Firstly I know there are a few threads relating to whether Lumia 920s are unlocked but I'm struggling to find something that applies to mine. I bought it off eBay.co.uk from a seller who was selling it as unlocked (as he was told when he bought it, he was selling as he found the phone too big) and had been using a T-Mobile SIM in it.
When I got the phone I put in my Vodafone SIM and lo and behold it didn't work. Needless to say I was pretty annoyed. Contacted the seller who was very apologetic and was adament that it was unlocked. I did some research and the carrier information in the settings is listed as CV GB, which seemed to suggest it was unlocked....though again my SIM didn't work. I subsequently tried my brothers SIM (Orange, new smaller metal section than on my old cut down Voda SIM) which worked flawlessly. I then bought a T-Mob PAYG (same smaller metal section on the SIM) which again worked, but obviously T-Mob, Orange and EE would all work on an EE locked handset.
At this point I assumed that it was definitely locked and contacted the seller and he was again very apologetic and insisted on paying for the unlocking, which is fine. I rang EE to try and arrange an unlocking code only to be told I'd have to use the phone for 6 months, told them I wouldn't be able to and that they should speak to the guy I bought the phone off, which they did. As he hadn't used the phone for six months they again refused to unlock. The seller then kicked off a bit and they told him to go into an EE store where they could arrange an unlocking.
Fat chance.
I went into the EE store, with the phone and all relevant info, only to be told that it was something I'd have to speak to customer services about, at which point the EE employee put me on the phone to an EE call centre. A ridiculous situation in my eyes as neither knew anything about.....anything. I explained the situation to the guy on the phone who again mentioned the six month rule (fine, rules are rules) so I again directed them to contact the seller, which they did, only to come back and say the IMEI of the phone wasn't on their system, so it wasn't an EE phone and had never been bought from them and that I should speak to an Orange call centre and duly transferred me.
By this point I was getting a bit annoyed with the lack of information/knowledge rather than the fact they couldn't provide a code and after spending ten mins on the phone to Mr. Orange I said that it was a bit of an annoying situation as I wasn't being told anything and just being passed from pillar to post, he hung up.
Pretty poor show to be honest.
The one thing I got out of the conversation/mind bending scripted gibberish was that the IMEI of the phone was, apparently, not on their records, which led me to consider the possibility that maybe my 6/7 year old cut down SIM had maybe had its day and that was the reason it wasn't working in the Lumia....thoughts?
I have ordered new (free) PAYG SIMS from all UK providers to see if there is any credibility to this, though I think it probably is a stab in the dark and the phone is probably just locked, even though the CV GB variant would suggest it isn't...
Sorry for the rambling nature of this, but in a nutshell:
-Does CV GB mean it is completely unlocked
-Could the slight difference in SIM card design mean my old Voda SIM wouldn't work in the Lumia 920 where newer designs will?
-Is there any other dead giveaways (other than trying other SIMs) that would tell me which network it is locked to if that is the case?
Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!
P.S. the seller is quite happy to have the phone back if I can't get it unlocked but I'm already quite taken with its yellowness and have already sold my 8X on eBay....sort of stuck ha! Self inflicted I know.....
When I got the phone I put in my Vodafone SIM and lo and behold it didn't work. Needless to say I was pretty annoyed. Contacted the seller who was very apologetic and was adament that it was unlocked. I did some research and the carrier information in the settings is listed as CV GB, which seemed to suggest it was unlocked....though again my SIM didn't work. I subsequently tried my brothers SIM (Orange, new smaller metal section than on my old cut down Voda SIM) which worked flawlessly. I then bought a T-Mob PAYG (same smaller metal section on the SIM) which again worked, but obviously T-Mob, Orange and EE would all work on an EE locked handset.
At this point I assumed that it was definitely locked and contacted the seller and he was again very apologetic and insisted on paying for the unlocking, which is fine. I rang EE to try and arrange an unlocking code only to be told I'd have to use the phone for 6 months, told them I wouldn't be able to and that they should speak to the guy I bought the phone off, which they did. As he hadn't used the phone for six months they again refused to unlock. The seller then kicked off a bit and they told him to go into an EE store where they could arrange an unlocking.
Fat chance.
I went into the EE store, with the phone and all relevant info, only to be told that it was something I'd have to speak to customer services about, at which point the EE employee put me on the phone to an EE call centre. A ridiculous situation in my eyes as neither knew anything about.....anything. I explained the situation to the guy on the phone who again mentioned the six month rule (fine, rules are rules) so I again directed them to contact the seller, which they did, only to come back and say the IMEI of the phone wasn't on their system, so it wasn't an EE phone and had never been bought from them and that I should speak to an Orange call centre and duly transferred me.
By this point I was getting a bit annoyed with the lack of information/knowledge rather than the fact they couldn't provide a code and after spending ten mins on the phone to Mr. Orange I said that it was a bit of an annoying situation as I wasn't being told anything and just being passed from pillar to post, he hung up.
Pretty poor show to be honest.
The one thing I got out of the conversation/mind bending scripted gibberish was that the IMEI of the phone was, apparently, not on their records, which led me to consider the possibility that maybe my 6/7 year old cut down SIM had maybe had its day and that was the reason it wasn't working in the Lumia....thoughts?
I have ordered new (free) PAYG SIMS from all UK providers to see if there is any credibility to this, though I think it probably is a stab in the dark and the phone is probably just locked, even though the CV GB variant would suggest it isn't...
Sorry for the rambling nature of this, but in a nutshell:
-Does CV GB mean it is completely unlocked
-Could the slight difference in SIM card design mean my old Voda SIM wouldn't work in the Lumia 920 where newer designs will?
-Is there any other dead giveaways (other than trying other SIMs) that would tell me which network it is locked to if that is the case?
Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!
P.S. the seller is quite happy to have the phone back if I can't get it unlocked but I'm already quite taken with its yellowness and have already sold my 8X on eBay....sort of stuck ha! Self inflicted I know.....
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