DirectUnlocks website Scam. Now reported to POLICE

Girovski

Do not use www.directunlocks.com  -  Phone Unlocking  Service
They advertise unlock phone from £19.99 in as little as 6 hours. 
Then ask for a huge increase of a further £80 in my case to actually unlock the phone stating that the first payment was just to check my details.
There is a clearly advertised 3 step system which is basically:
1 : Enter phone IMEI number
2: Make the payment of £19.99 (now £23.99 inc. VAT ...mmm)
3: Wait for the phone to be automatically unlocked over the airwaves
There is no mention of a 2nd fee.
They then send an email stating it was hidden away in the small print. 

To me I paid for the clearly advertised phone unlocking service and they (apparently) changed the conditions of sale at the very last minute without making this clear to me .This is tenuous at best. Deliberately Misleading scammers at worst.

PHK

It doesn’t generate a price until you’ve put in the details, it also says that if you made an error they’ll contact you and the price may be different. Not sure this is a scam but it’s certainly more complicated than you might believe. Especially because you can probably get it unlocked for less through the network. 

matelodave

I doubt the Police will take any notice. If you have a complaint then try contacting your local council's Trading Standards department

forgotmyname

The Companies house WebCheck should be mentioned on here more often I think.

For example.

Tell tale little trail of incorrect or incomplete names to register several companies to the same person

without the checks being immediately obvious.

Things to look for typo in the name or where someone uses their middle name as a firstname or forgets they

have middle names on some company details and not others, or mixes around their first/middle/surnames.

You may find a nice little list of linked names/companies with appropriate addresses to be able to reclaim

any lost monies.

I use the search a lot and it often gets me looking elsewhere for my bargains.  Not a 100% guarantee

but does the main webpage have their contact address and landline phone number?

If..  NO, they are already risking losing my custom.

Pollycat

+1 to this ^^^^.

I also check the 'About us' page if using a website for the first time.

The company the OP used just takes you back to last page you viewed.

Jenni_D

A quick search of MSE Forum shows a few other threads regarding this company, all reporting the same modus operandi.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?Search=directunlocks

ThumbRemote

PHK said:

It doesn’t generate a price until you’ve put in the details, it also says that if you made an error they’ll contact you and the price may be different. Not sure this is a scam but it’s certainly more complicated than you might believe. Especially because you can probably get it unlocked for less through the network. 

I don't know why you'd try to justify this site. The terms actually read "There may be an additional price to pay for an unlock, this will be stated on your order summary page."
When I put in an IMEI, the order summary page was for 23.99. The left hand side of the page talks about 'Order an unlock via IMEI' but the order summary box now states it's for a pre-order (whatever that is) - there's the scam, you click the button to 'unlock', get a screen claiming you're buying an unlock, but end up buying something poorly defined that isn't what you thought. 

And they are charging VAT while apparently not VAT registered. 

MattMattMattUK

Why do people still use these services, rather than having the network operator do it who will do it for free or a nominal fee? Also I did not think phones had been sold for 5+ years network locked anyway?