unlocking iphone after contract

geek1981

I wonder how come it is legal to charge customer who finished contract for unlocking the phone. From my understanding once the contract is finished, the phone is your sole property and should have freedom to use any simcard. Three wants £15.32 for unlocking an iphone which is out of contract, can i contest?

cheers.

Buzby

No - because they have always disclosed there will be an unlocking charge. (Read the T&C's you agreed). It is the price you pay for paying it up on the monthly 'drip'. If you purchased the phone outright, then it is your property to do with as you please.

Your contract brings with it a commitment and the process is there to stop users signing up and selling out before the contract is fulfilled. The unlocking fee does have to be 'reasonable' and £20 appears to be the max anyone will charge.

gjchester

geek1981 wrote: »

I wonder how come it is legal to charge customer who finished contract for unlocking the phone. From my understanding once the contract is finished, the phone is your sole property and should have freedom to use any simcard. Three wants £15.32 for unlocking an iphone which is out of contract, can i contest?

The phone is yours from the moment you get it not the end of the contract. Monthly payments are for airtime only. Although effectivly it's a drip, or monthly payment scheme it's not really one as such as that would give rise to issue of credit agreements which come under a whole differenet set of rules.

You'll find the fee is an admin fee for providing the code, not a fee for the code itself, and is permitted by OfCom. Look on the bright side, until a few years ago you didn't even have the right to get the code at all, it was all down to goodwill of the operator.

Buzby

And for clarification, there is no 'code', it is for the service of advising Apple that the phone should be unlocked on their servers, and an iTunes sync will do the trick.

gjchester

Buzby wrote: »

And for clarification, there is no 'code', it is for the service of advising Apple that the phone should be unlocked on their servers, and an iTunes sync will do the trick.

Yea Sorry, Maybe it would have been better if I said

They charge an Admin Fee to contact Apple and request the unlock..

Bingolingo

geek1981 wrote: »

Three wants £15.32 for unlocking an iphone which is out of contract, can i contest?

cheers.

Yes. Tell them you're going on holiday and want the phone unlocked. If the phone's unlocked then you'll consider staying with them but only if they unlock as a goodwill gesture first.

It's worth a try and you're not committing to anything.