Unlock a phone

[Royal65]

I recently upgraded my phone on EE no problem. I now want to donate my old A53 for use by a local charity that I work for. I have done a factory reset and put in a giffgaff SIM for them to use and activated it. The message is ' Enter network unlock code. Your phone isn't allowed to use this SIM card '. I understand that and I have been into EE with the IMEI number which says that the phone is unlocked. But obviously not! I have tried a different (O2) SIM with same result. How do I get around this now please? How can I get an unlock code?

[Royal65]

Thanks for your reply. I have persisted with the unlock today and finally it came back, said the phone was still locked and gave me a code. Then wanted to take me through the steps but frustratingly came back with an error message again just as we were starting! So having the code, how do I use it to get the result please? Derek

[XRaySpeX]

Once you've got the unlock code from the EE site, it has completed its work. You then need a non-EE SIM in your phone & it will ask for the unlock code you've got from EE.

[Ali_A]

@Royal65 
The steps to unlock your device is as follows: 
Insert a SIM card from a different carrier/network into your Samsung Galaxy A53

1. Power on your device
2. When prompted, enter the unlock code provided by the unlocking service
3. Your device should now be unlocked and ready to use with the new carrier

If there is an error when entering the code, you'd need to contact our Customer Care team again so they can contact the manufacturer to check the code is valid. 

However If there is an error before entering the code, it would suggest an issue with the device itself. This could be if the network unlock code has been entered incorrectly a number of times, or if the device has a handset security code set up which has been entered incorrectly too many times. 
In that instance only the manufacturer is able to help with that. 

Ali