cancelling sim only contract phones 4 u

KellyAnnS

Hi there

I have friend who has slight learning disabilities, he bought a second hand iPhone and went to phones4u to get a sim only contract for it. The man demonstrated that the phone wasn't locked using a sim in store

Sold him a vodaphone sim only contract on Monday

My friend came to my house to set it up but the phone wasn't accepting the sim because surprise surprise it was locked to O2 like he knew all along.

Fast forward to now, my friend bought a pay as you go 02 sim and phone is fine.
So he went in store to cancel the contract. But they said no. I was under the impression that any contract has a cooling off period but woman on the phone says no it doesn't he has to pay the full contract oft to cancel it.


Help!

grumbler

Your impression was incorrect. Cooling off period is obligatory only for distance selling.

However, if everything was as you describe, it was a clear case of misselling that they are likely to deny shamelessly and you will struggle to prove.

Any chance you can ask the former owner to get the phone unlocked via Vodafone?

KellyAnnS

We did look at that possibility but it will cost him £40 and take 5-7 days he has no other phone so he'd be lost for a week

grumbler

KellyAnnS wrote: »

We did look at that possibility but it will cost him £40

Why £40?
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-uk/forms/unlock-code-request/

and take 5-7 days he has no other phone so he'd be lost for a week

Does anybody have an active PAYG phone?
There are new phones that cost <£1 at CPW on PAYG upgrade:

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/deal-finder?PPAYUPG

- and they aren't locked.

Vodafone

Hi KellyAnnS,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

I'm afraid we're only able to unlock iPhones which we've supplied.

However, if your friend would like some help with his account, please ask him to email me with his details via the link in our profile here.

All he needs to do is copy and paste the link into his web browser and it'll take him to the Contact us form on our website. To make sure it reaches me, he'll also need to quote the code WRT135 - MSE in the subject line.

Once sent, he'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. If either of you could post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

Kind regards,

Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

grumbler

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

I'm afraid we're only able to unlock iPhones which we've supplied.

Who can unlock iPhones supplied by, say, CPW then?!

d123

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

Hi KellyAnnS,

Thanks for making me aware of this.

I'm afraid we're only able to unlock iPhones which we've supplied.


Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

Lee, you normally come over as knowledgable but the above is incorrect.

Do you perhaps mean "We are only able to unlock iPhones locked to Vodafone"?

I'm aware of Vodafone unlocking iPhones bought from dealers other than Vodafone, and the only requirement was that they had to be locked to Vodafone and the person making the request had to have (or had) an account with Vodafone.

Vodafone

Hi grumbler & d123,

Officially our business rules state that we're only able to unlock phones which we've supplied. Also, the request must be made by the original owner of the phone.

However, after speaking with the relevant department, I can confirm that we can try to unlock phones bought from third parties as long as the customer can provide a copy of their receipt and pass our usual security checks.

Thanks,

Lee

Social Media Comms

Vodafone UK

Silk

The phone is locked to O2 though not Vodafone

KellyAnnS wrote: »

My friend came to my house to set it up but the phone wasn't accepting the sim because surprise surprise it was locked to O2 like he knew all along.

grumbler

In this case it's even more a mystery why the OP thinks that it costs £40 to unlock.
In fact its's £0 for pay monthly customers and £15 for PAYG: http://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-and-devices/unlocking-your-iphone-and-using-it-on-another-network