buying an unlocked phone

percypercy

Hello all,

my contract with t-mobile is about to finish but they didn't have the phone I wanted. I am considering buying the phone I'd like on the Tesco website and then asking tmobile to sort me out a sim-only deal.

My question is simple. I know the retailers, not the manufacturer, are responsible for a faulty phone but for how long for? Is it 12 months? More? Less? Like i said, i plan to buy the phone from Tesco, not t-mobile, so will they replace a faulty phone? it's a bit of worry buying a phone upfront, when you have been on a 24 month contract with them for years.

gjchester

percypercy wrote: »

My question is simple. I know the retailers, not the manufacturer, are responsible for a faulty phone but for how long for? Is it 12 months? More? Less? Like i said, i plan to buy the phone from Tesco, not t-mobile, so will they replace a faulty phone? it's a bit of worry buying a phone upfront, when you have been on a 24 month contract with them for years.

Tesco May be locked to the Tesco Mobile network.


The warranty is what the maker says, Apple say 12 months, HTC and Samsung are usually 24 months.


During the warranty if any thing goes wrong it may be repaired or replaced (the retailers choice not yours) like anything else. Being on a contact makes no difference to the warranty entitlement

SteveHenshaw

If you are buying a Tesco Pay as you go phone it will be locked to Tesco. Make sure it's SIM Free.

grumbler

percypercy wrote: »

...I am considering buying the phone I'd like on the Tesco website...

gjchester wrote: »

Tesco May be locked to the Tesco Mobile network.

tescomobile.com sell phones locked to tescomobile.

tesco.com sell sim-free phones as well as PAYG phones locked (most likely) to various networks.

percypercy wrote: »

My question is simple. I know the retailers, not the manufacturer, are responsible for a faulty phone but for how long for?

Both are responsible.
The retailer has obligations under SoGA: Consumer Rights Armour
The manufacturer has obligations under their warranty.

gjchester

grumbler wrote: »

tescomobile.com sell phones locked to tescomobile.

tesco.com sell sim-free phones as well as PAYG phones locked (most likely) to various networks.

I said may as the OP wasn't clear. And in any case even if sold on a set network like Tesco Mobile theres no guarantee the phone will be locked or unlocked, depends where the stock came from..

grumbler

gjchester wrote: »

I said may as the OP wasn't clear.

Also you said "to the Tesco Mobile network" that was misleading as in combination with "may" this implied that phones were either unlocked or locked to TescoMobile (only).

And in any case even if sold on a set network like Tesco Mobile theres no guarantee the phone will be locked or unlocked, depends where the stock came from..

Unlike CPW/p4u they specifically say, e.g., "T-Mobile Sony Xperia™ E Black", "Orange Samsung E1230 Black" etc. The range of PAYG phones they sell significantly depends on the network. So does the price, e.g. Orange Samsung Galaxy Fame Blue is £129 while Vodafone Samsung Galaxy Fame Blue is £70. This strongly suggests that the phones are supplied mostly by networks and locked to them.

At CPW/p4u that sell their own unlocked PAYG phones, prices are normally about the same (£49.99+£10 for the above Fame on O2/Tmobile/Virgin).

percypercy

Many thanks for all your replies. Sorry if i wasn't very clear, I was posting in bed, really late at night, and that's never a good idea.

Link to Tesco website.

Here is the link of the phone I wanted to buy. Basically, I wanted to get a Windows Phone as I've been happy with my Lumia 800 but T Mobile could only offer me the Lumia 625 or the 1020 with their monthly contracts. I didn't want either of those so I went a-searching for something more mid-range. The Nokia 920 seemed to fit the bill and the SIM free price at Tesco looks good.

The plan would be to buy it, but then to continue with T-Mobile as they have a SIM only deal at £8 a month which would suit my requirements. As I have never done SIM only before (just pay as you go and monthly contracts) I was little wary about how it works. My main fear is what happens if something goes wrong with the phone - how long is the Nokia warranty for? I intend to keep it, all being well, for 2 years and therefore it would be a real pain if the warranty was only a 12 month one and then the phone developed a fault in month 14, for example.

Hope this makes a bit more sense than last night. Many thanks again, you are all helping me to make sense of things.

redux

My Nokia E51 bought in 2008 had a 2 year warranty.

I would guess it's still 2 years from Nokia, but haven't checked

percypercy

http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/support/warranty/

This seems to suggest it is 2 years. In which case, I'm ordering one tomorrow.

grumbler

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/nokia-lumia-920-169-tesco-mobile-tesco-direct-1816338

percypercy

Wow, thanks grumbler. What a star! Couldn't wait until tomorrow. Have just ordered one now. Let's hope it is unlocked, as they say it should be.