Free Unlocking

[Guest grivbat]

Pretty much the same happened for me except i got stung for the £10 top up when i bought the phone earlier in the day. i think vodafone realise they are going to get more unit sales if they unlock the phone and hope you'll maybe go back again for soemthing else.

[Guest Mediamaster]

just picked one of these up to have a play with.. Asked if it could be unlocked and the girl serving said she would have to charge £20.. when she took me over to the service counter the guy serving there just printed it off and said don't worry about the £20 so fair play to them.

[Guest FrankieADZ]

well i got 1 today :D cost £20 to unlock. :(

still...saved £10 just by going from 1 vodafone shop to another :D

[Guest trueno2k]

well i got 1 today :D cost £20 to unlock. :(

still...saved £10 just by going from 1 vodafone shop to another :D

So, the second shop didn't try to swindle a 10£ top-up voucher off of you then? :P ... BUT, why pay 20£ to Vodafone to unlock your G300?... Surprised that you didn't go with korter_gsm from his ebay sale HERE for US or HERE for UK, could have gotten you more savings, specialize HERE are a safe bet as well... And I found cellunlockerpro from HERE who is also jumping onto the G300 unlocking bandwagon... Plenty of choices! :P ...

2cents

[Guest FrownBreaker]

Thanks for all the comments on this thread.

Went into a Vodafone store today, asked for a G300 mentioned I had a Voda Sim already and a Voda sim at work but had some credit on another sim to burn off, need to use a PAYG SIM in Japan, etc (all from this thread). But I had no Voad SIM or details on me at the store....They were happy to give me a free unlock but as I had no Voda SIM / details of an activated SIM they wanted £10 for a SIM...

1. Went to Poundland and at the checkout asked for 2 £1 Vodafone SIMs PAYG. Activated the SIMs by dialing a number on the leaflet. [if you can wait there is a link on the Vodafone website to have a couple of SIM mailed to you for free https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/orders/add?package_id=5. I did not want to wait so paid £1 for each SIM at Poundland. Insert SIM into an unlocked phone and dial 17298. This will activate the phone on the Vodafone network. Now you have an activtate Vodafone SIM so no £10 top up!.]
   
2. Went back to the Vodafone store showed by 2 SIMs so no £10 fee! Got 2 x G300 Phones £100 each and the staff had agreed to unlock them free.
   
3. Got home unlock seemed to be fine (Orange and t-mobile SIMs worked)
   
4. Problem one - No mobile data, wifi was working - Added APNs - Fixed
   
5. Problem two No Root - Installed Pauls Root program - Fixed
   
6. Problem three No Clockwork - Installed Sebs CWR using adb from Pauls superroot - Fixed
   
7. Updated to the new ROM with the Sound fix and reapplied CWR and Super Rooted
   

So I have an unlocked pair of phones, rooted and CW Recovery installed!

Thanks to Paul, Seb, Frankish, Tilal, and all the other regulars for their excellent work!

Edited May 8, 2012 by FrownBreaker

[Guest bumps]

you are also going to want to fix the sound :P

[Guest FrankieADZ]

So, the second shop didn't try to swindle a 10£ top-up voucher off of you then? :P ... BUT, why pay 20£ to Vodafone to unlock your G300?... Surprised that you didn't go with korter_gsm from his ebay sale HERE for US or HERE for UK, could have gotten you more savings, specialize HERE are a safe bet as well... And I found cellunlockerpro from HERE who is also jumping onto the G300 unlocking bandwagon... Plenty of choices! :P ...

2cents

well, the first shop wanted me to pay £130 w/ top up & Unlock; went to another Vodafone 2 mins away...got it for £100 without unlock(as they said they couldnt) then went back to the first Vodafone and got it unlocked from there for £20, i didnt think it was bad really, saved me waiting tbh...& i'd get really impatient waiting for 1 of the codes of Ebay ;) lol

tho I'd a liked it free like with the ZTE Blade but alas there isnt 1 :(

[Guest Prog_Drummer]

Interestingly when I brought my G300 this morning, Vodafone said they would have to have my phone for a weak for an unlock!

They also said that the ICS update is coming out next month, not sure if they were just making that up though...

[Guest Mediamaster]

Def talking rubbish to you mate.. Took less than 20secs for me.. Guy just scanned the Imei number on my box then printed off a A4 document which had the unlock code on it.. Was the information, Cust service desk that did it. Not a sales advisior..

B

[Guest FrownBreaker]

Def talking rubbish to you mate.. Took less than 20secs for me.. Guy just scanned the Imei number on my box then printed off a A4 document which had the unlock code on it.. Was the information, Cust service desk that did it. Not a sales advisior..

B

This is what they did for me

1) Scan the box the phone came in

2) Viewed something on the screen / wrote on the box (unlock code)

3) Inserted a non Vodafone SIM, I this would initiate the carrier lock and prompt for an unlock

4) Typed in a number

5) Packed the phone back in the box unlocked.

[Guest Davidoff59]

Got mine done for free at vodafone today also. First thing I asked was about free unlock. He said it depends whether its on the system or not, turns out it was on the system. Be prepared to go elsewhere though if they say no.

He unlocked it for me there and then.

[Guest FrownBreaker]

you are also going to want to fix the sound :P

You are right! I've updated my post with that and the activation number for a new Voda SIM

[Guest ontherocks]

So the £10 top up if you purchase at a store, is optional? I mean it's at the discretion of the person you are dealing with?

[Guest FrownBreaker]

To avoid the ten pound top up you need one of

Friendly sales rep who waives the fee

An activated Voda Sim free via web or £1 from Poinciana. No top up just activate.

[Guest Davidoff59]

My first G300, I just said I had a sim at home and was waiting for my current credit to expire before joining vodafone. Naughty me.

They said the phone has to be sold with a sim so gave me one anyway, this is just so that they can scan the details into the computer along with the phone details. There was no £10 top up required.

[Guest DiablikoO]

could anyone send me addresses of vodafone stores where did you get unlocks, cuz I went to 2 stores and they told me 15 quids for unlock.

[Guest Coleman997]

They want 20 quids at Ealing Broadway, London for unlock.

Steal!

[Guest Bouncer5]

Wanted £25 in a vodafone store in Glasgow.

[Guest RussellS]

could anyone send me addresses of vodafone stores where did you get unlocks, cuz I went to 2 stores and they told me 15 quids for unlock.

Why don't you just go to one of the guys already mentioned on eBay. For between £5 - £8 you'll get the unlock code the next day. Job done.

Unless, of course, you don't have an eBay or Paypal account, in which case I understand.

[Guest SteveNotts]

Went to a local store today and is was £100 plus £10 topup (wouldn't budge) and if i wanted to unlock £25.00!!!

Walked out and ordered online for £94.95 after cashback and will unlock on ebay.

Strange how stores differ!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest nikopol1]

19 pounds in Braehead with the added bonus that unlocking it elsewhere than Vodaphone voids the warranty.

Didn't care and went online and got one for a little over 5 pounds from Cellunlockerpro (another bulgarian

unlocker it would seem) - rapid turnaround and no mistakes. Worked perfectly.

[Guest Frankish]

That's bull. Unlocking doesn't void your warranty in the Uk at least.

[Guest nikopol1]

That's bull. Unlocking doesn't void your warranty in the Uk at least.

I thought as much but wasn't sure about it enough to argue with them. Not like that would stop me from rooting it within 2 hours of exiting the store either :)

[Guest dragpyre]

That's bull. Unlocking doesn't void your warranty in the Uk at least.

I thought as much but wasn't sure about it enough to argue with them. Not like that would stop me from rooting it within 2 hours of exiting the store either :)

A phone company that specifies that unlocking voids your warranty or have intentionally prevented consumers from unlocking is breaking the law and should be sued and find. That is an anti-competition move.

[Guest Frankish]

I remember some people with the Zte Blade in a certain country voided their warranty by unlocking though. Think it was Hungary or something.