unlock my phone

[Anonymous]

Im looking for some help, i have a galaxy alpha i bought at heathrow (pay as you go, over 2 years) LOCKED to o2, yet when i ask to get it unlocked I cant seem to get any help. I had a previous phone a c3322 which i had registered and i took the sim from that and used it in my alpha, i didnt put the alpha on my account page. Now i have deleted the c3322 hoping to put in my alphas imei etc to register it, but see that if i want to do that it will text me, lol. i lost the sim ages ago, and im now in singapore and wanting to use my alpha. I even went as far as putting an extra £15 on the lost sim so that i can get it unlocked, this is a pretty aggravating circumstance, ive bought a phone and its locked to o2, yet when i last asked i got told as it wasnt an o2 shop they cant unlock it.....WTF, to be honest i dont give a monkeys what shop i bought it in, i was LOCKED in to O2 so O2 should be the ones to deal with it. a sim unlock code isnt a lot to ask for after two years of being locked into your network.

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wow, i'm really feeling part of the 'community'. Thanks for attacking the new guy

Back to the original post, anyone know how we can help this guy?

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Hey...no one attacking any new guy. Just clarifying this as it is an important issue for all. Anyone reading the thread will now have a clearer understanding @Anonymous I know I have... and I am not new....:smileywink:

[Anonymous]

O2 do require the phone to have been used on the O2-UK network to unlock it (so using an O2 SIM abroad doesn't count), but if it wasn't purchased from them directly then this wouldn't matter anyway, unfortunately.

It's always someone's choice if they would like to make a complaint, but they wouldn't get a resolution in this case.

[viridis]

Tbh O2 will unlock if not bought from them, but it's a much longer process of complaining until someone will do it.

[MI5]

No one is being attacked but we are very strict on correct, factual info on here.
As for the OP. A phone abroad and not registered on O2-UK will not get unlocked by O2.
If it comes back to UK it can be done, but not whilst out of the country.
This is just one of 100's of similar posts on the forum and the answer is the same every time.

[jonsie]

I think the simple answer is that we can't really help in this particular case as the phone isn't physically in the UK. Better to get it done by the local market stall and sell it on Ebay...

[viridis]

My advice, as it's a 2 year old alpha, just get it soft unlocked at a shop as it's not likely to get another major update.

[Toby]

Hi everyone,

I know there has been a little bit of confusion and disagreement about unlocking here. Below is the info myself and the team have gathered to ensure everyone is on the same page:

O2 can only unlock handsets that have been sold directly by us via an O2 shop, O2 telesales or O2 website. Devices purchased elsewhere cannot be unlocked by us directly – we can only generate unlatching codes for our own devices. We understand this may cause some frustration, but we simply don’t have the means to unlatch a handset that does not ‘belong’ to us.

In the case of an unlocked handset that subsequently locks to a network – unfortunately this is how some devices work, such as buying an iPhone from CPW – it may be sold as unlocked but the phone software works in a way that will lock the device to the network of the first SIM inserted in it. Even though in this example such a device would then become locked to O2, the physical device itself didn’t originate from O2 and thus we’d have no way to unlatch this. In such cases, we’d recommend speaking with whoever you purchased the device from.

If you have a device that came from O2 that you’d like unlocked, we have full details here for Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go > http://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unlocking-an-o2-mobile-to-use-on-a-different-networ...

[jonsie]

Sorry to disagree @Toby but we have had instances where iPhones have been bought from CPW and paid in full where O2 are legally obliged to unlock. This goes for any handset bought in the UK and paid for in full except P&G when the 12 month rule applies no matter what customer service tell you.

[MI5]

From my own experience, I have bought phones from other retailers online and had O2 unlock them too.
This hasn't changed in all the years I've been using the network.
I guess it's just too difficult for O2 to bother anymore?

[jonsie]

O2 really need to get their legal obligations out to all advisers...........