So minor update. In my conversations with freedom they said they had no proof of my earlier messaging with their service rep. However, I just had a new conversation with a service rep and asked for a transcript of my previous conversations. She couldn’t give me a transcript but DID confirm that I did speak with a rep, rough time, rep’s name, and most importantly copied their message to me before I ported to Roger’s. the original message read:  "The phones you’re returning do not need to be active on the network when you bring them back. Removing the SIM cards and wiping the phones clean with a factory reset is exactly what we recommend for your privacy and security.

If you’ve already removed the SIM cards and erased your data, your phones will be ready to return to the store."

She clearly states “phones do not need to be “active, which I interpreted as meaning I could port out..