Here?s one for you.

I live in the Basque Country and have a phone which is currently blocked by Movistar.
I?d like to unblock it.
The movistar shop told me they couldnt do it and told me to go to Euskatel. Went to Euskatel and they could do it but it would take at least a week as they needed to send it to Madrid (!) and it would cost me 25yuks. The woman in the orange shop said that I should speak to Movistar and they?d do it for free.

Ever feel your getting the run a round??

Anyone any experience of this carry-on with mobiles…and does anyone know anything about the free unlocking service with Movistar?

There is no free-service unlocking, the only thing by law after your contract period expired you can call movistar and ask them for the unlock code.  Perhaps the quickest solution is get a unlock SIM adapter (Search at ebay or similar).

Or wait until you ever have a trip to the UK there are loads of places to get it done for a tenner (compared to the 45 Eur to unlock my blackberry in Spain!)

There are many places where you can unlock for cheap prices (Normally at the “locutorios”), or get one of those sim cards that you place over the original to unlock (I haven’t used them, but looks great as you don’t touch the phone software/firmware).

Find a local ‘friendly teccie’ who will charge just a small fee (ours does it for Euros15).
Sorry we are in Malaga so not much use for you…

local locutorio did mine,  it took 10 days in the end coz they had to send for a cable, but they messed it up and the volume was impossible, i threw it away, they charged me 12 euros.  prev. when in benidorm had one done in the market hall and it was fine but they were brits and well experienced. 

get a new one from uk is my advice,  get someone to order it for you (online)  use quidco and save a fiver,  and then send it over.  carphone warehouse phones are almost all sold unlocked. 

m

Are you close to the French border?  In France there’s a law that phones are sold unlocked, so it might be worth a trip to Hendaye to get your next mobile.