Opinions needed please.....

[Guest tomdbomb61]

im not too sure where i should be posting this so please dont shoot me if ive posted in the wrong topic........

i sold my E100 last week on ebay, its been sim unlocked.

i clarified this in the auction, however ive received an email off the guy i sold it too saying that he wants his money back because the phone isnt unlocked to 3g!?!?!?!?

now i larfed when i read this and almost felt like sending him an email back sying how stupid that comment was. what are your opinions?

even my mum knows that 3G doesnt work in 2G fones.( and shes got a 3210!!!!!!)

where do i stand on this do you think?

many thanks tom

[Guest SirGaz]

Depends on his arguments, if the phone works on the 3 network but doesn't offer the improved abilities of 3G (video calls etc) then he has no come back what so ever. If he says that the phone doesn't work at all on 3 then that's something else.

No idea if 3 uses diferent sims though?

If you advertised it as sim unlocked then that's what you've sold. If advertised as works on any network then there may be some cause for complaint.

[Guest Richie M]

And 3 SIMs do work, a few forum members have done this - but obviously as SirGaz points out the extra 3G "features" will not be available

[Guest martin]

You are right saying that the dedicated 2G and 3G phones are in no way compatible as they are based on completely different technologies. You cannot access a 3G network with a SPV although I believe Three (the company) did have a roaming agreement with the O2 GSM network so if you insert the Three SIM into the SPV you should be able to make GSM calls.

[Guest tomdbomb61]

yes but thats not the point. hes saying that i sold a fone which i claimed was unlocked but is infact not unlocked to accept 3??? i sold a 2g fone which was unlocked to work on all 2g networks. i did not say that it was in anyway compatible with the 3 network.

[Guest zeta101]

I dont think there is an answer to this, because it is really a matter of point of view. Obviously the 3 features of a 3 sim wont work on an e100, however your buying could argue that he wanted to use the 3 sim anyway (because it will just go to 2g roaming) and there may be a decent reason to do this...because arent 3 giving out shed loads of minutes etc to get people on board? they were doing it a few months back, not sure about now.

On the flipside, he might have tried the phone and decided he doesnt like it, and is using this as an excuse to get you to take it back...i suggest asking him nicely why he wants to use a 3 sim and see what he says. In the end you have to decide if his reason is good enough, it is up to you, if you dont agree to take it back then you will have to accept some negative feedback, just make sure you have a good response to why you didnt take it back.

[Guest tomdbomb61]

yes he sent me an email saying that he was delighted with the fone . then a week later he says he carnt use his 3 sim with it, which you carnt. imagine you bought a e100 from orange and tried to take it back saying a 3 sim wont work in it, they would larf in your face and say sorry mate its a 2g handset.

he also claims now that his orange sim card only works to a certain extent? which indicates to me that hes been messing around with the fone to try and get it to accept his 3 sim and hes nackered it. in which case theres absolutely no way on gods green earth hes having his money back.

there is only one side to this argument im afraid.

[Guest Shuflie]

Either his orange SIM works in it or it doesn't, there is no certain extent. He is probably trying to use a PAYG or contract SIM which he hasn't activated (and paid for ) the GPRS service. Just because you have a fancy phone doesn't automatically mean that you get something for nothing, tell him to ring orange CS and have whatever feature he is after activated on the SIM.

[Guest markd66]

A couple of things occur to me... :D

3 have a roaming agreement with 02 which is how they get as much coverage of the UK as any other network. 3 handsets can roam onto O2 when they are out of 3G coverage. This has been exploited by some to get the cheap 3 deals without the brick-like handset with poor battery life (well, one out of two ain't bad :lol: )

As long as when the phone was sold, it worked with *any* other SIM than a Orange one then the phone was SIM-unlocked and that is a fair and reasonable description of the phone for the purposes of selling it.

One might argue that if the buyer wanted it to work with a specific network then he should have confirmed that you had tested the phone on that network. However it's also fair and reasonable for him to assume that a SIM-unlocked phone would work on any network.

BUT:

Just because the phone is SIM-unlocked does not - ultimately - guarantee that it will work with a given network; just that the phone itself will not reject SIMs other than the originating network's one. What another network chooses to do when an unknown IMEI tries to register on it's system is up to it.

The use of non-3 handsets with 3 USIMs is technically a violation of 3's T&Cs. It has long been rumoured that 3 are clamping down on this (as well as withdrawing 2.5G roaming in parts of the country with good 3 coverage) as it costs them a fortune in O2 roaming charges - indeed the latest firmware for the Moto A920 actually removes the ability for the handset to be "locked" onto a 2.5G network, which has been a feature of all 3 handsets until now.

As with all EBay purchases - caveat emptor. The onus is on the seller to ensure that he is selling what is described, and the onus is on the purchaser to make sufficient enquiries to confirm that what he/she intends buying is suitable for it's purpose.

As previously stated, if he gives -ve feedback then have a suitable response ready.

Ultimately it's not your fault that it doesn't work with a 3 USIM - but what you choose to do about it is up to you..... :)

Cheers, Mark.

[Guest tomdbomb61]

cheers for your opinions.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

At the end of the day tell him it is Network unlocked but the phone is designed for the 2.5 network and not 3G which has nothing to do with network unlocking but more to do wuith incompatable technologies.

Failing that, just advise him he's a muppet for not doing his homework :roll:

Also ask him how many unlocked Nokias work on 3G?

As long as you did not say it was 3G compatable the buyer is at fault.

[Guest tomdbomb61]

lol thanks awarner. no i didnt say it was in any way compatible with three.

he has since sent me an email saying that he has had the problem sorted for £10. quite wot hes done baffles me but its sorted neway now !!

i used the comparison of buying a Video player, taking it home and trying to play dvds on it. then taking it back and saying its faulty lol. i think thats what made him realise what a muppet he was. thanks tom