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iPhone 3Gs - Italy and Belgium - unlocked?

cojomo2 said:
Hi Every1,

can some in Belgium let me know if I got this rite:

I want to get to the CAMI store on Chaussée de Charleroi, I will be coming from Charleroi Airport:

1. get coach/bus from airport to Gare du Midi

2. Then get the Metro to 'HORTA'

3. walk straight down Rue d'Irelande till I hit a T junction, then swing left up towards Chaussee de Charleroi

That it?

1 more thing: Is the Metro station in sight from Gare du Midi, or is it a bit of a walk? And is it obvious which metro to get on to go to Horta station?

Thanks so much for any1 that can help.
Click to expand...

The Metro station is in gare du Midi itself, just follow the signs

However Horta isn't on the metro, it's tram stop on the number 94 line - which they kind of sell these days as being a metro, but it's not, it's on a tram that happens to go underground for a bit.

Personally I would get the number 2 line Metro from Midii, direction Simonis and get off at Louise. Then head down Avenue Louise to Place Stéphanie (200 metres). Then you're at the top of Chausée de Charleroi and you can just walk down, Cami's on the right on a corner facing you.

Plenty of nice bistros on that street too for grabbing some lunch!
 
newbuyer said:
anybody with experience in factory unlocked ( sim-free ) iphone in the uk .. if you activate the phone using your O2 sim card. then travel abroad can you put the sim card of a different country without a problem ?? any precautions you need to take ??
Click to expand...

factory unlocked can take any sim no problem ..:)
 
Does anyone know how long the delivery is if you order online on the Italian Apple Store? Would they deliver to a hotel address?
 
EuphoricaL said:
If people are still struggling to get a factory unlocked 3GS, I just received my 32GB 3GS for £600 from Australia (to the UK). I picked a reputable seller on ebay (Ausluck). Took a week to arrive.
Click to expand...

was that the total cost including import duty & vat etc?

In addition to this, does anyone know of the availability of the 3Gs in Belgium or Italy? I am willing to take a trip but don't want to waste my time if there is no stock! :)
 
BGM said:
was that the total cost including import duty & vat etc?

In addition to this, does anyone know of the availability of the 3Gs in Belgium or Italy? I am willing to take a trip but don't want to waste my time if there is no stock! :)
Click to expand...

total cost was 723 euros for me inc shipping no taxes to pay

i am in belgium and its very difficult to get a hold of the new 3gs waiting lists no stock
so i went ahead and purchased from ebay via AUSluck took 5 days postage fedex

:)
 
celticfan1888 said:
total cost was 723 euros for me inc shipping no taxes to pay

i am in belgium and its very difficult to get a hold of the new 3gs waiting lists no stock
so i went ahead and purchased from ebay via AUSluck took 5 days postage fedex

:)
Click to expand...

hmm.. no taxes, sounds good. wonder if you just got lucky? :eek:
 
BGM said:
was that the total cost including import duty & vat etc?

In addition to this, does anyone know of the availability of the 3Gs in Belgium or Italy? I am willing to take a trip but don't want to waste my time if there is no stock! :)
Click to expand...

I was in Italy last week. It's realy hard to find stocks in stores. I was lucky to get one white 16 gb in florence. If you're gonna go to just for the iphone I'd make sure the availability beforehand. By the way big cities seem to sold out all the way whereas small cities might still have some stock. For instance I couldn't locate any phone in rome and milano but there are few shops still has stocks in florence and venice.

Does anyone know how to get VAT refund from TIM? I have the invoice stamped by the Italian customs showing the 103 euros VAT. I'm a non-eu citizen by the way.
 
BGM said:
In addition to this, does anyone know of the availability of the 3Gs in Belgium or Italy?
I am willing to take a trip but don't want to waste my time if there is no stock! :)
Click to expand...

I was going around france, and we did a divert to Belgium (it was quite nice actually) have a read of my Earlier Post here. There wasn't any stock about but some were willing to put you on their list.

You can get an Orange one and pay 100e extra to unlock it - if desperate.
 
Hi guys, I finally received my unlocked iphones from Handtec. I still have not opened the package (it looks like it will be long day at work!). I was suppose to get them on Wednesday but as always City link were playing mouse and cat game (as usual!)

I will post latter about the phones conditions and a small review about the Handtec experience!

Sigh..Finally
 
The Handtec Experience

So as i promised...

I finally got my iphone from Handtec. It came in perfect condition. Unlocked instantly when i connected it to itune.

It looks like Handtec changed their supplier as the power adapter is 2 pin strange looking adapter and everything is in English. I am suspecting the phone came from Australia rather than Italy.

As for the Handtec experience; I have to say i didn't enjoy the waiting game. I concluded that they have an unreliable supplier i.e the supplier doesn't know when they will get the phones which made Handtec clueless as to when they are going to get the next shipment. It looks like they are receiving 1-2 shipment a week with very small quantity and then delivering them on the basis of first come first serve. However, considering the shortage of iPhone in the market i think this is understandable to certain extent (putting into consideration that at the time they offered the lowest price in the UK; £640 and even though they increased the price to £714 it is still the cheapest).

What eased the situation for me is that i wasn't in a hurry (my aim was to get the phone before the end of August) also the staff were very friendly and sympathetic when i was complaining which is a change from previous experiences i had.

So the main questions you may like to know about Handtec:

1) Are they legitimate? YES

2) Do they respond to query instantly? YES; BY ONLINE SUPPORT, EMAIL AND UK PHONE NUMBER.

3) Are they the cheapest legitimate UK supplier? TO MY KNOWLEDGE YES

4) Are they reliable, if i want the phone ASAP? NO, YOU HAVE TO WAIT for unknown period. SO IF TIME IS AN ISSUE THEN DON'T ORDER FROM THEM.

5) Why would i buy from them? I GUESS IF YOU TRAVEL A LOT (PART OF YOUR WORK) TO COUNTRIES WHICH SELLS THE IPHONE THEN IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE CHEAPER TO PURCHASE OVERSEAS. HOWEVER, BUYING IT FROM A LEGITIMATE UK COMPANY WILL GIVE YOU THE PEACE OF MIND OF KNOWING THAT IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG WITH THE PHONE YOU WOULD HAVE THE CONVENIENT OF SENDING IT TO A UK COMPANY RATHER THAN THE HASSLE OF SENDING IT TO OTHER COUNTRIES.

I wish you all the best of luck in getting it, this machine is awesome and i can assure you it is worth the wait :D
 
Phycoduck said:
Hi all, here is a pic of my iphone from Handtec.

the iphone was from Italy, and is now working on t-moilbe. BTW i have all the T-mobile settings if anybody needs them.
Click to expand...

Nice addition of the duck

u49aa2 said:
So as i promised...

I finally got my iphone from Handtec. It came in perfect condition. Unlocked instantly when i connected it to itune.

It looks like Handtec changed their supplier as the power adapter is 2 pin strange looking adapter and everything is in English. I am suspecting the phone came from Australia rather than Italy.

As for the Handtec experience; I have to say i didn't enjoy the waiting game. I concluded that they have an unreliable supplier i.e the supplier doesn't know when they will get the phones which made Handtec clueless as to when they are going to get the next shipment. It looks like they are receiving 1-2 shipment a week with very small quantity and then delivering them on the basis of first come first serve. However, considering the shortage of iPhone in the market i think this is understandable to certain extent (putting into consideration that at the time they offered the lowest price in the UK; £640 and even though they increased the price to £714 it is still the cheapest).

What eased the situation for me is that i wasn't in a hurry (my aim was to get the phone before the end of August) also the staff were very friendly and sympathetic when i was complaining which is a change from previous experiences i had.

So the main questions you may like to know about Handtec:

1) Are they legitimate? YES

2) Do they respond to query instantly? YES; BY ONLINE SUPPORT, EMAIL AND UK PHONE NUMBER.

3) Are they the cheapest legitimate UK supplier? TO MY KNOWLEDGE YES

4) Are they reliable, if i want the phone ASAP? NO, YOU HAVE TO WAIT for unknown period. SO IF TIME IS AN ISSUE THEN DON'T ORDER FROM THEM.

5) Why would i buy from them? I GUESS IF YOU TRAVEL A LOT (PART OF YOUR WORK) TO COUNTRIES WHICH SELLS THE IPHONE THEN IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE CHEAPER TO PURCHASE OVERSEAS. HOWEVER, BUYING IT FROM A LEGITIMATE UK COMPANY WILL GIVE YOU THE PEACE OF MIND OF KNOWING THAT IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG WITH THE PHONE YOU WOULD HAVE THE CONVENIENT OF SENDING IT TO A UK COMPANY RATHER THAN THE HASSLE OF SENDING IT TO OTHER COUNTRIES.

I wish you all the best of luck in getting it, this machine is awesome and i can assure you it is worth the wait :D
Click to expand...

Glad to see you got your iPhone in the end.

I've just spent around 4 hours reading all 52 pages. Yes, I'm mad. Recently I've noticed O2's coverage and data to be really poor, not sure whats going on.

Anyway, I'd love to see the iPhones on other networks in the UK especially if they're cheaper. Not to mention see them unlocked. I'm half tempted to try and get a 3GS when I go to Belgium in 2 weeks, just to try my luck!
 
Willis said:
Nice addition of the duck



Glad to see you got your iPhone in the end.

I've just spent around 4 hours reading all 52 pages. Yes, I'm mad. Recently I've noticed O2's coverage and data to be really poor, not sure whats going on.

Anyway, I'd love to see the iPhones on other networks in the UK especially if they're cheaper. Not to mention see them unlocked. I'm half tempted to try and get a 3GS when I go to Belgium in 2 weeks, just to try my luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have to agree the O2 coverage is not the best and yes i noticed this drop. I will be terminating my O2 contract as soon as i can. Good luck :)
 
u49aa2 said:
Thanks. I have to agree the O2 coverage is not the best and yes i noticed this drop. I will be terminating my O2 contract as soon as i can. Good luck :)
Click to expand...

It used to be fine, but as of late, it's really crap.

I have till January on my current 3G contract, so... see what happens later in the year regarding other networks
 
duty tax

has anyone had to pay tax importing a phone from hong kong or Australia. If I take the insurance, the article price should be declared and therefore this may lead to taxing the phone?

thanks a lot
 
InterestedToo said:
has anyone had to pay tax importing a phone from hong kong or Australia. If I take the insurance, the article price should be declared and therefore this may lead to taxing the phone?

thanks a lot
Click to expand...

I'm no expert on this subject (but I know a lot of people who are, if needed) but it seems that there is no Import Duty charged by HMRC on a cellular telephone if it is coming from Australia if it is declared under the harmonised commodity code 8517120090. You should, however, be liable to pay 15% VAT on the total cost of the product, any insurance, and the postage/packaging. However, all this is dependent on the value of the product that is declared on the Commercial Invoice that the shipper is required to provide in order for the clearance at the border to be performed. As a general rule, if the goods are valued at under £120 then no duty is payable. However, since duty rates are relatively low the main kicker is VAT and this is payable on anything valued above £18. Given this, if the supplier declares the value of the shipment to be less than £18 then you will have nothing to pay. Obviously this is highly illegal and HMRC do check so if you or the supplier get caught trying to "pull a fiddle" then you'll be liable for the charges incurred trying to sort out the issue.

I got the above information from the following sources:

HMRC - Buying from abroad on the Internet - what to look out for

Duty Rates for Cellular Telephone

If you need more information the feel free to drop me a Private Message and I can have a word with people in our imports department (I work for a major courier company).
 
Willis said:
I'm half tempted to try and get a 3GS when I go to Belgium in 2 weeks, just to try my luck!
Click to expand...

You might get lucky then, particularly if you are willing to accept a 16GB version (the 32GB versions are, apparently, as common as an honest politician). If I don't see mine, which I am on a waiting list for and have been for the last month, before September then I'm not going to be pleased.
 
Kelmon said:
You might get lucky then, particularly if you are willing to accept a 16GB version (the 32GB versions are, apparently, as common as an honest politician). If I don't see mine, which I am on a waiting list for and have been for the last month, before September then I'm not going to be pleased.
Click to expand...

Aww man... It'd be the 32 I'm after. My 16GB 3G is full... grrrr
 
The situation here in Finland is somewhat same as in Belgium. our carrier which started to sell the phone here in end of last mont, and I'm still waiting my 32GB white unit :(. We did have a preorder list but most of the people from the list haven't got their phones.

Also no way you can get it straight from the store either. Apple hasn't delivered enough phones so even the ones who have preordered haven't got their phones. And the preorder list is looooong.

Hope I'll get my phone soon...it's getting irritated :D
 
psmac said:
If I can get enough people to buy an iphone 3gs I can get as many as possible from here. I am american and am coming back in August, playing ball here. I just want to know if there is interest
Click to expand...

Hi PSMAC - are you still in Italy? If so I'd be interested in the 3gs.
 
And finally yesterday I got a call from my carrier that my iPhone can be picked up from a local store.

Been using it for the past day and this thing is brilliant...it's fast and responsive. Although I hope that Apple can do something to make the battery last longer :)
 
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