Newbie looking for help with a weird problem

[perlie]

Hi everybody, 

My sister is using  Public Mobile and loves it so when I saw the 2 day sale advertised I jumped on the opportunity and went into Walmart today and got a SIM card, got it activated etc. Only as I was leaving the store did I realize I had forgotten to get my phone unlocked from my current carrier (Bell  Mobility). The Walmart guy said all I had to do was call Bell and they would give me a code to unlock it. So I immediately went home and did that because the phone was not usable at all. Bell asked for the IMEI and gave me a unlock code which DID NOT WORK!! So after some back and forth they said I should go to one of their stores in my area..... which I did. I spent an hour there. They could not unlock it either. Its a Samsung Note 4. Finally they called Samsung who said I could mail the phone to them and they would look at it and try to unlock it! This is unbelievable! Has anyone else run across this? In the meantime, the weird thing is, I can't even sign up on the self serve pb website. Is that because they have not recognized me as switching over to them yet? Even though I have paid etc? I'm so confused. I hate to have to send my phone away when it seems like a code should unlock it.

[perlie]

Yes Ive done that,, with no success

[billnamy6976]

Call samsung your self give them the imei number and they will give you the code for your phone I tried with bell also and wouldn't work went through Samsung myself and it worked 

Good luck to you 

[perlie]

yes ive tried the Samsung Chat line and even spoken to them. They have also given me codes which don't work. So I 'm still waiting for the prepaid box to arrive from Bell. At least they sent an email to say its on the way. I think I may try once again to obtain a loaner from them. They wouldnt do that becasue I had cancelled the service BEFORE I tried to unlock the phone. But I have other services with Bell I,E, Internet, home phone, TV, i wonder if that would help give me a lever??

[cappaj]

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@perlie wrote:

Thanks to all who have replied and tried to help. Bell is quite willing to unlock my phone, It's just that none of the codes they have tried have worked. So now they are sending me a prepaid bpx so I can send the phone to Samsung who hopefully will unlock it somehow. It will take a while... won't get the box ofr 3-5 days!  Then who knows how long Samsung will take. It's very frustrating... but I don't see a way around sending off my phone.

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Did you try Samsung chat support yet? I'd strongly recommend doing that before mailing your phone in - that was what solved a similar problem for me, they were the ones who gave me the "master code", which my previous provider (Fido) and new provider (Public Mobile) weren't able to give me.

[jdesaumarez]

Moral of the story is never deal with Bell.

I have used them on and off over a period of 40 years figuring at times they had changed. They have never failed to justify my distrust. 

[perlie]

Thanks to all who have replied and tried to help. Bell is quite willing to unlock my phone, It's just that none of the codes they have tried have worked. So now they are sending me a prepaid bpx so I can send the phone to Samsung who hopefully will unlock it somehow. It will take a while... won't get the box ofr 3-5 days!  Then who knows how long Samsung will take. It's very frustrating... but I don't see a way around sending off my phone.

[Tfirx35]

While it's likely a technical issue (mine and my wife's unlock worked on first go from bell) they can be difficult to get responses from past base level support.

If they are still giving you issues it may pay to remind them that they are legally obligated to unlock your phone and complaints to the CRTC would be your next step.

When I had my billing issues with them that seems to have sped up the process 

[computergeek541]

Unlock code databases sometimes have errors in them.  It doesn't happen too often, but it is possible.

[jdesaumarez]

Bell seems to want to make it very difficult to unlock their phones.

I had an account with them for three years. , Earlier this month, as the equipment is paid for, I tried to do the unlock online from my Bell account. Doesn't work.

I then went to a Bell outlet and they told me they can't do it. I need to call Bell.

I called Bell, and spoke to a technician who tried the unlock and it didn't work,

He then gave me another 800 number to call and said they might be able to fix the problem.

I haven't tried this yet, but I had a great deal of pleasure canceling my account with them.

Never again.

[will13am]

@perlie, by chance did you insert your Public Mobile SIM card into the locked phone?  Samsung does some weird and wonderful things to their phones based on the carrier identified on the SIM card.  I am just thinking out loud here whether that in any way can impede the unlocking.

[cappaj]

Any chance you entered the wrong code for the initial prompt too many times? If so, you might need what I think is called the Master Unlock code from Samsung - that's what happened to me when I switched to Public Mobile - i posted about my eventual solution here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/New-Account-Require-SIM-network-PUK/m...

I didn't have to give my phone to Samsung, they eventually figured out what i needed while going over the problem extensively with their online chat. Maybe you could try that before actually mailing them your phone?

I would test your SIM in another phone first - and test a Telus SIM in your phone too (I went to a Telus store and did both things there with one of their phones and one of their SIMs). It's good to officially test that so you can tell Samsung you did that.

Not sure if any of that will help - but good luck!

[perlie]

Thanks for that suggestion of borrowing a phone to check out the SIM... I think I'll do that..

[Dunkman]

When you sign up for self-service account, PM will send you a text message to confirm and set up your self service account.  Since you don't have a working phone, you did not receive that text.  Any chance you can borrow any unlocked phone for now and insert your activated SIM just to see whether you have service?

As for the issue of unlocking your Samsung, that is weird.  Usually it is simply putting in the number that was given by Bell.  Sorry, I have nothing else to add to that situation.  

[perlie]

yes i did that, but I can't receive texts on the phone because it is locked!

[NDesai]

perlie, That's weird. Unlock code should directly unlock your phone if it was bought form Bell. 

The reason you cannot sign in is probably because you did not yet create an account. So go here to make an account: https://selfserve.publicmobile.ca/self-registration/