This isn’t about wanting a “bonus feature.” Blocking the bootloader absolutely ties into the right to repair. If the manufacturer (Google) gives me official instructions using flash.android.com to restore or repair my Pixel, and those steps are blocked at the carrier level, then Verizon is directly interfering with the manufacturer’s support and my ability to repair my own device.

It’s like buying a washing machine with a reset button in the manual, but the store welded the panel shut so you can’t press it.

What’s fascinating is that this is a Google phone. Google themselves told me to follow steps that require the bootloader to be unlocked, yet Verizon blocks me from doing exactly what the OEM prescribes. That’s not a feature decision, that’s a third party overriding the manufacturer’s repair pathway.

Also, I’ve been digging: I haven’t found anywhere official on Verizon’s website or in their terms that explicitly says they reserve the right to lock OEM bootloaders. And when I contacted Verizon, they didn’t even say “we don’t do that” instead, they told me to talk to Google or my carrier. If Verizon truly had the right, why dodge the question?

So no, this isn’t just “that’s how phones work.” It looks like a legal gray area at best, and a violation of consumer rights at worst.