suarezn said:
When I went to the DR last December I took my US phone with me and activated it there. When I went to activate it, though the people there asked me for a code, which apparently you can get here in the US. A guy charged me $RD 300.00 to get the code, which apparently he just gets by calling some number in the US. Does anyone know what that code is called?
Since RD$300 is now a whopping 12 bucks and since the code is actually the lock code put on by the phone company in the US you got an OK deal. You will note a $500 US cell phone is sold for $0 or $29 in the USA (and Canada where I am) - these phones are locked so you cannot buy it, opt out of a deal the next day and activate it elsewhere as the cell compnay is counting on a year or 2 of fee revenue to undewrite the cost of the phone which they are in essence selling for a loss.
If someone can take a locked phone and unlock it for 12 dollars that is prety fair since the cell phone companies are not wild about the idea for obvious reasons.
That said, if it is an expired contract (you have already paid for 2 years of service ,e.g.) the cell provider "should" be willing to tell you the unlock code, but since they have no further vested interest they may not overturn mountains to help you either.
Just like the threads on which cell phone and provider in the DR should I use which still amounts to a $100 or lower total spend and thus is pretty immaterial, the +/- $12 US arguament to pay or not isn't worth the sweat - one way or the other.
