CJ Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 A friend of mine who lives on Kos recently came home for a visit and bought a PAYG HTC Smart mobile phone from a friend of hers. Now Lillian is not the sharpest knife in the rack and assumed that all she had to was put her Greek SIM in when she went home and all would be good. Alas, that is not the case and it is locked to the O2 network. Unfortunately for her, O2 do not supply SIM cards for Greece and so she is a bit stuck. I spoke tp O2 tonight and they will supply an unlock code but only after she registers the phone with a new O2 sim and tops up by £15. I tried to explain that she was in Greece but he said that's the only way. Which leads me to the question above. Does anyone know of a reliable and relatively inexpensive company that supply's unlock codes please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Nobody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 You want a phone unlocked for less than £15? Bit of a tall order there Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 You want a phone unlocked for less than £15? Bit of a tall order there Col. No Gaz. That's the price O2 quoted which would have been fine but to get that done I would have to get an O2 PAYG sim card, send that to Greece, have her top that up for £15, then wait up to 28 days (so they told me) for an unlock code to be sent. She'd rather pay more but is worried about the online scammers out there and so I was asking if anyone had used a reliable source before so I could tell her where to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 The problem you have is that what you're trying to do is dodgy, so there are a million dodgy people out there ready to exploit those looking for similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 The problem you have is that what you're trying to do is dodgy, so there are a million dodgy people out there ready to exploit those looking for similar. Why is it dodgy? It is perfectly legal to unlock a PAYG phone. If it wasn't then O2 wouldn't offer the service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Ask for the PUK code then should be any sim I thought?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Ask for the PUK code then should be any sim I thought?? I think that's correct for using a UK provider afterwards but not for using the phone on Greece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Why is it dodgy? It is perfectly legal to unlock a PAYG phone. If it wasn't then O2 wouldn't offer the service. It's dodgy in the sense that you're after an unlock code for a UK phone to be used abroad, which is what a lot of dodgy people will try to do. That's why you're struggling to find a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I think that's correct for using a UK provider afterwards but not for using the phone on Greece. Worth a try as its free and then can slip her sim in and see! I'm sure it would be the same as getting it put to pay a you go the way they suggested!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 It's dodgy in the sense that you're after an unlock code for a UK phone to be used abroad, which is what a lot of dodgy people will try to do. That's why you're struggling to find a solution. I'm sorry but that's just nonsense. If it is so dodgy, why are O2 offering the service? Unlocking a phone is generic to use on another network. Nobody cares whether that network is UK or overseas based. When I acquired a phone off TomS a while back I contacted Vodafone as it was locked to their network and told them I was out in Greece etc. within 24 hours they had supplied an unlock code and so they too didn't feel it was "dodgy". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hold on... does 'she' realise that using said phone abroad with a UK sim will mean massive charges? Surely you're better off getting the phone unlocked properly and being able to use a local sim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Worth a try as its free and then can slip her sim in and see! I'm sure it would be the same as getting it put to pay a you go the way they suggested!? Just to clarify, what exactly would she need to ask for and get off O2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hold on... does 'she' realise that using said phone abroad with a UK sim will mean massive charges? Surely you're better off getting the phone unlocked properly and being able to use a local sim. Have you been drinking Gaz? If you read back, that's exactly what she is trying to do. Get it unlocked so she can use a Greek sim. She doesn't possess a UK sim hence why she can't top up and register etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Just to clarify, what exactly would she need to ask for and get off O2? Just ask for the PUK code to the phone! Say you are moving areas and the coverage is not good where you are moving to and want to keep you handset but change to a network that has coverage job done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Just ask for the PUK code to the phone! Say you are moving areas and the coverage is not good where you are moving to and want to keep you handset but change to a network that has coverage job done Thanks friend. I will get her to try that and see if it works. Once she gets this PUK code, what does she need to do then? I always thought that only worked on contract phones to give to the new provider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 the code should then be given to her Greek company and slide the sim in and should work fine! Also maybe worth PMing that guy with the new phone shop who posted up the other day he may know exactly what to do!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 the code should then be given to her Greek company and slide the sim in and should work fine! Also maybe worth PMing that guy with the new phone shop who posted up the other day he may know exactly what to do!? Nice one - and good thinking on contacting Surj! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Have you been drinking Gaz? Yes. If you read back, that's exactly what she is trying to do. Get it unlocked so she can use a Greek sim. She doesn't possess a UK sim hence why she can't top up and register etc You need to get her to send the phone back to you. Then you can visit any town centre in the UK and find the phone guy who'll be able to unlock her phone for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Nice one - and good thinking on contacting Surj! Surj, that just reminds me of this guy from Beverley hills cop[ATTACH]147950[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 BTW: The PUK code allows numbers to be transferred between sims. It doesn't allow mobiles to work on other networks if the phone's locked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yes. [quote=Gaz6002;3341701 You need to get her to send the phone back to you. Then you can visit any town centre in the UK and find the phone guy who'll be able to unlock her phone for her. That's probably her best bet. The silly ar5e should have done it when she was here but assumed that it would work OK as it wasn't a contract phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 The other way would be to send her an O2 PAYG sim and do as their rep suggested. She was happy to do that but didn't want the hassle of waiting up to 28 days to get the unlock code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 BTW: The PUK code allows numbers to be transferred between sims. It doesn't allow mobiles to work on other networks if the phone's locked. That wouldn't work then as she doesn't have an O2 sim anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz6002 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 The other way would be to send her an O2 PAYG sim and do as their rep suggested. She was happy to do that but didn't want the hassle of waiting up to 28 days to get the unlock code. But even to register the sim she'll have to pay charges. That's a false economy, especially since you can get it sent here and have it back with her quicker and probably for a lot less cash too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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