Can someone please help me

[stevemwc]

Just like to say hi to everyone here, not sure if this is the right thread to post this topic but here goes.

Firstly i'd just like to say i'm no 3 basher, infact i'm the opposite, while i had the service i was really happy with it.

About a week ago i bought a motorola A1000 online, which was locked to 3, but which came with no sim, the person i bought the phone from wanted to keep the sim. So i thought fare enough i'll go buy a 3 pay as you go sim and put that in the phone, which i did and i also registered with 3.

The phone has been working great, excellent reception and no problems at all, until yesterday. At about lunch time i noticed the service indicator was red, showing that i had lost the network, so i switched my phone off then on again, this seemed to fix it as the connection was re-established and i managed to get a text sent. A couple of minutes later though i noticed the service was lost again so i switched the phone off and on again only this time i got the message "unregistered usim" and i could no longer receive the network. My phone has been like this ever since.

I phoned the customer help line and was put through to somebody in india, i explained what had happened and the response i got was "you cant put a pay as you go sim in what is a contract phone" i said that i had and it had worked fine, to which he replied "we wont let you use that sim". I asked if there was a solution and he said "no, your phone and sim are useless, you might as well put them in the bin" at which point i thought it better to hang up.

I kept phoning and eventually got through to someone in england whose only suggestion was that i turn the phone off overnight and switch it on in the morning. This however has made no difference.

Can someone please explain to me what has happened? are 3 really so petty as to unregister my sim because its not in the correct pay as you go phone. I would have payed my £15 every 30 days, so its not like i'm cheating on them.

The reason i got this phone and a pay as you go sim is because the phone can take care of my daily business needs, and because i use mobiles for phone calls so seldom that it would not warrant even the £20 a month contract.

If somebody from 3 reads this message can you please make some suggeston as to how this situation can be rectified, or suggest some other reason as to why my sim is suddenly unregistered, i just cant believe they would they would turn away custom over something so petty.

Sorry about the length of this message, i do feel a bit better though after getting off my chest.

Cheers
Stevemwc :confused:

[A1c]

Not heard of this before but it is technically possible to restrict a handset to the original USIM it was supplied with. A network could do this to prevent exactly what you describe. Remember that the handset is very heavily subsidised and £15/month is'nt likely to recoup the investment.

Sounds a very strange new twist, normally the opposite is the case (contract users buying 3pay handsets to use as upgrades) perhaps a clue to how the widespread 'unlocking' and 'box breaking' activity will be targetted.

I know the above does'nt help in your case but suspect that it wont be too long before others shed some light on what you have highlighted.

[Looney]

I suspect that this be one of Three's new "anti box splitting" remedies

I am not sure , but I suspect the "unlockers" will be able to deal with this ,or if they can't now , they will probably be able to in a few weeks time

So you have three options -
1) Try and get it unlocked - have a word with an unlocker (aaronseuk on here perhaps) and see if its possible

2) sell it on ebay ! - I suspect it'd go even if it is "contract only" , as many potential customers would want to put their existing contract sims in to replace their old clunky handsets

3) Get a contract - you could get a free phone, 12 months 1/2 price line rental etc (or one of those 7600 "specials" or similar - so line rental would only be less than a tenner if you shop around ( by redemption , of course) and you could sell the new phone on e-bay for a bit of cash

Best of luck anyway , no one likes to be jerked around

[stevemwc]

I suspect that this be one of Three's new "anti box splitting" remedies

I am not sure , but I suspect the "unlockers" will be able to deal with this ,or if they can't now , they will probably be able to in a few weeks time

So you have three options -
1) Try and get it unlocked - have a word with an unlocker (aaronseuk on here perhaps) and see if its possible

2) sell it on ebay ! - I suspect it'd go even if it is "contract only" , as many potential customers would want to put their existing contract sims in to replace their old clunky handsets

3) Get a contract - you could get a free phone, 12 months 1/2 price line rental etc (or one of those 7600 "specials" or similar - so line rental would only be less than a tenner if you shop around ( by redemption , of course) and you could sell the new phone on e-bay for a bit of cash

Best of luck anyway , no one likes to be jerked around

I really dont want to get rid of the phone, its a cracking piece of work, if i cant resolve this with 3 then i'll just wait, get the phone unlocked and go with another 3g provider. If it is the case that 3 have unregistered my sim so i cant use their network it seems a pretty good way of losing customers to me, as well as being pretty pathetic.

I've not heard of any other network doing this, i've used ex contract phones with pay as you sims before and had no trouble at all, i read on hear somewhere that it cost around £115 to get the phone unlocked by 3, if takes that to get the phone unlocked and away from 3 then thats what i'll do, especially if it is the case they've unregistered my sim.

stevemwc

[hecatae]

I'd say the phone is blacklisted and barred from 3 by the original owner who has reported it lost or stolen, or has failed to pay the bill for it.

[stevemwc]

I'd say the phone is blacklisted and barred from 3 by the original owner who has reported it lost or stolen, or has failed to pay the bill for it.

Hi,
The previous owner never used the phone, i did look absolutely brand new, he said he did put his sim in the phone just to start it up, make sure it ran ok etc, but this was for a few minutes while he took photos of it for his add and he never registered his sim to the phone.

stevemwc

[Ice_Returns]

If what your saying is true, it would be the first case I have ever heard of !!! as 3GSU said it is technically possible but in all honesty very very unlikely !!

1) I also think that your phone has now been reported stolen by your ebay seller and is now blacklisted

2) You could try your Sim in another 3 handset, just to make sure it aint the sim (woolies will sell you an Nec 616V for £30)

3) TBH m8 for all the hassle your going through and the money you have spent !!!!! well let me put it this way, on contract I got a free A1000 on T&T 900 with 9 months half price line rental for 9 out of my 12 months, this means I will pay an average of £20 a month for 9 months and then £40 a month for the last 3 months, a TOTAL OF £300 for the whole year, this gives me a free phone +750 mins per month to call any network anytime of day + 150 texts per month to any network !!!

[bleubean]

does anyone think it is because stevemwc rang up Three to register his ThreePay sim and actually told them what fone he was using?! just a thought. im using a threepay sim in a LG8110 which i bought on contract and its fine. but ive just bought a E1000 that ill get on monday and i hope it doesnt turn out to do the same!? i hope not!

[stevemwc]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replys, i'll try my sim in another 3 pay phone before i do anything else, I'm pretty sure the seller was a decent guy, i really would'nt have bought the phone if i thought it was anything dodgy, he'd been long established on ebay and had 100% positive feedback, so even if only for these reasons i think he would'nt want to ruin a spotless ebay reputation.

I'll be sending him an email in about 5 minutes to see if he has anything to say about it, i suppose if i get no reply then i need to start worrying.

thanks for all your help.

Steve

PS
If the phone is locked out, does this mean that the only thing i can do is wait for unlock codes to become available, or pay 3 their £115 to get it unlocked.
I've emailed the previous owner to ask him to help me out with this.

[stevemwc]

At last some feedback from 3, just got of the phone to a very nice customer service rep, i explained again axactly what has happened and asked them point blank if they would block a phone because i was using a pay and go sim in it, to which they replied that they definately would'nt.

Can the customer service people see if the sim is unregistered? i gave them my phone number and they clanked away on their computer and never said the sim was locked out at their end.

They suggested i try the sim in another 3 pay ang go phone, as it sounded like a corrupt sim. So this leaves 2 possibilities as i see it, the phone has been reported stolen, which, fingers crossed, i doubt, or the sim is dead.

i'll let you know how things progress.

stevemwc

[A1c]

If the previous owner has never used the device it may not have been registered on the network. (Its IMEI no must be registered and activated as allowable etc). Might be an idea to ask if that has been done. If it has not, 3 may regard this device as a 'stolen' handset (as was suggested above) and will not activate it on thier network. Nor will anyone else as all phone companies have a central database for this purpose.

Let us know what happens.

[stevemwc]

If the previous owner has never used the device it may not have been registered on the network. (Its IMEI no must be registered and activated as allowable etc). Might be an idea to ask if that has been done. If it has not, 3 may regard this device as a 'stolen' handset (as was suggested above) and will not activate it on thier network. Nor will anyone else as all phone companies have a central database for this purpose.

Let us know what happens.

Hi,

When i registered with 3 i gave them the imei number of the phone (possible reason why phone may be down as stolen! because i reigistered it in my name when it should have been registered to the original owners name?).

so does that mean i need to get the original owner of the phone to register the imei number and help me clear this mess up with 3? or at least get them to get in touch with 3 and sort it with them. I'll email the chap i bought the phone off and ask if he registered the imei with 3.

thanks for the suggestion
stevemwc

[stevemwc]

Another update,

just got off the phone to 3 again, the phone has not been reported as stolen, the lady ran a check while i waited, it is still registered under the name of the person i bought the phone off though.

they just keep suggesting i try the sim in another phone.

Update,

Girlfriend has just phoned me, the 3 sim i have been using is dead, she's taken it to a phone shop in her break,for them to try it in another 3 pay and go phone, and they get exactly the same error, they told her the sim is dead.

So what do i do now? get another 3 pay and go sim or get the phone unlocked and just use it as a 2.5g phone until orange 3g is up and running.
With 3 being so possesive and funny about the whole situation i really dont think i can trust them enough to use their network again.

[A1c]

"So what do i do now? get another 3 pay and go sim or get the phone unlocked and just use it as a 2.5g phone until orange 3g is up and running."

Loads available on e-bay for about £10 just now - might be a good gamble and a backup if you do manage to get the device to work with another network. Orange 3G starts Monday so you wont have too long to wait.

[stevemwc]

"So what do i do now? get another 3 pay and go sim or get the phone unlocked and just use it as a 2.5g phone until orange 3g is up and running."

Loads available on e-bay for about £10 just now - might be a good gamble and a backup if you do manage to get the device to work with another network. Orange 3G starts Monday so you wont have too long to wait.

I did like 3, maybe the chap that said they would lock me out was having a bad day, i'll get another 3 sim and the phone unlocked see how it goes with 3 again, £10 a sim you cant go wrong.

[18736]

Just like to say hi to everyone here, not sure if this is the right thread to post this topic but here goes.

Firstly i'd just like to say i'm no 3 basher, infact i'm the opposite, while i had the service i was really happy with it.

About a week ago i bought a motorola A1000 online, which was locked to 3, but which came with no sim, the person i bought the phone from wanted to keep the sim. So i thought fare enough i'll go buy a 3 pay as you go sim and put that in the phone, which i did and i also registered with 3.

The phone has been working great, excellent reception and no problems at all, until yesterday. At about lunch time i noticed the service indicator was red, showing that i had lost the network, so i switched my phone off then on again, this seemed to fix it as the connection was re-established and i managed to get a text sent. A couple of minutes later though i noticed the service was lost again so i switched the phone off and on again only this time i got the message "unregistered usim" and i could no longer receive the network. My phone has been like this ever since.

I phoned the customer help line and was put through to somebody in india, i explained what had happened and the response i got was "you cant put a pay as you go sim in what is a contract phone" i said that i had and it had worked fine, to which he replied "we wont let you use that sim". I asked if there was a solution and he said "no, your phone and sim are useless, you might as well put them in the bin" at which point i thought it better to hang up.

I kept phoning and eventually got through to someone in england whose only suggestion was that i turn the phone off overnight and switch it on in the morning. This however has made no difference.

Can someone please explain to me what has happened? are 3 really so petty as to unregister my sim because its not in the correct pay as you go phone. I would have payed my £15 every 30 days, so its not like i'm cheating on them.

The reason i got this phone and a pay as you go sim is because the phone can take care of my daily business needs, and because i use mobiles for phone calls so seldom that it would not warrant even the £20 a month contract.

If somebody from 3 reads this message can you please make some suggeston as to how this situation can be rectified, or suggest some other reason as to why my sim is suddenly unregistered, i just cant believe they would they would turn away custom over something so petty.

Sorry about the length of this message, i do feel a bit better though after getting off my chest.

Cheers
Stevemwc :confused:

Hi mate.

As a 3 dealer, I will explain what has happened.

3 implemented a new policy around 4 months ago, where prepay sims in contract handsets would NOT work and vice versa. Yes, it is to stop box splitting and help recoup subsidies on expensive phones. I believe it is also to prevent fraud and / or criminal use, plus help keep subscriber numbers accurate.

Because the A1000 from your friend is a contract phone, yet you have a 3pay sim, there is your problem!

The reason it actually WORKED for a week or two is probably that there was a network delay in sending the info to the network, showing that your sim card / phone were mismatched, hence it working one minute and then stopping working.

What has happened to your friend's original contract sim? Does he use it in another 3 phone? Wow - complicated! Effectively the guy you bought the phone from has "box split" - exactly what 3 don't want to happen, due to the heavily subsidised price they probably gave your mate, when he signed up on contract. I should really check T&Cs to see whether he is liable for doing that! My advice to people has always been "use the sim card purchased with the phone together - always". When I used to sell Orange and Orange care, I warned about customers swapping sim cards from different handsets on their own account, as Orange had a clause saying they would only replace SIM cards / handsets if they were matched up TOGETHER at point of loss / theft etc.

I think you are on dodgy ground, to be honest mate. Why would someone sign up (very recently, obviously) for an A1000 and then flog it on the net? Bit dodgy! Effectively, that person is trying to make money from the network giving him an expensive phone, cheap. I could see networks getting tighter on this, as it effectively throws a spanner in the works...

Your options:

1. If you have a 3 contract already, use your contract sim in A1000. THAT should work, although it is dodgy. I mean, who was this guy who sold you a nerw contract phone? Hmmmm...
2. Get the A1000 unlocked.

My advice - if you think buying a second hand phone is a good option, think and think again. You may pay for it further down the line...

[Looney]

I'd guess that it would be unlikely the guy you got it off would be happy to let you do that ~(unless you are close friends)
If the above is true (hopefully its not ) then you may be a bit stuck , after all , you can only try so hard to give a company money ! as they are making it so hard for you - if it was me I'd get it unlocked and onto a different network (2.5g if required )

[18736]

Hi miffed.

I appreciate your sentiment about trying hard to give a company money, BUT there are procedures for doing that.

If you owned 3, would YOU be happy to let subscribers get FREE or heavily subsidised posh phones like the A1000 on contract, only for some (strange) people to flog the handset on ebay / web / whatever.

It's effectively a black market. It costs the network loads of money.

Hope you understand my point.

[new2three]

When I have seen a particular phone I wanted to use, I bought the handset unlocked from the dealer. It cost me a mint but I never had problems.

[stevemwc]

Hi mate.


I think you are on dodgy ground, to be honest mate. Why would someone sign up (very recently, obviously) for an A1000 and then flog it on the net? Bit dodgy! Effectively, that person is trying to make money from the network giving him an expensive phone, cheap. I could see networks getting tighter on this, as it effectively throws a spanner in the works...

Your options:

1. If you have a 3 contract already, use your contract sim in A1000. THAT should work, although it is dodgy. I mean, who was this guy who sold you a nerw contract phone? Hmmmm...
2. Get the A1000 unlocked.

My advice - if you think buying a second hand phone is a good option, think and think again. You may pay for it further down the line...

hi mate,
cheers for shining a bit more light on this, the person i bought the phone from was already a 3 contract customer, he got the phone as an upgrade, its definately not a dodgy phone, the person i spoke to at 3 did mention the persons name i got the phone from because as i've just found out, this person has also got in touch with 3 this morning, after i sent him an email explaining what was happening.

I think i'll play it safe, unlock the phone and go to some other service provider. Miffed, you're right, i've never found it so hard to give my money away.

[Looney]

Hi miffed.

I appreciate your sentiment about trying hard to give a company money, BUT there are procedures for doing that.

If you owned 3, would YOU be happy to let subscribers get FREE or heavily subsidised posh phones like the A1000 on contract, only for some (strange) people to flog the handset on ebay / web / whatever.

It's effectively a black market. It costs the network loads of money.

Hope you understand my point.

but surely they work the subsidy out on minimum spend ? so the guy that bought it originally will still have to pay his line rental (at least) , as he would have done if he had kept the a1000 , chances are he'll have put the sim in another phone and used that - so its not as if it is money out of their pockets
I mean , look at the situtation Three have led him to -
Our man here can either -
A) give his money to Three (£15 pm was mentioned I recall ?) or
B ) give his money to Orange / Vodafone

Can't see where Three's preferred option (b) is beneficial to them?

[stevemwc]

Hi miffed.

I appreciate your sentiment about trying hard to give a company money, BUT there are procedures for doing that.

If you owned 3, would YOU be happy to let subscribers get FREE or heavily subsidised posh phones like the A1000 on contract, only for some (strange) people to flog the handset on ebay / web / whatever.

It's effectively a black market. It costs the network loads of money.

Hope you understand my point.

The phone was definatly not cheap for me to buy, its readily available to buy sim free at ********.com for £464.95, as well as a few other places.

I am thinking of the unlocking option i believe £115 has been quoted somewhere to get 3 to unlock it for me.

[A1c]

If the above is true then it should be posted as a sticky somewhere prominent to warn others not to try and do likewise. This action may stop the 'box splitting' problem but not unlocking and will ultimately annoy those who are most likely to want to give 3 revenue.

So the warning to all should be 'Do not buy a ThreePay handset as a contract upgrade option and do not buy a 3 contract handset as a ThreePay upgrade'.

Makes sense but seems like an action that will affect 3's loyal customers rather than the 1000's who unlock and turn their backs on them!

[Looney]

Good heavens ! Don't go to three to get it unlocked ! -you should be able to get it done for about £10-£20 once the independant unlockers sort themselves out

3seller
Another point - ATM my two contract sims are in a PAYG e228 and a PAYG e616v and they are both working fine ?

[THEMAGICNUM3ER]

I have just bought an Motorola E1000 out of a catalogue for £236.99. Obviously the phone wont be on a contract. Does anyone think i would be able to put my 3Pay sim into that after all it isnt on contracT?!

[18736]

I have just bought an Motorola E1000 out of a catalogue for £236.99. Obviously the phone wont be on a contract. Does anyone think i would be able to put my 3Pay sim into that after all it isnt on contracT?!

Doesn't the phone come with a 3pay sim anyway?

Yes, you should be able to put your 3pay sim in, as long as the handset is 3pay.

[18736]

Anoother question?

Why spend £240 on a handset, when you can get a better deal on contract?

Why spend ALL that money? I bet you spend lots on phones each year, eh?

[THEMAGICNUM3ER]

No surprisingly the phone came in a Motorola box without any Three info yet when i bought it the phone was advertised as "Motorola E1000 on 3". so i think it might actually be a SIMFREE handset and they have advertised it as a 3 handset to show you can use it with Three.

My sister decided to get a new contract Motorola E1000 on Three and decided to swap handsets with me mam who is using a ThreePay LG8110. Do you think either of them will get any problems because of using a ThreePay sim in a contract handset?

Im so confused off all of this!!


oh by the way, I only get one handset a year. That does me fine. The reason for not getting a contract is i dont like being signed up to something for an entire year, i prefer to be in control of what i spend... :)

[18736]

No surprisingly the phone came in a Motorola box without any Three info yet when i bought it the phone was advertised as "Motorola E1000 on 3". so i think it might actually be a SIMFREE handset and they have advertised it as a 3 handset to show you can use it with Three.

My sister decided to get a new contract Motorola E1000 on Three and decided to swap handsets with me mam who is using a ThreePay LG8110. Do you think either of them will get any problems because of using a ThreePay sim in a contract handset?

Im so confused off all of this!!


oh by the way, I only get one handset a year. That does me fine. The reason for not getting a contract is i dont like being signed up to something for an entire year, i prefer to be in control of what i spend... :)

Hmmm..advertised as Moto E1000 on three, yet boxed SIM free, with no 3 lit.

That's exactly what the networks don't want.

Sounds like a grey import. Dealer makes money out of the phone itself. In fact some will do ANYTHING to make money...

Unlock
Box split
Cashback, then not pay it back...

sigh.

It makes MY profession look very bad.

Advertising the phone as a branded 3 phone seems a bit naughty to me.

As for your question re LG8110 / E1000, your family may get away with it. Depends how quick the network goes thorugh all the listed numbers on the system and tries to match IMEI, I guess. I think miffed said he'd got away with it on his two phones. Take ya chances.

The whole point is that the DEAL involves the SIM AND the phone sticking together, hence the subsidies / deals, etc.

Splitting CAN cause LOTS of problems. Do so at your own risk. I advise all my customer the same.

By the way, I DO NOT unlock / box split / flash / flex / tamper with handsets internally / sell SIM cards, etc... Never have. Never will. As a result I get the full warranty backing of the network I sell, plus no comebacks due to second hand phones, etc.

Hope that helps, mate.

[THEMAGICNUM3ER]

Yeah cheers. the site i actually bought it from was www.greatuniversal.com . dont no wether anyone has heard of it like. but they seem reputable enough!


As for my mam and sis, i hope the can swap easily. Do you think that Stevemwc's problem was because first he bought it from some guy who might not be completely legit AND that he actually rang up Three to register his ThreePay sim and told CS that he was using the A1000 therefore shooting himself in the foot by telling them? perhaps if he handnt of rang up they wouldnt have bothered but the fact he registered the phone it may have alerted some CS person who decided to get onto the case!?


Any thoughts?!

[18736]

Yeah cheers. the site i actually bought it from was www.greatuniversal.com . dont no wether anyone has heard of it like. but they seem reputable enough!


As for my mam and sis, i hope the can swap easily. Do you think that Stevemwc's problem was because first he bought it from some guy who might not be completely legit AND that he actually rang up Three to register his ThreePay sim and told CS that he was using the A1000 therefore shooting himself in the foot by telling them? perhaps if he handnt of rang up they wouldnt have bothered but the fact he registered the phone it may have alerted some CS person who decided to get onto the case!?


Any thoughts?!

Yeah, you could be right re: him ringing up giving IMEI.

Sorry, but I just find stuff like that dodgy.

Btw: Great Universal ARE a big firm. They run all the main catalogues! I guess that, dealing through a company like them, your phone is correctly sourced.

I like to sell reassurance to people. New phone / new line / backup / no dodgy history, hence my comments above. Apologies if others disagree with my personal sales policy. :D

Best wishes anyway

[stevemwc]

All solved i think, the chap i bought the phone off is ringing 3 to tell them i am the new owner of the A1000. I've phoned 3 and ordered my unlock code at a cost of £115, its all been checked and approved, got my authorisation code, just got to ring back wednesday for the unlock code.

I dont think you can tar everyone with the same brush who decide to sell their phones, not everyone is out to make a fast buck, the person i bought the phone from prefered his old phone to his upgrade so he sold it to someone who could make better use of it.

My error was not checking up on 3's policy with mixing contract phones and pay as you go sims, but they dont exactly make it clear that this is their policy, maybe they should. People swap and change phones and sims all the time, they always have and probably always will.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice in helping me out with this.

stevemwc

[brucelv]

I have the same problem, "unregistered usim" even i'm using three contract sim card. any solutions?

[dilbert25]

Havbe you phoned 3 to let them know you've updated your phone? All you need to do is give them your new IMEI number and they'll update your account (after checking the handset isn't blacklisted) and you should be fine.

The other likelihood here (and it happens a lot) is that it's a 64k USIM whereas all recent USIMs are 128k, so the sim may not be compatible. Easy way to tell is to look at your sim card number and if there are five 0's after the 89442 it's likely to be an old 64k USIM. Just give 3 a ring and get them so send you a new sim card (for free.. they can't charge you the usual £17.63 for this)

[wze3369]

Hi mate.

As a 3 dealer, I will explain what has happened.

3 implemented a new policy around 4 months ago, where prepay sims in contract handsets would NOT work and vice versa. Yes, it is to stop box splitting and help recoup subsidies on expensive phones. I believe it is also to prevent fraud and / or criminal use, plus help keep subscriber numbers accurate.

Because the A1000 from your friend is a contract phone, yet you have a 3pay sim, there is your problem!

The reason it actually WORKED for a week or two is probably that there was a network delay in sending the info to the network, showing that your sim card / phone were mismatched, hence it working one minute and then stopping working.

What has happened to your friend's original contract sim? Does he use it in another 3 phone? Wow - complicated! Effectively the guy you bought the phone from has "box split" - exactly what 3 don't want to happen, due to the heavily subsidised price they probably gave your mate, when he signed up on contract. I should really check T&Cs to see whether he is liable for doing that! My advice to people has always been "use the sim card purchased with the phone together - always". When I used to sell Orange and Orange care, I warned about customers swapping sim cards from different handsets on their own account, as Orange had a clause saying they would only replace SIM cards / handsets if they were matched up TOGETHER at point of loss / theft etc.

I think you are on dodgy ground, to be honest mate. Why would someone sign up (very recently, obviously) for an A1000 and then flog it on the net? Bit dodgy! Effectively, that person is trying to make money from the network giving him an expensive phone, cheap. I could see networks getting tighter on this, as it effectively throws a spanner in the works...

Your options:

1. If you have a 3 contract already, use your contract sim in A1000. THAT should work, although it is dodgy. I mean, who was this guy who sold you a nerw contract phone? Hmmmm...
2. Get the A1000 unlocked.

My advice - if you think buying a second hand phone is a good option, think and think again. You may pay for it further down the line...
sorry to contradict ya but actually thats b.s. i got a paygo sim in a 6280 i got from 3g as upgrade on e1000 1after 1 yr. the sim works in both contract nokia an motorola and paygo nokia. i've kicked the payments into touch too and owe about£600 by now in that name but the phones still work in paygo mode!!! i expected the upgrade to get switched off when i knocked them but its all good... 3free3free luvem

[3GsInGH]

This thread is quite old i think whoever started it must have got their problem sorted. Therefore i am closing the thread