Purchased a brand new EVO 3D off a guy on craigslist who swore it was all good. Called Sprint only to find out it has been reported as Lost or Stolen.
Guy of course will not return my calls now. What I can't believe is I asked if I could return the phone to Sprint so they can handle it, if it was stolen to return to the original owner or if reported lost it can now be found. They simply have no policy in place that allows for this.
So I'm basically screwed and have to try my luck selling a bad ESN phone on ebay (of course I will clearly list it as BAD ESN).
ort84 said:
Purchased a brand new EVO 3D off a guy on craigslist who swore it was all good. Called Sprint only to find out it has been reported as Lost or Stolen.
Guy of course will not return my calls now. What I can't believe is I asked if I could return the phone to Sprint so they can handle it, if it was stolen to return to the original owner or if reported lost it can now be found. They simply have no policy in place that allows for this.
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Click to collapse
Maybe try calling back and talking to another associate. Or taking it to a local Sprint store. Or posting an ad somewhere, or with the local police department.
What an honorable thing to do though! I hope if I ever lose a phone, someone like you finds it.
That sucks bro, i know you can flag bad esn phones to metro pcs and cricket so you can market that in your eBay ad and still get top dollar for the phone. Best thing you can do in the future is have the seller meet you at Sprint saying you won't pay till its activated on your account or at least until the Sprint store confirms that it has a clean esn
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You should have called Sprint while in front of the guy and asked the rep if the phone was good. They will tell you if it has a good ESN or bad. When I bought my 4G, I called them right in front of the guy I bought it from. Just a FYI from now on.
Edit: I guess that only works if you meet them to pick it up. I would never buy something off Craigs List any other way. The few times I have purchased something from someone on Craigs, I met them in person.
sbrownla said:
Maybe try calling back and talking to another associate. Or taking it to a local Sprint store. Or posting an ad somewhere, or with the local police department.
What an honorable thing to do though! I hope if I ever lose a phone, someone like you finds it.
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I got a call back from Sprint to ask about my experience with the representative (who tried everything to help me, even told me about the buyback program that I could try) and I asked again and was told unfortunately they simply have no procedure/policy in place for such a thing.
They basically just take it as a loss and thank you I appreciate that. I would love if I lost my phone that someone would try to return it too so I tried doing right by whoever had the phone stolen or lost. I believe in Karma, the bastard who ripped me off will get his dues!
Sh0wNuF said:
That sucks bro, i know you can flag bad esn phones to metro pcs and cricket so you can market that in your eBay ad and still get top dollar for the phone. Best thing you can do in the future is have the seller meet you at Sprint saying you won't pay till its activated on your account or at least until the Sprint store confirms that it has a clean esn
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, will follow it without a doubt should I ever decide to buy another phone off craigslist lol
I have bought several phones on craigslist and sold them too, I usually call sprint and activated before I give then the money and I do the same for the other person, what a douch the dude that did that, but you can still sell it on ebay for a few bucks for cricket
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ort84 said:
Purchased a brand new EVO 3D off a guy on craigslist who swore it was all good. Called Sprint only to find out it has been reported as Lost or Stolen.
Guy of course will not return my calls now. What I can't believe is I asked if I could return the phone to Sprint so they can handle it, if it was stolen to return to the original owner or if reported lost it can now be found. They simply have no policy in place that allows for this.
So I'm basically screwed and have to try my luck selling a bad ESN phone on ebay (of course I will clearly list it as BAD ESN).
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Click to collapse
Dude, I live in Miami too.
We should find this guy and **** him up.
I live in Miami too. Add me to the list.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Dude. You do realize you can trace his number right?
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Yeah, I think I would talk to the police and give them a copy of the CL ad (if you have it) and the guys number. You might never get your money back, but maybe you can get him arrested.
Or you could try to trace the number, get his address and open up a can of whip-ass on him. It's not like he will report you to the police. "Yeah, I sold this guy some stolen stuff and he assaulted me." LOL
Google reverse phone lookup. You might be able to get their address from the number like others said. That sucks though..
Miami here...and add me to the Flash Mob!!... To the FBI if reading this: its a joke calm down lol
You guys are awesome. I'm in Louisiana and if I wasnt so far away you could have added me to the list also. Nothing more I hate than a thief and a liar.
Sent from my s-off rooted HTC Flyer using XDA Premium app
Thanks everyone for the support! I really appreciate it. Turns out he was using a textfree service number so no luck there; not that I was going to confront him. Rather lose some money then the possibility of the guy carrying a weapon and using it against me.
It is MIAMI, crazy fools out here!
Thanks again for all the kind support though guys, I feel a lot better and I already managed to sell the phone on ebay. Made sure buyer understood Sprint would not activate it and he is none the less happy with his purchase.
What a bummer man, I'm sorry that happened to you. I use Craigslist all the time to buy and sell phones. Never had s problem yet but I always get the esn before ill even meet the person. But for sure you can flash it to metro pcs and sell it that way. I'm in Detroit and people will post that their phone has a bad esn and people still buy them all day long..
Sent from my PG86100
Maybe you can go into the EPST and see what the previous owner's email/phone number was. Or maybe some files on the SD card will give you a clue.
Or post an ad in the found section of Craigs but say you'll only give it to the person who has the box with the IMEI number on it.
Sent from the third dementia...
Definitely, call the police and report this. Since it is a new phone, you may be able to get a felony charged to him. Isn't theft of items over $500 a felony? The phone new is is $550 bucks. That is a felony. Please do it. People like that do not deserve any ounce of niceness, pity, or the right to vote. Please, please report him. I know how you feel. I was scammed once like this. A guy my sister knew(not really a friend just someone she knew) said he needed money pay rent or he was going to be evicted and he could trade a Wal-Mart gift card for the cash. He had a $300 gift card and needed $100 bucks to pay rent. So I thought why not because I can check the balance of the card before I give him the cash. And that the gift card is only good to him if he buy something at Walmart and not to pay rent. Plus my sister said he was a cool guy. I meet him and he dials his phone on speaker to check the balance of the card. The balance on a card comes to just at $300. So, I'm like awesome I've helped someone out and got a nice deal. I get home and start shopping on Walmart.com for a TV I've been wanting. I go to check out and the card says there's insufficient funds available on it. Turns out that the guy switched the cards. I was pissed. My sister found out that he had a drug problem and he had done this to other "friends". I reported him and he was arrested. He had done it to at least 4 other people. I should have checked the balance myself, but since my sister said he was cool, I thought hearing it from his phone was enough to be legit. Being scammed does make one feel dumb, but they have practice at doing it. They make it their job. And we all tend to get good at our jobs. Please report him. I feel for you, bro. Good luck.
-Ken
I hate to hear stories like this. I have followed up on (3) incidents involving cell phone fraud/abuse/theft and can verify (1) arrest from it. Cell phone companies will take the loss in lost/stolen equipment but there is no limits to what you can do personally in exacting justice on these criminals.
Always remember: Evil prevails when good men do nothing...
I wish you the best in this situation, however I do agree that doing anything that would endanger personal safety is not worth it...
Um... call the police?
Just a thought though...
I could be WAY off on this one.
SpartanEvo said:
Always remember: Evil prevails when good men do nothing...
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I like that. Is that a quote from someone else?
Related
Ok.....heres the deal. About 3 weeks ago i saw a ad on craigslist about a epic touch for sale. I use Textplus App when I text someone on Craigslist...but anyways, i texted the person to inquire about the phone.. He said he was a manager at the Sprint Kiosk in the mall down the street from my job. He said that he was selling the phone for $500. I was like, thats full price. So I declined and took my business elsewhere.
About a week later i see an add in Craigslist from the same person, this time selling a iphone 4. I use my sister's phone to send the guy a text about the iphone 4. Again he says its brand new and still in its wrappings and he's selling it for $400. I passed again...
So last Friday, i see another ad on Craigslist for a Epic Touch, brand new and sealed. I make contact with the person, via regular text. Its the same person as before. He tells me that he's selling the Touch for $500 or willing to trade it for a good computer.
I offered him a laptop or two phones. He accepted the offer but after a couple hours, i contacted him to let him know i had to think about it.
Yesterday he texted me and now says he has a brand new Iphone 4s, wrapped and seal and that he can get me any color i want. He told me he'll sale it to me for $650 or my laptop, one of my phones plus $150...i said, hell no. Thats too much to give away. I then tried to call his bluff. I told him to text me a copy of the receipt showing he paid $650+ for the phone. He said that he didnt have a receipt and that it was a direct ship to his job (the sprint kiosk). He said that the order receipt doesnt have his name nor a price on it. I then told him that i noticed that he was selling a new phone almost every week and selling them for full retail. He claimed that he has a family plan and that since he's a sprint employee, he gets phones for the 2 year price.
My guess is that he's stealing the phones and then selling them. I find it strange that someone has a different high end phone every week and brand new at that.
What do you all guess?
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plmiller0905 said:
What do you all guess?
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Click to expand...
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I honestly think he stealing them, because I use to work for corporate Sprint and nowhere would I be able to get so many phones that quick, and people from KIOSK usually steal stuff I met this one guy who was selling batteries their lol
plmiller0905 said:
Ok.....heres the deal. About 3 weeks ago i saw a ad on craigslist about a epic touch for sale. I use Textplus App when I text someone on Craigslist...but anyways, i texted the person to inquire about the phone.. He said he was a manager at the Sprint Kiosk in the mall down the street from my job. He said that he was selling the phone for $500. I was like, thats full price. So I declined and took my business elsewhere.
About a week later i see an add in Craigslist from the same person, this time selling a iphone 4. I use my sister's phone to send the guy a text about the iphone 4. Again he says its brand new and still in its wrappings and he's selling it for $400. I passed again...
So last Friday, i see another ad on Craigslist for a Epic Touch, brand new and sealed. I make contact with the person, via regular text. Its the same person as before. He tells me that he's selling the Touch for $500 or willing to trade it for a good computer.
I offered him a laptop or two phones. He accepted the offer but after a couple hours, i contacted him to let him know i had to think about it.
Yesterday he texted me and now says he has a brand new Iphone 4s, wrapped and seal and that he can get me any color i want. He told me he'll sale it to me for $650 or my laptop, one of my phones plus $150...i said, hell no. Thats too much to give away. I then tried to call his bluff. I told him to text me a copy of the receipt showing he paid $650+ for the phone. He said that he didnt have a receipt and that it was a direct ship to his job (the sprint kiosk). He said that the order receipt doesnt have his name nor a price on it. I then told him that i noticed that he was selling a new phone almost every week and selling them for full retail. He claimed that he has a family plan and that since he's a sprint employee, he gets phones for the 2 year price.
My guess is that he's stealing the phones and then selling them. I find it strange that someone has a different high end phone every week and brand new at that.
What do you all guess?
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I'd say if your worried about it then make a call to Sprint and report what info you have. Then it will be up to them to look into it. If they don't, you did your part and Sprint can only blame themselves.
if it's a corporate kiosk he could get fired for that whether he bought them legitimately or not. our employment agreement says we can't sell phones at all as it's a conflict of interest since you would be competing with the company you work for. most of the kiosks that are left are 3rd party but i'm sure they have a similar agreement
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
My good buddy works for sprint corp store...he gets brand new phones all the time
Its called a sales spiff..lol
I doubt the guy is stealing...
If u buy something from craigslist ask if its stolen ..and get a bill of sale...after that ur just being nosiey
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asrielx1 said:
if it's a corporate kiosk he could get fired for that whether he bought them legitimately or not. our employment agreement says we can't sell phones at all as it's a conflict of interest since you would be competing with the company you work for. most of the kiosks that are left are 3rd party but i'm sure they have a similar agreement
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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I see people on craigslist advertising phones all the time for cheap but when you click on it its salesmen advertising you to their stores. in my company this is not allowed you will get fired even though they aren't stealing its something we arent allowed to do
lucidvtec said:
My good buddy works for sprint corp store...he gets brand new phones all the time
Its called a sales spiff..lol
I doubt the guy is stealing...
If u buy something from craigslist ask if its stolen ..and get a bill of sale...after that ur just being nosiey
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked him for a receipt or something with his name on it..
But he blew me off and just said forget it.
Idk...maybe I'm looking to hard into the matter...m
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
Maybe you are but eventually he will get caught if he is doing wrong. There is something called doing inventory we have fired several people due to doing inventory checks on phones and they wouldn't stop knowing we do this until they get caught
Dammit, you are one to speak. I see you selling a new phone every week in the Marketplace. Lol
Admittedly you are not selling bnib new phones but still......
whatsitsnamenow said:
Dammit, you are one to speak. I see you selling a new phone every week. Lol
Admittedly you are not selling new phones but still......
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Lol...I get my phones off Craigslist or from making deals off the Marketplace.
I don't sell a NEW phone every week....maybe a used one, but definately not a new one....lol.
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
if youre going to accuse someone of stealing you better be sure they are. it sounds like you do not have any real evidence to prove that he is.
Still sounds fishy.
I would give what info I had, the links on craigslist, and let Sprint or the 3rd party store take care of it themselves. Let them do the investigating.
liljester said:
if youre going to accuse someone of stealing you better be sure they are. it sounds like you do not have any real evidence to prove that he is.
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I know..
I'm basically just going off of speculation and assumption. But all in all, it just doesn't sound right....selling high end phones every week, brand new, can't produce a receipt...then says it was a direct order to his job....(the spirit kiosk)....sounds fishy..
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
I would still call Sprint and have them transfer you to the right department and have them investigate, try HR - Human Resources. BE SURE TO CALL AND HAVE THEM INVESTIGATE!!! Ask if they can call you back and let you know what the story is. Good luck!!! Make sure to call, because this will make prices go up if he is stealing!!!
What do you mean prices will go up?
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
If I had no proof nor proof of harm being done to anyone....... I would move on, mind my own business and worry about whats going on in my own back yard!
If you were getting those phones much cheaper from him, I am sure this thread wouldn't exist right now.
What about I fly to Wisconson and go to the store with you? I bet you get a free Photon. I'm 5'8" and only 145Lbs, Piss me off and I will clear a bar!!! (Seriously, I did not have a Sprint bill for like 5 months. I gave them he**)
naturecannon said:
If I had no proof nor proof of harm being done to anyone....... I would move on, mind my own business and worry about whats going on in my own back yard!
If you were getting those phones much cheaper from him, I am sure this thread wouldn't exist right now.
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First off bro, don't mean sound rude or anything cause that ain't me...but if something doesn't seem right to a person, they normally stay away...no matter how good the deal may be. I definitely don't need the police knocking at my door saying I received stolen property or sprint contacting me telling me the phone I have was stolen....
Also, remember he texted me this past time about the iphone...I didn't contact him. In addition, I don't think i NEED cold hard evidence...this isn't "The Peoples Court"...lol. But I do feel that maybe Sprint or whomever should look into the matter...
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dsims7_2000 said:
What about I fly to Wisconson and go to the store with you? I bet you get a free Photon. I'm 5'8" and only 145Lbs, Piss me off and I will clear a bar!!! (Seriously, I did not have a Sprint bill for like 5 months. I gave them he**)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol...come on up...lol
5 months..what happened?
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk
I'm going to be honest here. I used to work for tmo in the past and I sold phones on Craigslist, **** ton of them. I was the #1 rep in my district for a very long time and I had new devices falling out of my ass lol. I won so many phones from HTC, moto, Nokia, Samsung, blackberry etc I didn't know what to do with them. Before tmo changed up everything I think I won 2 or 3 phones a month. They said we couldn't sell them but what the hell else were I supposed to do with all these smartphones? Was I wrong? probably. Did I care? Ehh not really I was young and just saw this $_$. The moral of the story is either hes winning them in contest/drawings or has stealing them and others are in on it. I wouldn't get involved though let sprint etc catch em!
I purchased a phone from craigslist didn't know that t mobile had a imei system and didn't have t mobile service at the time bought the phone with case phone looked brand new etc i activate phones not working turns out bad imei.
The good news is that i have the text from seller and a tmobile rep told me that he is a tmobile customer i asked if he could check if the phone was purchased on the account to check if it matched up and he told me he couldn't give me anymore information anyone know how i should go about this situation with the police?
Nothing you can do except using the phone as an ipod.
Sent From My Htc Amaze running rum+coke
Probably not much u can do especially if he included the words "as is" anywhere in the post, but if he didn't you can probably go to your local police station and file a police report and take the guy to small claims court......I think anyway.......you might want to ask Binary he's a cop he would know better then me.
will_69_67 said:
Probably not much u can do especially if he included the words "as is" anywhere in the post, but if he didn't you can probably go to your local police station and file a police report and take the guy to small claims court......I think anyway.......you might want to ask Binary he's a cop he would know better then me.
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Well he can report it to his local police station but there's not much they can do. This is actually more of a civil action unless you can provide reasonable doubt that the seller is selling stolen merchandise. And if the post says "AS-IS" or anything similiar then you're SOL. You can try to contact Craigslist and report the seller for selling stolen merchandise. They might cooperate with you to take the seller to civil court.
That's about the best that you can do.
Good luck!
That's what you get for buying on craigslist. If it was ebay at least you would have been protected.
Binary100100 said:
Well he can report it to his local police station but there's not much they can do. This is actually more of a civil action unless you can provide reasonable doubt that the seller is selling stolen merchandise. And if the post says "AS-IS" or anything similiar then you're SOL. You can try to contact Craigslist and report the seller for selling stolen merchandise. They might cooperate with you to take the seller to civil court.
That's about the best that you can do.
Good luck!
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Click to collapse
Thanks everyone who helped, Binary i know that normally with craigslist stuff if you get scammed its pretty much on you. But the guy told me he got the phone off a upgrade and decided to stick with his old phone therefore he is lying. I also know that the number he was using to do the business with is linked to t mobile which leaves his information for the police vulnerable. Luckily my mom works at a high school and i have access to a police officer. Since you're a police officer i was wondering if i had information showing that the phone he sold me is directly linked to his account and shows that he said the phone was stolen/lost i can report him to asurion insurance and get him in trouble for insurance fraud at least. The one thing i was wondering is if he would say i stole the phone from him but i have the box with unopened accessories and text showing we were meeting up etc.
rasstar said:
That's what you get for buying on craigslist. If it was ebay at least you would have been protected.
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Click to collapse
I don't see how this is helping can keep the negative comments to yourself lol
lajuan3 said:
Thanks everyone who helped, Binary i know that normally with craigslist stuff if you get scammed its pretty much on you. But the guy told me he got the phone off a upgrade and decided to stick with his old phone therefore he is lying. I also know that the number he was using to do the business with is linked to t mobile which leaves his information for the police vulnerable. Luckily my mom works at a high school and i have access to a police officer. Since you're a police officer i was wondering if i had information showing that the phone he sold me is directly linked to his account and shows that he said the phone was stolen/lost i can report him to asurion insurance and get him in trouble for insurance fraud at least. The one thing i was wondering is if he would say i stole the phone from him but i have the box with unopened accessories and text showing we were meeting up etc.
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Click to collapse
I'm actually thinking that did the insurance fraud thing. He likely called Asurian to tell them that he lost the phone and would like a replacement. Asurian then puts the IMEI on a black list so it can't be activated again since it was reported "Lost/Stolen" and shipped him another. He then sold it to you. Now without a Bill Of Sale it's all on you. If you have the text message then you have his number. Contact the seller directly and inform him. Best case scenario he did not actually with full intent attempt to sell you a stolen phone. He may be able to call Asurian and say that he had found the device and they might then be able to remove it from the black list. However they will probably want the replacement back. The most that you can really do is threaten him to call the police... but this is really a civil matter. Just because you have the box and phone number doesn't mean anything. Here's an example. If you were a criminal and robbed someone's house, took their tv, computer, jewelry, phone, box for phone, etc you can also take their identity since almost everyone has bills laying around. At least mail. So they can have your name, phone number, address, IMEI, original packaging... whole nine yards. Does that still prove that you know eachother? Can he still use that to prove that the sale was legit? No way. This is a civil matter and not so much criminal so you're not going to get much assistance from the police.
My advice, contact the seller and tell him that you need ALL of his information. Name, address, contact information for his account, etc and tell him that you have to use it to get his information removed from the black list. Try to get his DL number too. Tell him that the insurance company requires a copy of it to remove it from the list. Make up something clever like that. Then use that information to file for court. It's up to you if you want to try to settle it in court or not but it's your best bet. PD has a lot more to worry about than Craigslist scams and unless the insurance company or TMobile wants to provide informatino willingly to a law enforcement official. They may or may not because they are under no legal obligation to comply unless it's ordered by the court. But again... that's really up to you.
One other option is to consult with your local prosecutor's office. Laws and procedures vary state by state, and between jurisdictions, but in Florida a lot of jurisdictions will operate some type of citizens dispute mediation program using volunteer mediators.
The idea is that by bringing both parties to the State Attorney's Office they will reach an agreement, or the more guilty party will make things right, and actually follow through on it because they believe it has a little more authority attached to whatever resolution is decided upon when in reality it may be an incident that is more civil in nature and could never be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court.
we are talking about a $350 phone. just the court claim costs $200(at least here in IL).and there is no way you can get that guys information. the fact that he was able to sell you a bad imei phone means he is a pro, cuz not everybody can do that, you gotta have done it before. I am just curious how did you buy the phone without even trying to put a sim card on it..
What Binary said makes a lot sense otherwise not sure what else "Bad IMEI" could be implying.
If this is true, and t-mobile blacklist the phone for activation, may be you can try unlock and see if it works under other carrier such as AT&T? If works, you can try switch carrier or sell to AT&T users.
contact a subrogation service. They will scare the crap out of the guy and will get your money back...I got about 8 years ago on ebay when it wasn't so safe, someone sold me a laptop but it was just a poster of a laptop. Problem was in the description it never said laptop, it said item and it was basically a poster of laptop with its specs. so what I got was a laminated poster of a laptop for 1100 dollars. Subrogation services is a good thing. look into it.
Felinos11 said:
we are talking about a $350 phone. just the court claim costs $200(at least here in IL).and there is no way you can get that guys information. the fact that he was able to sell you a bad imei phone means he is a pro, cuz not everybody can do that, you gotta have done it before. I am just curious how did you buy the phone without even trying to put a sim card on it..
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Click to collapse
Well i was switching from sprint to tmobile back in the day you could pop a sim in and thebphone would just work even if lost or stolen i guess things changed and i got hustled im not to worried im sure i can get it unlocked and make atleast the 330 i spent back its just that i signed a 2yr contract got scammed and want him to face some sort of consequence
lajuan3 said:
Well i was switching from sprint to tmobile back in the day you could pop a sim in and thebphone would just work even if lost or stolen i guess things changed and i got hustled im not to worried im sure i can get it unlocked and make atleast the 330 i spent back its just that i signed a 2yr contract got scammed and want him to face some sort of consequence
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U can never unlock an imei blacklisted phone.
tmobile block the imei number of the phone, when the phone ever was reported stolen lost or the guy asked for an exchange and never return it, there is no way to unlock the imei number so you are screw,
i say get together with some friends find this guy a kick his ass!!
when did you sign your contact.... If you just activated you might be under buyers remorse
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk
I was informed i could unlock and use on other networks just not tmobile with a bad imei? i was planning on selling on ebay including the info that it has to be unlocked and switched to anyone besides tmobile.
I signed the contract because i have a 14day period where i can cancel without a fee i figured i would find a way to change the imei if worse came to worse.
Last i was told by a t mobile rep that they were changing my imei and it will take around 2hours.
I thought it was as simple as putting in your sim card? I guess tmobile is getting with the times.
If the guy never used the phone asurion would never do a claim for him! They have to see the imei active for them to file a claim!
And it is possible to unblock a imei asurion can do it.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using Tapatalk
Asurion told me it was up to T-Mobile T-Mobile said no I call again
they say they are changing it for me it will take 2hours been 2hours still no service
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA App
Hola 3D users, Just bought a HTC Evo 3D the other night off craigslist. At first the seller seemed pretty legit as we meet at a QT ( local gas station ) here in Tulsa,OK. Long story short, this phone is currently being used but not in service meaning they either forgot to pay the phone bill, or they cancel the account. Either way, i just got screwed out 180 bones. Yes i took a shot in the dark , but i was posting on here to see if there is ANY OTHER WAY BY ANY MEANS to get this working. Thanks for your time.
If he sold you the phone, then it's likely he wanted to cancel the service on it. Otherwise, you'd be using his number and what not. As long as it has a clean ESN, you can take it to the sprint store and get it activated. Tell them you bought it from someone who is no longer with Sprint.
conman123 said:
Hola 3D users, Just bought a HTC Evo 3D the other night off craigslist. At first the seller seemed pretty legit as we meet at a QT ( local gas station ) here in Tulsa,OK. Long story short, this phone is currently being used but not in service meaning they either forgot to pay the phone bill, or they cancel the account. Either way, i just got screwed out 180 bones. Yes i took a shot in the dark , but i was posting on here to see if there is ANY OTHER WAY BY ANY MEANS to get this working. Thanks for your time.
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If you have a bad ESN, there's nothing you can do to get it working on Sprint. They won't do it. You'll only be able to flash it to Metro PCS. I would try and get back in contact with the seller. You should ALWAYS check the ESN status before you hand over the money.
conman123 said:
Hola 3D users, Just bought a HTC Evo 3D the other night off craigslist. At first the seller seemed pretty legit as we meet at a QT ( local gas station ) here in Tulsa,OK. Long story short, this phone is currently being used but not in service meaning they either forgot to pay the phone bill, or they cancel the account. Either way, i just got screwed out 180 bones. Yes i took a shot in the dark , but i was posting on here to see if there is ANY OTHER WAY BY ANY MEANS to get this working. Thanks for your time.
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I think your only alternative is to flash to cricket or boost, or sell it on eBay with a bad esn. You can probably get your money back.
If they cancel their Sprint account, the ESN is still clean. Bad ESN's come from theft and what not I believe.
knowledge561 said:
If they cancel their Sprint account, the ESN is still clean. Bad ESN's come from theft and what not I believe.
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...and delinquent accounts.
eXplicit815 said:
...and delinquent accounts.
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Ha...yeah you're ****ed dude. Sell that **** on Ebay or Craigslist. Don't rip anyone off though. Karma is *****. Being nice got me my Xoom in a trade.
Yep, not much you can do. Remember, NEVER trust people haha. Seriously though, I don't understand why people buy phones in random locations. Just meet the seller at the Sprint (Verizon, at&t etc) store and swap it right there.
The only thing you can do is contact the seller and see if they are willing to buy it back, or pay off their bill. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to make them do this, and since they obviously were trying to screw you in the first place, I highly doubt they will do the right thing and pay off their bill.
There is so much irony in the ops name.
S3nt from my 3D wond3rland
sitlet said:
Yep, not much you can do. Remember, NEVER trust people haha. Seriously though, I don't understand why people buy phones in random locations. Just meet the seller at the Sprint (Verizon, at&t etc) store and swap it right there.
The only thing you can do is contact the seller and see if they are willing to buy it back, or pay off their bill. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to make them do this, and since they obviously were trying to screw you in the first place, I highly doubt they will do the right thing and pay off their bill.
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Unfortunately, the buyer has ignored all my phone calls , texts, etc. This really sucks because the phone is in amazingly good shape, as well as it was a upgrade in my postion going from the 4G to 3D. Good news, i think i can manage to switch to Metro PCS. On that note, can anyone speak on behalf of Metro as far as service, signal. I see Metro is a pay-as-you-go, but i wanna make sure its a soild service. As well as good 4G. Thanks again.
This is why craigslist is scary. There is no guarantee or anything. Maybe you will run into the guy again and you can kick him in the face
From the Beast : Galaxy Note
Zombie stomp his face
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From the Beast : Galaxy Note
gilbydakid said:
There is so much irony in the ops name.
S3nt from my 3D wond3rland
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LMAO! Thats a good one. I didnt even noticed until I read this ^^^^^ LOL!
Jabawockee said:
LMAO! Thats a good one. I didnt even noticed until I read this ^^^^^ LOL!
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Good one, thanks for all the help..
conman123 said:
Good one, thanks for all the help..
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what do you want help with? can't cry over spilled milk.
Good day to all. So I bought this photon a couple months ago to give to my daughter or just have a spare cause don't have insurance on the phones. The esn was clear. When I went to switch activate it sprint said it had a bad esn! They couldn't do nothing for me. Sprint also told me I can take it into a shop and they can flash it. Does anybody no about this or can someone post a link or something?
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Where did you buy it from? Bad esn numbers occur for one of two reasons. The phone has been reported stolen, or it is already currently activated on another subscribers account.
I bought it on the street but it was clear when I did. The sprint guy told me it might of got reported lost/stolen after that.
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I guess what they mean by "flash it" is to put it on another carrier like cricket or metropcs
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2
Do you think some how it can be flashed back to sprint? Cause that's what I thought too?
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Not really if they marked out as bad esn, then no.
sorry dude you got burned. How much did you pay for it.?
Google talk me for help or question. @ [email protected]
jomatine said:
The esn was clear. When I went to switch activate it sprint said it had a bad esn! They couldn't do nothing for me. Sprint also told me I can take it into a shop and they can flash it. Does anybody no about this or can someone post a link or something?
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you know it was a good ESN?
The only people who can tell you about the ESN status are Sprint CSRs. A seller is probably going to lie about it.
Bad ESNs mostly occur due to subscribers cancelling their accounts and leaving unpaid balances. You can call Sprint and try to find out why it has a bad ESN; if it was due to an unpaid balance you might be able to work out a deal with them. If it was reported stolen, then you might want to contact the seller and find out what's going on.
Just FYI: I purchased my Photon from CL, but I make it a point to always meet inside the official store. I have purchased three smartphones from CL, I met all of them inside the store and completed the deal outside after confirming that it was working. There were plenty of sellers who would refuse to meet at such a public place during the day time; it immediately throws up a red flag. One seller even tried to get me to meet 'her' at midnight, saying that her shift ends at that time. I asked 'her' to meet me during the day and never heard back from her.
With a bad ESN, you are SOL. There is nothing that anyone can do, except flash it to a different network and use it there. I believe Cricket or Boost runs on the same Sprint network or frequency bands. if you have invested a few hundred dollars on this, you might tell Sprint that you are willing to spend $40-$100 to clear a previous unpaid balance. Call again and again and see if you get a different answer.
However, I did manage to get sprint to clear the esn with a palm pre once. I bought from eBay and it was a bad esn. Called them, explained the situation and they put in a ticket and called me back in a couple days. They put in yetanother ticket, called me back in another couple days to inform me it was good to go. It is worth a shot, give them a call!
Well I knew it was good cause I called it in. I had it sitting for a few months (un touched) then I called to switch the # to it and all of a sudden it was bad. But I'll see if I flash it and sell it on CL. But after I do some research on y it has a bad esn. Thanks guys for the info.
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Anyone know why that might be other than buyer misreading a number? What is the first thing I should investigate here? Thanks
Sent from my HTC One_M8
I just realized that I don't have imei number and that they could swap my good one out for a bad one and send it back to me no? Is that a scam people do or is that a silly idea? Shouldn't T-Mobile be able to provide it to me even with it being on an old phone?
Sent from my HTC One_M8
How did you sell it? Like through swappa, ebay, craigslist? Did you include the original box with it? Compare the ESN/IMEI with what's on the box. As well as compare it to whats underneath the battery. He could swap it with another phone that isn't the one you gave them. But its pretty easy to tell. I really don't know the full situation so i can't give you a very thought out opinion about the scenario.
juntjoo said:
I just realized that I don't have imei number
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I can't imagine not making a note of the IMEI before selling a phone. But anyway, do you have a backup from the phone? A good backup will contain the serial number and IMEI. Otherwise the original receipt. Or ask your carrier to check their records.
.
Buyer hasn't got back to me. Hopefully they've figured it out.
Sent from my HTC One_M8
I sold my TMO S5 that I had unlocked and I was using on ATT to someone on Swappa, they guy never closed the sale and after having the device for over a month he sends me a message over swappa stating that the device was reported stolen, and now he doesn't have signal. I talked to the person I bought it from (A store around here) and he was like I sold you that new it cant be reported stolen, long story short today I received the S5 back after I had to refund the guy his 510.00 and the store I bought it from is waiting for the phone and he said if he has to replace it he will do what ever he can to work with me.,
I think its bull and I honestly believe that the guy who bought it for me just put insurance via TMO and then reported it lost or stolen and now he got back his 510.00 and he only had to pay a deductible to get a S5. Seem like a great deal for him. No matter how much I tried to contact the guy asking him to close the sale he never ever replied.
Sorry about the post was kinda venting out a little.
Hope you can solve your issue.
IcOpRo said:
I sold my TMO S5 that I had unlocked and I was using on ATT to someone on Swappa, they guy never closed the sale and after having the device for over a month he sends me a message over swappa stating that the device was reported stolen, and now he doesn't have signal. I talked to the person I bought it from (A store around here) and he was like I sold you that new it cant be reported stolen, long story short today I received the S5 back after I had to refund the guy his 510.00 and the store I bought it from is waiting for the phone and he said if he has to replace it he will do what ever he can to work with me.,
I think its bull and I honestly believe that the guy who bought it for me just put insurance via TMO and then reported it lost or stolen and now he got back his 510.00 and he only had to pay a deductible to get a S5. Seem like a great deal for him. No matter how much I tried to contact the guy asking him to close the sale he never ever replied.
Sorry about the post was kinda venting out a little.
Hope you can solve your issue.
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Why did you refund his money if he never closed out the sale within a month?
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
IcOpRo said:
I sold my TMO S5 that I had unlocked and I was using on ATT to someone on Swappa, they guy never closed the sale and after having the device for over a month he sends me a message over swappa stating that the device was reported stolen, and now he doesn't have signal. I talked to the person I bought it from (A store around here) and he was like I sold you that new it cant be reported stolen, long story short today I received the S5 back after I had to refund the guy his 510.00 and the store I bought it from is waiting for the phone and he said if he has to replace it he will do what ever he can to work with me.,
I think its bull and I honestly believe that the guy who bought it for me just put insurance via TMO and then reported it lost or stolen and now he got back his 510.00 and he only had to pay a deductible to get a S5. Seem like a great deal for him. No matter how much I tried to contact the guy asking him to close the sale he never ever replied.
Sorry about the post was kinda venting out a little.
Hope you can solve your issue.
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Last i remember, you can't put insurance on a phone that T-Mobile did not sell the person directly. You would have to buy from T-Mobile in order to get insurance added to the device.
If you got the device back, why not test it? Also, go to T-Mobile and show them the sale on Swappa. Personally, i think the guy you got the phone from is the one who reported it stolen. Hell, they themselves could have actually stolen it from the store.