Anyone else ordered one of the none-free contracts?

I did yesterday and got the shock of my life today as they took the money out already. I was expecting them to wait until the N900 was actually in stock before doing that.

none-free? do you mean sim free?

If they said they wouldnt charge until it was in stock, give em a call, see whats happening.

Sorry, by none free I meant where you pay a certain amount towards the price of the phone because you are choosing a cheaper contract.

I do not think it said either way if they would take the money out in advance. It was a tad confusing as it did not say "pre order" or anything like that.

However seeing as they do not guarantee you will be accepted for a contact with the network it seems a bit cheeky to take the money for the phone immediately when it is likely to be a month until its in stock.

Unless this does indeed confirm I passed the network credit check then it kinda makes sense. It may be they just authed it the funds return to my account in a few days.

Now, do I understand it correctly, if you buy it with the Vodafone Pay as You Go Simply plan, and thow away the SIM, put in some other SIM you use it on the other SIM's plan?

Why would then anybody buy it as SIM-free? Or am I missing something?

Now I may be wrong but as I understand it if you buy it from a reseller rather than the network itself, usually it is unlocked as they buy the phones directly themselves and just get a rebate off the network at the end of your contract. (that is what I was told from mobiles.co.uk when I got my Xperia X1) But you have to be sure not to miss or be late with a payment or they can bill you for the entire value of the phone, as the network may refuse to give them the rebate because you broke the terms of the contract.

Also when I got a phone directly from Vodafone they gave me the unlock code at the end of my contract, although you do have to ask they don't just routinely tell you this.

The reason people buy SIM-free is if you cannot pass the network credit check or for some reason want pay as you go, its the only way to get a new phone. There is a certain amount of security buying it entirely up front as if you lose your job, you aren't tied into a contract so you could always sell your phone without being tied to paying the rest of a contract. That is of course assuming you paid for it outright and not on a credit card. ;-)

Yes, but if you have Pay as You Go, there is no monthly fee isn't there. So if you just buy it, throw the SIM card away, that's it. Since the phones here are presumably unlocked it's a simfree phone, or not?

Again, maybe.

More than likely phones from third-party retailers are not SIM locked, but there is guarantee they are not. Both Pay as You Go and Contract may be SIM locked unless it was specifically sold as SIM free. Its entirely at your own risk although I am 99% sure the N900 is going to be SIM free.

For a start, I already talked to T-Mobile who gave the impression they would not be stocking it themselves. As such it can't be SIM locked to them, as its nothing to do with them. But Vodafone have been known to not SIM lock even their own branded phones, but again no guarantees.

Yes, payg phones from resellers are often unlocked but not guaranteed.

If you read the whole thread, you will see that the N900 from MPD will be unlocked. But dont make too much noise about it, in case carriers notice and start dictating that it has to be locked down.

Hi folks,

So i could order the n900 from MPD with Vodafone on pay as you go and choose the (£10) 30 day contract, then biff the sim and then Bob's your uncle type thing.

If your going with Vodafone, then your golden.

If your hoping to use a different sim ie O2, then we are 99% sure Robert is your dads brother.