overseas, they have still sold this iPhone which I was planning to gift it to my sister in India. I got two other iPhone x's one for myself an the other for my mom from the Apple Store which works flawlessly in Canada.

Here is where this nightmare begins. The phone that I had sent to my sister in India, wouldn't activate as Apple/Best Buy has a regional lock on it(please note - not carrier lock, but Regional Lock), rendering the phone useless outside the United States. I had called Best Buy to discuss this issue and told them how I wouldn't be able to retrieve the phone back from basically half the globe away. The Best Buy rep I was speaking to that day, spoke to his manager and they agreed to extend the return period considering it was their fault as well as no one in the store even told me about such a thing and my purchase order online had no mention of this as well(see attached). I got the phone back a few days ago and decided to call Best Buy ahead of my visit there to ensure there won't be any hiccups once in the store. They outright refused that any such thing was ever said or didn't have any notes on my file etc, etc...

Now I am stuck with a $1250 USD phone and have no way of returning it or exchanging it for the one that works. What frustrates me, even more, is I paid a $100 premium on this phone because Best Buy used to have this stupid little premium so their customers can" enjoy the phone with whatever carrier they wish" - as per their spokesperson. How is this the freedom to enjoy my phone when I can't even use it outside the United States? I am a Canadian Citizen and the phone doesn't even work here. Moreover, it is locked to Sprint for whatever reason on top of it. So not only did I waste the regular price of the phone, I paid a premium to have myself so screwed, not to mention the costs for getting the phone back from India expedited because Best Buy asked me to have it back ASAP. I fail to understand, if I have paid a "premium" to have an unlocked device, why would it be locked to Sprint? Moreover, Best Buy was quick to retract this $100 premium based on bad publicity they saw that had come in, but now are failing to support the unlucky few who actually paid for this back when they had it- So the way I see it, my fault is just getting the phone at the wrong time from a wrong company?

The situation gets even worse as I tried calling Sprint to unlock my phone (since the outright price has been paid off), and they said they can't as I don't have an account with them? So BestBuy/Apple is telling me, I can have my phone locked magically to a certain carrier, w/o having an account with them, but can't have it unlocked? There clearly has been some sort of screw up from either of the companies and I have to pay the price for their stupidity.

Thirdly, I went to Apple, requesting them to at least provide me with a phone that would at least work in Canada... Apple has a simple solution to this argument, "you didn't buy the phone from us, hence we can't help". I get it I got the phone from one of your "AUTHORIZED sellers", but such an easy transaction won't even leave a mark on Apple's financials and moreover they can then get the phone back to Best Buy as this arrangement is initiated between Apple and Best Buy, to begin with (the universal phones that won't work outside the US). At the time of writing this, no one would even buy the phone on Craigslist, even though I have listed at a further discount (please note that I have already spent $400 extra at this point due to buying it from Best Buy and then having it couriered from India). Apple has met its end in regards to demand and supple and hence are offering same-day pickup at the time of writing, hence why would anyone buy a "month old, locked sprint phone, that has been outside the country" when they can walk into an apple store and get the phone right away. As the situation stands I can't afford to discount it any further, even though it would make sense to salvage whatever I can, but at this point I have punted about $1600 on the phone and somewhere deep down I am hesitant to list it for $500 just because I got it from the wrong company?

It is also possible that I am wrong at many steps as well, but shelling me out by $1250 bucks for their own negligence feels like cheating to me (point out, they didn't have it listed anywhere on their website about this regional lock/how they asked me to get the phone back and now won't do the return)

Here is a list of some questions I have that are unanswered:

1. Why is/was not listed on their website about the phone being regionally locked? If I had bought the phone as a United States resident, they are telling me it wouldn't have worked outside of US even though it's the latest and greatest phone and I had paid a premium to get an unlocked phone?
2. Why would I Shell another $200 bringing the phone back from India if Best Buy had already told me they won't return it? Clearly, they did and that's why I spent more money in hopes of a resolution.
3. If the phone is "unlocked" why is it magically showing locked to Sprint in everyone's system?
4. Best Buy basically provides no guarantee that their products would work if a tourist buys them in the United States - For ex - If I were visiting from Paris and happened to get my hands on the iPhone on the launch day and considering all the details figured it was unlocked only to find out that it doesn't work in Paris, what to do then? I'll be screwed? Obviously, I won't come back to the United States to have the phone replaced?

I don't know what I am hoping for the outcome of this would be, but at least I have a way of telling others not make the same mistakes and hopefully, Apple and Best Buy wouldn't screw anyone how they played around this time. I would love for this to reach as many people as possible(maybe a shortened version).

Regards,

Abhi C.

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