Paying to "unblock" phone? True or False?

[BTFan]

I'm buying a used BlackBerry Bold 9700.
The guy's saying the phone was originally with Rogers but had it "unlocked for Bell" and he says that if I want to use it with Rogers I have to pay a fee to "unblock" the phone. Is this true? I've never heard of such a thing.

[Extensa]

I would contact Rogers with the IMEI and the PIN to see if there is any issues with the phone being activated on their network. Never heard of such a thing, but who knows these days..

[SmakBerry]

No it's not true. Once it's unlocked, it's unlocked for all carriers forever. No need to do it again as it hasn't been locked.
If you do buy it, meet him at a Rogers store to ensure it's going to work and that it's not EMEI blocked. If it's EMEI blocked, it's useless, do not buy it

[blackberry-unlocking710]

GSM unlocking is removing the SIM lock that used by the carrier to black the Blackberry's network connection to connect only using the carrier that it's branded with..

Unlocking a blackberry is simply using a MEP2 (The security that used to lock it) Unlock code that is like a key that removes that security, after it's unlocked it can get signal from any GSM sim card inserted to that unlocked blackberry device.

[freethisberrydotcom]

Originally Posted by BTFan

I'm buying a used BlackBerry Bold 9700.
The guy's saying the phone was originally with Rogers but had it "unlocked for Bell" and he says that if I want to use it with Rogers I have to pay a fee to "unblock" the phone. Is this true? I've never heard of such a thing.

Check to see if it is already unlocked:

www.freethisberry.com/support.php

[BlackberryCodeSource]

Originally Posted by SmakBerry

No it's not true. Once it's unlocked, it's unlocked for all carriers forever. No need to do it again as it hasn't been locked.
If you do buy it, meet him at a Rogers store to ensure it's going to work and that it's not EMEI blocked. If it's EMEI blocked, it's useless, do not buy it

SmakBerry's absolutely right,

Once it's unlocked it's permanently unlocked for all GSM networks worldwide and any HSPA network that supports the HSPA frequency bands your phone has


But yes, make sure to double check with Rogers that the phone's hasn't been reported lost/stollen and the PIN hasn't been blocked.

You can usually call them to do this.


Cheers,

[wxmancanada]

Hmm - maybe the seller meant that the phone's IMEI is blocked on Rogers' network - unlocking is unlocking and it's true that once you unlock a phone, that's it; it's unlocked for ever, but he may be referring to the fact that the IMEI might be blocked for various reasons such as it being reported as stolen or lost, however there wouldn't be a fee to remove that, it's be a much more difficult process to remove it, specifically involving the customer who originally got the block added.

Did you wind up buying the device?

[BTFan]

It's fine guys, I ended up buying a brand new & sealed Bell 9780 off a guy for 200$. I unlocked it on eBay and it works perfectly fine with Rogers now. Thanks anyways!

[BlackberryCodeSource]

Great!

That's an excellent deal on a 9780


Cheers!