question re phone bought on eBay UK

I bought a Samsung s400i from an English seller on eBay UK. It said the simlock was o2. With my existing phone I am currently on o2. However when I moved my sim from my old phone to the S400i it displays "Wrong Card".

The phone came with an english sim and I tried it and it works ok and "O2 - IRL" shows up.....why is it I can't use my existing sim? They're all o2 right? right?

paulm17781

Deleted User wrote:

The phone came with an english sim and I tried it and it works ok and "O2 - IRL" shows up.....why is it I can't use my existing sim? They're all o2 right? right?

Wrong. They're all owned by O2 but are seperate operating companies, phones are generally cheaper in UK so it is O2 Ireland's interest that phones bought in the UK won't work here or their sales would decrease.

The English Sim shows "O2 - IRL" as that is probably where it is roaming.

Damn! And they're's no easy fix? Looks like I'm going back to eBay UK as a seller

Cyrus

get it unlocked

culabula

I'm astonished that people keep doing this.

Yup sorry.....in answer to the other comment I think I saw it costs another €30 for unlocking that particular model. Also its a purchase I regret...a bit of bidding fever caught hold of me.

drdre

paulm17781 wrote:

Wrong. They're all owned by O2 but are seperate operating companies, phones are generally cheaper in UK so it is O2 Ireland's interest that phones bought in the UK won't work here or their sales would decrease.

The English Sim shows "O2 - IRL" as that is probably where it is roaming.

No you are wrong, O2 uk phones are sim free and do work in ireland.I know that for sure and am 110% sure.I got nokia n95 from uk on o2 and had no problems and have got afew other phones in the past and didnt have a problem

then why isnt it working with my (very) old o2 sim? "Wrong Card" "Wrong Card"!!

culabula

drdre wrote:

No you are wrong, O2 uk phones are sim free and do work in ireland.I know that for sure and am 110% sure.I got nokia n95 from uk on o2 and had no problems and have got afew other phones in the past and didnt have a problem

They aren't -all. Some are, particularly those as supplied through the carphone whorehouse, but not all. It seems to be a bit of a lottery as to whether they are or not. My N95 is unlocked but not some old O2 UK Nokia that I have lying around somewhere.

culabula

Deleted User wrote:

then why isnt it working with my (very) old o2 sim? "Wrong Card" "Wrong Card"!!

Cuz its locked.

drdre

Deleted User wrote:

then why isnt it working with my (very) old o2 sim? "Wrong Card" "Wrong Card"!!

Try get a newer o2 sim card and if it doesnt work then it must be locked phone

Santa Claus

As someone else said, o2 UK and o2 Ireland are completely different entities.
I got a N76 through a mate that was locked to Vodafone UK recently and he had to ring up to get the unlock code for me as it wouldn't accept a Vodafone ireland SIM.

Sounds like you're in exactly the same situation but I know nothing about Samsungs and whether they can be unlocked/how !

You can get all the new SIM's you want from o2 but unless it's a UK sim then the phone won't work !

drdre

If you are in dublin you can get it unlocked from a guy in tallaght or even on georges street.It shouldnt cost more then 15-20 euro

Pythia

culabula wrote:

I'm astonished that people keep doing this.

It's what keeps ebay's mobile section running!

drdre

Deleted User wrote:

Yup sorry.....in answer to the other comment I think I saw it costs another €30 for unlocking that particular model. Also its a purchase I regret...a bit of bidding fever caught hold of me.

The bidding fever caught me out afew times on ebay.Its addictive