Who is legally responsible to network unlock a mobile phone? (network provider or manufacturer)

pbartlett

the ofcom website seems to.imply it is samsung who hold the codes:

"some handsets can be unlocked relatively quickly. For other handsets, unlocking may take longer, particularly if your provider has to contact the handset manufacturer to get the unlocking code"


however, and correct me if i am wrong, networks are not legally forced to.unlock.a phone - they are perfectly at liberty to say 'no', eg if you are not the original account holder. Thus any legal action to force them is doomed to fail.

there are other ways to get unlock codes - google is your friend

iniltous

If the phone was unlocked when you bought it ( because presumably the person selling it had it unlocked with VF as they were free of any contractual obligation so they could legitimately sell it ) then how has it become locked again, it’s difficult to see how that could happen , unless it were reported as lost or stolen, basically someone selling the phone that they had no right to sell, have you tried using a VF sim in it to prove it is definitely just locked to VF and not totally barred from not just VF but everyone, any reason for such a delay between purchasing the device and trying to authorise it on a different network to the network that supplied it originally 

mongoose2009

why not just buy the code from ebay for £8 ?

isnt spending money to go to court a bit over the top for a old £80 phone?

matelodave

As far as I can see any "contract" that you might have had is between you and the person that sold it to you - ie the Ebay vendor.

Vodaphone and Samsung dont have any responsibilty in the the matter, neither do any of the intermediate owners so I guess that it's probably a waste of time taking it to the small claims court.

Possibly you might get something but only if Vodafone or Samsung (whoever you are suing) choose to considider the whole case so trivial that they dont bother to contest it and the court then rules in your favour due to default.

As in most things, especially with second third or fourth hand stuff from E-bay the rule is "buyer beware"

Neil49

mongoose2009 said:

why not just buy the code from ebay for £8 ?

isnt spending money to go to court a bit over the top for a old £80 phone?

My thoughts entirely. 

You should go back to the ebay seller as that is who your contract is with but getting an unlock code from eBay is the way to go rather than involving the courts. 

[Deleted User]

@iniltous Yes the mobile works on the Vodafone network and it asks for a NUC when putting in any other network provider's SIM. I have been provided with the master code from Vodafone however as far as I can tell I still need the Network Unlock Code.

Vodafone's own database says that it has been unlocked. I wonder how different the events would be if I was the original owner, I did contact the original owner to see if he could speak to Vodafone, however he clearly has no reason to understandibly. I'd just like to get to the bottom of why I seem unable to unlock a phone that is apparently already unlocked and who is at fault. Vodafone say it's down to Samsung and they say Vodafone.

What I do have is a trail of emails, texts and call logs that state Vodafone will unlock my phone within 14 days, as a Vodafone customer they have not honoured what they've stated.

dreamypuma

I am sure little Sajid in the market could resolve this issue for less money and hassle than a dubious Small Claims court claim.