PAYG phone unlocking charges

[Nick9]

Hi,

I tried to unlock my PAYG phone - the O2 Help page states 'If you’re on Pay As You Go, your O2 phone or tablet can be unlocked at any time, for free.', but both my My O2 account and customer services say there is a £15 charge, to which I cannot find any reference.

Can anyone explain?

Thanks,

[Martin-O2]

@Cleoriff, @jonsie Yes it was a nice surprise! 

@MI5 Sure no problem, I'll confirm the finer points and let you know so you can get your guide updated. 

[AK04]

I am confused is it now free to unlock my O2 payg phone which I have had well over the 12 months as one page says it is and yet when I get my puk number and go to unlock it tells me its £15 and I dont have enough credit (I have just over £6).

[MI5]

We are told it is now free to unlock PAYG phones, but we don't know if this is for phones bought new now or if it applies retrospectively to all previously bought PAYG phones.

[Cleoriff]

We are waiting for confirmation on certain issues @AK04

On the previous page it states this...(from O2)

With immediate effect O2 have removed the following business rules from the usual unlatching process:

Consumer Pay Monthly customers:

• Customers on selected devices will no longer need to be on a Consumer Refresh tariff in order to unlock their device
• Customers on selected devices will no longer need to have paid off their device plan in order to unlock their device

Consumer Pay As You Go customers:

• The £15 unlocking fee will be removed resulting in all future unlocking requests being free of charge
• Customers will no longer need to have been with us for 12 months to unlock their device; they will be able to unlock their device at any point

So with all that above...it appears O2 need to play catch up on their own decisions!

[jonsie]

They really need to get the website sorted out. big changes like this should be updated overight and My O2 should be allowing unlocks to go through free now.

[Martin-O2]

Hey guys, I've received clarification on the points raised yesterday. Please see below. 

Previously, selected devices would have been excluded from our unlock process. For example, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. That is no longer the case – no matter what phone you have, even if it’s brand new you can now unlock it. 

For PAYG devices all can now be unlocked, regardless of the purchase date. If someone has previously paid for an unlock this will not be refunded but all future unlocks will be free of charge. 

@MI5 I hope this helps clarify things for your guide and please give me a shout when you're ready to update it. 

[MI5]

Let me know when you've pressed the button and I'll do it immediately

[Cleoriff]

Well that's good @Martin-O2

Still begs the question asked yesterday....Why lock them at all? A waste of resources really

[gmarkj]

It might be that future phones that o2 buys are not locked, but while they have stock of locked phones they need to do this...
I know, optimistic at best!

[AK04]

I am still unclear, what does previously selected devices mean?  It is still asking me to pay £15, how do I get my phone unlocked for free?