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iPhone 3Gs - Italy and Belgium - unlocked?

u49aa2 said:
This is another site (UK based) that sell unlocked iphone. Price is £850 for 32GB (16 GB £100 cheaper). Actually, i was considering buying from this website, before i found handtec. However in an email the guy said that he was going to sell it for £799. So it looks like the demand is high, thus he raised the price (and yeah, he is a guy ;) his name is Callum :D)

Edit: he used to have the ISIS sign, but he doesn't now!

http://phonedevil.com/
Click to expand...

Hi there, this is Callum @ PhoneDevil ;)

Now that we have launched our new-look website (I hope you like it by the way!), we have moved the ISIS and the IDIS signs on our 'Security & Privacy' page. The reason for that is to make our homepage visually more impressive...the footer on the old site was too cluttered.

The reason for the price increase is not simply because demand is high (incidentally, it's very high!), but more due to the fact that there is SO little stock available (judging by this thread, everyone is aware of that by now!), and therefore it costs a lot more to source them. We really had no choice.

p.s. All I have to say about handtec is that they do look like a very established seller, but (and this is only relevant for iPhones) you MUST get them to promise that their 'sim free' iPhone 3GS are 'factory unlocked'. Far too many sellers are selling 'sim free' iPhones which are software unlocked.
 
PhoneDevil said:
Hi there, this is Callum @ PhoneDevil ;)

Now that we have launched our new-look website (I hope you like it by the way!), we have moved the ISIS and the IDIS signs on our 'Security & Privacy' page. The reason for that is to make our homepage visually more impressive...the footer on the old site was too cluttered.

The reason for the price increase is not simply because demand is high (incidentally, it's very high!), but more due to the fact that there is SO little stock available (judging by this thread, everyone is aware of that by now!), and therefore it costs a lot more to source them. We really had no choice.

Our pricing is still £50 cheaper than Play.com and Expansys, and our warranty support is much better than theirs (can't go into detail on here because I don't want to be banned for spamming).

p.s. All I have to say about handtec is erm.....100% chance you're going to get scammed?!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice.

About handtec, my two friends just 3 days ago one of them ordered htc touch hd and the another ordered htc touch pro 2 and they got them next day which means that handtec is legitimate and no one of my friends got scammed.

If you are talking specially about the iphone then hmmmm I do not have any experiance with that and none of my friends got the 3GS from handtec yet.

To be honest, yes you can talk about the cheaper prices you have but to claim that other web sites (which are known as legitimate) are cheating customers then I would never accept to buy any device from you even if you sell it for free.

For me, I do not trust you anymore. Sorry
 
dream said:
Thank you for your advice.

About handtec, my two friends just 3 days ago one of them ordered htc touch hd and the another ordered htc touch pro 2 and they got them next day which means that handtec is legitimate and no one of my friends got scammed.

If you are talking specially about the iphone then hmmmm I do not have any experiance with that and none of my friends got the 3GS from handtec yet.

To be honest, yes you can talk about the cheaper prices you have but to claim that other web sites (which are known as legitimate) are cheating customers then I would never accept to buy any device from you even if you sell it for free.

For me, I do not trust you anymore. Sorry
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post
Let me put it this way:

There is a REASON why Play.com, Expansys e.t.c. are so expensive - because these *factory unlocked* iPhones ARE very expensive.
I don't doubt at all that your friends received other phones from handtec, because they clearly have a very good rating history on Google checkout and are members of ISIS and IDIS.

My comments are specifically about the *Factory Unlocked* iPhone. I have updated my previous post to be more specific of that. I am seriously just trying to help, because I actually care! :) I know for a fact that e.g. Expansys would make a loss selling at those prices.

I can't say any more than that, because I don't want to get banned :)
 
PhoneDevil said:
Hi there, this is Callum @ PhoneDevil ;)

Now that we have launched our new-look website (I hope you like it by the way!), we have moved the ISIS and the IDIS signs on our 'Security & Privacy' page. The reason for that is to make our homepage visually more impressive...the footer on the old site was too cluttered.

The reason for the price increase is not simply because demand is high (incidentally, it's very high!), but more due to the fact that there is SO little stock available (judging by this thread, everyone is aware of that by now!), and therefore it costs a lot more to source them. We really had no choice.

p.s. All I have to say about handtec is that they do look like a very established seller, but (and this is only relevant for iPhones) you MUST get them to promise that their 'sim free' iPhone 3GS are 'factory unlocked'. Far too many sellers are selling 'sim free' iPhones which are software unlocked.
Click to expand...

I spoke to Handtec's 'live support' querying about their SIM free iPhone:

Customer Services (803): Hi there, how may I assist you today?
Me: I see that you are selling the new iPhone 3GS as SIM free. I was wondering if this is a FACTORY unlocked phone like the ones sold in Italy and Belgium.
Customer Services (803): That is correct, these will be sim free, exactly the same as Italian Stock, so yes Factory unlocked I-phones
Customer Services (803): Is there anything else I can assist you with?
 
PhoneDevil said:
Thanks for your post
Let me put it this way:

There is a REASON why Play.com, Expansys e.t.c. are so expensive - because these phones ARE very expensive.
I don't doubt that your friends received other phones from that website. My comments are specifically about the *Factory Unlocked* iPhone. I have updated my previous post to be more specific of that. I am seriously just trying to help, because I actually care! :)

I can't say any more than that, because I don't want to get banned :)
Click to expand...

Hi callum. Good to hear from you :). I guess you could be correct, this is why i used my credit card. Also looking at their feedback section in google checkout, they have more positives than negatives feedback. and with negatives, when they try to scam you "indirectly", they very often refund the money. Also as i said before i have my credit card company to protect me.

Also, to be honest with you, for the price you are offering now, i can get it from other sources (relatives..etc) this is why i think, handtec is worth the gamble, considering they are offering a price, which is still more expensive than Italy, Belgium, and Australia, but cheaper than the UK.
 
dream said:
expansys changed the estimated period of availability of iphone 3GS 16 GB.

Yesterday it was "Availability: Estimated 1 Day" which means that today it was supposed to be in the stock!!

I checked the web site today and it is written there "Availability: Estimated 4 Days" :confused:

Source: http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=183741

I really wonder why they changed the availability date? does it mean that the requested stock by UK resellers is not delivered yet from italy, australia, belgium and handtec will change promised shipping dates also?
Click to expand...

Or it could be that they have already shipped few orders, and are now reordering from Italy for new orders ;)
 
AVFC said:
I spoke to Handtec's 'live support' querying about their SIM free iPhone:

Customer Services (803): Hi there, how may I assist you today?
Me: I see that you are selling the new iPhone 3GS as SIM free. I was wondering if this is a FACTORY unlocked phone like the ones sold in Italy and Belgium.
Customer Services (803): That is correct, these will be sim free, exactly the same as Italian Stock, so yes Factory unlocked I-phones
Customer Services (803): Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Click to expand...


I mailed them also 2 weeks ago and the reply was:

Hi,

In regards to this the device, it will be completely unlocked and should work pretty much anywhere in the world,

Kind regards,


Please feel free to contact us should you require more info -

T - 0845 644 7727
W - www.handtec.co.uk
O - Live Support Online

Customer Service 803

GPSK Ltd
Unit 64 - 66,
Werrington Business Centre
Papyrus road
Peterborough
PE4 5BH
 
u49aa2 said:
Or it could be that they have already shipped few orders, and are now reordering from Italy for new orders ;)
Click to expand...

I think it's a bit of both. The stock shortage has taken all sellers by surprise. even O2 in the UK have been largely out of stock. They now have limited stock available, which is better than the 'no stock' message they had for a week prior to that ;)

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/stockupdate.html
 
AVFC said:
I spoke to Handtec's 'live support' querying about their SIM free iPhone:

Customer Services (803): Hi there, how may I assist you today?
Me: I see that you are selling the new iPhone 3GS as SIM free. I was wondering if this is a FACTORY unlocked phone like the ones sold in Italy and Belgium.
Customer Services (803): That is correct, these will be sim free, exactly the same as Italian Stock, so yes Factory unlocked I-phones
Customer Services (803): Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Click to expand...

Same, as what happened to me (I changed the colors to black):
 

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I am pretty sure that handtec are legit and i am feeling confident that everyone who ordered their iphones will get them soon and would place my money with them rather than some random guy off ebay.

However only time will tell and they do respond to all my emails and not just run away with my money so that gives me peace of mind.
 
daleski75 said:
I am pretty sure that handtec are legit and i am feeling confident that everyone who ordered their iphones will get them soon and would place my money with them rather than some random guy off ebay.

However only time will tell and they do respond to all my emails and not just run away with my money so that gives me peace of mind.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they won't run off with your money. They are a legimate seller.
The thing I have *huge* doubts about is the status of the 'unlock' due to the prices. Time will tell and if I am incorrect I will apologise for my comments :)

p.s. It would be highly interesting for the next person who contacts their customer services to ask which national market these phones are coming from
 
u49aa2 said:
Same, as what happened to me (I changed the colors to black):
Click to expand...

They seem legit but I wouldn't mind them specifically answering whether these phones are capable of their software being updated without becoming locked. There 'live support' seems to be away at the moment.
 
AVFC said:
They seem legit but I wouldn't mind them specifically answering whether these phones are capable of their software being updated without becoming locked. There 'live support' seems to be away at the moment.
Click to expand...

If they are from Italy then you will be able to put on any firmware without them ever becoming locked.
 
guys I mailed them today asking them to change my order to be the black one instead of the white one.

still they did not ship anything and for sure as u all know, the price of the white and black one is the same.

do u think they might refuse my change/replacement request?
 
dream said:
guys I mailed them today asking them to change my order to be the black one instead of the white one.

still they did not ship anything and for sure as u all know, the price of the white and black one is the same.

do u think they might refuse my change/replacement request?
Click to expand...

I think because they have not shipped anything you should be ok, I just emailed them now asking them how my order is progressing as I cannot see the status.
 
AVFC said:
They seem legit but I wouldn't mind them specifically answering whether these phones are capable of their software being updated without becoming locked. There 'live support' seems to be away at the moment.
Click to expand...

This is an email i sent about 1 day before i ordered, asking specifically about reverting back:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your enquiry,

This device will be sim free having never been locked, this means that it cannot revert back to a locked state.

In regards to warranty this will be 12 months with Apple and the item will need to be returned to us for repair or replacement,

Kind regards,

Please feel free to contact us should you require more info -

T - 0845 644 7727
W - www.handtec.co.uk
O - Live Support Online

Customer Service 803

GPSK Ltd
Unit 64 - 66,
Werrington Business Centre
Papyrus road
Peterborough
PE4 5BH
 
lol :D, i can't believe, i have been accused of conspiring with Phonedevil, to fool members to buy from them and then scam members. This is the story:

I wanted unlocked phone, so i did my search and found Phonedevil to be an interesting seller to buy from. So I contacted Callum the owner and he said that they will be selling the iphone 3GS unlocked 32 GB, for £799. However, as the website took forever to relaunch, i started looking around. I was following this thread, however, i was not happy to give a lot of money for someone i don't know to go to Italy and buy the phone. But then when handtec was mentioned here, i did my checks on it, found it to be legitimate (or looks like it), and offers cheaper price (still not too good to be true, as more expensive that Italy, Belgium and Australia) so i made a decision to purchase from them. The thread below was before i purchased anything:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=8019370&posted=1#post8019370
 
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