The Farce of the Nokia Lumia 920 in the UK

[sketchedout]

Muessig - i am truly feeling your pain. I phoned round Bristol again todayand still no stock in at all. Again though none of them seemed to think unlocked handsets a problem. Only problem is whether they will get enough to sell as they're being told to sell contract.

 

[RSM013]

Hi All

been following the 920 availability and noticed this - the black 920 is not exclusive to anyone in UK

Phones4u

Nokia Lumia 920 - Deals | Phones 4u

Claim exclusivity on red and yellow with white as EE exclusive

EE

Nokia Lumia 920 Black | Superfast 4GEE Plan | EE

Claim exclusivity on white 920

So black is not exclusive to anyone ??

 

[Gorki247]

No, it means that Red and Yellow are exclusively sold by P4U (locked to EE, T-Mob & Orange) and White is only available on the EE network. Black will be sold by both but still locked to one of those three networks.

 

[pcowton]

No as you can buy it from ee or phones4u

 

[DrThete]

Tonight I successfully bought a red Lumia 920 from Phones4U, over the phone, on Orange Panther 36, for ?139.95 upfront, ?28.50 pcm, free wireless charger (vis the Nokia voucher thing) and free Play 360 wireless speaker.

They had stock in, so five day delivery. Couldn't do an upgrade, but could put me (a T-Mobile customer) onto Orange.

Certainly a better deal than T-Mobile could offer me as an upgrade.

 

[peachy001]

It is that upfront cost that is killing me. Can't justify that this close to Christmas.

The phone companies are crafty devils, they let P4U and others get the phones first and let them offer some deals at lower prices than the operator. Means you don't get any loyalty discounts or any sweeteners. When I spoke to Orange tonight they said it could be a week or so before they are able to offer the phone.

And the release date issues across the board are nothing short of shoddy.

 

[Nickkk101]

So here we are at 9 am in the UK. Anyone want to place a wager on their store calling regarding handset availability today?

 

[karnka]

Exclusivity aside I'm still feeling a little pissed off about the prices. Looking at what AT&T are doing in the states it really should be a little cheaper than it is

 

[nano321]

Sim Free Lumia 920 listed at Phones4u now.

Sim Free Lumia 920 listed at Phones4u for ?459.95 now.

Phones 4u - Nokia Sim Free Mobile Phones

 

[Muessig]

Well I've just phoned around my local area and had a chat with customer support and these are my findings:

I've seen you've added a sim-free version on the website here: Phones 4u - Nokia Sim Free Mobile Phones but it won't give me a price or option to actually buy it yet so im wondering if i go into my stores will i have any luck
Dean: You might, it's just stock might be on the thin side at the moment, here at Head Office we usually get the products first you see.
Muessig: So there could be a chance that my shops will be getting stock today, but the question is will they sell me a sim free version or have the men on the ground been told to push contracts only?
Muessig: Any word when the Sim free version on the website I mentioned will be working to puchase?
Dean: Haha, nope, here at P4U we just let you get what you want. It's certainly the way I have been trained in sales.
Muessig: That's good to know, I asked in a shop yesterday and they suggested their phones are reserved for contracts only but I can at least tell them you say differently.
Dean: Exactly
Muessig: Just one more q before I let you get on with your day lol
Dean: Haha, sure?
Muessig: If by some miracle I can get my hands on a sim free version in a shop can you guarantee my 3 sim will work in it? I've heard all sorts of differing rumours about this wanted to hear it from you
Dean: I don't see why not, it's a UK sim, UK network, so as far as manufacturers brief ourselves they would state a sim free device will work on networks in the UK. With the handset being listed as sim free on our website I don't think it will be long until it's available.
Muessig: The rumour I heard (from phones4u twitter) was it would be locked and trying to unlock it would void your warranty... maybe you're right though. I sure hope you are!
Dean: Sim Free, by the very meaning means you can pop any UK network sim it. They may mention (like on the iPhone 5) it may lock to the first network sim placed in.
Muessig: https://twitter.com/Phones4u/status/266226913310285824
https://twitter.com/marcsteph/status/265849101558640641
https://twitter.com/Phones4u/status/266224621408382976
just found those as reference
But I hope and pray you're right and I can just stick my sim in it, even if I have to buy it PAYG.
Dean: Buying it on PAYG would result in it being locked to the network you buy it PAYG.
Muessig: Will you then unlock the phone to that network though? to other networks I mean
Dean: We won't, we don't provide an unlocking service ourselves. Although other companies may.
Muessig: Okay so if I get the phone from you sim-free it'll be unlocked to all networks. If I get it PAYG it'll be locked to the network I choose but I can then go and get it unlocked somewhere else like T-Mobile or Orange for example
Muessig: Sorry I'm just trying to get my head straight
Dean: Certainly, that's correct. However, with it being such a new device many companies may not unlock it yet. (It's a very, very grey area).

So with this conversation in mind I phoned around my local area and this is what I found:

1) Store 1 said they had a delivery of 2 Black handsets and 1 White handset but refused to sell any of them to me sim-free or pay as you go.
2) Store 2 hadn't even ordered their phones yet.
3) Store 3 again has some 920's in but refused to sell me any at all sim-free or pay as you go.

Any other shops hadn't gone through their deliveries yet and would call me back. Don't you love it when a company directly contradicts itself?

 

[rlatarche]

Just rang up my P4U store and they only have stock of the Lumia 820 no 920's, they are not even sure when they will have any!! Complete Farce

 

[Urban Splash]

I don't understand this 'refuse to sell you' thing. That's why phones4u have such a bad reputation. The staff really are odious.

 

[JammyGitz]

In stock

My local P4U has got some black ones in stock today. I reserved one

 

[paulm187]

I called T-Mobile and said I wanted to upgrade, was offered ?199 for handset on my current tariff which is ?21 (18 months) with unlimited internet. Might take this up, but delivery is 10 days. Gonna ring around and see if I could do this upgrade in store.

 

[Muessig]

Bit of a predicament here. 2 shops just phoned me to say I could go in and purchase a Black Sim-free phone which is perfect. Obviously the phone doesn't come with a sim, I would need to supply one and then it gets strange. One person said that only EE, Orange and T-Mobile sims would work in this unlocked phone because those are the only networks that have the settings to work with the phone. The other store said that the phone would work with any network.

So who do I believe and how can I put my current 3 contract from a large to a microsim? If I went into a 3 shop could I get one there or is it possible for me to cut down my existing sim and it just works?

 

[ShadowLFC]

Just had a look on the website and can see the prices for EE have changed. I agreed a 12month contract, ?49.99 upfront, ?51 a month deal with T-Mobile as an upgrade which I can see now has changed to ?199.99. They're meant to be calling me later and expect the deal I agreed to

 

[kougei]

Further to previous postings, my complaint has been escalated to 'serious complaints' at P4U head office.

Store near work, which allegedly has put me one aside, now say it is registered on their system, but embargoed against sale until tomorrow, which is useless because I am not at work tomorrow. I am also now predicting they will refuse to sell it to me Sim-Free, even though I made it clear originally I was going to purchase the handset.

 

[Urban Splash]

Will someone please buy one of these sim free from phones4u and try a range on SIM cards to see if they work!!!!

 

[paulm187]

Sounds like Nokia is doing everything it can to commit seppuku.

 

[AgentSplurge]

Look at this gorgeous display at CPW/Selfridges

Lumia 820 interactive window display at Selfridges - a set on Flickr

It includes working phones so there are some in the UK

RIM was also very bad for delays so it isn't just Nokia but it would help them tremendously if they would improve and not announce too early.

That is so cool! Why isn't this in every phone shop, that's the sort of thing I want to see from Nokia with the support of Microsoft, only when they start doing stuff like that will they convince the masses and actually take WP8 OS anywhere!