UNLOCKING PHONE WHEN ABROAD?

[davidcundy]

Following Vodafone's recent change in their roaming charges policy, keeping our UK mobile numbers is now uneconomic.

Therefore my wife and I are cancelling our Vodafone contracts and taking out new contracts with Orange in France.

My wife's phone worked straight away with her newOrange SIM but my Sony XZ Xperia phone needs to be unlocked.

After obtaining the IMEI and NUC codes, my phone remained unlocked. 

I have spent many fruitless hours asking various people within Vodafone UK why I can't unlock my phone.

The conclusion seems to be that my phone probably needs to be physically in the UK in order for it to be unlocked.

My wife and I used to split our time living in the UK and France.  However, I became seriously ill last year whilst we were in France.  I am now OK-ish but as a result of my disease, I am now immunosuppressed and we cannot travel to the UK.

I can't even post the phone back to the UK (following Brexit) and ask a friend to do this for me without incurring ridiculous tariffs!

Surely there must be a way round this?  Does anyone know how to unlock a Vodafone UK Sony XZ Xperia phone when it / we are abroad?

Thanks.

[BandOfBrothers]

Unfortunately it can be the case that Vodafone can't guarantee a Nuc will work if the phone isn't in the UK although some have had this work @davidcundy 

Have you considered a reputable online unlocking site or a local Highstreet Store that advertises they unlock phone's ( if there open due to the pandemic ) although this would come at a cost to you.

[AnnS]

Hi @davidcundy 

The phone does not need to be in the UK when an unlock code is used, it's the phone software that completed the unlocking it is not something that is network related.

There have been some issues on the forum unlocking Sony phones and there should be a code to be entered into the phone to bring up the unlocking menu before using unlock code.   Speak to the Social Team they will be able to help here: Contact Us 

Probably by the time you mess around trying to get the phone unlocked, although chargeable, you should be able to get the phone unlocked locally.