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Using iphone 5s on the ID network

  • 19 May 2018
  • 7 replies
  • 537 views

Userlevel 1
I have an iphone 5s using giffgaff which uses the O2 network. In fact the phone is locked to O2 and there seems to be no way of unlocking it - I've tried everything in sight for the past 2 weeks and nothing works.
Anybody got any ideas?
Thanks for your help
Paul
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Best answer by paule133 25 May 2018, 17:46

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7 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +10
Hello @paule133,

Welcome to the iD Community.

GiffGaff/O2 would need to unlock this for you.

I found some more information on this here:

https://www.giffgaff.com/unlock
https://www.giffgaff.com/unlock/unlocking-quick-start-guide-faq

Hope you're able to get this resolved.

Mohammed
Userlevel 1
Tks for suggestions Mohamed but I’ve tried these.
giffgaff can’t unlock
o2 won’t unlock because it does not recognize me as a subscriber
so I’m snookered!
Paul
Userlevel 7
Badge +10
Hey @paule133,

Sounds like a tough situation.

It might be a long-shot but it may be worth messaging GiffGaff/O2 on their social pages to see if they can help. Alternatively, if O2/GiffGaff have a forum then creating a post there.

Perhaps someone who has had the same issue is able to share their resolution there.

Failing that, you can look at speaking to a 3rd party repairer as they may be able to unlock your handset.

I'll leave this open for anyone else to weigh in. I hope you're able to get this resolved.

Mohammed
Userlevel 1
Thanks for your suggestions Mohammed. I have now found two solutions
Solution 1
  1. Buy an O2 SIM (the giffgaff sim is not recognised. I actually spoke to a human at O2 and he flatly refused to accept that giffgaff runs on O2!)
  2. Top up the O2 SIM card with £15
  3. Wait 12 months
  4. Then and only then will they unlock it for me and I think they will charge £15 for the privilege.
Solution 2
  1. Buy a new phone
I think I know which solution I am going with!

Thanks again
Paul
Userlevel 7
Badge +10
Hi @paule133,

Thanks for sharing that with us. I've marked it as the best answer so hopefully this will help others who are in your situation.

It's a shame they weren't able to unlock this directly. It's weird how it works with iPhones I know that there are restrictions for different models etc.

If you ever your iD locked iPhone unlocking with us we'd be able to look into this here.

Mohmmed
Userlevel 1
Actually I found another way.
I contacted the previous owner of the phone (my son fortunately) and he was able to get it unlocked within 72 hours. The iphone itself is not locked, it is the apple servers that hold the information for locking/unlocking etc. So he just needed to get online with his old number and the IMEI code and it was done.
So I think this is the key for any others who have this problem.
Cheers Paul
Userlevel 7
Badge +10
Actually I found another way.
I contacted the previous owner of the phone (my son fortunately) and he was able to get it unlocked within 72 hours. The iphone itself is not locked, it is the apple servers that hold the information for locking/unlocking etc. So he just needed to get online with his old number and the IMEI code and it was done.
So I think this is the key for any others who have this problem.
Cheers Paul


I'm very pleased to hear that you found this solution @paule133,

This seems much more fortunate than having to purchase a new handset!

I've marked this as the new "Best Answer"

Mohammed

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