topic Re: Terrible customer service in Pay Monthly

Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:07:33 GMT

I currently have an iPhone 5 which i got on release day from 02. At first i had problems sending and receiving texts and phone calls, texts would come through hours or even days later than sent and with calls the phone wouldn't ring, these were all while having full signal and in several different locations. After talking to 02 customer support many times i was issued with a new sim, this didn't resolve the problem. I then changed the phone at an apple store, still didn't resolve. I have restored the phone, been switched off at 02's end and eventually given a new sim-only contract on a new account, even after all of this i still have the same problem. This week i rang 02 to see what else can be done, it took four calls from my phone all of which cut out just after i had got hold of a member of the customer support so i then had to use my girlfriends Vodafone phone to ring 02, this call cost me over £10 as apposed to the usual free phone number i can use from my 02 phone. I was hoping for my phone to be unlocked so i can move to a network that works as currently i am paying for a poor at best service. However i was told iPhone 5 currently can't be unlocked.

Currently 02 are not offering me a way to get a working service and their only advice was that "they are not stopping me from moving to another network" and that i should feel free to do so. However as my phone can't be unlocked, financially i cannot afford to buy a new phone and move elsewhere.

does anyone have any advice for me?

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:59:08 GMT

Unfortunatly I think your only option is to buy a cheap phone until they get round to unlocking the 5s. Have you got the tugo app? Uses wifi to give good signal.

Is it everywhere you have this issue or only certain locations?

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:06:07 GMT

Unfortunatly i have tried the tugo.

And the fault occurs everywhere and it is sporadic

Thanks david

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:10:21 GMT

have you updated to the latest ios? cleaned the sim, did the tu go app work for you? you could make a genius appointment at your nearest apple store

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:15:10 GMT

Unfortunatly the tugo app hasn't worked for me (that could be due to the poor student accomodation wifi) and it it the latest ios, and iv had a few different sim cards and i have already had a new phone which didnt solve the problem.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:27:00 GMT

Can I just say that if you received a new iPhone from the Apple store then it would be my belief that the phone you currently have is unlocked as it would have been from Apple's stock rather than O2's.

Unless of course I'm completly wrong...

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:27:53 GMT

possibly sell the phone maybe & use the funds to get one thaat meets your needs

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:38:37 GMT

I'm inclined to agree with Stuart.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:40:47 GMT

Thats what i thought, but apparently it gets locked as soon as i put my 02 sim card in it.

Unfortunately until 02 can unlock my phone it seems i will have to stick with it

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:43:06 GMT

Yes the handset will be unlocked due to fact it was swapped by apple.

I would try a different sim in the handset and see if that works.

Also yes i do agree that O2 cs is going down the hill big time

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:43:28 GMT

Have a look at cex mate. They're offering great exchange rates you may find a phone there you like.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:43:58 GMT

Really? Have you tried a different SIM in it to check?

That seems a bit sneaky that you could buy a phone from Apple SIM free, put an O2 SIM in it and it automatically locks your phone. Doesnt sound right to me, but hey, nothing surprises me when it comes to iPhones...

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:44:42 GMT

shouldn't do my friend. Currently my phones unlocked and that wouldn't be locked if i insert another network sim

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:47:17 GMT

Apple have two sets as far as I know one will lock to the first carrier sim and the other is unlocked. They don't mix and match. You should only get what you give in.

As for O2 CS they're not any worse than normal theyre just refusing to unlock the i5 which is understandable if they do one everyone will expect it.

As for the case of not unlocking them full stop I don't agree. It's way past stick issues.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:47:49 GMT

But...if thats the case, how do they know that the iPhone you are handing over as faulty is carrier locked? I wouldn't have thought that the staff in an Apple Store would have access to that sort of information, let alone tell how to check on the phone itself...

I think the OP should try a different carriers SIM in the iPhone to check.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:50:04 GMT

I think they would be able to tell by the IMEI number if its locked or not

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:50:10 GMT

All iPhones are set up via connection to iTunes/ICloud pretty sure the imei number and status is recorded.

You can check the status of any phone(imei) online yourself.

Re: Terrible customer service

Liquid — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:55:17 GMT

http://s-url.ro/

http://www.imei.info/check-warranty-unlock/

^^ good one tells you everything about the phone.

Re: Terrible customer service

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:56:24 GMT

Well there you go, today has been enlightening, ive learnt two new things on here today!

I just found this on the Apple dicsussion forums:

"FACTORY UNLOCKED is a misnomer. By definition, it should have been "NEVER LOCKED" iPhones since those units were actually NEVER locked, either at the factory or by Apple. Literally speaking, no iPhones are being unlocked at the factory level. Instead, unlocked iPhones simply means their serial/model number combo are NOT included in the list of serial/model numbers that are locked to a certain carrier, or CARRIER LOCKED iPhones, which is kept at the Apple servers.

Both factory unlocked and carrier locked units still need to be activated via iTunes connected to Apple's servers prior to first use. This process is what determines if the iPhone is carrier locked or not. If it's in the clean list, then it activates whatever SIM is inserted at the time of activation. If it's carrier locked, it activates too provided a correct SIM is inserted at the time of activation. There is no unlocking done at the factory at all. And there is no difference between unlocked and carrier locked units in terms of features."

Sorry, I'll go back to my BlackBerry now haha...

Re: Terrible customer service

jonsie — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:57:10 GMT

Apple exchange like for like. If your phone is network locked, you get a network locked replacement.