• Direct Unlocks

Direct Unlocks

Overview

Direct Unlocks has a rating of 2.99 stars from 1,224 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Direct Unlocks most frequently mention premium service, second payment, and credit card problems. Direct Unlocks ranks 6th among Unlocked Phones sites.

  • Service
    460
  • Value
    381
  • Shipping
    295
  • Returns
    277
  • Quality
    740

Proactively asks for customer feedback

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 50.5%
Positive
294
Neutral
22
Negative
266

Instant Feedback

344
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What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

No positive highlights yet

Critical highlights

  • You will receive email that you have to pay more for premium service (that they don't have.).
  • It even took more than 14 days to do it, but it failed and is just giving a fxxking useless credit note.
How would you rate Direct Unlocks?
Top Positive Review

“This is a BANGER”

Ryan R.
3/6/24

Thought at first "oh gee look another rip off site". Had to pay 2 different fees THEN wanted 200 for the premium unlock! But faster and BETTER than expected my iPhone 14 was unlocked without any hassle at all! (To be fair the phone was under contract & still a win)! Worth every penny! 🚀🔥

Top Critical Review

“Awful Experience/Scam”

Victor D.
3/5/24

This is a scam. Please don't waste your time or money by visiting this site. Nowhere on their advertising page does it mention that you will be charged an additional $50.00 to complete the service. When I asked for a refund, they hit me with some nonsense about agreeing to the terms on the checkout page. I am extremely disappointed at this slick way of tricking people into spending some initial money upfront while charging you an additional fee to complete the full service.

Reviews (1,224)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

premium service (42) credit note (46) eligibility check (34)
Thumbnail of user ryanr1294
1 review
0 helpful votes
March 6th, 2024
Verified purchase

Thought at first "oh gee look another rip off site". Had to pay 2 different fees THEN wanted 200 for the premium unlock! But faster and BETTER than expected my iPhone 14 was unlocked without any hassle at all! (To be fair the phone was under contract & still a win)! Worth every penny! 🚀🔥

Thumbnail of user dgelpin
1 review
2 helpful votes
January 1st, 2024

The website is vague abd full of hidden fees. They won't allow you to pay with credit and make you pay with debit so that it's harder to get your money back from your bank. 100% scam, fraud and extortion. The average unlock, from them, is over $200. They made me pay $28.99, $50, then tried to make me pay $193. It's not worth it.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user williamg3338
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 13th, 2024
Verified purchase
• Updated review

Phone locked out after a factory reset. Pay about 100 to unlock with their service and what do you know only after getting my 100 do they 'uncover' it will need another 300. I gave it up and the phone was unlocked but it felt quite bad how they could not 'know' this upfront and just be honest then. In the end it worked out but leaving a bad taste in my mouth and let my experience serve as a warning to you. The money and big words they throw around up front to hook you may be followed by having to follow with significant more money to get there.

Reason I chose this business:

Recommended by a friend.

Reason I chose this product:

What a stupid question. What do you think.

Quality
Not sure if it was unlocked
February 7th, 2024
Verified site experience
• Previous review

Not sure if it was unlocked. So give 3 stars for lack of clarity

Thumbnail of user raymondl700
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 20th, 2024
Verified purchase

Direct Unlocks got my A13 phone SIM unlocked by Samsung's remote service. I was surprised that it got done rather quickly and without a hitch. Definitely will recommend and use again in the near future. Very pleased with the end result.

Thumbnail of user briana509
1 review
50 helpful votes
June 12th, 2020

Don't trust these cowboys especially Luke, they will charge you £23 after you have paid that they will then ask you for more money. After a week they will tell you unlock overdue and refuse to refund your money. Its s complete scam. I have today reported them.to trading standards and waychdog
They checks they claim to do its all a sham. I am filing multiple complaints against them. You took £53 from so simply unlock.or refund. SCAMMERS

Thumbnail of user mg762
1 review
5 helpful votes
April 27th, 2020
Verified purchase

Good service but it costed me almost 80£+ to get my iPhone7 unlocked... that's almost the price of a brand new phone. Also, you don't know how much you need to pay up-front which is very annoying... so overall I have mixed feelings

Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user coltonp45
1 review
0 helpful votes
January 15th, 2024

This company is the biggest scam ignore all them fake reviews you'll wait 7 days to get a letter saying they can't unlock it and you'll only get $80 in credit they won't even give you a refund after lying about their services not to mention they charge you $30 then $50 after you pay the $30 so if you decide to cancel you just got scammed out of $30 this company should be shut down and every single employee should be sued down to their last penny.

Products used:
Absolutely nothing

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user brianr2368
1 review
0 helpful votes
January 11th, 2024
Verified purchase

Uh paid the the £13 which was said to unlock my iPhone 13, then 10 minutes later received an email saying I need to pay an additional £26 for it to be unlocked, which I had to pay otherwise I'd lose the initial £13 u had already paid
The full amount for unlocking should be told before any money is paid
The unlocking was successful and only took 20 minutes, just felt like I had been duped by the extra payment

Reason I chose this business:

Found via Google

Reason I chose this product:

Because I needed to unlock my phone for a new SIM card I had bought

Quality
Thumbnail of user ryr2
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 20th, 2022

They were unable to help me with the phone unlock, even up to today, February 8,2022, but they were able to refund me the second payment at my request. I would say avoid using them if your phone is locked to Xfinity, as it appears to be an issue with that service provider.

Former Review Title: Highly Dissatisfied So Far

Placed an order for an unlock on December 15,2021 - I paid the initial payment and the follow up one, figuring it was worth it if the process was taken care of as fast as all these other reviews said. As of today, January 21,2022, my phone is still not unlocked. They're very responsive to emails (so far) and I've been emailing them every couple of weeks, so even if the response is just 'we're chasing them' at least it's -a- response?

I don't know what the problem is and can't seem to get a good answer. It might be an xfinity problem? Is it because I ordered the week before Christmas?

My hackles are raising a bit, for lack of a better way to put it, as the website seems to just display a static 'progress at 99%' message instead of updating dynamically with time passed or progress based on something external, and the support email says that 'once it reaches 100% they'll give it priority'. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but I'm getting frustrated.

Thumbnail of user trentp65
1 review
0 helpful votes
January 21st, 2024
Verified purchase

Best unlocking service ever! And only took a few days! Very pleased with my purchase now I can use my new iPhone 15 on any carrier!😎

Reason I chose this business:

Friend told me about them

Reason I chose this product:

Make my phone more valuable

Quality
Thumbnail of user yassira4
1 review
15 helpful votes
October 22nd, 2021
Verified purchase

I purchased an unlock from this company which estimated delivery in 6 days, it is now 68 days with no delivery. I have been trying to reach them many times, i only get same automated response every time. I requested refund As per their refund policy, i only get automated response. After several attempts to get a status of my purchase, they dont even reply with automated response anymore. Once they receive payment, don't expect much from them. Not fair at all!

Tip for consumers:
They do not provide refund, not even per their refund policy!

Thumbnail of user fernandom428
1 review
0 helpful votes
March 9th, 2024
Verified purchase

The process was very easy, they keep you updated it almost daily until your device is unlocked. Great overall experience.

Thumbnail of user michaelc9747
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 26th, 2024
Verified purchase

Hi, I followed their suggestions and my brand new, unopened I-phone 13 from T-Mobile was unlocked using their premium service. The previous user received the phone as a gift and never opened it. T-mobile claimed there was a balance owed. Direct unlocks did get it unlocked and now I use it on my Verizon network with no problems. The process took over a week so be patient.

Thumbnail of user scottb3571
1 review
0 helpful votes
March 3rd, 2024
Verified purchase

The process was easy and they had my phone unlock code to me in a shorter time than advertised. It was a little pricey but well worth it. It was cheaper than buying the same phone unlocked. The cool thing is I still owed on the phone and they still came through. I would recommend them to my friends and family without hesitation.

Thumbnail of user stones20
1 review
0 helpful votes
September 2nd, 2023
Verified purchase

I thought it would take less time, but they did have it finished in less than 24 hours even when the retailer kept giving me issues. I appreciate their existence. Thank you

Reason I chose this business:

Needed a phone unlocked

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user seanp665
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 5th, 2024
Verified purchase
• Updated review

Very easy to use but could tell people that there's another payment a bit further on before you actually unlock the phone & this made it a bit expensive at £50 but as described was unlocked in under half an hour.

Quality
Very easy to use so far
January 16th, 2024
Verified site experience
• Previous review
Thumbnail of user vincents845
1 review
0 helpful votes
January 3rd, 2024
Verified purchase

The reps are awesome. Speed and I had complete confidence in them bcuz of their ratings and reviews.

Ana was awesome

Reason I chose this business:

The 5 star ratings

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user victordemmons
1 review
0 helpful votes
March 5th, 2024

This is a scam. Please don't waste your time or money by visiting this site. Nowhere on their advertising page does it mention that you will be charged an additional $50.00 to complete the service. When I asked for a refund, they hit me with some nonsense about agreeing to the terms on the checkout page.

I am extremely disappointed at this slick way of tricking people into spending some initial money upfront while charging you an additional fee to complete the full service.

Thumbnail of user jaiaf
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 25th, 2024
Verified purchase

This is the second time in 2 months I have used Direct Unlocks to unlock my cellphones, one a Galaxy 23 Ultra+ and the other a IPhone 11. It was affordable, quick, easy,and required little involvement. The instructions were perfect and helpful. I sincerely recommend this service.

Thumbnail of user lauraa803
3 reviews
7 helpful votes
October 20th, 2021
Verified purchase

Don't purchase! They are a bunch of liars.
They offer the service for £19.99 (but that's without VAT) and AFTER making the payment, they ask you for another payment of £32.90 (+VAT), saying that the first one was to run 'some checks' (=lie).
Why would anyone pay more than £63 for a service that you can get for £15? They know that, and that's the reason why they don't tell you the total cost until you've made the 1st payment.
They are just trying to take advantage of people. Shame on you!

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user arshaks2
1 review
8 helpful votes
August 23rd, 2022

I have been waiting for about 3 months to get my phone unlocked from this website and every time I try to contact them, they send me an automated email ignoring my request for a refund. The website promises to unlock your phone within 10 business days, it's been about 3 months. They take your money and longer with their automated emails clearly showing that they are never gonna take a responsibility for the failure to u lock and refund for the unsuccessful service. This is a shady SCAM website and need to be reported to the authorities!

Tip for consumers:
Stay Away

Products used:
Phone Unlock Servise

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user hollyb293
1 review
10 helpful votes
September 30th, 2020

Well, it's been 28 days since I paid the initial fee and all I've gotten was an excuse as to why they 'can't unlock my phone'. I understand that sometimes there may be an issue with a carrier but taking the initial fee under the pretence that that was all I'd have to pay, is shady business. I've seen them flag other peoples reviews on many sites, so I won't be shocked if mine is, as well. I'll be requesting a refund in 2 days.

Thumbnail of user derekj215
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 3rd, 2024

Their terms and service agreement is not clear. They have a small fee that they pull you in with where they say they are unlocking the phone, but afterward, once you are on the hook, there is an additional MUCH larger fee they charge to actually do the unlock. The first one was a "unlock checkup" to see if your phone was eligible to use their service. Then, they make you wait a few weeks for the unlock only to tell you that your phone is actually unlock-able. In addition, their refund is actually only a credit to use on their site. Absolutely dishonest "service".

Tip for consumers:
All the positive reviews that constantly pop up on the bottom as you are on the site seem a little suspect.

Products used:
Attempted a phone unlock, which they made me wait on, then basically said "oops, I guess it doesn't work".

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user trevinh2
1 review
13 helpful votes
June 21st, 2020

Terrible service and scam. I've been waiting for an iPhone 8 unlock for 6 months and nothing. Even when you email support, you get an automated message that doesn't change no matter what you write to them. They tell you the same thing the directions say with no further explanation. Don't believe any reviews.

Thumbnail of user colbyh59
1 review
0 helpful votes
February 14th, 2024
Verified purchase

Not only did it work, I was in a situation where someone owed money and they were able to negotiate the contract buyout down by 70%.

Reason I chose this business:

Great reviews

Service
Quality

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From the business

Unlock your phone with us using our status as a Technology Recycler to get the unlock done quickly and efficiently. Unlocks straight from the carrier, fully legal and compliant.

Company Representative

Thumbnail of user jodys349
Jody S.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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