Telstra Plus - bought a Nokia 2.3 phone, thought it was outright but it’s locked

[herstonian]

I couldn’t ever see us using our 22,031 rewards points but then decided to see if we could buy a phone for sister-in-law in NZ who is still using an old iPhone 5s. Ordered a Nokia 2.3 22k plus $90.

Phone arrived yesterday and it’s prepaid and locked. Nowhere during the redemption process does it mention either. It will cost $80 to unlock! We could have bought the phone outright for $199.

This redemption borders on being a scam. I either want what I paid for, an unlocked outright phone, or I want to return it and get my points back. How do I get this sorted?

[Jupiter]

You are correct. There is nothing that says that the phone is locked to the Telstra network, so you should be able to get it unlocked free of charge.

The downside is that you are going to have to try and get through either on 132200 or 1258880 to get it unlocked.

[herstonian · Accepted solution]

Thanks Jupiter. The good news is that the site will be updated to make it clear that you’re redeeming for a prepaid/locked phone. Our’s will also be unlocked at no charge (even better news!). Great that it has been acknowledged as needing to be improved.