Not very happy to hear this – 2degrees Locking phones

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Not very happy to hear this – 2degrees Locking phones

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#1168250 4-Nov-2014 09:26

personally i would never buy a locked phone, the subsidizing thing seems like rubbish, you generally end up paying for a monthly contract that is a lot more expensive and if you cancel the contract you end up paying a cancellation fee which pays for the phone. I have no problem paying off the rest of the phone via that means, but locking the phone, no.

i bought a nexus 5 off 2degrees about a year ago, $40 a month contract, $300 upfront (so $300 for "free"), the $40 contract gets me little more than the skinny $16 plan. i dont mind this, i knew the contract would be paying for the phone, its fine. but if that phone was locked i would never of signed up. Also if you move and your reception is rubbish on one network (im in wattle downs south auckland and 2degrees is pretty much useless there) its very expensive to change networks.

so yeah not a fan, I wont buy one.

NzBeagle

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#1168290 4-Nov-2014 10:16

As long as there continues to be options and the sellers are clear on this then I don't have an issue. My concern would be for phones that are later sold on Trademe without informing sellers of the fact that they're locked. It's not always practical to take your own SIM out and test the new device connects when you purchase. If you are having the device shipped it creates more hassle of either sending the device back or getting it unlocked.

Wade

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#1168298 4-Nov-2014 10:34

There's no such thing as a free lunch, the locked phones look to feed the low cost end of the spectrum where possibly there is reasonably high flight risk so all in all i can't see the harm, ultimately the buy out cost or time-frame is far from excessive

I like the no contract interest free handset lock in as it gives a flexible compromise

On selling locked handsets is probably not as much of a problem as people selling handsets with clear title and then either insurance claiming or not fulfilling contract effectively getting them blacklisted, seems to be rife with iphones and topend samsungs on facebook buy & sell groups

richms

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#1168595 4-Nov-2014 15:39

The thing is they are only locking rubbish phones so $30 is a huge portion of the phone price.

Richard rich.ms

Yabanize

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#1168602 4-Nov-2014 15:58

As long as they are ACTUALLY subsidized

badbadmonkey

28 posts

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#1168889 4-Nov-2014 21:45

a subsidized phone

Hahahah.

Hahahahaha.

dickytim

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#1168977 5-Nov-2014 06:32

richms: The thing is they are only locking rubbish phones so $30 is a huge portion of the phone price.

That is the point.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#1168982 5-Nov-2014 07:19

Yabanize: As long as they are ACTUALLY subsidized

2degrees stance about not being able to compete without doing it themselves would seem to prove that the subsidy is genuine.

Wade

2225 posts

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#1169009 5-Nov-2014 08:31

$30 on a $100 phone is a pretty substantial discount, I'd happily accept a $300 discount on a $1000 phone for 9 months of operator lock in

Nil Einne

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#1169715 6-Nov-2014 08:34

reven: personally i would never buy a locked phone, the subsidizing thing seems like rubbish, you generally end up paying for a monthly contract that is a lot more expensive and if you cancel the contract you end up paying a cancellation fee which pays for the phone. I have no problem paying off the rest of the phone via that means, but locking the phone, no.

i bought a nexus 5 off 2degrees about a year ago, $40 a month contract, $300 upfront (so $300 for "free"), the $40 contract gets me little more than the skinny $16 plan. i dont mind this, i knew the contract would be paying for the phone, its fine. but if that phone was locked i would never of signed up. Also if you move and your reception is rubbish on one network (im in wattle downs south auckland and 2degrees is pretty much useless there) its very expensive to change networks.

so yeah not a fan, I wont buy one.

Are you talking about NZ or some other country? It's been said already that currently 2degrees are only locking their cheap phones, as with Vodafone and Spark (but not Skinny). If the earlier list is correct, the most expensive phone that's locked appears to be the Huawei Ascend Y520. I'm sure some people use these on contracts for various reasons, but probably it's not very common. Likely the vast majority, in fact as I suspect many people with Nexus 5s, are using them on prepay. Ultimately the contract issue seems to be a redherring, it seems clear that this is intended for phones which are subsided but not on a contract similar to Vodafone and 2degrees as mentioned at the start, those sold at a cheap price and likely to be used on prepay.

Remember the lock can be removed for free after 9 months (and everyone does this, even Skinny who started it), so even if you do have a contract, if you don't cancel your contract it isn't an issue (well you do need to have a working 2degrees SIM to unlock it sounds like). And the fee if it's within the first 9 months is only $30 (again same for everyone, including Skinny who started it) so I don't see how it's that much a bigger deal than cancelling a contract and paying the cancellation fee, and it is less than a month of your expensive contract or 1/10 of the retail price you mentioned for your phone. Sure for a $49 phone, it's a far bigger deal as richms mentioned but as other mentioned, that's the point, these cheap subsidised phones are only so cheap because they were subsidised. (They're probably not always subsidised $30.)

I admit I prefered how it was before the locking came in, and I'm not convinced phones were subsidised less than just that it on average vendors probably won as much as they lost. But once it was allowed for Skinny, it wasn't surprising everyone joined in. As for those fearing it may be extended, well there's no sign of that so far, and we can only hope the ComCom will keep any possible excesses in check. (IMO what they said when they allowed it for Skinny does suggest they would.)

old3eyes

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#1169733 6-Nov-2014 08:40

I see model creep coming in with phone locking. Got a Warehouse Stationary flyer last nite with a Skinny ad for the 2014 Moto G locked with introductory offer of $249 normally $299. Problem is this is a dual SIM phone and two Skinny SIMs will not work at the same time , if you want to travel and add a second local SIM you will have to unlock it before you go.. I hope this creep to better speced models is not going to become the norm in NZ..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Wade

2225 posts

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#1169735 6-Nov-2014 08:46

old3eyes: I see model creep coming in with phone locking. Got a Warehouse Stationary flyer last nite with a Skinny ad for the 2014 Moto G locked with introductory offer of $249 normally $299. Problem is this is a dual SIM phone and two Skinny SIMs will not work at the same time , if you want to travel and add a second local SIM you will have to unlock it before you go.. I hope this creep to better speced models is not going to become the norm in NZ..

Saw this also, given that 2D sell the exact same phone unlocked for $299 day in day out so it is a no-brainer (+1 for the phone, i have one and rather like it :) )

Nil Einne

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#1169738 6-Nov-2014 08:52

old3eyes: I see model creep coming in with phone locking. Got a Warehouse Stationary flyer last nite with a Skinny ad for the 2014 Moto G locked with introductory offer of $249 normally $299. Problem is this is a dual SIM phone and two Skinny SIMs will not work at the same time , if you want to travel and add a second local SIM you will have to unlock it before you go.. I hope this creep to better speced models is not going to become the norm in NZ..

Is this really creep though? My impression is Skinny has been locking a lot of their phones since they started (although to be fair, most of their phones are fairly cheap ones). In any case, if it's $249 this would seem to suggest it's still cheaper to buy it and unlock it (although I suspect the lock will continue even when it's back to $299). I'm presuming of course they don't try and charge you once for each SIM slot.

SaltyNZ

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#1169739 6-Nov-2014 08:54

reven: personally i would never buy a locked phone, the subsidizing thing seems like rubbish, you generally end up paying for a monthly contract that is a lot more expensive and if you cancel the contract you end up paying a cancellation fee which pays for the phone. I have no problem paying off the rest of the phone via that means, but locking the phone, no.

i bought a nexus 5 off 2degrees about a year ago, $40 a month contract, $300 upfront (so $300 for "free"), the $40 contract gets me little more than the skinny $16 plan. i dont mind this, i knew the contract would be paying for the phone, its fine. but if that phone was locked i would never of signed up. Also if you move and your reception is rubbish on one network (im in wattle downs south auckland and 2degrees is pretty much useless there) its very expensive to change networks.

so yeah not a fan, I wont buy one.

That's why we're changing the model to Freedom contracts (no term) and handset financing. It enables us to give you better value on your postpay plan with us, whilst still giving you the choice of $0/little up-front cost if you want a handset.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

muppet

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#1169744 6-Nov-2014 09:01

I'll have to get out all my old unlocking hardware from my "misc crap" box.

Hey does anyone have any Sony Ericsson T68i, P800/P900/P910i, Z600's etc they need unlocked???

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

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