O2 and carphone warehouse effectively stolen my iphone

Nwhessian

Has anyone had similar problems or know a solution to my following problem.

About 6 weeks ago i purchased a sim free iphone 6 from carphone warehouse for my girlfriend.

I bought a sim free phone so that we could use it when we visit thailand 3 - 4 times a year.

I also purchased a pay and go o2 sim for the month we still had in the uk before travelling out to thailand.

When we arrived we bought a local thai sim only to find o2 had locked the phone to there network.

Initially i thought this would just be a good security measure by o2 if our phone was stolen so i began trying to contact them.

After being passed back between o2 and carphone warehouse im basically told by both parties neither can or will unlock this phone.

Why do they have the right to basically take ownership of a sim free fully paid for phone and refuse to give me full use of it again?

Any advice on this situation would be much appreciated.
Thankyou
Neil

gjchester

Nwhessian wrote: »

About 6 weeks ago i purchased a sim free iphone 6 from carphone warehouse for my girlfriend.

I bought a sim free phone so that we could use it when we visit thailand 3 - 4 times a year.

I also purchased a pay and go o2 sim for the month we still had in the uk before travelling out to thailand.

Any advice on this situation would be much appreciated.
Thankyou
Neil

You didn't buy a SIM Free phone as such, CPW clearly state that their sim free phones lock to the first network on the pages. Generally only phones from Apple will not lock to the first network used.




SIM free iPhone 6 Plus will lock to the network of the first SIM used.


You bought it from CPW they are the ones who need to resolve the issue,


http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.com/SelfHelp/request.do?view()=c%7Bede583e0-1fa9-11df-4872-f20203001e3d%7D

wiogs

"O2 and carphone warehouse effectively stolen my iphone"


Great headline.

Shame it is untrue.
CPW clearly state that the iphone will lock. If you were not told this you could have a case for mis-selling.

Have a read here http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/how-to-unlock-your-iphone-from-o2-and-orange#How_do_I_unlock_an_iPhone_from_O2

malawton

I have the same problem, and although CPW are probably covered in their T&C's, I think that O2 have an obligation to unlock a phone that is not in contract with them.

In fact OFCOM state on their website that O2 will unlock Pay-Monthly Phones for free - this is incorrect and we should at least get OFCOM to change this, as in the case of the iPhone 6, it is untrue.

If you check their site under phone/mobile-phones/changing-provider/mobile-phone-locking-and-unlocking

you will see that they "No Charge"

mije1983

malawton wrote: »

I have the same problem, and although CPW are probably covered in their T&C's, I think that O2 have an obligation to unlock a phone that is not in contract with them.

In fact OFCOM state on their website that O2 will unlock Pay-Monthly Phones for free - this is incorrect and we should at least get OFCOM to change this, as in the case of the iPhone 6, it is untrue.

If you check their site under phone/mobile-phones/changing-provider/mobile-phone-locking-and-unlocking

you will see that they "No Charge"

The OP was PAYG not pay monthly. PAYG requires a 12 month usage.

OFCOM or not, I would always rely more on information on the suppliers website rather than a 3rd party. O2 do clearly say there that they do not unlock iPhone 6/6+ currently.

grumbler

gjchester wrote: »

....CPW clearly state that their sim free phones lock to the first network ...

They clearly state this on the website only.

wiogs wrote: »

...If you were not told this you could have a case for mis-selling.

Absolutely - if it was an in-store purchase and the idiots failed to make it clear to the customer.

ste_wilko

Really they shouldn't be calling the phones SIM-free, because they're not. You buy the phone and then it locks to the first SIM put into it, that's effectively the same as buying it locked to a network.

SIM free suggests that the handset isn't locked to any network, and never will be.

I've never trusted CPW, and never will. If you want a SIM free handset always go direct to the manufacturers sales website etc

grumbler

Well, I don't know any official definition of 'sim-free'.

It comes:

• without sim,
• not locked to any network,
• capable of working with any sim originally.

I blame Apple in the first place for creating this mess, not CPW.

I've never trusted CPW, and never will. If you want a SIM free handset always go direct to the manufacturers sales website etc

Well, each to their own.
Typically you'll pay much more for exactly the same. iPhone is probably the only exception. On many phones CPW PAYG upgrade prices are unbeatable.

Also, not all manufacturers sell phones directly, e.g. LG.

mrochester

ste_wilko wrote: »

Really they shouldn't be calling the phones SIM-free, because they're not. You buy the phone and then it locks to the first SIM put into it, that's effectively the same as buying it locked to a network.

SIM free suggests that the handset isn't locked to any network, and never will be.

I've never trusted CPW, and never will. If you want a SIM free handset always go direct to the manufacturers sales website etc

I think there's some confusion in the terminology used here. Sim free indicates a phone that is sold without a sim. A sim free phone can be both locked or unlocked. An unlocked phone is a phone where there is no network lock. An unlocked phone is either a phone that has never been locked or was once locked and has now been unlocked.

The OP bought a free sim free, locked phone. What the OP needed was a sim free unlocked phone.

grumbler

mrochester wrote: »

I think there's some confusion in the terminology used here.

Where?

Sim free indicates a phone that is sold without a sim.

Google for 'sim-free' and you'll see that often, if not normally, this term means more than "without a sim".

A sim free phone can be both locked or unlocked.

Any example of a locked phone being sold as 'sim-free'? Even for CPW's iPhone this isn't exactly the case.

The OP bought a free sim free, locked phone

No, the phone wasn't locked at the time of purchase - because it could be used on any network. It locket itself later to the first network it connected to.

mrochester

grumbler wrote: »

Where?
Google for 'sim-free' and you'll see that often, if not normally, this term means more than "without a sim".
Any example of a locked phone being sold as 'sim-free'. Even for CPW's iPhone this isn't exactly the case.
No, the phone wasn't locked at the time of purchase - because it could be used on any network. It locket itself later to the first network it connected to.

Sim free locked phones would be something like an upgrade from a network where the phone is supplied without a sim, but is probably locked to the network supplying it.

Well the point is the phone was sold as a model that would lock to the network of the first sim put in the phone. This is the same as what happens when you buy an iPhone from an Apple shop at a subsidised rate when you also take a pay monthly contract. Rather than getting truly unlocked phones from Apple to sell, CPW are supplying their sim free phones from the network locking supply.