iPhone 4 and 4S

[mustafavodafone]

I originally bought a 24 month contract with Vodafone for an iPhone 3G, after a year I got fed up of the phone as it was too slow, and I couldn't upgrade with Vodafone so I bought an iPhone 4 from ineedamobile.com, they sell refurbished phones at cheap prices. The phone I got was locked to Vodafone, now that my 24 month contract has finished I wish to switch to 3, I went to a phone unlocking shop today and they quoted me £70 to get it unlocked from Apple, I have also filed a NUC request form with the reference number 8931799.

What should I do?

Thanks,

Mustafa.

[jeffkinn]

If the phone was originally on a contract with Vodafone then the original owner has to request the unlock. if the phone was PAYG anyone can request an unlock for £20.

Only the network that the phone was orignally locked to can request an unlock. Apple are merely an agent in the process and do not control it. If you go to an unofficial source and get it unlocked, you will probably find it locks again the next time you upgrade iOS to the newest version.

[mustafavodafone]

I don't know if it was originally a contract or PAYG phone and I have no method of contacting the original seller. I used it on my contract with Vodafone for over a year so surely that counts for something? And if it is on PAYG I'd be happy to pay the £20. I hope that Vodafone can verify which of these it is with me as they have the IMEI.

Regards,
Mustafa.

[jeffkinn]

I suggest you complete the unlock form. VF will soon tell you if they won't unlock it for you.

good luck.

[mustafavodafone]

I have. I've been waiting for a few days. They said to wait for up to a week so... And they should unlock it because they're the only ones who can. Apple doesn't do unlocks only the carrier does so they have to unlock it.

[jeffkinn]

I dont think you get any notification from VF to say that the process is completed. You need to put in another carrier's sim card and connect it to itunes. if the unlock has worked you will get a message frmo Itunes telling you that the phone is now unlocked.

[mustafavodafone]

Nope still nothing, its's been 4 days.

[jeffkinn]

4 days isnt long enough - you need to give it a week at least before chasing Vodafone

[mustafavodafone]

Do they normally take more than 7 days to process it? And you said I won't get a confirmation email to say that its done so I tried deactivating the phone and plugging into iTunes, instaead of No SIM and Invalid SIM I now get Searching... then No Service which is an improvement, then iTunes says the SIM isn't supported and asks me to reactivate with the Vodafone SIM. So it isn't unlocked yet.

So I'll try again tomorrow. thanks for your help.

[mustafavodafone]

Can someone from Vodafone check the status of this? It's 8931799. Thanks.

[mustafavodafone]

I need this unlock as soon as possible, it's caused a lot of inconvinience for me so far, so I need a reply from VF.

[DaveCD]

Hi mustafavodafone

Thank you for your posts and a very warm welcome to the eForum.

The reference you have provided is an email reference, do you have the 6 digit request reference and I will chase this up for you.

I do believe that this will not be possible as the Network Unlock Code needs to be requested by the original owner that the IMEI is registered to.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

[mustafavodafone · Accepted solution]

I rang customer services and they did it for free. Should be unlocked in 2 days. Thanks for all your help.