Vodafone unlock iphone5/NUC Resolutions

Youllforeverbeamanmyson

My wife lost her iphone 5 recently and got in touch with vodafone who suugested she upgraded and they would simply transfer her number to the new iphone 5s.

She then found the old iphone 5 in the car under the seat.

I have an old iphone 4 and so i decided i would use her old iphone 5 and so she asked vodafone to unlock the original iphone5. We had an email 2 days later saying they had indeed unlocked the iphone 5. We had a reference number and it also sated the IMEI number.

I am with TESCO and am out of contract so i have a rolling £10month SIM only contract with them and this works fine for me. So now the phone is unlocked I went in to TESCO who sold me a 'nano' SIM for 99p. I tried this in the phone however itunes tells me (aswell as the phone) that the SIM is not valid.

So. we phoned vodafone who unlocked the phone again. We had an email 2 days later saing it was unlocked. However having checked the IMEI number again in the confirmation emails we received it seems they have unlocked her "new" iphone5s?

Now the old phone is telling me (when i insert the TESCO SIM) that a replacement is needed. 'The iphone is unable to complete the activation process and needs to be replaced' 'Visit your nearest Apple store or authorised service provider for more info'

What is going on?
How do I activate the phone?
Is it the SIM or is it still locked to vodafone?

Help please, anyone

Thanks,
Jim

Nodding_Donkey

I'd say there is a fair chance that when you reported it as lost Vodafone blocked it.

d123

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I'd say there is a fair chance that when you reported it as lost Vodafone blocked it.

I would agree, OP have you asked Vodafone if they blocked it when you reported it lost?

You would need to request the blacklist removed if they did.

john1002

This is good old apple sim verification system in operation, the problem lies with vodaphone and them not unlocking the lost but now found iphone 5 to allow you to put your tesco sim in, when you buy a apple phone bar from apple direct as soon as you put your sim in, it locks to that network hence why you are seeing the message you do.

Apple can not help as they have strict agreements that mean they can not overide the sim lock process.

The only way to get this resolved is to ensure vodaphone unlock the correct phone and its imei number. As soon as you do and they confirm this then you have to go through apples reset process and use itunes to get your tesco sim to work.

If you need the link its here, also explains your error message http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5014.

john

d123

john1002 wrote: »

This is good old apple sim verification system in operation, the problem lies with vodaphone and them not unlocking the lost but now found iphone 5 to allow you to put your tesco sim in, when you buy a apple phone bar from apple direct as soon as you put your sim in, it locks to that network hence why you are seeing the message you do.

What are you on about? Vodafone have processed the unlock, the OPs problem is the fact the phone was reported lost and probably then blacklisted.

Once unlocked, an iPhone will never lock to a network again.

20aday

It's fair to say the iPhone 5 has been backlisted from any UK network.

I'd contact Vodafone and see if they'll "unblock" the iPhone to allow you to use it on another network; I wouldn't be surprised if they actually ask for the phone back.

d123

20aday wrote: »

It's fair to say the iPhone 5 has been backlisted from any UK network.

I'd contact Vodafone and see if they'll "unblock" the iPhone to allow you to use it on another network; I wouldn't be surprised if they actually ask for the phone back.

If the OP did an upgrade as stated in post #1, Vodafone have no right to the phone back, it is still the OPs property.

john1002

D123 having re read the op post I still stand by the issue is with vodaphone and only they can unlock the phone, it is clear they unlocked the new phone not the old one.

As such when they do unlock and maybe unblock the imei number the link will help get the op Tesco sim to work.

John

d123

john1002 wrote: »

D123 having re read the op post I still stand by the issue is with vodaphone and only they can unlock the phone, it is clear they unlocked the new phone not the old one.


John

Perhaps read it again, and take a little more time. It is clear they unlocked both phones.

Youllforeverbeamanmyson wrote: »

She then found the old iphone 5 in the car under the seat.

I have an old iphone 4 and so i decided i would use her old iphone 5 and so she asked vodafone to unlock the original iphone5. We had an email 2 days later saying they had indeed unlocked the iphone 5. We had a reference number and it also sated the IMEI number.

You with me so far? OP requested the iPhone 5 be unlocked and verified by IMEI that the iPhone 5 is unlocked.

Youllforeverbeamanmyson wrote: »

So. we phoned vodafone who unlocked the phone again. We had an email 2 days later saing it was unlocked. However having checked the IMEI number again in the confirmation emails we received it seems they have unlocked her "new" iphone5s?

OP phoned Vodafone again, and this time they unlocked the iPhone 5s, again verified by IMEI number.

It isn't hard to understand, sometime you probably read too quickly to actually understand...

PS:
There is no such company as Vodaphone, it's been called Vodafone for decades.

Youllforeverbeamanmyson

Thankyou all for your input. In most respects you all understand the situation. In short they had indeed unlocked the new iphone5s which is only 5 days into its contract.(?)

Having emailed Vodafone and provided them with the IMEI of the old iphone5 (turns out they had used the IMEI of the phone on the account. The new one) they have now responded to say that as the phone was reported lost or stolen it has been blacklisted and they won't be able to unlock it for us.

I have emailed them to tell them that this is completely unacceptable but in reality I am not sure what my options are now? Can it be taken to Apple and swapped? Can it be un-'blacklisted'? What if I take it somewhere to have it unlocked?

This is the very reason I left Vodafone five years ago. Their customer service is non-existent and their attitude stinks.

Jim

d123

Youllforeverbeamanmyson wrote: »

Having emailed Vodafone and provided them with the IMEI of the old iphone5 (turns out they had used the IMEI of the phone on the account. The new one) they have now responded to say that as the phone was reported lost or stolen it has been blacklisted and they won't be able to unlock it for us.

Jim

Can you clarity, you definitely upgraded to get the 5s? As long as they didn't supply the 5s under some form of insurance or as a replacement on the same contract (which would mean the old 5 became their property) the iphone 5 is your property and they cannot refuse to lift the blacklist.

The blacklisting is applied by Vodafone, and only Vodafone can lift it, so don't waste time or money elsewhere. You will need to pursue the complaint with Vodafone, hopefully a Vodafone employee with initiative and intelligence (like Lee, who answers here) will respond and assist you.

If not, push the complaint up the channels, go to the CEO if required and thereafter to CISAS.

You can try and email the forum team, use the code FIT135 in the subject line.

Contact us via the Contact Us form on Vodafone's website. If you include the code FIT135 the email will be routed to the Forum Team mailbox