Paid Outright for Phone but is it Locked

Terrysdelight

Hi

My husband has an Iphone. He bought the phone outright (ie no monthly contract) at Carphone Warehouse and he uses the phone with a giffgaff paymonthly sim.

My husband seems to think that his phone is locked to giffgaff. Is this correct?

If it is correct, can we get the phone unlocked?

DCFC79

You got a sim from another network to pop into the phone ?
Preferably 1 that isn't on the 02 network.

I believe it is locked to GG. Might need to speak to CW re an unlock.

macman

If bought outside the Apple retail network it will normally lock to the network of the first SIM installed.
Buying it outright means it is SIM-free, but not necessarily unlocked.

sdduk

If bought from CPW it will lock to the first sim put in it.

If you would have bought it from Apple or GiffGaff then it would have been unlocked to all networks.

d123

Terrysdelight wrote: »

Hi

My husband has an Iphone. He bought the phone outright (ie no monthly contract) at Carphone Warehouse and he uses the phone with a giffgaff paymonthly sim.

My husband seems to think that his phone is locked to giffgaff. Is this correct?

If it is correct, can we get the phone unlocked?

The phone will be locked to o2, he'll need to activate an o2 SIM card and then try and request an unlock via o2.

CPW do make the point about it locking on every webpage for the iPhone on their site.

The iPhone will lock itself to the network of the first SIM card that is used in the phone. Subsequently attempting to use it on any other network, for example by replacing the SIM card, may mean it becomes permanently unusable. SIM free iPhones can only be used with a UK-network SIM card, and will not accept foreign SIM cards.

d123

macman wrote: »

If bought outside the Apple retail network it will normally lock to the network of the first SIM installed.

Not really true, Three, Giffgaff and John Lewis also sell completely unlocked iPhones.

Terrysdelight

macman wrote: »

If bought outside the Apple retail network it will normally lock to the network of the first SIM installed.
Buying it outright means it is SIM-free, but not necessarily unlocked.

Yes, this is my husbands belief. The Iphone was bought outside the Apple retail and the sales person told him the phone would lock to the first installed sim.

What a nuisance. Hopefully we can get it unlocked.

wongataa

Terrysdelight wrote: »

Yes, this is my husbands belief. The Iphone was bought outside the Apple retail and the sales person told him the phone would lock to the first installed sim.

What a nuisance. Hopefully we can get it unlocked.

Just contact GiffGaff to arrange the unlocking. There should be no problems in getting it unlocked.

SteveHenshaw

If it was bought new and the first SIM in it was the giffgaff one then it will be locked to O2 who provide giffgaff with their network. iPhones usually lock to the first SIM inserted.

So you will need to get it unlocked. Giffgaff won't do this. You would have to do it via O2. Or via a third party unlocking service which I'd recommend in this instance.

Frozen_up_north

SteveHenshaw wrote: »

iPhones usually lock to the first SIM inserted

Not true, see the post from d123. Why buy one from CPW?

d123

wongataa wrote: »

Just contact GiffGaff to arrange the unlocking. There should be no problems in getting it unlocked.

Giffgaff don't arrange unlocks, it will actually be locked to o2 which is Giffgaff's parent network.

As I already said, the OP needs to activate (and use for a short period) an o2 sim to now request the unlock from o2. O2 will require payment for the unlock request.

http://www.o2.co.uk/help/phones-sims-and-devices/unlocking-an-o2-mobile-to-use-on-a-different-network