Saga unlocking service?

[RueDesPin]

I have a Samsung Saga on PagePlus Cellular and I payed for an unlock code but the seller said that they couldn't unlock it with the IMEI number I gave them...Verizon refuses to give me it....Any suggestions? Thanks

[mike250rs]

keep trying with verizon. Sometimes they will if you are just "going on vacation" overseas or something.

[RueDesPin]

I called three times and they keep saying that they need to put in a phone number that is valid in Verizon's system so they can start the process. The IMEI number I gave to the paid service I got that by pressing #43574357* because *#06# just dials the phone and connects to Verizon, is that right?

[mike250rs]

not sure with it being a pre paid service.. unless it has been activated by verizon then they (verizon) won't have a code to give. What was the unlocking company's excuse?

[RueDesPin]

They said unlock code could not be found.

[larsdennert]

VZW needs to use the ESN and IMEI to generate the six digit unlock code. If they aren't asking for the ESN, I'm not sure they are giving it a real effort. Make sure you are talking to the international roaming dept.

I had mine unlocked the other day. I had bought a turbo sim but it didn't appear to do anything for me. Others have had luck though. Could have been my turbo sim.

After unlocking the sim, I also provided them the sim id for the Vodaphone card so they could register it. Besides enabling international roaming I think the sim id needs to be registered to work in Vodaphone countries.

I'll be in Europe for 7-10 days coming up and I didn't want a repeat of my last time where the phone was basically a pda.

Verizon's plans are actually pretty good on GSM. You keep your regular number and can receive phone calls. The rates are a bit pricey but for a few calls it's fine. Since your number is still a US number you have to dial + <country> <number> to make calls even to numbers of the country you are in. + is the country exit code usually dialed by holding down the 0. You can also often dial 00 in most countries if plus doesn't work and 011 is the US exit code. <country> is the country code like 44 for Great Britian or 1 for the US. If you are only going somewhere for certain dates, they can give you a prorated international calling plan for that period at $.17/day or $4.99/mo if you dial internationally on a regular basis.

VZW international text messages are .50 to send and .05 to recieve depending on where you go.

You can pay international data at .02/kb ($20/mb) or, again, get an unlimited plan prorated for the dates you will be there. In my case $16 (or $64/mo). Well worth it to have access to email and googlemaps for when I get lost. With unlimited data, skype is also an option for longer calls to the US at just .02/min. I'm not sure how it will work over Edge.

Speaking of googlemaps, the gps chip doesn't seem to be powered in GSM mode. It will work in CDMA mode even without phone service, but then data won't work. Hopefully the phone exposes cell ids in GSM mode so at least a rough position can be obtained. Otherwise, turn on wifi and google maps can use that pinpoint you in the city.

Since Vodaphone owns Verizon and has service all over Europe, VZW may actually placed better than ATT and T-mobile for world service. If you go to a non Vodaphone country you'll need to get a local sim though.

[RueDesPin]

I found a turbo sim that unlocks the phone. Its called a Mr Unlocking no cut turbo sim and its black with gold connectors. It works with calling, text messaging and web, although all that comes up are a big letter G and a smaller G so I guess that means that I'm only getting GPRS when using an AT&T sim.