[sue.words]

Two weeks ago, I bought a used phone (described like this in the order confirmation "Apple iPhone 6s Plus Rose Gold UNLO TECH" from an online dealer in refurbished phones. 

I used it without problem with a Vodafone Sim (PAYG). Yesterday I arranged with BT to add my mobile to our telephone and broadband contract, and requested a PAC from Vodafone.

Today I have fitted the BT Sim and the phone shows "No Service".

I rang BT and explained the situation. The BT person said that mobile coverage in our area was not brilliant but I should get 3 bars. He suggested that the phone could be locked.

I contacted the people I bought the phone from, asking them to confirm that it was unlocked (confidently assuming that they would say straightaway that of course it was unlocked). But they have said (this is all by FB Messenger as they do not have a phone) they will send me a postage-paid return label and will investigate.

In a later message they asked if I want a refund or a replacement.

To be honest, I am flabbergasted and don't know whether I should ask for a refund or a replacement – or what I should say I want.

 

Comments please

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Hello sue.words
 

No service means that you have no service - bad SIM, bad cellular antenna are possible reasons. ... If the phone is locked when you turn it on it will display a message saying the SIM is not supported and you must insert a SIM for the correct carrier. If you do not get this message the phone is not locked to a carrier.

 
 
Some things to check that may cause that error.

https://www.technobe...vice-on-iphone/

If you can't fix it then I would...


Take the replacement they sound nice to deal with and are willing to help, not always the case. If you take the refund you're just going to have to find someone else to deal with and maybe not so friendly.
 
Those are my thoughts....
 
Stay safe and I hope this all ends soon
 
Joe

[zep516]

Hello sue.words
 

No service means that you have no service - bad SIM, bad cellular antenna are possible reasons. ... If the phone is locked when you turn it on it will display a message saying the SIM is not supported and you must insert a SIM for the correct carrier. If you do not get this message the phone is not locked to a carrier.

 
 
Some things to check that may cause that error.

https://www.technobe...vice-on-iphone/

If you can't fix it then I would...


Take the replacement they sound nice to deal with and are willing to help, not always the case. If you take the refund you're just going to have to find someone else to deal with and maybe not so friendly.
 
Those are my thoughts....
 
Stay safe and I hope this all ends soon
 
Joe

[sue.words]

Thank you, Joe

 

I have gone through all but the last two of the procedures described at the url you quoted (that is, everything except 

Reset All Settings and Restore your iPhone to factory settings using iTunes)

Sadly, none of them did the trick.

 

Perhaps I should have tried the last two as well, but they did seem pretty drastic. Also, though, between posting my request for help here and seeing your helpful reply, I managed to speak to my son-in-law on the phone (landline!) and he reckons I should go out of the village to see if I can get a signal elsewhere. We are planning to go out tomorrow (using the car for the first time for weeks and weeks!) to buy a few things from a nearby town. If we do get some bars of signal at some point it looks as if my annoyance should be directed at BT for telling us there was reasonable mobile coverage here rather than at the people who sold me the phone (which worked fine when I was with Vodafone).

 

Thank you again for moral support – I'll report back what happens tomorrow.

 

Sue

[sue.words]

Thanks again to Joe for his moral support.

This is what happened eventually.

My phone DID work when we were out of our village, but, even before I had confirmed that that was the case, I came across two things:

• a map showing that BT's mobile coverage in our postcode was very patchy
• on the BT website something called Wi-Fi Calling: https://www.bt.com/help/ 

Setting up Wi-Fi Calling on my iPhone was quick and simple and – voila – my phone was working with its BT sim!

 

But – why did the BT adviser suggest that the phone was locked? Even when I pressed him he could suggest no alternative explanation for my No Service message. (Somewhere, I came across the information that if the phone had been locked any message would have said that that was the reason the phone wasn't working.) and why did he not tell me about Wi-Fi Calling.

 

And why did the people I bought the phone from meekly assume that it was faulty, rather than helping me sort the issue out?

 

I have decided to stay with BT because we have our landline and broadband with them, and they offered a very good price for including my mobile in the contract, but I am keeping my old mobile with Vodafone to use PAYG on the few occasions when I want to be able to use it not at home (where our wifi enables Wi-Fi Calling of course) but in the village. Vodafone have been incredibly helpful and I feel I owe them a lot (especially as they have never made much money from me).

[zep516]

Sounds like no one did any investigation on the NO Service error. In any case I'm glad things worked out for you.

 

Joe