Iphone 4 wont unlock?

[amyberr]

I was given an iphone 4 locked to vodafone. We contaced them and recieved an email last week wednesday 10th june to say the iphone is now unlocked.
I connected to itunes with my o2 sim as instructed but would not accept it saying the network carrier is not supported. I tried with another sim and still the same message (also a vodafone sim that had no problem at all and performed a restore with that too, but still not unlocking!) I have restored to factory setting several times and continuing to try throughout the day everyday connecting to itunes with no luck. I have tried everything but nothing is working and im getting so frustrated, please can anybody help! The refrence number with my comfermation unlock is 1795325 if this will help at all?

[amyberr]

Yes all sim cards are active that i have tried. I have phoned vodafone asking about this but they really had no idea what i was talking about so u gave up and came here ininstead. 3 Week really? Ok i will try to stay paitent 😕 that you for you info. Finally someone who knows what im on about.

[jeffkinn]

Why the network doesn't make it crystal clear to it's customers how the iphone unlock process works is beyond me. Far too many people are still being told that they'll receive an unlock code and the emails from Vodafone, if you receive one, are just not clear enough.

Personally I'm against phone locking in general but the way Apple has implemented it is very poor. That's one of the reasons I buy all of my handsets unlocked and sim free but it does mean having to fund the purchase in the first place.

[BandOfBrothers]

I can understand things being delayed if a product launch is happening but that's not the case.

I've typically used O2 for my friends to unlock and what I explained as the process is what their customer service told me which I assumed was how they deal with all networks.

Again maybe Tech Team can advise.

[drey_p]

The process at Vodafone is different.  The "your phone has been unlocked" email only indicated that Vodafone have processed the request and doesn't indicate that Apple have actioned it.

More often than not, the email is sent out and it is done.  But sometimes, like in this case, it takes ages.  Vodafone have processed the request and it is now up to Apple to do the rest. 

[kids]

It is worth bearing in mind that 'sim free' and unlocked does not mean the same thing to everyone.

The ONLY place to buy an unlocked phone that will never lock to a network is direct from Apple. Many resellers will sell you a 'sim free' phone but these will lock to the network of the first sim that is put in the phone. CPW are the biggest culprits of this sales spiel and they give the customer the impression that sim free is unlocked.
Even up to a year ago Apple would sell you a sim free phone if you took out a network contract at the same time, as soon as the network sim was inserted the phone locked. Apple now make it clear that only unlocked phones will remain unlocked.