Help!

[Will0025]

My contract is due to end in two weeks, and just over a month ago I decided to request my NUC for my Sony XZ3. I just wanted to widen my options after my contract ended. 

requested my NUC on the 17/11 followed the instructions but wouldn’t work. Requested again on the 20/11 still wouldn’t work, spoke to someone on Live Chat who escalated it, and received an email saying they’d contact Sony and get back to me. This was on the 23/11. 
In the meantime I’ve done some research and discovered you have a limited number of attempts (something sadly omitted from Vodafone’s information on the subject). Accessed the phones service menu and discovered the phone is hard locked and needs to be reset by Sony before I can try again. 
called Vodafone on the 11/12 oddly was put through to someone in broadband tech support, he put me through to a colleague who promptly cut me off. So went to my local store on the 12/12 and was told they couldn’t help, I should raise a complaint (which I did same day) and to send the phone off myself and if there are costs I can try to claim it back. 
I then tried speaking to one of the social media team, who said he would send an email to the unlocking team to chase this up... Since then complete radio silence. 
I’ve  now been left with a phone which I’ve paid for, that I can only use on Vodafone. Up until the last couple of weeks I would happily stay on this network, I’ve had no real issues. But I’ve never dealt with a company that’s turned a simple process into getting blood from a stone!

[BandOfBrothers]

As far as I'm aware as the phone is branded i.e supplied by a Network then either Vodafone Customer services need to send out a Returns pack or a Vodafone Highstreet Store need to send it off in order for it's counter to be reset to lift the Hard Lock status on the phone so you can try again.

Unfortunately there have been a few posts from people experiencing issues with unlocking in particular to the Sony Brand. Performing a forum search will show past similar posts And advice.

Some people have resorted to using a reputable unlocking online site or Highstreet Store that advertises they unlock phone's  and pay the fee the site or shop asks.

As yours is hard locked this may not be an option and obviously I'm not suggesting you should have to go down this route and be out of pocket asVodafone's own Nuc should have worked.

And I'm not saying it's user keying error of the Nuc on your part but this does happen from time to time.

I assume you've tried an activated alternative network sim card just to double check it's not unlocked.

On a side note Hopefully Ofcom will soon stop the practice of letting Networks lock phone's out of the box.

It's the Vodafone Social Media Team's via Facebook and Twitter that we would guide you to as there is no account access via this forum and the Nuc Team are not customer facing.

If this was me I'd persevere with Twitter or Facebook.

Sony themselves may not be able to help as this is a branded phone however it can't harm to ask their customer services their advice too.

I wish you all the best with this.