Unlocking etiquette

zagmund

I know the general situation with phones being tied to network. The carrier is giving you (say) €200 worth of phone for €50 and they don't want you taking that €150 subsidy and going off to another carrier, so they lock the phone to their network. If possible they lock you into a 24 month contract so you spend loads of money on your contract. So far, so understandable.

Unlocking options seem to involve dodgy looking blokes in side streets, your friend or nephew downloading things from the internet, or (according to the documentation I've seen) going back to your original carrier and asking them to unlock it.

Is there any way to know whether the carrier will laugh in your face and say "Absolutely no way buster", "Of course, but it's going to cost you €3,267.55 and you have to come to our offices in Bangladesh to get it done", or "Sure thing, that's done now"

What's in it for the carrier in unlocking your phone to let you move away from them ?

And what is it that the bloke in the shop can do that you or I can't do to unlock it ? It's not like he has to get out his set of Nokia/O2 skeleton keys, crack open the back of the phone and push buttons in an order taught to him by his sensei in the jungle training school. I'm sure he just fires up his laptop, pushes a button, <insert unknown step here> and your phone is unlocked. What's to stop everyone just doing this ? NB - I'm not advocating breaking contracts, stealing phones, evading legitimate charges, etc . . . I'm just wondering how it works.

And finally, is going into (say) Carphone Warehouse and asking about unlocking a phone like going to your old-skool cancer specialist and asking if inhaling seaweed while facing west on the shortest day of the year might help ? Or, to put it another way, is it not the done thing ?

z

ardmacha

It is reasonable to ask any carrier what the story is with unlocking. Vodafone, for instance, will unlock if you spend €127 (shades of punts there) on credit in 6 months.

peckerhead

zagmund wrote: »

"Of course, but it's going to cost you €3,267.55 and you have to come to our offices in Bangladesh to get it done"

[...] he has to get out his set of Nokia/O2 skeleton keys, crack open the back of the phone and push buttons in an order taught to him by his sensei in the jungle training school.

[...] is going into (say) Carphone Warehouse and asking about unlocking a phone like going to your old-skool cancer specialist and asking if inhaling seaweed while facing west on the shortest day of the year might help?

D'you reckon you might be over-thinking this just a little bit...?

counterlock

ardmacha wrote: »

It is reasonable to ask any carrier what the story is with unlocking. Vodafone, for instance, will unlock if you spend €127 (shades of punts there) on credit in 6 months.

You have to contact your network provider to get it unlocked legitimately anyway so its not like its a big deal. Afaik because the price of the phones are subsidised, at the end of your contract you own the phone so they are obliged to unlock it if you ask.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

zagmund

peckerhead wrote: »

D'you reckon you might be over-thinking this just a little bit...?

Yes, possibly.

z