Terrible customer service

[Anonymous]

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?

[Liquid]

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

[Anonymous]

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...

[Anonymous]

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

[Liquid]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Liquid]

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.

[Liquid]

http://s-url.ro/

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

^^ good one tells you everything about the phone.

[Anonymous]

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...

[jonsie]

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