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.

[MI5]

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@Toby wrote:

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.

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If that is the case from now on, o2 have no right to supply locked phones to any other sales outlet other than their own.

All o2 phones bought from anywhere other than o2 should be unlocked already.

[jonsie]

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@MI5 wrote:

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@Toby wrote:

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.

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If that is the case from now on, o2 have no right to supply locked phones to any other sales outlet other than their own.

All o2 phones bought from anywhere other than o2 should be unlocked already.

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Correct and they are totally wrong to allow a locked handset to be bought at an airport. In fact, as O2 do not subsidise P&G phones now, why the need to lock in the first place? At one time all contract phones were unlocked and then came the exclusivity of Apple and O2 looked to make megabucks. Why should people have to wait 6 months to unlock the latest iphone when O2 charge top-dollar and people are tied into a contract? No subsidy on iphones and ok, Refresh, people can buy and pay off the handset immediately but this is 2016. People have that right and if they want to buy a phone from CPW outright, how do they justify locking it to the first sim? Immoral and to me, illegal!!!

[Toby]

Hi guys,
I will share your replies with the team in case we need to make sure info is circulated but for now, please follow what I have said above.

[MI5]

Can you ask at what date that change in policy came into effect please so I can compare it to when the last time was I had a non o2 phone unlocked by o2?

[jonsie]

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@Toby wrote:
Hi guys,
I will share your replies with the team in case we need to make sure info is circulated but for now, please follow what I have said above.

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We can follow the above @Toby but we know it's incorrect. Please don't confirm with customer service, you need to take it to the next level.

[Toby]

I will talk to the team guys.

@jonsie, we always use the highest level of info that we can.

[MI5]

Additionally o2 may wish to inform Ofcom of any change to policy as there is no mention of not unlocking phones not bought directly http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/mobile-phones/changing-provider/mobile-phone-locking-and-unlocki...
Another report here about govt legislation which again makes no mention of the source of any phone
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/bills-and-utilities/phone/mobile-phone-firms-could-be-forced-to-unlock-ha...

[Toby]

Hi guys, 

Thanks for your replies yesterday and sorry if there was any confusion. Below is some more info that we hope explains a lot more on a few of the points:

iPhone:

iPhones are not unlocked via a code, but instead via a combination of an unlock tool on our end and iTunes on the customer’ end. iPhones essentially come in one of 3 unlock states and these are determined by the point of purchase:

- Fully Locked: When the device is purchased from us directly (and other networks)

- Fully Unlocked: When the device is purchased from Apple, for instance

- Activation Locked: When the device is unlocked, but locks to the network of the first SIM the iPhone is activated with

For iPhones locked to O2, it’d be us who are responsible for unlocking these regardless of where the iPhone was purchased.

For any other device – eg, Android/non-iPhone:

These are locked with a code which would need to be entered in order for the device to be unlocked. These codes are supplied by the manufacturer to the company physically purchasing the device from them. That said, O2 only have unlatch codes for devices they have purchased from the manufacturer that they then sell. To confirm: a manufacturer would not supply unlock codes to O2 for devices that O2 did not purchase from them – in such instances, customers would need to return to the point of sale as only they would potentially have the necessary unlock codes.

We apologise for any confusion with our previous info – in the case of iPhones, O2 would unlock these in-line with our unlock policy, regardless of point of purchase (O2/CPW/Other). With other devices however, we can only unlock these if the device was supplied directly by O2. From time to time there may be exceptions (exclusives, partnerships etc) but in general, the above will apply.

For iPhone unlocks: http://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unlocking-your-iphone-and-using-it-on-another-netwo...

For other device unlocks: http://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unlocking-an-o2-mobile-to-use-on-a-different-networ...

[viridis]

@Toby
Can you please check something for me.
Are O2 going to stop charging pay and go customers for unlock codes that O2 already have?
Part of the reason for the payg charge, is the cost of requesting the code from the manufacturer (especially with LG, and others who control their own codes and provide as needed).
If O2 already have the code, should there be a charge at all if payg customers phones are unsubsidised from networks.?
Thank-you.

[viridis]

Also, you said:
.. Blah, blah These codes are supplied by the manufacturer to the company physically purchasing the device from them. That said, O2 only have unlatch codes for devices they have purchased from the manufacturer that they then sell."

Isn't it O2 that sell these phones on to 3rd parties locked and branded to O2?
Why would a 3rd party buy a network locked handset from a manufacturer when there's more money to be made from sim free, unlocked handset?