Prepaid

[WendyBryceJohnson]

Hi, My mobile was originally a Telstra one which went out of plan, then changed to prepaid Vodafone. Now I want to change but Vodafone have locked it. Have tried lengthy periods of time on the phone waiting for customer service but no response. Can you help, please? Regards, Wendy

[Peter]

Hi Wendy - any more details?  Make & model of phone, etc.  Your problem's a puzzle.  I'm aware of unlocked iPhones being 'locked' - or set, actually - to a new carrier, and that's easily fixed.  Maybe it's just a matter of changing phone settings, eg the APN?

[Sarah_C]

Hi Wendy,

It's unfortunate you'd like to leave Vodafone, if you're having any issues with our service I can help you.

Hi, My mobile was originally a Telstra one which went out of plan, then changed to prepaid Vodafone. Now I want to change but Vodafone have locked it. 

What phone are you using? With some phones, occasionally if you place another carrier SIM in the phone, it can re-lock to that network. Can you please pop your IMEI number in to our unlocking tool here? Can you let me know if there is any sort of error message that appears? 

If you're unable to unlock your phone using the above tool, I'll look in to this for you via email. I have sent you a private message containing my contact details and information that I'll need from you. Please note that I'm unable to provide help and support via private messages, so I'll wait for your email, or community reply.

Regards,

Sarah.

[bhall75]

I have exactly the same issue. Vodafone have been no help at all unlocking my Iphone 3GS. I have been into a store and called several times and still Vodafone can't unlock my phone! I own the phone yet I cant even use my OWN phone!!@!

[Amy_W]

Hi bhall75,

You've certainly come to the right area for help and I am more than happy to look into your unlocking troubles further for you.

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bhall75 wrote:

I have exactly the same issue. Vodafone have been no help at all unlocking my Iphone 3GS. I have been into a store and called several times and still Vodafone can't unlock my phone! I own the phone yet I cant even use my OWN phone!!@!

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If you don't mind I would like to ask a few questions, the answers will allow me to understand what is happening.  It would be great to know if its also a phone that you purchased via another carrier?

Can you kindly advise what happened when you placed your IMEI into our Unlocking website Here please? You can obtain your IMEI by entering *#06# into your iPhones keypad. Were you able to move forward with the unlocking process, or did you receive an error?

Can you kindly advise what my phone and store colleagues advised you please? As we're corresponding via a public channel I am unable to view your account and previous conversations.

I look forward to your response and please let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Amy

[bvhara]

I'm new here so please excuse my inability to figure out how to post new msg. Replying to a similar thread is best I could do...

I have just tried to unlock a nokia 1616 / vodaphone prepaid phone I bought at Woolies several years ago and Vod website says I have to pay $25 (discounted from $50). So I tried to unlock another one of the same model purchased even longer ago from Officeworks and site still says I have to pay $25. (IMEIs: 35863 4{Mobile Number Removed}and 359{Mobile Number Removed})
I'm shocked and outraged! The phones weren't worth that much when I bought them and they are certainly not worth that much now. In fact there are probably worth nothing at all now. It seems like vodaphone would rather I throw them away than keep them in service with another carrier, even if that is an overseas carrier while I'm traveling! Not a very sound environmental problem, nor customer relations policy.

I notice from the forum that some phones (softlocked) don't cost anything to unlock. Why discriminate? Especially as I've been such a loyal customer of Vodaphone for the past 6 years. Surely you've recouped the cost of the handsets over and above what I paid for them.

I am hoping you can resolve this my satisfaction, otherwise I'll be seriously considering switching to a different carrier in Australia as well.

Kind regards,

Mark

[bvhara]

I'm new here so please excuse my inability to figure out how to post new msg. Replying to a similar thread is best I could do...

I have just tried to unlock a nokia 1616 / vodaphone prepaid phone I bought at Woolies several years ago and Vod website says I have to pay $25 (discounted from $50). So I tried to unlock another one of the same model purchased even longer ago from Officeworks and site still says I have to pay $25. (IMEIs: 35863 4{Mobile Number Removed}and 359{Mobile Number Removed})
I'm shocked and outraged! The phones weren't worth that much when I bought them and they are certainly not worth that much now. In fact there are probably worth nothing at all now. It seems like vodaphone would rather I throw them away than keep them in service with another carrier, even if that is an overseas carrier while I'm traveling! Not a very sound environmental problem, nor customer relations policy.

I notice from the forum that some phones (softlocked) don't cost anything to unlock. Why discriminate? Especially as I've been such a loyal customer of Vodaphone for the past 6 years. Surely you've recouped the cost of the handsets over and above what I paid for them.

I am hoping you can resolve this my satisfaction, otherwise I'll be seriously considering switching to a different carrier in Australia as well.

Kind regards,

Mark

[Nick]

Hi bvhara,

bvhara wrote:
I have just tried to unlock a nokia 1616 / vodaphone prepaid phone I bought at Woolies several years ago and Vod website says I have to pay $25

Most phones we sell are locked to the Vodafone network. Many of them are subsidised at purchase, and do have a charge to unlock them. The charge to unlock your phone varies, depending on if it was purchased on a prepaid or postpaid plan, and how long you've had the phone for.

As you correctly pointed out, by unlocking it online, instead of over the phone, you save yourself $25!

bvhara wrote:

It seems like vodaphone would rather I throw them away

Definitely not. All of our stores have a collection box that you can put your old or unwanted phones in, and they'll be sent off to be recycled. This is the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of your phone. There are actually many of these collection points across Australia- not just in phone shops. You can find the one nearest to you through the MobileMuster website.

Thanks,

Nick

[EDIT: Formatting]

[Butcher59678]

Hi,

I brought an iPhone 4 off someone on ebay that said that the phone was unlocked. But when I went to put my sim card in, it said there was a sim card. They said they were originally with vodafone, and since vodafone has bad reception where I am, I unfortuantely can't go with vodafone. So I have a telstra sim card. I was wondering what I should do to change my Vodafone SIM-locked iPhone to telstra?

Thanks

[Peter]

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Butcher59678 wrote: Hi, I brought an iPhone 4 off someone on ebay that said that the phone was unlocked. But when I went to put my sim card in, it said there was a sim card. They said they were originally with vodafone, and since vodafone has bad reception where I am, I unfortuantely can't go with vodafone. So I have a telstra sim card. I was wondering what I should do to change my Vodafone SIM-locked iPhone to telstra?     Thanks

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See if you can unlock it online:

http://community.vodafone.com.au/t5/iOS-Knowledge-Base/Want-to-unlock-your-iPhone/ta-p/180590