Having read phones4u were unlocked i ordered a HTC Desire.


http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...light=phones4u

The phone received is locked. I emailed phones4u and they replied:

"Thank you for your recent email regarding the HTC Desire on pay as you go.
I can confirm that the handsets on our website are locked specifically to the Networks."

Could it be perhaps the store phones are unlocked and website orders locked?. Anyone else found any phones4u phones locked?

A quick Google turned up this support forum thread:

http://support.phones4u.co.uk/pe/act...talPageId=1002

You can return the handset and then go to a store, but you'd lose any credit you may have put onto the account.

My last 2 phones bought through phones4u ( a Blackberry 9700 last year and a Blackberry 9780 this year) have both been unlocked and without any network branding.

Running water is wrong.

PAYG handsets are locked to protect from box breaking.

Some contract stock in P4u is unlocked

Yes I'd agree with that as both my phones were obtained as upgrades.

I agree, phones4U handsets are rarely unlocked.

Its always a problem on some forums, that unless you hang around for a while you don't get a sense as to which posters are reliable and which likely to be mistaken.

Can i sue Running Water

Thanks for the link Roush.

I would have thought Desires would be easy to unlock :S

You could try this if you dont get a refund.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=943726

Is it the HD Desire or just the Desire?

I rang them earlier and they said it was £250 for the HD Desire which seems unbeleivably cheap. I'm sure they meant just the desire even though I said HD Desire.

On their website they just have advertised the desire for £250.

Anyone confirm whether it's the HD Desire for 250?

thanks.

desire

I disagree... all my PAYG handsets bought in the last couple of years have been unlocked. Two HTC wildfires and two samsung montes before that... and an LG something or other (slide out keyboard) my brother in law bought on orange was unlocked.

You need to ask in store for instance the wildfires on vodafone pay as you go are locked (network stock) but for tmobile, o2 and orange they where all supplied from trade stock.

I guess with Phones4u they'll get handsets from whoever will supply them the cheapest be it from manufacturer or network.

I don't understand why the government don't just bring a ruling in to ban the locking of a handset to any particular network. This will increase the price of a handset slightly, but negate the need for topups and later unlocking costs. It should also encourage better value PAYG tariffs (although they are better than they ever were at the moment). It will save a lot of hassle all round IMO.

The networks probably wouldn't like it, but stuff them. They will just have to focus on other ways of 'winning customers' rather than at the point of sale of a new PAYG phone. It will also stop box-breaking instantly, which would be of benefit to them.

While we're at it, lets ban all network branding on phones too!

I can dream I suppose.

fixed...

just picked up a nokia c1-01 nokia on virgin for 25quid in phones4u... it was factory unlocked and now has an o2 sim in it.

great for 25 quid... bluetooth, mp3 ringtones, micro sd card slot and feels good quality. Great spare phone.

Er, surely that's what a SIM free phone is now? It's a phone you pay more for so it's unlocked and unbranded. PAYG phones are cheaper because they're subsidised by the networks so in turn the networks need to make sure customers are going to be using their service ie locking the Phone.

If there was a ban on locking PAYG handsets then prices would be the same as SIM free is now. There would be no incentive to offer a cheaper phone.

In fact, your suggestion would give consumers less choice. Right now if they're happy sticking with a network they can get a cheaper phone. If phones were unlocked they'd be forced to pay more no matter what.

As kev says the networks would instantly stop subsidies on payt handsets.

Indeed, networks would not subsidise the handsets and they would go up in price. I did say this in my post.

However, networks would then be competing for business almost solely on the PAYG tariff prices and not the handset price.

At the moment, the system is very much against the consumer because you buy a phone on a network and you are then stuck with that network for the life of the phone (unless you unlock it).

People are fooled by the subsidised system which is really just a marketing scam. Phones are cheap in the UK, but we pay through the nose for our calls and probably end up spending more in the long run! It's all to do with psychology... we like to pay less in the short term even if it means we pay more in the future. The networks are exploiting this. Though I guess the same is true for contract deals and credit cards!

You said "this will increase the price of a handset slightly" but it would put handset prices at exactly what SIM free prices are now. On some handsets that would be a considerable increase.


Or you buy SIM free at the same price handsets would be if locking was banned. All banning locks would do is take away choice which is anti-consumer. Right now if there is a network offering a good deal on a phone and a reasonable PAYG tariff then surely that's a good option? Why take that option away?

I'm not at all convinced that banning locking would cause networks to compete more on tariff than they do now either. It's not like they ignore it now in favour of having a better subsidised prices on phones. You only need to look at the adverts on TV to see them competing against each other with their PAYG tariffs.

There wouldn't necessarily be a reduction in tariff prices, we actually have some of the best pay and go tariffs in the world. Just look at websites in other countries (even those where locking isn't allowed ) and you'll see not only more expensive prices but things like credit which expires very quickly (as short as a week).