Wanted: Locked Rogers Cell Phone Help
I’m headed to Croatia on Monday, I’ve got myself in a cell phone pickle, and I’m wondering if anyone in the readership can help with advice or pointers.
I’ve a borrowed Sony Ericsson T68i GSM cell phone. I originally thought it was unlocked — that is, not tied to a particular cell provider and thus capable of accepting SIM cards from any. I went ahead and purchased a SIM card from the Croatian VipMe provider (from the helpful folks at Telestial), a mobile charger, and a Bluetooth gizmo for my laptop.
It was only yesterday, when I was able to power on the phone for the first time and put all the pieces together, that I found that the phone was, indeed, locked to the Rogers network, and incapable of accepting SIM cards from other providers.
I spent a good part of the day on the phone to various parts of Rogers, and found only that (a) I could get the phone unlocked for a fee of $250, but only if (b) I have a Rogers account that’s been valid for a month or more. In other words, Rogers claims it’s impossible to help me by Monday, and even if it was would charge me $250 for the privilege.
I don’t have time to get an alternative phone, I don’t have access to a T68i “service cable” that would allow the phone to be unlocked via one of the various online services that advertise this.
It’s not vital that I have a phone while I’m away, and I do have the option of picking up a cheap phone in Europe or renting a phone once there.
But if any of the smart people in the readership have any suggestions, I’m open to them. Deadline is Monday at 2:00 p.m.