topic Re: Unblocking Phone Lock in Business Customers

Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 17:05:42 GMT

I have a Doro 6520 mobile phone.

Which program will enable me to override the Screen Lock so I can reaccess my phone's contents?

A Screen Lock prompting a "Phone Code" password was set up without my prior consent or knowledge as I discovered when I turned my phone then off again to quickly delete an unwanted draft text after being switched to a monthly Unlimited texts for a year contract.

I have tried some programs (checking they're safe first via Virus Total), but they haven't worked, or they would work with the Doro, but only allow the option to Reset the Doro. I don't want to reset it as it would lose my phone's entire contents.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

madasaf1sh — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 18:19:55 GMT

@Flamingo71

Their are no programmes that will let you override the pin number / screenlock.

This is a security feature built into all phones to protrect personal data. The only option is to reset your phone and unfortuantely you will loose everything from the device.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 23:12:31 GMT

@madasaf1sh wrote:
@Flamingo71

Their are no programmes that will let you override the pin number / screenlock.

This is a security feature built into all phones to protrect personal data. The only option is to reset your phone and unfortuantely you will loose everything from the device.

Thanks for your update.

I was clearly misinformed then by some O2 Live Chat staff who claimed that I could get my phone resolved manually in an O2 store. Absolute rubbish advice from them, as when I visited our local O2 store, they said the same as you.

As I'd seen before and after my visit to the O2 store online businesses that have free unblockers and in other cases ones which charge a small fee to override screen locks, I had hoped that something would override the block, but you've confirmed the same as the O2 store.

The screen lock has only appeared since I was switched from Pay As You Go to a monthly Unlimited texts contract, as a result of O2's blunder of failing to tell me that the monthly contract SIM card they sent to me has a screen lock, that this SIM card has a new password or what the password is, as otherwise I would have been able to unblock the screen lock myself.

They should have supplied me details of all of the above in advance, which would have prevented me from having to have my phone reset.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

MI5 — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 05:50:54 GMT

@Flamingo71

If it's the SIM pin you need, you can get it here https://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unblock-your-phone

If sim is locked out from failed attempts, you just need a new SIM from any O2 store.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 11:33:24 GMT

@MI5 wrote:
@Flamingo71
If it's the SIM pin you need, you can get it here https://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unblock-your-phone
If sim is locked out from failed attempts, you just need a new SIM from any O2 store.

Thanks for your update.

The SIM pin must be the same as a PUK code, which I have since entered into my phone.

Unfortunately, once again "Wrong password", so hoping that our sole local O2 store has a new monthly contract unlimited texts SIM card to replace the current monthly contract SIM card that is blocking me access to my phone as a result of O2's incompetence of lack of information preventing me from knowing a Screen Lock had been added and that a Password that they never informed me of would be required, I'll visit them.

The problem is, when I last visited the store, the manager sympathized with my situation about me losing access to my Contacts and other contents, but said he/his colleagues could only reset my phone, so knowing all this, I don't understand why he didn't offer me a replacement SIM card, which I assume he'll say isn't an option, despite the fact that this would regain me access to my phone, provided that the Shop gives me a password with a new SIM card, which the O2 sender who sent me in the post the current monthly contract SIM card failed to do who made no mention of a Screen Lock or Password, or that, once I switched my phone off then on again, I would be blocked out, which is how I came to be blocked out of my phone.

I might phone up the shop in advance, but suspect that they'll say the same as before, just as if I revisit the shop - that they can only reset my phone.

Someone at O2 Live Chat said that I would receive £10 for up to a month's worth of lost texts, so I'll check my bank statement to ensure this is implemented, but no amount of money makes up for lost time or most importantly loss of access to the entire contents of my phone.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

madasaf1sh — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 11:40:52 GMT

@Flamingo71

This is from the Doro Device Manual
https://www.doro.com/globalassets/inriver/resources/manual_doro_6520_en_v31r18355.pdf

Have you also spoken to Doro??
Phone lock
The phone lock protects your phone from unwanted usage. If activated,
phone is locked after restart and the phone code needs to be entered to
unlock.
1. Press Menu Settings Security Phone lock.
2. Select On to enable, or Off to disable.
3. Press OK to confirm.
Note! You need to enter current phone code. Default phone code is 1234.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:23:53 GMT

@madasaf1sh wrote:
@Flamingo71

This is from the Doro Device Manual
https://www.doro.com/globalassets/inriver/resources/manual_doro_6520_en_v31r18355.pdf

Have you also spoken to Doro??
Phone lock
The phone lock protects your phone from unwanted usage. If activated,
phone is locked after restart and the phone code needs to be entered to
unlock.
1. Press Menu Settings Security Phone lock.
2. Select On to enable, or Off to disable.
3. Press OK to confirm.
Note! You need to enter current phone code. Default phone code is 1234.

Thanks for your update including the Doro link which I shall read through shortly.

I spoke to Doro whose customer service representative Anita was extremely rude who spoke to me in an aggressive manner and treated me as dim for not knowing things that I had no way of knowing before I phoned up Doro's sadly abysmal customer service, at least from my experience, as I've not phoned them back, also as their Complaints service is completely biased in favour of patronizing the customer's intelligence as to how they were treated by siding with the person being complained about.

Anita kept repeating the same information over and over again as if I hadn't listened, even though I listened to Everything she said, including the "1234" password, but the O2 store manager said that, each SIM card comes with its own password that O2 stores don't know about, so the O2 source which dispatches SIM cards in the post are clearly responsible for this mess of not notifying me that a Screen Lock requiring a Password is set up at the factory (that is effectively what the O2 store told me happens) or what the Password is - no longer "1234" (which the O2 store said they are not informed about), or that, once the phone is switched off then on again, the phone becomes inaccessible without a password, which was grossly irresponsible of the person who set up the above functions, who must have realized, but clearly overlooked the fact that, if a customer isn't given a Password, they can't access their phones.

The phone lock was set up without my prior consent or knowledge, as otherwise I would have backed up everything before switching my phone off then on again as the quickest option to delete an average sized unwanted draft text, not anticipating that the moment I did this (due to no information in advance from O2 warning this would happen), I would then be presented with a "Phone Code" prompt for a password that O2 never gave to me.

Whatever password O2 have used will be a maximum of 8 digits, but it could be anything. I've tried my birth date, and various series of digits that O2 Live Chat gave me, all of which don't match the ongoing unknown password.

All I have on my Mobile Phone screen is "Phone code" prompting for a password (in a rectangular box) O2 never advised me about and "ICE" below. All I can access is ICE. I then press the Red button which reverts me to the "Phone code" screen.

I am happy with the Concept of the screen lock to protect the phone from unwanted usage, but it would have been helpful if O2 had stated the ins and outs including giving me a Password, which would have prevented this farce of me being blocked out of my phone due to their lack of information including that turning a phone off then on again locks out the customer without a password that they never gave to me. There is no mention of any of this in what they sent me, as otherwise I would have backed up everything before switching my phone off then on again.

Unfortunately, the O2 store manager said that the original password that came with my Pay As You Go changes with each new SIM card, but O2's sender of the SIM card in the post failed to supply me a Password or anything about Screen Locks and Passwords, or passwords changing per SIM card, which is why I have ended up being blocked out of my phone.

If O2 had been transparent from the start, I wouldn't be in this situation now.

I sadly can't access the "Menu Settings" section, which I presume is the Middle square button, although I've tried all buttons except the keys that are used to enter a password, as they are asterisks which don't relate to the Menu Settings.

Due to this, I frustratingly can't proceed with step 2 or step 3.

Unless the O2 store shop agree that a new SIM card would be able to inherit the contents of the current SIM card I can no longer access, it looks like I'll have no choice but to let O2 Live Chat remotely or O2's store reset my phone and lose me my entire contents.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

jonsie — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:17:26 GMT

Default sim pin is 0000 on all O2 sim cards

You must have a setting in the phone security to ask for pin if the sim is changed

This has nothing to do with O2 who cannot lock your screen

As said by @MI5 , you now need to enter the PUK but it's almost certain that you will now need a new sim card by entering the incorrect PUK more than 10 times

All of this is down to user error unfortunately.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:34:48 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
Default sim pin is 0000 on all O2 sim cards
You must have a setting in the phone security to ask for pin if the sim is changed
This has nothing to do with O2 who cannot lock your screen
As said by @MI5 , you now need to enter the PUK but it's almost certain that you will now need a new sim card by entering the incorrect PUK more than 10 times
All of this is down to user error unfortunately.

I am the user, and the error is most definitely not down to me, as I have no knowledge of how to create a Screen Lock and Password, as while useful commodities, I have never used them, and the only other people who've had access to my phone are O2 -

O2 never made me aware in advance that the new SIM card had a Screen Lock set up that required a password, and O2 didn't give me details of a password or that, once a phone is switched off then on again, a Screen Lock would appear.

As I wasn't made aware of any of the above, I had no way of knowing a Screen Lock and Password had even been set up.

If O2 had made me aware of all of the above, or at least what the Password is, I wouldn't be locked out now. I accept no responsibility for information O2 didn't advise me about.

I have tried "0000" but it is the "Wrong password", so whoever added in the Screen Lock and Password entered a completely different password of up to 8 digits.

The only options available to me are ICE (unrelated to the issue) and the "Phone code".

I have tried all buttons except those that are used for passwords that appear as asterisks.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

madasaf1sh — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 16:37:17 GMT

@Flamingo71

By default no o2 sim card is set to have a pin number enabled.

The only default Sim PIN's i know of 1210 , 0000, 8705.

o2 dont have handset passwords and never have, these are all user configurable items, and unless you got someone to setup the phone for you, no one is going to know this password. I also cant see anyone at o2 setting a password on a device and not telling you what it is.

Im afraid your only option is to factory reset the device and start again. - Note :You will loose everything on the device.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:41:27 GMT

@madasaf1sh wrote:
@Flamingo71
By default no o2 sim card is set to have a pin number enabled.

The only default Sim PIN's i know of 1210 , 0000, 8705.

o2 dont have handset passwords and never have, these are all user configurable items, and unless you got someone to setup the phone for you, no one is going to know this password. I also cant see anyone at o2 setting a password on a device and not telling you what it is.

Im afraid your only option is to factory reset the device and start again. - Note :You will loose everything on the device.

I have never and don’t know how to set up a Screen Lock and Password, so I know that I am not responsible for this blunder.

O2 Live Chat’s staff have differed on whether I do or don’t need my phone to be reset. Some of their staff told me that any O2 store would be able to physically unblock my phone on their premises, which the local store disagrees with, as they say they can only reset my phone, and as you and most people respectively officially or unofficially affiliated with O2 have come to the same conclusion, clearly Live Chat’s information isn’t totally reliable, which left me uncertain which staff members were conveying to me accurate details.

Also, the O2 store and some of you at the O2 forum have said that O2 aren’t responsible.

However, as I have no knowledge of how to set up a Screen Lock and Password, you’ve said that O2 SIM cards don’t have a Pin Number enabled, and only one other person (besides myself) – from O2 – has had direct contact with my phone, the penny has since dropped that it must be the local O2 shop’s manager who is responsible, despite his denial that he and his colleagues have no access to customers’ passwords, which doesn’t rule out that shopkeepers could still create screen locks and passwords, with or without the customers’ knowledge, contrary to his claims.

He was often tapping away at my phone for a long time – around 30 to 45 minutes while he was setting up my new SIM card for a monthly paid unlimited texts for a year contract who quoted my Security question during his conversation with what must have been O2 in Winchester to activate the phone.

As he was within sight of me a distance away further along the counter, but not close enough for me to see precisely what he was doing, it must have been Him (not the person who posted to me the SIM card from O2 Winchester) who had added a Screen Lock and Password without my consent and knowledge, thus who also failed to notify me of the Password or that, once I switched my phone off then on again, I would get blocked out of my phone and instead of instant access end up with an unexpected Screen Lock prompt for a password.

If he had bothered to ask for my consent, which he should have done, or at the very least changed settings but bothered to tell me the Password, I wouldn’t have got blocked out and would have ensured I got all my Contacts backed up beforehand, as I couldn’t mind read what he didn’t tell me, hence why I wasn’t aware of a Screen Lock and Password until more recently.

As he failed to ask for my consent, or at least update me what he’d done, I had no way of knowing that I would suddenly get blocked out the moment I turned my phone off then on again, as happened on 23 May, which I only did as the fastest method of deleting an unwanted draft text.

Having since learned about the invaluable use of Screen Locks and Passwords, I’m all for these concepts, provided that I am asked for consent or shown how to create them which would have avoided this farce and having to go through endless O2 Live Chats with staff differing on what is the correct information.

Luckily, I have managed to retrace a fraction of my contacts from handwritten notes and e-mail addresses of others will be another means of retracing more contacts so I can now back them up to a spreadsheet prior to re-entering them on my phone, once I regain access to it, but all this could have been avoided if decisions hadn’t been made without consulting with me first.

If the Shop Manager had been transparent with me from the start by asking for my consent instead of changing settings without my knowledge, or he’d at least told me the Password, I would have been able to unblock access to my phone by myself, as I would have had the password to hand. It’s only when the unexpected Screen Lock prompt for a password suddenly appeared that I realized settings had been changed that I hadn’t been made aware of in advance.

I would never have visited the shop if I had known this was going to happen, but your point further proves and further strengthens my belief that O2 Winchester is exempt from blame for this fiasco of settings changes to my phone and who precisely Is responsible, who should be totally ashamed of himself for misleading me with false information of denials to deflect attention away from himself.

He claimed “We don’t have access to customers’ passwords. All we can do is a reset. Every SIM card is assigned its own screen lock and password for security reasons to protect customers from their phones being used by other people”, which further strengths my belief that he is the person responsible for the Screen Lock and Password fiasco.

That is the first and last time I will ever leave my phone in the hands of shops unless I am right in front of the staff member, irrespective of whether they’re the manager or not. In future, I want any member of shop staff to be transparent with me from the start and to ask my permission as to If that I want anything changed, and only change settings if I grant permission, as should have happened during what should have been a mere upgrade to a monthly for a year SIM card contract. That’s all I expected of him. He had no business tampering with settings I didn’t given him consent to change.

It must be the O2 Shop Manager, as he is the only person to date who has ever made reference to each SIM card having its own screen lock and password, and as you’ve confirmed SIM cards don’t have a PIN number enabled. This goes in complete harmony with your comment about someone setting up the phone for me.

Although I’ve never met you personally, the fact that he kept tapping away on my phone so often, he must have been changing settings, but I wasn’t close enough to see what he was doing and trusted him, not realizing what was going on, as customers should be able to trust the very people who are providing them a service.

If I, personally worked for a shop that sells mobile phones, I would always make it a strict policy to ask the customer If they want anything changed and only change settings with their consent. In this way, the customer wouldn’t then get an unexpected surprise the moment they turn their phone off then on again. The fact that I didn’t fully back up all my contacts before 23 May is irrelevant, as if my phone hadn’t been tampered with, I wouldn’t have had a Screen Lock for a password prompt, and I would have still had instant access like when I previously used the phone with Pay As You Go.

The manager did forget to notify me of the Password, as otherwise I would have had this information to hand before I left the shop to unblock the phone by myself, but it was grossly irresponsible of him to make decisions for me that he didn’t inform me about, which would have prevented what has happened.

Nevertheless, it frustratingly seems I have no choice but to have my phone reset as a very last resort and lose the entire contents of my phone that I had hoped could be avoided.

Re: Unblocking Phone Lock

Flamingo71 — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 17:14:32 GMT

Are there any circumstances whereby a Mobile Phone shop requires a Password in order to be able to Reset the mobile phone?

Can you please clarify if this is correct?

I was under the impression that if the customer has forgotten or has never been advised of the password that their phone can be reset.