Problems with 02 and the iPhone

[nineteen19s]

Hi all

I just bought a 3g iPhone on eBay. It's brand new and I haven't touched it yet, and it is locked to 02. I called up 02 today, who I currently have a contract with, and asked them if putting my SIM card into my iPhone would work alright.

They said no.

They told me I'd have to switch to an "iPhone tariff". Now, I currently pay £35 a month for 600 minutes, 1000 texts and an unlimited internet browsing bolt. 02 say I have to switch to a new tariff, paying £30 a month for 75 minutes and an additional £7.50 for unlimited texts.

Is it me, or does this make no sense? I mean, I've been with 02 for over 2 years now, and they're telling me I have to pay as much as any new customer would, even though I already have the fricking phone? I don't understand why I can't just keep the tariff I'm on, as I paid about £300 for my iPhone so I wouldn't HAVE to change anything with my contract. But apparently I do.

Basically, what I want to know is, if I now put my current SIM into my new iPhone, would my tariff still work alright, and are 02 as full of **** as they sound? It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't want to risk putting the SIM into the iPhone and to have it not work, as the iPhone is brand new, and if I have to sell it on I don't want to damage its value or worth it could reach on eBay.

Also, if I put the SIM in, would I get all the iPhone services or does that again depend on having "an iPhone tariff"?

Please help, any advice on this would be much appreciated - right now I'm just thinking to hell with it and am considering putting the phone back on eBay. Just unbelieveable hassle. It can't really be this complicated...can it?

Thanks all

 

[lfc200]

there is no reason why the phone would not work if you keep your own price plan. I did the exact same thing with a first gen iphone all i did was get an internet add on for my account.

 

[nineteen19s]

right, that's what I thought. 02 are making out that it just wouldn't work - which I don't understand at all. Why wouldn't it? It's almost like they're telling me my SIM card would know if it was an iPhone - is that the case?

 

[sparkyms]

The only thing that might not work is Visual Voicemail.. I'm pretty sure that is exclusive to iPhone tariffs.

Otherwise the SIM will work absolutely fine in the phone.

 

[t22design]

Why not switch to the £35 p/m tariff?

600 mins, 500 texts & unlimited data.

In reality you should've just payed O2 £159 for the iPhone, gone on the £35 tariff and added the unlimited texts bolt-on. Would've worked out cheaper over 18 months than buying the phone off eBay, and keeping your existing contract.

 

[alexboy45]

inknow that with an activated iphone you can put in any o2 sim card no problems as i have done it with 3 payg iphones and put in contract simcards. give it a go with your simcard and see if it asks to be activated

 

[sparkyms]

Why not switch to the £35 p/m tariff?

600 mins, 500 texts & unlimited data.

In reality you should've just payed O2 £159 for the iPhone, gone on the £35 tariff and added the unlimited texts bolt-on. Would've worked out cheaper over 18 months than buying the phone off eBay, and keeping your existing contract.

but you don't know how long his contract has left to run, could be 6months.. could be three.. by that time a 3G Unlock could be available and he could move to a very cheap and good contract on another carrier...

 

[Phil A.]

right, that's what I thought. 02 are making out that it just wouldn't work - which I don't understand at all. Why wouldn't it? It's almost like they're telling me my SIM card would know if it was an iPhone - is that the case?

Your SIM card wouldn't know, but O2 would - every time you make a call on a cellular network, they can tell the IMEI and type of phone you are connecting with. They are probably within their Ts & Cs to switch you to the iPhone Tariff and it could well be done automatically.

My recent experiences with O2 have been absolutely woeful - they are possibly the single most inflexible carrier in the UK and are getting worse by the day. There is no way I will ever get another phone on O2 unless they change the way they treat their customers!

 

[sparkyms]

Your SIM card wouldn't know, but O2 would - every time you make a call on a cellular network, they can tell the IMEI and type of phone you are connecting with. They are probably within their Ts & Cs to switch you to the iPhone Tariff and it could well be done automatically.

My recent experiences with O2 have been absolutely woeful - they are possibly the single most inflexible carrier in the UK and are getting worse by the day. There is no way I will ever get another phone on O2 unless they change the way they treat their customers!

That may be, but the OP could argue that he bought it PAYG, and then just put a contract SIM in, which I believe he would be perfectly in his rights to do.
I really don't think O2 can do much about this..

 

[Phil A.]

That may be, but the OP could argue that he bought it PAYG, and then just put a contract SIM in, which I believe he would be perfectly in his rights to do.
I really don't think O2 can do much about this..

Knowing O2 they'll probably have terms and conditions attached to the PAYG iPhone (which isn't SIM free) to prevent this. Whether they would ever act on it is another matter, but I personally wouldn't want to take the risk.

I guess it's the same as tethering:
Chances are O2 will never catch you / do anything about it, but if you're unlucky it could cost you a fair amount of money

 

[Moi un Mouton]

Why don't you try it and find out? You can't do the phone any harm.