Pay As You Go Phone Rights

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I recently bought a pay as you go phone from a O2 store for my wife's birthday. I haven't even put the O2 SIM in as we are on Giffgaff.

As a PAYG phone you pay a premium price for the phone.

What right do O2 have to say you cannot unlock it for a year. I have paid directly for the phone so as far as I can see I have NO contract with O2. I did not sign anything when buying it. I only found out about this when I went to get it unlocked.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Just get someone on an 02 contract or has been on an 02 payg account for more than 12 months to insert their sim and make a few calls to latch their sim with the imei.

They then fill out the unlock form.

Alternatively ask a stand alone shop or flea market stall holder to unlock it for a small fee.

[jonsie · Accepted solution]

It's a fact that O2 will not unlock a P&G phone until it's been on the network for 12 months. This has been in place since O2 started and I don't see them changing it to be honest.

You could try a formal complaint but as BOB suggested, if you have a friend on O2 contract they can get it unlocked for you.

Are you outside the return period?

O2 | Complaint

[perksie]

There are always two choices when buying a phone to use on Pay and Go, locked to network and sim free, O2 do not sell the latter.

The terms of sale are on the web site for you to look at before making a purchase.

O2 will unlock a phone after it has been used on the network for 12 months but they don't have to.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. The fact that it is on their website IMO is neither here nor there. I bought it in a shop. For it to stand I would have had to been informed about it then or have signed a contract to that effect or possibly a big poster or notice in the shop. I have no contract so they have no legal standing to prevent me using another sim in it.

Problem solved anyway. Bought a code online for £15 that unlocked it fine and it is working on another network. Would have stuck in my throat to have had to give them £15.

I am lodging an official complaint anyway with the relevant authorities about this business practice.

I also got a recent contract for my daughter which has 23 months to go. With the new type of contract I am going to pay the phone off and cancel the rest of the contract. They will lose £12 x 23 with that one. I have also unlocked it before I do so as it is a contract. I am also taking the other 3 phones off of giffgaff so Telefonica losing at least £1300 from me and my family over the next 2 years.

They have a cheek in my area. One of the main masts is down and has been for a few weeks. You can't even get 3G in the O2 shop!!!!

[Anonymous]

Well at least you sorted this out in the end.

When you bought the phone with a payg sim account ,and activating it essentially meant you also accepted 02's T&C

That's how I understand it.

[Anonymous]

The thing is the O2 sim has never been in it. It is a giffgaff sim in it so I never activated the phones original O2 sim!!!

O2 have no clue who bought that phone!!!

[Anonymous]

Yes but 02 do not sell sim free phones.

Only phones to existing customers ie upgrade or new contract or payg customers.

So they assume a customer will walk away and activate the account. They then recoup any subsidy levied against the phone (if any) by the customer using the network and its services.

You have been ok because giffgaff piggy back onto 02.

One of the reasons I used to buy my handsets from CPW as typically their handsets are not locked.

[Anonymous]

I will have a look at CPW next time for the phone. I was actually told by a friend that O2 and Vodafone are the only two that lock their PAYG.

I think at over £550 they have recouped the cost of their phone. Lol!!

[Anonymous]

I've bought my iPhone 4 and 4s from 02 at full payg price £400 plus and had to go through the unlock procedure although I did know the t&c.

CPW were sneaky at selling the iPhone 5 at the same price as apple do sim free and put in minute writing that it locked out to the 1st SIM card inserted into it !

I used to take my own sim with me to the shop and buy the phone in the cheapest network and try my sim in the phone but the only issue was some networks t&c differed on return policies.

I purchased my iPhone 5 from Apple. No issues as they are factory unlocked.