The Bad Side Of Unlocking

We all like getting something for nothing. If one service online charges for their service and the next site offers the service free, you're going to use the free service, right? In certain circumstances this may be true, however in the world of unlocking a free ride may cost you more than you think!

Before I continue with this post I need to make something clear - all Nokia phones will allow only 5 attempts at code entry. In simple terms, once 5 codes have been entered into a Nokia phone, the phone cannot be unlocked by code. This would mean you taking the phone to a phone shop to be unlocked, and this could cost you anything between £10-£20. There are a number of sites and forums online that offer free unlock codes for Nokia phones, and I explain for each below why you should not use these free services:

• FREE UNLOCKING SITES - Take a close look at the list of supported phones and networks on most of these free sites, you will notice that the majority haven't updated these lists in a long time. This usually indicates that the code calculation methods used by these sites is not up-to-date either. The people running these free services really don't care if the codes they supply work or not, at the end of the day you can't really ask for a refund can you? Recently I obtained codes for a Nokia phone from one of these free sites as a test. The Nokia phone in question is quite a new model, and I had a feeling I would be supplied incorrect codes. I was right, the codes supplied were calculated using a very old method which does not work with newer handsets. I contacted the site explaining that the codes did not work and asking if they could help. Two days later I received a response 'You get what you pay for' - I couldn't have said it better myself!
• FREE UNLOCKING FORUMS - These in my opinion are the worst offenders because many of them are using people as the proverbial 'Guinea Pig'. You will find many of the people supplying free codes on these forums are actually people who have sites selling unlocking codes. But look closely at the posts on these forums - people post their phone information requesting unlock codes, someone replies with two codes, the phone owner responds with 'sorry, these codes didn't work', someone then replies with another two codes, the phone owner then responds again with 'sorry, these codes didn't work either', someone then responds with yet another two codes, the phone owner then responds with 'sorry, these codes didn't work either' - problem here is that the phone owner has now entered more than 5 codes meaning the phone can no longer be unlocked by code! Some of the people on these forums are posting unlock codes calculated using different methods in the hope of finding the correct solution for a specific phone!

Many of the people who use these free services end up contacting me asking if I can supply the correct codes. In the majority of cases I have to say no simply because they have already tried more than 5 codes. If these people had come to a service like mine in the first place, it would have cost them £4.50 and their phone would be unlocked. Because they wanted something for nothing, it's ended up costing them £10-£20 at a phone shop!

These free services cause people like me serious headaches - not because they are stealing business from me, that couldn't be further from the truth, but simply because many of the people using my service are people who have already tried 5 or more codes from a free service. They order codes from me and they obviously don't work.

Now I will explain the benefits of buying codes from a service like mine in the first place:

1. I will not supply codes for any phone unless I am 100% sure that the codes I am supplying will work.
2. Phone are not added to my supported phones list until I am 100% sure that I can supply the correct codes for any specific phone.
3. I spend 7 days a week improving my service to ensure that I can offer codes for the latest phones and networks.
4. I spend 7 days a week ensuring the codes I supply are calculated using the correct method (some phones require a different code calculation method to others).
5. If I ever come across a situation where the codes I supply are incorrect, the customer is refunded and I will remove the phone in question from my supported phones list until I know why the codes I supplied failed.
6. I have supplied codes for over 17,000 Nokia phones in the two years I have been running - out of 17,000 I have had to refund only 36 customers!
7. I am very prompt in responding to customer support requests. I will usually respond to customer support requests immediately. There are times when this is not possible, however I will always respond within 24 hours!
8. Many customers have praised my service and customer service skills - you can read some of my customers comments in my Guestbook.

In summary, the choice is yours. This post may look like an attempt to get people to stop using free services so I can make financial gain, that couldn't be further from the truth. The simple fact is that using these free services may end up costing you more than you thought, I'm simply trying to prevent you making that mistake in the first place!

Confusion Dispelled

I just received an email from a potential customer (I'll call her Ann for the sake of this post) and this particular email echoes the thoughts of many people. The email went a little something like this - 'I want to use my O2 Sim card in my Vodafone Nokia 6230i, however when I put my O2 Sim card in the phone I get a Phone Restricted message. I searched online and found your web site. I would like to purchase unlock codes for my phone, however I'm a little concerned that I will be breaking the law if I unlock my phone, can you please clarify the situation?'

Ann is not alone, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the subject of mobile phone unlocking, and many people believe that it is illegal. As an unlocker, I face a constant battle to convince people that unlocking a mobile phone is not illegal. However, there are certain things you need to take into consideration before deciding to unlock your mobile phone:

1. Does the phone actually belong to you? This may sound like a stupid question, but if you obtained your mobile phone on contract, the phone remains the property of the network until you have completed the said contract (usually 12 months). It may be worth while reading through your contract to see if unlocking is prohibited while under contract.
2. Will unlocking affect your warranty? Unlocking your mobile phone may void your warranty. Removing the network restriction could be construed as a modification to the original design of the phone, thus voiding your warranty.

Ann wanted to know if she would be breaking the law by unlocking her phone - the simple answer is no, Ann would not be breaking the law, nor would unlocks.co.uk be breaking the law for supplying Ann with the codes to unlock her phone.

So why do people automatically think unlocking is illegal? It's simply a matter of confusion between unlocking and unblocking. Unlocking is a legal procedure whereby the network restriction is removed via cable or with codes. Removal of this restriction allows for the use of alternative network Sim cards. Unblocking on the other hand is a procedure which is extremely illegal. For legal reasons I will not go into too much detail, however phones that have been reported lost, stolen or otherwise unsuitable for use are blacklisted. Unblocking effectively changes the phones identity so that it will no longer be blacklisted. Unlocks.co.uk would like to make it very clear that we have never and will never accept requests for phone unblocking!

I replied to Ann with the above information and within the hour she had ordered codes for her phone. She also sent me a small email saying that the codes worked fine and thanks for the help.

In summary, unlocking your mobile phone is not illegal, however it may be prohibited in your contract and you may void your warranty.

Welcome To My New Blog

Well, here it is. I have finally created my own blog. I have created this blog to keep people informed of the latest developments in Nokia mobile phone unlocking, and believe me when I say, things are heating up in this industry right now!

First of all let me introduce myself - My name is Derek and I am the owner of unlocks.co.uk which is a service supplying unlock codes (aka restriction codes) for Nokia mobile phones. My initial reasons for creating unlocks.co.uk back in early 2003 was to earn a little extra income. I never expected it to take off in the way it did, however by the end of 2003 I was financially able leave my employment and dedicate all of my spare time to unlocks.co.uk.

A lot has changed since 2003 - I started out with a simple device which generated unlocking codes for Nokia phones. When I received an order, I had to type the imei number of the phone into the device along with other information including the phone model and network etc. The codes generated by the device then had to be typed out into an email which was sent to the customer along with code entry instructions. This was very time consuming, specifically when I started to obtain good listings in the search engines and the orders started to flow. I spent many months and many sleepless nights developing a new automated system. Now customers simply complete an order form, make a £4.50 payment and their unlock codes are displayed on-screen instantly along with easy-to-understand code entry instructions!

Unlocks.co.uk has become arguably one of the best and most trusted unlocking services on the internet. Many of my competitors have an unlocking service as a 'Sideline' to their main business. This can result in poor customer service or even incorrect unlocking codes being supplied. My main business is unlocking and that is all I do. I dedicate my time to ensuring the service is completely up-to-date and that my customers get the correct codes first time, every time! I constantly research this industry to ensure that we can provide a service for all the latest handsets and networks, and my service remains one of the most competitively prices unlocking services on the internet!