Off Topic » Rogers and phone unlocking

Rogers and phone unlocking

January16

People who live outside North America are shocked that we are shackled to our mobile service provider since phones bought through them are locked to that provider. Roaming charges with most providers are prohibitively expensive, and I’d really like to just get a local pay-as-you-go SIM card when I’m travelling so that I can use the phone cost effectively.

There’s all sorts of ways to get your phone unlocked (like those kiosks in the shopping malls), before my recent trip to Europe, I thought that I’d try the legal way: by asking Rogers to do it for me. Here’s what they said:

In your recent email, you have informed us that you would like to have your Blackberry unlocked for international use.
Unfortunately we are unable to unlock Rogers Wireless phones at any cost. If you try to unlock your phone through a third party your warranty will be voided and there is no guarantee the phone will work thereafter. Rogers offers roaming while outside of Canada to all of their wireless customers who have a compatible GSM phone with either or both the frequencies of 900/1800MHz (850/1900MHZ while within North America). You may review the charges associated with your account while roaming at www.rogers.com/roaming.
We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and thank you for choosing Rogers.

“Your warranty will be voided?” “There is no guarantee the phone will work thereafter?” As far as I know, they phone unlocking procedure consists of entering an unlock code using a standard option in my Blackberry; how could this possibly render my warranty void or my phone unworkable? Is this just another telco scam to make as much money as possible off me?

posted under customer service

19 Comments to

“Rogers and phone unlocking”

On March 8th, 2007 at 1:37 pm Off Topic :: Reply, but not here Says:
[...] Rogers, you have to love them (or not). I use their Blackberry service (voice and data), which has good service but I find incredibly expensive when travelling: there doesn’t seem to be a good way to add US roaming onto my voice+data plan, and let’s not even talk about international. [...]
On December 31st, 2007 at 3:04 pm josh Says:
Hi guys, just to let you know the main point of actually loosing your warranty;

1) If you use a HARD UNLOCKING service that requires a TESTPOINT or other method of unlocking your phone via a CABLE – this will void you warranty.
2) Remote Unlock with the proper SUBSIDY CODE from Rogers / Fido will not void your warranty if it’s purchased from an AUTHORIZED reseller, ie http://cellulargsm.net or http://horizonwirelessonline.com

thanks
On December 31st, 2007 at 3:22 pm sandy Says:
Thanks for the tip, I’ll keep that in mind. Of course, my Blackberry is now 3 years old so I’m having upgrade feelings…
On May 11th, 2008 at 10:32 pm Jason Says:
Don’t bother trying to get Rogers to release the unlocking code to you.. They’ll give you the run-around. And even if you agree to pay the $250 charge that they want, you’ll never get it.

Before my recent trip to europe, i found this website based in Vancouver that was offering remote unlocking codes for my Blackberry Curve. The cost was $25, and I got my code delivered the same day. If you plan to stay in europe for more than 1 week, unlocking your phone would be the smart thing to do. I bought a sim card for 15 euros and it lasted me the whole trip. my friend who was travelling with me didn’t unlock her phone, she kept the Rogers card and came home to a surprise of $300 in wireless roaming chargers.

i highly recommend this place to get your phone unlocked: http://www.mobile-to-go.com
On June 30th, 2008 at 2:16 pm Mukul Says:
They are saying that only to protect them self. You can pontentially damage your phone, if you do not get it professionally done. Basically if you take it somewhere else and they damage your phone, Rogers will not come and fix it for you. That is why I would suggest using only professional unlock solutions, like http://www.globalunlock.com
On November 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm David Says:
The only way to get your phone unlocked without voiding the warranty is by subsidy code. If you were to call Rogers or Fido and ask them to unlock your phone they would charge you $250+ and would give you the same code unlockers do. There are alot of websites out there selling unlock codes, but if you need a professional unlocking website with fast turnaround time I would suggest http://www.cellunlock.net
On November 4th, 2008 at 1:32 am sandy Says:
Wow David, you don’t happen to work for that unlocking company, do you?
On January 6th, 2009 at 8:27 pm Josh Says:
I’ve tried about 5 companies to unlock phones

My 2 favorite were

Cellphoneunlockingonline.com – Unlocked Blackberry Storm

Cellunlcoker.net – Unlocked my BB B0LD
On January 12th, 2009 at 4:36 am johnny Says:
http://www.cellunlocker.net and http://www.cellphoneunlock.net are the two sites that are good and fast
On January 22nd, 2009 at 6:04 pm rahul Says:
ya,

I’ve bought a code from http://www.cellphoneunlockingonline.com too.

very useful service
On January 27th, 2009 at 8:11 pm mitchel Says:
I had my rogers blackberry bold unlocked at http://www.cellunlocker.net for 15 dollars and in 30 minutes they sent the code and instructions to my email address, thanks guys, hope this helps.
On March 10th, 2009 at 10:14 am Daniel Says:
I bought my unlocking code from http://horizonwirelessonline.com , i used a discount code ECONOMY – and paid $7.50cad to unlock my Bold.
thanks
On May 10th, 2009 at 4:40 pm alex Says:
I used http://unlock.mobileincanada.com and i received the unlock code in only 3 hours(overnight) and followed the instructions on the tracking page (yeah, they have a tracking page!). It worked like a charm! Now I will be able to use my phone in Europe without incurring roaming charges.
On May 10th, 2009 at 5:30 pm sandy Says:
Hi “alex” – considering that your email address is from mobileincanada, I assume that you work there or are a paid shill in some way. I don’t mind if vendor of phone unlocking add comments about their services here, but don’t assume that you have to hide your identity by posting a fake testimonial.
On July 28th, 2009 at 11:18 am Jonathan Says:
I purchased my code through here…http://www.cellfservices.com

I heard about them through Blackberry Cool and had no problems. Turnaround said 0-48 hours for my Verizon Tour but got it back in less than an hour. Maybe a lucky time? Regardless, they were professional and quick. Can’t complain.
On July 29th, 2009 at 8:25 am andrew Says:
I used unlock.mobileincanada.com as well and it worked perfectly! Codes were delivered to my inbox within 30 minutes and my phone unlocked right away!

ps: I don’t work for mobileincanada or any other tech company
On December 30th, 2009 at 8:25 am Jason Says:
Hi, i saw the top post here for cellulargsm.net – i went to it – but it sent me to http://www.worldunlocknet.com – WOW!
I ordered the samsung HYPE code at 816am, and i got my code at 822am – 6 minutes!
I think those guys are the top level of this industry.
I looked at all the sites mentioned here, and these guys have the lowest price and VERY Ultra Fast service.
Thanks You Sandy this is a good page
On December 30th, 2009 at 8:13 pm Mike Says:
i just a tough call with Rogers, and those bastards think that they are kings, i had my Nokia E62 over after three years contract and requested them to give me an unlock code, or show me the black/white fine print on their document where it says they cannot, and they does not have any answer.

It is very logical to assume that after the contract is over they simply cannot have any control over that phone and had to relinquish it to back to client.. another big scam
On January 22nd, 2010 at 4:49 pm David Tam Says:
http://www.cellunlocker.net unlocked my blackberry instantly,

I use that site for all my unlocking.