Virgin locked an unlocked phone!

gk172

Hi there I’ve been round in circles for days now so asking here for advise please? I bought an iPhone se from 02 and used it for a couple of years on 02, got it unlocked to use on holiday and also used a 3 sim in then decided to go to virgin, stayed with them a year as they wouldnt cap the contract so cancelled and now going back to o2 but the o2 sim doesn’t work as the phone is now according to o2 locked to virgin! I called o2 who say they can’t unlock a virgin lock and virgin can’t unlock an o2 phone even though it’s a virgin lock that’s on!

So any idea what I can do or am I left with a phone that will only work on Virgin?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

AndyPK

If it works on virgin give plusnet a go.

1 Month contracts.

boliston

virgin is not a network - they use EE, so the phone would be 'locked' to EE not virgin

Carrot007

I think it's more that iphones lock to the network they are used with.


So you got it unlocked but it is not permanent like good phones.


Another reason to avoid apple.

gk172

Thanks but I tried my EE sim in and it’s showing no network.

boliston

could you call virgin for an unlock request and not say anything about it being 'an o2 phone'?

if it has been locked to virgin then to all intents and purposes it's a 'virgin' phone surely?

gk172

Yes we tried that too but they ran a check with the imei saying it’s not a virgin bought phone! I’m thinking I might have to see what game will offer as a trade in against either an o2 or unlocked one as it’s a year sim only o2 deal we’ve just taken.

pmduk

Perhaps you should change the thread title to Apple have blocked my unlocked phone, I can't see any fault at Virgin's end.

[Deleted User]

boliston wrote: »

virgin is not a network - they use EE, so the phone would be 'locked' to EE not virgin

Not true anymore apparently, Virgin are/have set up their own network equipment (no idea how that bit works) as they're going their own way. There's plenty of threads on both EE's & Virgin's forums where people have been caught out by this.

This thread is typical and has a good post on the 2nd page by @toibs explaining what they did to circumvent it. Don't be surprised if the Virgin people have no clue what they're doing mind.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Virgin-Mobile/Virgin-sim-card-not-working-in-ee-iPhone/td-p/3602692

pmduk

AIUI Virgin is now providing more of its own back-office services rather than relying on BT Mobile's (was EE) Strategic Provider Services subsidiary, eg they're doing their own porting, roaming and other engineering tasks. Ironically in the industry, this makes them a thick MVNO rather than a thin one!

This was all announced when Virgin surprised the industry by renewing its agreement with BT Mobile, rather than switching to 3UK as had been widely anticipated.

GwylimT

Carrot007 wrote: »

I think it's more that iphones lock to the network they are used with.


So you got it unlocked but it is not permanent like good phones.


Another reason to avoid apple.

It is a permanent unlock, which is why I can switch between my UK, Swedish and international sim freely on my iphone.