Officialphoneunlock.co.uk rip-off

vinylmusic · 9 February 2015 at 2:46PM

Has anyone else had the following problem?

my son and I are both on Giffgaff which is on the O2 network
His phone was damaged beyond repair and in order to continue to use his micro sim he was loaned an iphone 4 indefinately. The only problem was it is locked to EE
Using Wifi on the iphone we went to the site Officialphoneunlock.co.uk and it appeared that once entering the iemie number there would be a payment of £20 which seemed acceptable
The firm appeared to be reputable so we paid the £19.99 using my credit card
We later had a shock to find that to continue the unlock process they needed a further £79.99
It's really not evident on their mobile site that there would be this additional cost
Only on their full webpage is it explained in full
I feel we have been misled and now £19.99 out of pocket
No way would we have agreed on the total of £99.98
We could have bought a cheaper smartphone for that price
I can't help feeling ripped off:mad::mad:

mobilejunkie · 9 February 2015 at 3:51PM

Although below the amount normally applicable (I wouldn't mention that) contact the credit card company and ask them to instigate a claim to recover the amount paid. There is a small chance (depending on them) that they may sort it out. I would tell them the company appears to operating fraudulantly by taking payment and then demanding more for what they promised for that payment.

vinylmusic · 9 February 2015 at 4:54PM

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Although below the amount normally applicable (I wouldn't mention that) contact the credit card company and ask them to instigate a claim to recover the amount paid. There is a small chance (depending on them) that they may sort it out. I would tell them the company appears to operating fraudulantly by taking payment and then demanding more for what they promised for that payment.

Thanks
I already called them and they said I should email the company and ask for it to be refunded. If they don't comply then my CC company will dispute the transaction

It seems I'm not alone after all
Complaints.com http://www.complaints.com is full of complaints similar to mine, some much worse
Let this post be a warning to anyone thinking of using this company

gjchester · 9 February 2015 at 5:50PM

vinylmusic wrote: »

Has anyone else had the following problem?

I can't help feeling ripped off:mad::mad:

Not really helping you here, but for Apple iPhones all these unlock sites don't have an "special access" to Apple servers, they rely on having someone inside the network who can put any requests in on the side.

As people who do it sometimes get caught, change roles or leave so the ability to do these unlock at all changes and the price can go up or down, as no-one will do it for free if there is a risk of being caught..

vinylmusic · 9 February 2015 at 7:31PM

gjchester wrote: »

Not really helping you here, but for Apple iPhones all these unlock sites don't have an "special access" to Apple servers, they rely on having someone inside the network who can put any requests in on the side.

As people who do it sometimes get caught, change roles or leave so the ability to do these unlock at all changes and the price can go up or down, as no-one will do it for free if there is a risk of being caught..

Well I've since found out that EE will unlock it for £20.40
I cant see how Officialiphoneunlock Ltd can justify nearly £100 to do the same. They must be raking in a fortune counting on peoples ignorance

Last year I had my Motorola Moto G successfully unlocked online for only a fiver. I dont like to imagine what Officialiphoneunlock would have charged

grumbler · 9 February 2015 at 7:54PM

vinylmusic wrote: »

Well I've since found out that EE will unlock it for £20.40

...for their customers only. If you aren't a customer, tough luck then. If you get your money back, don't expect that Orange unlock your iPhone.

I cant see how Officialiphoneunlock Ltd can justify nearly £100 to do the same.

Proper unlocking will be just a little cheaper on e-bay. Anything cheap will be something temporary.

They must be raking in a fortune counting on peoples ignorance

More likely, on peoples' desperation - those who failed to do a research and 'saved' money by stupidly buying a second hand locked iPhone.

I dont like to imagine what Officialiphoneunlock would have charged

It's impossible to imagine because iPhones are unique in terms of locking/unlocking.

gjchester · 9 February 2015 at 8:10PM

vinylmusic wrote: »

Well I've since found out that EE will unlock it for £20.40

As Grumbler has said they will only unlock if for their customers, if you got the phone from a friend who is still with EE they will have to get it unlocked, EE will not deal with you as your not a customer.

See http://ee.co.uk/help/getting-started/joining-ee/unlocking-your-phone

Second-hand devices
As a pay monthly customer, if you've purchased a second-hand device, you will not be able to unlock the device using our online form.
You will need to buy a PAYG sim and top up £20.42

vinylmusic wrote: »

Last year I had my Motorola Moto G successfully unlocked online for only a fiver. I dont like to imagine what Officialiphoneunlock would have charged

Its nothing to do with what they charge, its to do with how they are locked, most phones are unlocked by entering a code on the keypad, this is related to the IMEI. This can (and is) reverse engineered and the algorithm that makes the code broken, or by changing settings in the phones memory. Once that algorithm is known anyone (with the right software of course) can generate codes, even if there is a cost it will be minimal for an online portal.

iPhones are locked or unlocked by flags in Apples database, when you insert a new sim card the phone will contact Apple, if its marked as being unlocked then phone will activate and all is fine. If its locked then it will not activate.

Unlike the code unlocks someone has to enter that code to Apple and Apple have a log, that's why you have to pay more as someone's doping it on the side and they want money to cover the risk they are talking. No-one other than the networks can guarantee an unlock as there's always the risk, however small, that the person doing it is caught and his/her unlock requests reversed so re-locking the phone.

vinylmusic · 10 February 2015 at 3:33PM

The the iphone I was trying to unlock was for my son. Not me.
Past experiences and all the above info only reinforce my decision never to buy an iphone.
luckily my son's friend had his on a contract and will be able to get it unlocked
I had an iphone 3G once and had it jailbroke
I was annoyed to find that most apps I wanted to install were no longer compatible with that phone. Luckily I was able to swap it with someone for an android
I will stick with android from now on
my new Moto G (2nd Gen) normally costing £125 only cost me £16 along with my tesco clubcard points. And already unlocked.
It is a fantastic phone. It does everything I could want. An expensive iphone wouldn't give me any more satisfaction than this one.
Its even dual sim which is great for traveling abroad adding an extra sim without roaming fees
£100 to unlock an iphone 4s is to me a joke.
better to use the money to buy a Motorola like mine

gjchester · 10 February 2015 at 6:28PM

vinylmusic wrote: »

The the iphone I was trying to unlock was for my son. Not me.

My apologies, I was generalising..

vinylmusic wrote: »

I was annoyed to find that most apps I wanted to install were no longer compatible with that phone.

The 3G was released in 2008 and discontinued 2010. It effectively became end of line with IOS 4.3 that was released March 2011.
I would be very surprised if the Moto G gets more than a year and a half of upgrades. Yes iPhones are expensive, but Apple at least offer much longer support and updates usually 3 to 4 years before the phone is obsoleted. Apple updates are also direct from Apple so don't have to go through the maker and the network till they get to the handset.

vinylmusic wrote: »

£100 to unlock an iphone 4s is to me a joke.
better to use the money to buy a Motorola like mine

Its not £100, Vodafone and O2 offer a free unlock, Orange/EE/TM change a £20.42 admin fee. However yes that's only t the original owner.

Actually its a clever way to help try and reduce theft, a stolen iPhone cannot easily be unlocked and sent elsewhere in the world, as it can't be unlocked or reset without the original owners iCloud account.

Your Motorola can be unlocked and send out of the UK and work fine if stolen.

Don't get me wrong if your happy with the Moto that's great for you, and Yes Apple are a lot more, but they are different classes of device for different levels users.

grumbler · 10 February 2015 at 7:09PM

What do you actually mean by "levels"? Intellect? IQ? Pockets' depth?

In many respects Motto G isn't much different from top-of-the-range Android phones. Build quality, screen resolution, camera, memory and processor speed hardly affect the general functionality.

Also, Moto G is so popular, that even if Motorola stops updates, excellent custom ROMs will be available for years to go.

2 years ago I installed a custom ROM to my (currently) 4 years old Desire and have not experienced any problems with apps compatibility so far. I doubt that anything similar is available for iPhones. Who cares about endless updates? If it ain't broke don't fix it!

wiogs · 10 February 2015 at 7:19PM

I got an iphone 4 unlocked for £13. Used a company I found on ebay and had no problems whatsoever.

Officialphoneunlock.co.uk rip-off

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