Apple

[monson]

Hi there,

My partner has an iphone 3GS bought on contract about 2 years ago. Recently, he changed it from pay monthly to pay as you go before we left the UK to travel for a year or so.

He would like to use a local sim card on his iphone but realised that it was locked. 

How does he go about getting it unlocked?

Having read other similar posts, there seems to be a charge of about £20 for PAYG. But he started his phone on pay monthly with Vodafone, so surely there is no charge for him to get it unlocked? He would like to remain on Vodafone to keep his number whilst abroad. So that he could use the same number again on our return.

It would be great if someone could help on this matter.

Many thanks.

PS: He had tried filling in the NUC form to request for the unlock but it was rejected due to unknown IMEI (I think)

[Nabs]

Hi Monson,

You can only get a free unlock if you are currently a contract cusomter. Unfortunatly your partner no longer has a contract with Vodafone so would therefore need to go down the PAYG router which does cost £20.

The reason you get an unknown IMEI error may be because the IMEI number of the handset does not relate to one on a current Vodafone contract 

[monson]

Thanks for the reply.

I've also checked out one of the links posted for someone who had similar issue. The PAYG section says that if the phone is more than 12 months old, Vodafone will give NUC for free.

Can anyone confirm this? I've emailed the Customer Service, so far there has been no reply.

Thanks.

[Nabs]

The way i read it:

• Under 12 months you pay a fee.
• Over 12 months it might be free, most likely depends on the manufacturer. 

Will be interesting to see what the outcome is here.

Maybe one of the Tech Team could confirm the costs here

[James]

Hi monson,

You will be able to get the code free of charge if it is older than 12 months old.

This can either be done through ourselves or customer services.

If you would like us to request an unlock code for you please follow the instructions on the PM that I have sent and we can get this requested for you.

You can find your PM inbox here.

James

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