Mobile network unlock denied by Vodafone

[SarahWinstanley]

Vodafone is denying that the device was purchased from a Vodafone store due to which I am unable to perform a network unlock on the phone. I still have the bill with me which is little faded now as its 3 years old but still very evident that the bill is from a Vodafone store. How do I prove Vodafone its a mistake on their end and get my phone network unlocked

[AnnS]

What is the make of phone @SarahWinstanley ?

What's most likely happened here is with the phone being 3 years old and not having been used by Vodafone for a lengthy period of time is the IMEI has dropped of the system.

Vodafone will ask that you use a PAYG SIM in the phone for 30 days to associate the SIM with the IMEI number and then complete the form here Unlock my phone as PAYG to request the code.  Some Samsung phones need a Master Unlock PIN, aka as an unfreeze code to be entered into the phone to bring up the unlock menu. If you have any problems getting this code return to the thread for help from the Social Team.

A free SIM is available here: Free SIM . The minimum top up is £10.00 and Vodafone will automatically convert your credit into a bundle lasting the necessary 30 days.  After this time you won't have any problems getting the unlock code from Vodafone.

Networks no longer lock phones, at least that was something Ofcom stopped.

[SarahWinstanley]

Its a Huawei P30 Pro phone and I have been using this phone with a Vodafone sim and still using the Vodafone sim only plan on this phone. Because the contract is over and I have bought a new phone, i wamted to switch my Vodafone number to the new phone and use a different network sim on this phone which is why thought of network unlock but Vodafone says the IMEI doesn't exist and that the phone was bought from another retailer.