Network Unlocking Code (NUC)

[strippy74]

Hi

I have recently been given an iPhone 4s which is locked to the Vodafone network and the owener has now moved to the other side of the world so contact is limited.

How can i get teh phone unlocked to use on other networks?

Can i purchase a pay as you go SIM, top it up with £20 and then complete your NUC forms? is this acceptable?

thanks

Strippy74 

[strippy74]

Thanks. I will bear some patience.

[strippy74]

Hi to everyone.

I still have had no contact with the Tech Team - possibly as my comment has been resolved (far from to be honest!).

I have had two conflicting answers posted to my question and I am still confused. why can't answers be black and white?? I guess that would be too easy .

My situation is this: I have purchased a Vodafone Apple iPhone 4s from a third party, I am not sure if it is a PAYG or a monthly contracted phone, but I do know the contract has ended with Vodafone. I have next to no conact with the third party as he has now gone abroad, so, requesting him to complete the NUC form online is impossible. I want to unlock the phone so it is open to other networks - how can I achieve this?

In my mind (simplistic as it maybe) the phone has no contract. I would like to put a Vodafone PAYG SIM into it, once this has been registered with Vodafone, for me to then to complete the NUC form online. Once completed I connect the phone to iTunes and with any luck the phone is unlocked. - IS THIS AN OPTION?

Can someone please help? this seems to be a mill stone round my neck - if there is no solution, I have the PayPal Money Back Guarantee which i can excersice, but I need confirmation from Vodafone that it MUST be th eoriginal owber that has to complete the NUC form.

Thanking you all in advance.

Strippy74

[kids]

It is (fairly) black and whte.

If a phone was supplied on a contract (as you imply) then only the original contract owner can apply for the unlocking, irrespective whether the contract has ended or not.

If a phone was purchased outright as as PAYG phone then the phone can be unlocked for £20 by the current owner.

[strippy74]

Hi and once again, thanks for your response.

Technically, if the phone was bough under a contract, and the contract comes to a natural end, there is no contract, the owner owns the phone ash they have paid for this over the length of the contract.

Surely Vodafone cannot dictate how someone uses the phone thereafter?

This is like me saying to you, the pair of shoes you have bought, you cannot use them outside of your home and I will prevent you from doing so. however, after a year, you can sell the shoes to someone else, but even they cant wear them outside of their house either.

Sorry to be naive, but that is the easiest and simplest way i can put it, obviously we are talking about a phone here.

Entertain this thought then. If the phone I have is a contract phone, and the owner passes away and the phone is given as part of that persons estate to family, what is Vodafone's stance on that? Do the dead have to complete the NUC form? in my case the owner of this phone could may well be dead as he is not responding to my emails!

I am trying to get Vodafone to see this from my perspective and to deal with this as an individual case rather than a general question, hence posting my question again.

I am glad that you read my post, i just hope its a PAYG phone, if not then the above applies.

[kids]

Many different scenariois have been put forward over the years as to why a phone should be unlocked by someone other than the original owner. But Vodafone's stance on unlocking has always remained the same.

Unfortunately your point that: "Technically, if the phone was bough(sic) under a contract, and the contract comes to a natural end, there is no contract, the owner owns the phone ash they have paid for this over the length of the contract" does not help you, Vodadone will indeed unlock the phone for the original ower (even during the contract) but that is not what you are trying to do.

You need to check if the phone was a PAYG handset that was sold outright and your startring point for that would be a call or better still a visit to to Apple to ask them to check the phone's history.

Personally as this could take some time I would go for the refund option you have rather than run out of time and still not be able to get it unlocked.

[strippy74]

Hi

sounds like a good starting point, i will try and email once more, if i still ahve no joy, go in for the kill and ask for a refund.

thanks for your help and guidance, much appreciated.

[strippy74]

Hi

I thought I would share some news.

The person I bought the phone from has responded to my refund email and he is looking into how to complete the NUC form.

I did email him the link, now it's a matter of time I guess.

thanks, I will keep you posted.

[Amanda]

Hi @strippy74

Thanks for your posts and for the update. 

It does need to be the original owner that requests the NUC on a Pay monthly phone, even if the contract has ended.

As it's an Apple phone you won't receive a code. You'll get an email once it's been actioned, then please resync your phone with iTunes. 

You can see more info on our Network Unlock help video.

Thanks, 

Amanda 

[strippy74]

Hi Amnda

Thank you for reading the thread, I hope I have not been too harsh on Vodafone or its Tech Team.

With regards to your comment on "As it's an Apple phone you won't receive a code. You'll get an email once it's been actioned, then please resync your phone with iTunes."

The original owner will need to complete teh NUC form, but his details will be on the form not mine.... so how will I recieve an email? have I missed somethig here? 

thanks

[kids]

The email notification system is a bit hit and miss so don't worry.

All you need to do is to wait a few days after the NUC form has been submitted then connect the phone to ITunes using a non Vodafone sim. Do this each day until you see the message pop up in iTunes that the phone is unlocked.