"Phone Not Allowed" on a brand new iPhone 14. Is my phone locked?

[AlexAta]

I have upgraded to a new  iPhone 14 Pro Max through EE. In doing so, I upgraded my Pay as You go contract, to a regular  2 yr contract with EE. I also have an old iPhone 12. I want to use the 14 Pro with another network, because I need to have two phones. So on my old iPhone 12, I want to use my exiting EE SIM card with my contract, and on my new iPhone 14 Pro Max, I need to put in a different SIM card (GiffGaff). 

The 14 Pro, however, does not recognize my GiffGaff SIM card. Under General - About - Network it says "Phone Not Allowed." At the same time, under SIM, it says "No SIM restrictions". So the phone should be unlocked, as advertised by EE. Why doesn't the 14 Pro recognize my GiffGaff SIM? 

Yes, I have ordered a new GiffGaff SIM - it doesn't work. 

Yes, I have reset the network settings, upgraded the phone, rebooted it to factory settings, spoken with Apple and done full analytics - everything is ok with the phone itself, yet the still it doesn't recognize the GiffGaff SIM.

The 14 Pro doesn't also recognize my EE card. It only recognizes a foreign SIM card I have from Finland, which roams here through Vodafone. 

Please, please help. This is beyond frustrating. 

[Chris_B]

@AlexAta    What network Sim card did you put in the device first ?  it shouldn’t matter as the device is unlocked, but I’m just curious.   
 
 you’re going to need to call customer services and report this to them and that the device doesn’t work with the EE Sim card which should be put in the device first.   😉.    But it shouldn’t mater if it is,  but you don’t need to say to customer services anything else 😉.  

[AlexAta]

Update: just spoke to EE customer service. The phone they had sent me was blacklisted!! Why in the world would EE send me and sell me a brand new blacklisted phone????? I've wasted days of my life trying to fix this. I am paying for the phone for all these days and weeks now that it hasn't been working!! I will be raising a formal complaint. This is beyond despicable. 

[Leanne_T]

Hi @AlexAta 

I am very sorry to hear this has happened. 

Has the blacklist been removed? 

If you would like to discuss this and look into a refund for the days you were unable to use the phone, please give us another call on 150 and the team will be happy to help.

Leanne.

[AlexAta]

I did call 150, spoke with an utterly unhelpful agent (Scott I believe) who went round in circles for 30 min, and after I demanded compensation (which he didn't offer), the line "conveniently" cut off and no one called back. 

I am absolutely shocked and utterly disappointed by this service. I cannot fathom why would you send a blacklisted new device without saying a thing, leaving me in the dark to deal with this. To top it off, after I figured out the device has been blacklisted, you have been giving me some ridiculous explanations as to why you've sent me a blacklisted device - that it has been for my protection since I've ordered the phone online and had it delivered to my house. If you need to ensure that the device reaches the intended recipient, there are other ways to do this than blacklist the device and not tell your customer that this is what you've done for my "own protection". To add, the box of the phone was pretty banged up upon arrival. I didn't pay attention to it at the time as I thought that it was perhaps just squished during transport and as long as the phone inside is new and unopened, it would be fine. In hindsight, I'm thinking that perhaps I wasn't the first silly customer you've sent this particular phone to and you've just wiped it and put another "new" sticker on it. 

You wasted 2 WEEKS of my life, endless HOURS on the phone with Apple and EE as I tried to get to the bottom of the issue, and the phone still doesn't recognize the SIM even though you've now supposedly lifted the ban. I have no more time or energy to deal with this and will be returning the phone and ending my contract. I am so disappointed. I used to love EE, but this has really changed my opinion of this company, and I do not wish to be locked into a 2-3 years contract with a company that treats its customers this way. 

[Leanne_T]

I am very sorry this was not resolved for you when you called to get this looked into the first time @AlexAta 

I really do apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you since receiving the phone. 

Leanne.

[Berti45]

This situation only EVER happens to a new phone if the bill wasn't paid on a 12/24 month contract.

Since mobile companies are not allowed by law to sell locked phones by law they now blacklist the phones EMEI when bills aren't paid. Effectively bricking the phone.

With all the fraud, ID theft and endemic dishonesty I don't mind it if it keeps the bills down.