I had to split the post in half because it wouldn't save otherwise.
Thank you, mshap , for starting this thread. I ended up in a very similar situation. I bought an iPhone 5s on November 12 last year at the T-Mobile store in LA (1142 Westowood Blvd), I paid full price for the device and shortly after that I flew to Europe and then noticed that the staff at the store forgot to include an activation booklet. After several conversations with customer care I was able to activate the device via T Mobile International support over the phone. I was perfectly clear from the first contact with customer care than I now perpanently live in Europe and that I wish to use the device with european SIM card. They told me several times that I should activate the phone, refill the account with more than $50, keep it active for more than 40 days and thereby meet all the SIM Unlock criteria. Nobody ever told me that I have to use the phone in the USA, because international roaming doesn't count as device usage. One@@@ of the support agents even told me that I can call T Mobile international support (which is free of charge) every other day to keep the device active until I meet the 40 day requirement.
Now, after I met all the requirements I requested SIM Unlock and then it turned out that my phones IMEI number is not linked to my T Mobile account. But even then the agents assured me that I can get the unlock because they validated the usages on my account and will inform the SIM Unlock Team on the matter.
I quote (february 14):
Leonil C: We also validated the usages on your account.
Leonil C: Now, I will process your unlock request here now. And I will also let our Unlock team know about the situation
and (february 18)
Joey M: Have I addressed all of your concerns for today ?
You: just this one last thing
Joey M: Go ahead please.
You: My request was submitted 4 days ago
Joey M: Alright !
You: and then I got an email saying that I do not meet the requirements
You: every thing looked exactly the same
Joey M: I understand where you are coming from .
You: How do you solve this that this time it's going to work
Joey M: I place a note on the account about this one so that our SIM Unlock Team can review the account and process the request for you.
Joey M: Everything is noted on your account Barbara about this one.