Do o2 shops do free firmware flashes

a friend of mine with a nokia got the firmware on his o2 branded phone upgrade for free at an o2 shop. what i want to know is was this the shop person being nice or is this an o2 policy. my samsung e720 as some of you may already know is currently backward :S i want to get a firmware flash for my mobile. its o2 branded but i use orange. i have a few questions
1 will flashing the firmware lock the phone to o2 again
2 do o2 update the firmware on an o2 branded phone for free at their shops
3 do you ahve to have an o2 sim card in your phone for the firmware upgrade if its o2 branded
4 if o2 shop wont flash my firmware for free where is the cheapest place to do it and can i have it made unbranded as i hate the o2 graphics
5 will i get any new features from the firmware upgrade

they probably will flash it, no harm in trying - just take the Orange SIM out, they don't need to see that, plus, you need to take it out anyway for the flashing

if that fails, try taking it to Carphone Warehouse, they usually have service centres in them

O2 phones are usually unlocked - but flashing it again will reset it back to its original state

your local independent mobile shop should also flash, and you may get new features, but mostly bug fixes and improvements

thnx

all Nokia authorized dealers have the capability to flash nokias for free. i read this on the internet somwhere.