"Three" problem Unlocking phone.

[Robbo87]

Hi Guys, I need a bit of advice as this is starting to drive me up the wall.

 

My sisters Boyfriend had an iphone 4 with three on contract. When his contract was finished, he upgraded his handset and sold me the iphone 4 (which as I understand is now out of contract and paid for etc)

 

It is locked to three however. Which imo is a terrible network and my area has poor coverage so I want to use my GiffGaff simcard.

 

I have spoken to Three customer services 4 times on the phone now. And they say when I give them the IMEI that the phone isn't registered, and to register it I need to give them proof of purchase. I gave up trying to explain that I bought the phone second hand. Anyway, I spoke to the original owner and he decided to speak to three for me. He spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to explain that he wanted his previous handset unlocked. they charge £15 but fine whatever, i just want it done. Again on giving the IMEI they tell him the handset is not registered. and that he needs to send in the reciept to register it and prove who's it is.

 

Now here is the problem. When he bought the phone originally. he was given a broken phone that was in pieces upon opening the box, so he was given a replacement. He has gone home and found the receipt, and low and behold the only receipts are for the original broken iphone and not the replacement. the IMEI number is different. So i feel we are at a bit of a dead end. Every single member of staff we have spoken to in the call centre just aren't willing to help and just keep repeating that we need P O P before we can register it and then get the phone unlocked.

 

This is starting to drive me potty. I can't even just change my current number to 3 so i can use the phone as I have no signal in my home. and companys are wanting upwards of £100 to unlock the handset which just isn't an option.

 

Can anybody help? I have complained through the official channels but that hasn't gotten me anywhere either. The whole situation is just one big joke. The phone is out of contract so I see no reason why it should still be locked down to Three.

[locutus]

How far have you got going down official channels? If you have a reference to your complaint, Email the CEO [email protected] ask if his department consider you to be at DEADLOCK so you can escalate the complaint.

 

I would also point out to them that it's over a year ago that the iPhone 4s was released, so this phone has obviously been used on their network for over a year, and it is only fair that your brother in law can pass his old phone to you.

 

Remember to use positive language in your email. Tell them that you would be more than happy to use three if they had coverage in your area and other little flattering bits like that... you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

 

Let us know if they help.

[Robbo87]

Thank you for the reply. As far as the official channels are concerned I've put in a complaint through their online form. They quote 74 hours to get back to me. I put the complaint in yesterday so there's time yet however having read a lot of other complaint's it seems that in a lot of cases they choose to just simply not reply. I will look into sending an email to the address you have given me, Thanks.

 

I'm planning on paying a visit to my local three store tomorrow however I'm not confident it will be of any use.

[dreadpiratesteve]

Have you spoken to Apple? From what I remember, the unlock procedure would only occur through iTunes which is controlled by Apple and the unlock would happen by "syncing" with yours or possibly your brothers iTune account.

[Robbo87]

I've looked into it and from what I have read, The unlock needs to be requested by the network. I'm going to try and find an address somewhere to see if I can speak to someone at apple but I don't think they will be able to do anything.

[locutus]

The reason I suggested emailing the CEO and asking for a DEADLOCK letter is that if a complaint is not going to be resolved by the network, you can take it to the ADR (alternative dispute resolution) which costs them money. It would be financially more viable for them to just do the unlocking for you

[Robbo87]

Ah cool thanks. I'll write an email up now. Worth a try.

[Robbo87]

Just been into the store. Which was of no use whatsoever. He refused to help me saying he need's the replacement receipt, he only has the original (which as i understand it, will have been given in when getting the replacement? so how do we still have it?...) and he just said theres nothing they can do, I just have to get it unlocked on my own back, just to add, for this phone to be unlocked people are charging £110 .

 

Turns out all his bills still refer to the old phones IMEI and not this one. Surely they would have updated the records when issuing a replacement? (no we don't do that) surely you have it on record that you replaced the phone (no we delete everything every 6 months he says)

 

so as it stands there is no way of proving ownership of the phone. With three being of absolute no help whatsoever, I find It hard to believe that a phone with an unregistered IMEI has been used on their network for 2 years which is locked to their network and they haven't thought anything of it. I've sent an email to david dyson this morning but no reply as of yet. I've sent messages to their live twitter support feed and not getting a reply. I could just give up and get rid of the phone on ebay but this has annoyed me far to much now.

[2Grumpy]

Have you asked them what registration they are talking about, who would have done it and when

After that I would be asking if they were suggesting that the phone was stolen or were they just trying to cover up their admin deficiencies

[Robbo87]

Yes, all they keep saying is that the Phones IMEI has not been registered to the original owners account. He phoned up the store himself yesterday after my visit. The staff member said they'd speak to customer services. He phoned back telling him the same he told me.

 

We also thought about if it had been stolen or something. I think it's clear that they have messed up when replacing the phone but there is no way they are going to admit it. And I doubt I have any way of proving it. The staff members attitude was basically "tough" .

 

I've just put the phone on ebay in the hope that the money I get for it will pay for an unlocked or o2 phone. If it can be unlocked before I sell it then great but I'm not getting my hopes up. This whole situation has just been nothing but a farce. The fact that they claim they don't know who the phone belongs too when it has been used on their network for 2 years just really baffles me.

[MaxxPower]

Do you have any tech-savvy friends who may be able to jailbreak the iPhone for you? Once it's jailbroken (something many many iPhone owners do with their devices) it's a relatively easy process to unlock it. And free.

[Robbo87]

I can jail break phones, I've done a few in the past, the problem is this has been updated to ios6, which currently only has a tethered jail break available, but the baseband has also been updated to one that currently has no way of being unlocked, Unless it's done via the network. So I'm stuck with my only option being the network doing it, Or paying someone online £110 to unlock it. (they basically bribe someone at three to unlock it)

[2Grumpy]

Try writing/emailing to 3 head office/ceo with the facts:

Family member had a contract with 3

Their phone was replaced but 3 failed to register the new phone against their account

That person has now sold the phone to you, but because you have no 3 reception, you have no choice but to have the phone unlocked from the 3 network

Because of their failure to register the phone correctly, they are refusing to do anything

That you require the phone to be unlocked or a clear reason why they won't do it, but that you will not accept "the phone is not registered" as a valid reason since that is merely a symptom of their administrative failings. Examples of reasonable reasons would be that it was stolen, but 3 don't appear to be saying that.

[Robbo87]

I had a reply from the executives office last night, They said they need to speak to the original owner to see if I can speak to them on his behalf due to data protection act :/. So I gave them his phone number and I'm hoping they phone him today and get this sorted.

[smed]

I had a phone locked to 3 - bought a turbo sim unlocking card on a well known auction site for less than £5 and it worked fine

[Robbo87]

Yes I have seen those but unfortunately they do not yet work for IOS6 so my only option at the moment is three agreeing to unlock it.