pay as you go phones are locked in UK?

MATHA531 · 06-07-2007, 13:32

You can use the address of the hotel you are staying at in those instances where you need to register the card (Orange for one) but you can't get credit card top up as the credit card used is supposed to be keyed to a UK address. This has been an ongoing problem.

It will be interesting to see as the eurotariffs take effect what will happen. Mobile World, of course, does not allow roaming outside the UK making it difficult to keep the card active (although since the sim is free, if you just about use up all the credit, it's no big deal)...Orange call abroad requires one action every six months but since they allow roaming you can send a text message at a very low cost to keep it active and T Mobile UK with its £2 bundle for calls to the USA and Canada also can easily be kept active because they allow roaming.

Malkav · 09-07-2007, 01:34

you can buy cheap sim free phone from places like carphone warehouse etc...and then just put a pay as you go sim in.....

www.carphonewarehouse.com

owleye · **Not as cheap as they say -** 10-07-2007, 08:11

Carphonewarehouse sim free phones are dearer than their PAYG phones and don't have all the available range of phones. Their Sim free phones are costlier by at least 30£. Are there any other places where such phones are available? Argos doesn't have much variety.

Can I buy a PAYG phone and get it unlocked in a different country? if so what is the method to do so?

Also, will there be a drawback when I unlock such a phone? like a particular phone feature being disabled?

cheers!

MATHA531 · 10-07-2007, 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by owleye

Carphonewarehouse sim free phones are dearer than their PAYG phones and don't have all the available range of phones. Their Sim free phones are costlier by at least 30£. Are there any other places where such phones are available? Argos doesn't have much variety.

Can I buy a PAYG phone and get it unlocked in a different country? if so what is the method to do so?

Also, will there be a drawback when I unlock such a phone? like a particular phone feature being disabled?

cheers!

Whenever I visit London and walk down Oxford Street, I see shop after shop (mostly holes in the wall so to speak) with signs they unlock phones for £8 or thereabouts! Shouldn't be a problem getting the phone unlocked.

Malkav · 12-07-2007, 02:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Whenever I visit London and walk down Oxford Street, I see shop after shop (mostly holes in the wall so to speak) with signs they unlock phones for £8 or thereabouts! Shouldn't be a problem getting the phone unlocked.

well there is that but then again you pay £8 get your payg unlocked then it goes tits...the shop who unlocked your phone are gonna say 'dont care' and the shop are going to say...what did you do...oh that voided your warrenty...tough!

nix · 12-07-2007, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malkav

well there is that but then again you pay £8 get your payg unlocked then it goes tits...the shop who unlocked your phone are gonna say 'dont care' and the shop are going to say...what did you do...oh that voided your warrenty...tough!

That's why I prefer to unlock myself or at least until I've searched the web for the methods/risks.

If you buy a Virgin mobile, if you've topped up with £30 credit then they will give you an unlock code free (http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/gener....us.shop.sm019)

Malkav · 12-07-2007, 18:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by nix

That's why I prefer to unlock myself or at least until I've searched the web for the methods/risks.

If you buy a Virgin mobile, if you've topped up with £30 credit then they will give you an unlock code free (http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/gener....us.shop.sm019)

yeah there is that to, but then sometimes you end up paying more for the phone as opposed to buying it sim free...

payg phones are not subsidized as much as contract phones!

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

	(#1)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	06-07-2007, 13:32 You can use the address of the hotel you are staying at in those instances where you need to register the card (Orange for one) but you can't get credit card top up as the credit card used is supposed to be keyed to a UK address. This has been an ongoing problem. It will be interesting to see as the eurotariffs take effect what will happen. Mobile World, of course, does not allow roaming outside the UK making it difficult to keep the card active (although since the sim is free, if you just about use up all the credit, it's no big deal)...Orange call abroad requires one action every six months but since they allow roaming you can send a text message at a very low cost to keep it active and T Mobile UK with its £2 bundle for calls to the USA and Canada also can easily be kept active because they allow roaming.

	(#2)
Malkav (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 267 Join Date: 09 Jun 2006 Location: Malkavian University Country:	09-07-2007, 01:34 you can buy cheap sim free phone from places like carphone warehouse etc...and then just put a pay as you go sim in..... www.carphonewarehouse.com Current networks: Orange 3g UK, 3 pay monthly, Virgin pay as you go UK, 3UK payg, Tesco payg, Asda mobile Active phones: Blackberry Torch (02), Google Nexus one (Vodafone) Inactive Sims: Oskar Czech R, BT Genie Pay as you go UK. Spare (unused phones) NEC 616, Ericsson t68/i, Nokia 3310, Sendo m550, Mototorola v66i, Motorola a1000.lg u880, Sony Ericsson t230. Orange spv m5000, Samsung z400, Motorola SLVR (Red)!, lobster tv700, spv m700, prada phone, motorola l7e, Skype phone, siemens sl65, blackberry 8810, Nokia 6500 slide X2.

	(#3)
owleye (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 10 Jul 2007 Country:	Not as cheap as they say - 10-07-2007, 08:11 Carphonewarehouse sim free phones are dearer than their PAYG phones and don't have all the available range of phones. Their Sim free phones are costlier by at least 30£. Are there any other places where such phones are available? Argos doesn't have much variety. Can I buy a PAYG phone and get it unlocked in a different country? if so what is the method to do so? Also, will there be a drawback when I unlock such a phone? like a particular phone feature being disabled? cheers!