Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
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Click to collapse
IF you can get it unlocked, you would then need to make sure that Straight Talk doesn't share the same blacklist as Tmo. I know that there are several carriers that share a blacklist with Tmo and if you blocked w/ Tmo then you blocked with them too.
If you bought it knowing it was blacklisted, then shame on you.
If you didnt know, then i would call the person back and get your money back and or get the police involved. They should of disclosed that it was blacklisted when you bought.
You have to be careful when you buy stuff like this off of craigslist. If i buy a phone off craigslist, i like to have the person meet me at a phone store the i was gonna activate it with or with the carrier he or she might have had it activated with ( they can make a note on the persons account that the phone was sold and not stolen or lost), to verify it was infact a good phone. If the person disagrees with what i want to do, then i walk away from it.. Or you can check the imei with some websites that will let you know if the phone is good or blacklisted. You have to be careful either way, cause some people will sell you a phone and then a couple of days later call and report the phone lost or stolen just to get a free phone,upgrade or to get out of a contract .
Sometimes it is better just to get the phone from the carrier to avoid all issues like this. Dont get me wrong, this doesnt happen all the time and some sellers are straight up with you. But it not worth the trouble now or in the future.
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxyuser88 is correct. Buying a phone from eBay or Craigslist or whatever is dangerous. Very few S5s are purchased outright, most are on two year contracts which are not up yet. But if you were sold a blacklisted phone, you should let the police know and try to get your money back.
That being said, if it's listed because of payment issues, it's normally not blacklisted on other carriers whereas if it's listed as lost or stolen it hits the big list that the carriers share. Of course there are exceptions to this so you never know for sure until you pay to unlock the phone and try it on another carrier. I used swift unlock to unlock my G900T so I could use it on AT&T. They were anything but swift but they were cheap at 19.99.
Anyway, good luck with it.
gspears said:
Galaxyuser88 is correct. Buying a phone from eBay or Craigslist or whatever is dangerous. Very few S5s are purchased outright, most are on two year contracts which are not up yet. But if you were sold a blacklisted phone, you should let the police know and try to get your money back.
That being said, if it's listed because of payment issues, it's normally not blacklisted on other carriers whereas if it's listed as lost or stolen it hits the big list that the carriers share. Of course there are exceptions to this so you never know for sure until you pay to unlock the phone and try it on another carrier. I used swift unlock to unlock my G900T so I could use it on AT&T. They were anything but swift but they were cheap at 19.99.
Anyway, good luck with it.
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Click to collapse
Why don't you just shop around your area where small shops offer android repair. I can guarantee you that more then half of them can swap IMEI for no more then 50 bucks. Just ask tmo to send you a new sim, don't take the 0hone in.
galaxyuser88 said:
If you bought it knowing it was blacklisted, then shame on you.
If you didnt know, then i would call the person back and get your money back and or get the police involved. They should of disclosed that it was blacklisted when you bought.
You have to be careful when you buy stuff like this off of craigslist. If i buy a phone off craigslist, i like to have the person meet me at a phone store the i was gonna activate it with or with the carrier he or she might have had it activated with ( they can make a note on the persons account that the phone was sold and not stolen or lost), to verify it was infact a good phone. If the person disagrees with what i want to do, then i walk away from it.. Or you can check the imei with some websites that will let you know if the phone is good or blacklisted. You have to be careful either way, cause some people will sell you a phone and then a couple of days later call and report the phone lost or stolen just to get a free phone,upgrade or to get out of a contract .
Sometimes it is better just to get the phone from the carrier to avoid all issues like this. Dont get me wrong, this doesnt happen all the time and some sellers are straight up with you. But it not worth the trouble now or in the future.
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Click to collapse
Bought it knowing it's blacklisted then shame on him? Blacklisted or not the phone was still the previous guys belonging, he exchanged some reduction in his credit score for the phone, of course he could sell it to someone else. many people buy blacklisted devices and use on other carriers. Many big stores on ebay sell them everyday. Blacklisted are still of values and you sound like they should just be wasted threw away or something. t-mobile s5 has unpaid bill and I'm using it on straight talk with no issues. It was cheaper than a normal one but I wasn't gonna use it on tmobile so everything worked out perfect for me
---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
neshkoda said:
Why don't you just shop around your area where small shops offer android repair. I can guarantee you that more then half of them can swap IMEI for no more then 50 bucks. Just ask tmo to send you a new sim, don't take the 0hone in.
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Click to collapse
Changing imei is illegal
optimusv45 said:
Bought it knowing it's blacklisted then shame on him? Blacklisted or not the phone was still the previous guys belonging, he exchanged some reduction in his credit score for the phone, of course he could sell it to someone else. many people buy blacklisted devices and use on other carriers. Many big stores on ebay sell them everyday. Blacklisted are still of values and you sound like they should just be wasted threw away or something. t-mobile s5 has unpaid bill and I'm using it on straight talk with no issues. It was cheaper than a normal one but I wasn't gonna use it on tmobile so everything worked out perfect for me
---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
Changing imei is illegal
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Click to collapse
But is it really worth all the trouble, What would happen if they started to exchange blacklist info with all carriers, Then you are S.O.L. Sometimes you get lucky, but sooner or later that luck will run out. I am not saying they dont have any worth, but as long as it works then they can be used for parts to fix a broken one. That is one reason the big stores on ebay sell them. Its like buying a stolen item getting caught and then telling the judge you knew or didnt know it was stolen, but it was cheap and i should be able to use it and keep it since you didnt steal it.
galaxyuser88 said:
But is it really worth all the trouble, What would happen if they started to exchange blacklist info with all carriers, Then you are S.O.L. Sometimes you get lucky, but sooner or later that luck will run out. I am not saying they dont have any worth, but as long as it works then they can be used for parts to fix a broken one. That is one reason the big stores on ebay sell them. Its like buying a stolen item getting caught and then telling the judge you knew or didnt know it was stolen, but it was cheap and i should be able to use it and keep it since you didnt steal it.
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Click to collapse
If it's blocked from a carrier for unpaid bills, it's not like a stolen item at all and won't be blocked on other carriers. The previous owners BOUGHT it NOT STOLE IT with their credit history and it can't be used on original carrier.
CPN706 said:
Hi i purchased a phone for my girlfriend on craigslist and it seems that it is black listed. What can I do? Can i unlock it and than use it with straight talk?
BTW I found out it was blacklisted because of unpaid account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem, but I wanted to use that T-Mobile phone with metro pcs. I decided to change the IMEI number, look it up, there are some cheap services where they change the imei and, baamm! I had signal again, however, before purchasing the service ask them if it would would with the carrier you want, if not, get tmobile, they have affordable plans, and pre paid plans and works like a charm.
Related
I buy wholesale lots of phones and resell them individually on ebay. Now I have to check IMEIs on ATT and T-Mobile since they started this whole blacklist bullcrap. The bad thing is that AT&T won't give me information or tell me if phones are blacklisted or not. They'll tell me to "bring it into your local store and they can check it". I know the only reason they do this is because the store will take it away from me if it shows up as a lost or stolen device. Eff that. I already paid money for it, I can at least sell it for parts or try to get my money back!
I was on AT&T chat today, and I heard a new one that I can't understand: "It is an at&t phone but it's from a resellers account that means the service provider of that phone only buy cellphone service from us at&t that they provide to theyre customers. So with that, the account the phone came from is not directly connected with us for me to identify if the phone is cleared to be bought or not. I am sorry though."
...what does that even mean? It's an i717 Note for AT&T, so I'm confused.
Also, if I got AT&T and T-Mobile prepaid plans, could I use those SIMs to check the phones and see if they worked? This new blacklisting database is really making life difficult for me...
In sorry for the hardship for you as an independent seller but I'm beyond happy about the new black list as a consumer who has had his new phone stolen and T-Mobile basically said "oh well".
It's about time they implemented this.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
mooglepimp said:
I buy wholesale lots of phones and resell them individually on ebay. Now I have to check IMEIs on ATT and T-Mobile since they started this whole blacklist bullcrap. The bad thing is that AT&T won't give me information or tell me if phones are blacklisted or not. They'll tell me to "bring it into your local store and they can check it". I know the only reason they do this is because the store will take it away from me if it shows up as a lost or stolen device. Eff that. I already paid money for it, I can at least sell it for parts or try to get my money back!
I was on AT&T chat today, and I heard a new one that I can't understand: "It is an at&t phone but it's from a resellers account that means the service provider of that phone only buy cellphone service from us at&t that they provide to theyre customers. So with that, the account the phone came from is not directly connected with us for me to identify if the phone is cleared to be bought or not. I am sorry though."
...what does that even mean? It's an i717 Note for AT&T, so I'm confused.
Also, if I got AT&T and T-Mobile prepaid plans, could I use those SIMs to check the phones and see if they worked? This new blacklisting database is really making life difficult for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's likely a straight talk device, or a device from a reseller.
Basically, even though it's an ATT device, it was sold buy a reseller account, and not ATT. Even if it runs on the ATT network.
they dont keep the IMEI numbers from reseller phones, only the ones they sell directly, so they cant release an IMEI number for use on the network, because they have no record of it to release.
Clear as mud ?....LOL
But a prepaid sim should fire up, with the right APN settings...g
uoY_redruM said:
In sorry for the hardship for you as an independent seller but I'm beyond happy about the new black list as a consumer who has had his new phone stolen and T-Mobile basically said "oh well".
It's about time they implemented this.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I can empathize with you....it seems that they are doing nothing but screwing over the person who buys a resold phone. Nothing they do will protect you as the person who got it stolen, and they make is SOOOOO DIFFICULT to check the IMEI that it really just screws over the buyer who got a blacklisted phone and now can't do anything about it :-/
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
The only way to get it taken off the list is if the original phone owner calls in and says it is not stolen. It can be used with AT&T but none of the carriers that use Tmobile.
What your seller probably did was make an insurance claim. Get a second phone for $175 then he never returned the old phone sold it to you made $325 and then you get screwed.
Happens a lot more often now that IMEI can be blocked since march.
If you can get a hold of the person who sold it to you and be like wtf
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
jones75534 said:
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your seller was the original owner, then he is committing fraud if he has later reported it stolen. Check with the seller, and if you don't get a good answer, call the police. If the phone is stolen, then you need to call the police.
Thanks both of you, I love xda!
You think the police are really going to do anything about this? I kinda figured that would be a long shot. I'm guessing if I can find the seller's contact info they either won't answer, will hang up on me right away, or maybe even change their number if they didn't already....
To me, what I can't understand is how T-mobile doesn't have a better process that is more controlled. The IMEI should be tied to an account/owner and only be allowed to be activated on another account after transferring the ownership with the owner's consent. This seems like a pretty spotty process without any kind of controls in place.
Really don't want to be out half a grand....
Unfortunately I don't see any process like that anytime soon probably minimum ten years. That's what GSM is all about freedom to get a phone anywhere anytime. It is unfortunate that this happened to you. Happens very frequently especially within first fee months of phone launch.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
jones75534 said:
Thanks both of you, I love xda!
You think the police are really going to do anything about this? I kinda figured that would be a long shot. I'm guessing if I can find the seller's contact info they either won't answer, will hang up on me right away, or maybe even change their number if they didn't already....
To me, what I can't understand is how T-mobile doesn't have a better process that is more controlled. The IMEI should be tied to an account/owner and only be allowed to be activated on another account after transferring the ownership with the owner's consent. This seems like a pretty spotty process without any kind of controls in place.
Really don't want to be out half a grand....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The police report may not help you, but eventually it is quite possible that it will get the perpetrator into a lot of trouble - maybe keeping them from hitting someone else...
wait til all the big names start sharing the IMEI blacklists.
fun times.
I called T–mobile myself a bit ago and just explained what happened. Apparently the lady put in a request to unblock it. She said it will take up to 48 hours to get it unblocked and to power cycle my phone pull the SIM out and try to make a call in 48 hours. Not sure what to think about that.... I guess I'll just give it a day or two and see what happens :/ From the research I've done it sounds unlikely they'll unblock it but I will stay optimistic.
SIDE NOTE: I found the sellers phone number and the text string of arranging the purchase. Think I should contact authorities or T-Mobile with the info or just try calling them directly?
If nothing else doesn't work, you can sell it to an Canadian or foreigner... Otherwise good luck...Did you ask for the receipt?, because when I bought my t-mobile htc one, I asked the seller to sent me a receipt.
disclaimer not promoting sale of black listed devices....
htc fan89 said:
If nothing else doesn't work, you can sell it to an Canadian or foreigner... Otherwise good luck...Did you ask for the receipt?, because when I bought my t-mobile htc one, I asked the seller to sent me a receipt.
disclaimer not promoting sale of black listed devices....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah I understand what you're saying and that you're not promoting me doing the same thing that was done to me. As a backup plan if nothing else works, this device could be used on AT&T right? I recently came from Sprint so not real savvy on how the SIM card / GSM networks work yet. Would I have to get the device "unlocked" to use on AT&T or a different GSM network? If so, could anyone point me in the right direction on how to do this and/or how much that costs.
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
clninja said:
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
deviusdragger said:
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I wouldn't be risking my job at all and there is a very strong possibility it would get unlocked. in circumstances such as this a rep can approach his manager with it and the store manager has the ability to call customer care and request the unblock. I would not be unblocking it myself
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
jones75534 said:
So, a week ago I bought an HTC One from craigslist. We met at a T-Mobile store so that they could verify the phone was clean and able to be activated. They said everything was clean and safe to buy. Phone was working great for a week and then out of nowhere earlier today all the data and cellular service just turns off completely. I try turning it off & on several times, toggling airplane mode off/on, etc. etc. Finally I go in to a T-mobile store. After 30 minutes of turning it off & on, changing the SIM, calling corporate, etc. eventually they tell me that the phone was reported lost earlier today and is now blocked.
They tell me there is nothing they can do.... am I really just out the $450 now? Is there anything I can do??? What's the point of them verifying or checking anything if this can still be done? Any help or suggestions please!?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there is your lesson learned, Don't buy phones from Craigslist! I actually in the past had that happen but on a iPhone 4S and well it actually got blocked 3 days later and AT&T said it was reported stolen. So From there on I either buy my phones on ebay or just do some AT&T loopholes to get a brand new HTC One which I did and pay the new activation price for it
clninja said:
Att and tmobile share imei lists.
Take that text string to tmobile. If the number that Texted you about the se is the number on his account. They can cross reference your phones imei to his number and use those texts as proof of purchase and help you.
I work at a store and if you came to me with this info I would unblock it for you....just sayin
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you that is encouraging. Might try this if the unblock doesn't work that the rep requested.
deviusdragger said:
You would also get fired for doing something stupid like that. You need to read up on the process of unblocking phones. Serious note, dont risk your job over something like this. Its not worth it, plus that phone is property of asurion once its reported stolen.
Do this!!!!
*Try to contact seller and get your money back
*Contact authorities and have them file a report and maybe and insurance fraud case.
*Dont waste your time anymore trying to contact tmobile. They will not unblock it. That phone belongs to asurion due to them paying for it. I would also recommend calling them 1-866-268-7221 Maybe they can assist you with something.
Good luck and hope you get your money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. Is that the number for Assurion? The store manager yesterday called them too and they were completely useless and just said to talk to T-mobile.
Vicpdx18 said:
Well there is your lesson learned, Don't buy phones from Craigslist! I actually in the past had that happen but on a iPhone 4S and well it actually got blocked 3 days later and AT&T said it was reported stolen. So From there on I either buy my phones on ebay or just do some AT&T loopholes to get a brand new HTC One which I did and pay the new activation price for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is eBay safer than craigslist? How did you get the new phone from Att?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Why not learn a lesson from it and sell it to get the most of it ? Thats what i did in past
You can sell it on eBay say it is blacklisted at least get some money back.
Buddy of mine lost his phone made a claim. Then found his phone the day he got the new phone he called asurion for instructions on what to do he sent his new phone back they received it and got his money back in about ten days total. But they never unblocked his current phone that he found again. Here we are almost three months later his phone is still blacklisted and did nothing wrong. Called Tmobile at least ten times they always say 48 hours and doesn't do anything so he just gave up its a paperweight.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
So I went over to Ebay and I see there is an HTC One with a T-mobile blacklisted IMEI with over 40 bids selling for over $400... this is very encouraging. Only difference is that one is Unlocked and the seller said he already verified it does work with AT&T with some minor APN changes. Does this seem legit? If so, what is the best/cheapest/most reliable way for me to unlock my phone? I did research this, but it sounds like many online sites charge a pretty good fee for this and don't have the best reputation. Also, most recommended having your carrier do it, which I'm sure is not an option in my case..... Appreciate the support!
jones75534 said:
So I went over to Ebay and I see there is an HTC One with a T-mobile blacklisted IMEI with over 40 bids selling for over $400... this is very encouraging. Only difference is that one is Unlocked and the seller said he already verified it does work with AT&T with some minor APN changes. Does this seem legit? If so, what is the best/cheapest/most reliable way for me to unlock my phone? I did research this, but it sounds like many online sites charge a pretty good fee for this and don't have the best reputation. Also, most recommended having your carrier do it, which I'm sure is not an option in my case..... Appreciate the support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wont suggest you listing it as a phone working on at&t because this phone would not work in usa after a certain period(when tmobile UPDATES their blacklist with other networks) , if the ebay seller advises as such he would face the consequences . Payments are mostly done through paypal and they give a 45 day window for the buyer to claim the phone as not described . That would put you again in the same situation you are today in . You not just sell it for parts ? Get your money out of this sh*t and get yourself a new phone?
Just my 2cent !
@jones75534 sorry to tell u but most unlocking service wont unlock your phone . It is blacklisted in all the database
I'm thinking of buying blacklisted TMo GS5 (because of the unlocked bootloader & also because it's cheaper to get a blacklisted phone becuase of the stigma), if I were to unlock it would I be able to use it on AT&T or it's MVNO's? Has anywhere sucessfully tried it? Thanks,
Last time I checked at&t and Tmobile were sharing blacklisted list. Not 100% sure but I think that was the case a few years ago
Sent from my SM-G900T using xda app-developers app
As mentioned above and expanded I think ALL of the big phone companies share the blacklist emei's. I know I saw somewhere that other countries were gonna be doing the same. To help cut down on stolen phones that are bought and then shipped to other countries for use.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
Well I did have a blacklisted Note 3 that I was using on at&t. I had no idea it was blacklisted until I tried selling it on Swappa. But it did work for me.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
Well I did have a blacklisted Note 3 that I was using on at&t. I had no idea it was blacklisted until I tried selling it on Swappa. But it did work for me.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
That is strange. If they were supposed to be sharing the database of blacklisted phones how were you able to use it?
Does anyone know for a fact that they are sharing the database? Anybody work at AT&T or T-mObile?
JoJo2211 said:
That is strange. If they were supposed to be sharing the database of blacklisted phones how were you able to use it?
Does anyone know for a fact that they are sharing the database? Anybody work at AT&T or T-mObile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no clue. I bought the note 3 from another XDA user. Used it for 3 weeks then put a listing on Swappa but it was declined cause the phone Imei was blacklisted. Phone worked perfectly fine for the few weeks I had it on AT&T.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I unlock phones etc daily ... and yeah if you have a blacklisted at&t phone you Can't! Use it, unless you go overseas ... But if you have a blacklisted tmobile phone you can unlock it and use with another carrier example (At&t, red locket, h2o) with no problem ....
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
How does a phone that just came out get blacklisted? I'm under the un ow does derstanding that they only blacklist stolen or unpaid phones. Are you saving their now blacklisting phones from other carriers simply because they aren't looking their bootloader?
Sent from my SM-G900T using xda app-developers app
I am not a goody two shoes - far from it - but to me there is something morally wrong with buying and supporting Black listed phones = just to save a few bucks.
you are in effect supporting the people who stole the phone in the first place - I would rather pay a premium price for a new phone and know that I am not getting a deal because of someone elses misfortune than pay less for a black listed phone just to save money,
If you have ever had a phone stolen from you - I think you would agree - buying a black listed phone is not a victimless crime it can perpetrate the original theft and we should all consider avoiding that....all black listed phones are probably not stolen - but how do you know?
my two cents
mocsab said:
I am not a goody two shoes - far from it - but to me there is something morally wrong with buying and supporting Black listed phones = just to save a few bucks.
you are in effect supporting the people who stole the phone in the first place - I would rather pay a premium price for a new phone and know that I am not getting a deal because of someone elses misfortune than pay less for a black listed phone just to save money,
If you have ever had a phone stolen from you - I think you would agree - buying a black listed phone is not a victimless crime it can perpetrate the original theft and we should all consider avoiding that....all black listed phones are probably not stolen - but how do you know?
my two cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most blacklisted phones are either financed or reported lost. That's why they are blacklisted by the carrier. I've never had anybody steal my phone or know of anyone who had their phone stolen. Those who default on their payment deserve to get their phones blacklisted but at that point they are out of the innitial $200+ anyway. So if they're looking to resell the phone to recoupe that money, I'm not sure how that should be looked down upon. Meanwhile those who lose their phones and later go on to report it as stolen because they want to get a new phone thru insurance, get no sympathy from me.
JoJo2211 said:
Most blacklisted phones are either financed or reported lost. That's why they are blacklisted by the carrier. I've never had anybody steal my phone or know of anyone who had their phone stolen. Those who default on their payment deserve to get their phones blacklisted but at that point they are out of the innitial $200+ anyway. So if they're looking to resell the phone to recoupe that money, I'm not sure how that should be looked down upon. Meanwhile those who lose their phones and later go on to report it as stolen because they want to get a new phone thru insurance, get no sympathy from me.
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This. But my friend was caught by this, and there is no resolve for the issue he ran into. Goes like this:
He wanted to upgrade, but his upgrade was not up yet, so he decided to go on craigslist and buy a Brand new in box factory sealed GS3. He did so for something like $450 right after launch. He took the phone out of the box, set it up with his SIM, was on tmo fine for about a month or 40 days or so.
He goes to use his phone, and it wont connect to tmo, wont call via wifi, ect. So he calls tmo. They tell him the phone's original account defaulted and was never paid on, even though it was now on his account, and he had been a customer for something like 12+ years with a 4G tablet, and multiple phones in the past, they said they could do nothing to remove the blacklist. They said it was originally purchased with another GS3. They think it was most likely some kind of identity fraud. Sign somebody up and grab two $450 phones and sellem factory sealed.
He ended up selling it as a blacklisted phone on tmo to an AT&T Sub who unlocked it and used it on that carrier, but at a large loss.
For this reason, I will never buy a second hand phone. Its not worth the risk of losing the amount of money these phones go for off contract. Unless someone can prove the phone is paid off. In which case I probably still wouldn't do it.
JoJo2211 said:
Most blacklisted phones are either financed or reported lost. That's why they are blacklisted by the carrier. I've never had anybody steal my phone or know of anyone who had their phone stolen. Those who default on their payment deserve to get their phones blacklisted but at that point they are out of the innitial $200+ anyway. So if they're looking to resell the phone to recoupe that money, I'm not sure how that should be looked down upon. Meanwhile those who lose their phones and later go on to report it as stolen because they want to get a new phone thru insurance, get no sympathy from me.
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Proof again that I very rarely know what i am talking about - - apologies -someone I know explained black listed phones differently to me - your explanation makes sense - I appreciate the clarification.
tupirujp said:
Blacklisted ? I clean imei's lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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So far only couple of people are able to do the new Galaxy S5 including me .... well the AT&T at the moment ... I'm waiting for a TMobile donor phone to begin the process ...
But I'm not gonna go into details about this kind of stuff ...
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
I thought blacklisted phones cannot connect to any GSM carriers in the US because they share the same IMEI database?
blacklisted != blocked != reported lost != reported stolen...
there's different situations that warrant where it'll be blocked from and different databases. actually, checkesnfree dot com does a pretty good job explaining it, though it's not 100% foolproof. just run a test with an imei number and see the different response types. they give you a decent list of possible results.
i've run AT&T on an unlocked T-Mobile SGS3 that was reported lost and it still works. because it's blocked from T-Mobile but not blacklisted across all.
hope this gives you some insight. i nearly got ripped by an eBay seller who sold me a fraudulently obtained S5 which i promptly returned and thank God it all worked out (dude had 100% positive across several years too, it surprised the sheeeet outta me). I ended up driving to Delaware (only 40 minutes from me and I had to do other shopping anyway) and got it tax free with my friend's T-Mobile number at $660 instead of $689. paid $25 on eBay for the unlock code and now I'm 100% worry free, bootloader lock free, KNOX free lol, and rooted.
lesson: it's a $650+ investment. be smart. since I'm running it on AT&T anyway, I could have kept that eBay phone which was blocked and not blacklisted, but why bother? who knows what could happen down the line? value would also be down. plus, I made 30 minutes of phone calls with my friend's T-Mo sim card (to be safe, 30, not just 5) just to ensure it also gets region unlocked too. =)
if you do buy it somewhere else, make sure they have a receipt showing it was PAID IN FULL. cash. they could report a stolen CC number down the line too so I wouldn't trust even one paid in full with CC. even then with a cash receipt I would be careful.. they could report it stolen later down the line, collect insurance, whatever! which goes around again to this: it's not worth it, just get it straight from the carrier! it's a freakin $650-$700 device, it's not worth gambling to save a few bucks!
Blacklisted doesnt necessarily mean stolen. Most of the time some ppls phone is damaged were thr company will demand them to buy another phone instead they report it lost n pay for insurance to get another one easy. It makes sense ur paying for insurance why not use to its full potential?
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Free mobile app
tupirujp said:
Blacklisted ? I clean imei's lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Are you sure? You'd be the first one in the world able to do that with the news Galaxy S5...
I just purchased a S5 a couple days ago from Craigslist. Meet the person in a T-mobile store and checked the imei before buying it. Everything checked out and I bought it.
A friend once gave me a Verison DroidX. I called Verizon and they confirmed it was Blacklisted. Took it to metro and activated it with no problems.
My S5 is black listed and working just fine on at&t network. No locked boot loader and rooted all the way. Got it cheap too haha
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 01:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 AM ----------
tupirujp said:
Blacklisted ? I clean imei's lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't clean the S5 yet...... Waiting on the update lol. I think SPT is gonna get it first
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Will sm g900t1 with bad esn work with AT&T and get LTE?
My "galaxy s5" came in today. Worked for one minute and died. Appear cheap made. Says made in China. Called tmobile she told me imei is unknown. Watch out if buying on ebay. I'm returning Monday
optimusv45 said:
My "galaxy s5" came in today. Worked for one minute and died. Appear cheap made. Says made in China. Called tmobile she told me imei is unknown. Watch out if buying on ebay. I'm returning Monday
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You have to be really careful on eBay with mobile phones. So many of them are blacklisted, blocked or are about to be. You have to make sure they can prove it was paid off. S3s have been around long enough as well as some S4s so your chances of getting a blocked phone are not as great but there are very few S5s that are not under contract of some sort. There are a couple of sites where you can check the IMEI for free, but that only shows what the state is today, and does not protect you from them reporting it lost or stolen after you buy it and have it for a couple of months.
gspears said:
You have to be really careful on eBay with mobile phones. So many of them are blacklisted, blocked or are about to be. You have to make sure they can prove it was paid off. S3s have been around long enough as well as some S4s so your chances of getting a blocked phone are not as great but there are very few S5s that are not under contract of some sort. There are a couple of sites where you can check the IMEI for free, but that only shows what the state is today, and does not protect you from them reporting it lost or stolen after you buy it and have it for a couple of months.
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I'm not that afraid of blocked phones. I'm planning on unlocking and using on att anyways. I'm just buying the tmobile version for the bootloader. The one I bought is straight up fake. They had a tmobile imei flashed to it.
optimusv45 said:
I'm not that afraid of blocked phones. I'm planning on unlocking and using on att anyways. I'm just buying the tmobile version for the bootloader. The one I bought is straight up fake. They had a tmobile imei flashed to it.
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AT&T and T-Mobile share phone blacklist data so depending on why it was blacklisted you can get it unlocked but that doesn't mean it will work on AT&Ts network. In my experience in dealing with used phones, if it's blacklisted for account or payment reasons then it will normally work on AT&T's network. But if it's reported lost or stolen and blacklisted for that reason, it normally won't work on AT&T's network.
I have a G900T I'm using on AT&T with no issues, but I've repaired and resold many blacklisted phones and have run into the issues I described earlier many times so I hijacked your thread to try and give a cautionary tale to others to help them avoid these headaches. I know how to deal with it but most ordinary Joes don't. I've seen the fake S5s and S4s and that's an issue too, but whether it's fake or not, if it doesn't work that sucks.
Sorry you ran into this issue and for hijacking your thread.
That's why I only use Swappa!
HF4L said:
That's why I only use Swappa!
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Swappa just makes sellers say their devices are whatever before listing. They don't have any real means to do quality check either. No real difference
gspears said:
AT&T and T-Mobile share phone blacklist data so depending on why it was blacklisted you can get it unlocked but that doesn't mean it will work on AT&Ts network. In my experience in dealing with used phones, if it's blacklisted for account or payment reasons then it will normally work on AT&T's network. But if it's reported lost or stolen and blacklisted for that reason, it normally won't work on AT&T's network.
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This is true. I have had a TMo S5 that got blacklisted after 2 days of me buying it. I had to just sell it off underpriced. Sigh.
From what I heard from multiple AT&T reps, and got done on the one I got (another TMo S5 from another person), was to take him to TMo store first to verify the account is on his name and that the phone has been paid for. And then go with him to AT&T store to register the IMEI on my name. Once AT&T registers the IMEI on a person's account in person with both parties present, black listing won't apply to that number any more.
optimusv45 said:
Swappa just makes sellers say their devices are whatever before listing. They don't have any real means to do quality check either. No real difference
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Click to collapse
But swappa does require the esn to be checked which weeds out stolen, being financed (which is still consider stolen since Tmo still owns it til paid off), cloned esn/imei which will catch you a felony if in possession of and fake devices.
ShinySide said:
But swappa does require the esn to be checked which weeds out stolen, being financed (which is still consider stolen since Tmo still owns it til paid off), cloned esn/imei which will catch you a felony if in possession of and fake devices.
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My fake device checks fine on swappa. When I called tmobile she told me the imei is clear and the device is unknown
I'm coming from att note 3. What's you all opinion on note 3 locked bootloader vs galaxy s5 unlocked bootloader ?
Edit: disregard this one. I posted in the sticky to discuss other devices
optimusv45 said:
Swappa just makes sellers say their devices are whatever before listing. They don't have any real means to do quality check either. No real difference
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Click to collapse
That's not true. Swappa makes sellers refund you fully if the phone stops working due to an imei issue. On eBay, if I state the device turns on and appears to function as normal but could have a blocked imei. And eBay won't make me refund the buyer due to an accurate description.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
elesbb said:
That's not true. Swappa makes sellers refund you fully if the phone stops working due to an imei issue. On eBay, if I state the device turns on and appears to function as normal but could have a blocked imei. And eBay won't make me refund the buyer due to an accurate description.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I haven't sold on swappa. How do they make you refund ? They somehow can withdraw money from your PayPal after you get the money ?
http://swappa.com/faq/general/paypal_dispute_swappa
Plus, I don't think the powers to be here at XDA would promote a service like Swappa without doing some do diligance. Plus I've bought and sold on Swappa, and have good results each time.
HF4L said:
http://swappa.com/faq/general/paypal_dispute_swappa
Plus, I don't think the powers to be here at XDA would promote a service like Swappa without doing some do diligance. Plus I've bought and sold on Swappa, and have good results each time.
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Click to collapse
I see. I don't try to be a pain but just for the sake of discussion, from what I read it's still vague in how they are able to promise people refunds. Just curious if they will just pay for it or somehow make the seller refund obviously without access to their PayPal. Like on ebay, if you don't get what the listing is, eBay will cover you first and go for the seller themselves
Bought my first device on swappa. From what I read on swappas FAQ, if something goes south they just have you use PayPal dispute resolution ... not great, all the refund they can promise you is the 10 bucks fee which is of course nothing
optimusv45 said:
Bought my first device on swappa. From what I read on swappas FAQ, if something goes south they just have you use PayPal dispute resolution ... not great, all the refund they can promise you is the 10 bucks fee which is of course nothing
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Click to collapse
That's strange cause I had bought a phone that was reported incomplete payment and they wanted me to dispute it with them before going to PayPal. I guess it all depends on the situation.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
elesbb said:
That's strange cause I had bought a phone that was reported incomplete payment and they wanted me to dispute it with them before going to PayPal. I guess it all depends on the situation.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
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Yeah that's what's stated on their official FAQ. After hearing so many positive things about swappa, of course I made a purchase on a seller that doesn't have much past selling history, something I would never do on ebay. Now seller doesn't reply at all, even after the staff left two messages. I guess we'll see what happens. Yes swappa just tells you to dispute with them, them being the seller, if they just don't say anything, you can't do anything about it. I feel swappa is great for sellers because you get immediate payment but not great for buyers. Of course sellers get their money FIRST lol, why would they even care about you. A couple hundred dollars phone scam is so easy you just need a unverified PayPal account, which is just an email, when someone buys you get the money right away. You don't verify your PayPal to transfer funds instead you just use the unverified PayPal to pay for online purchases. And they refund they handle is the 10 bucks lol, PayPal does the rest( what's said in this post is what I understand of swappa and currently what's going on with me. By no means it is 100% correct, feel free to comment). I'll probably sell on swappa and buy on eBay from now on
Pics of the phone?
RakumiAzuri said:
Pics of the phone?
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Looks like this
Pic
I can't post pics for dome reason
Hey all,
I did some searching so it makes me suspect this isn't possible yet, but does anyone have a method to change the IMEI or MEID of the LG V30+ (Sprint, if that matters)? I need to change it and not just mask it.
The short story is I bought on on eBay but it was already tied to someone's account. The seller won't give me that person's contact info, Sprint won't tell me if there's a finance balance on it and if I can pay it off, and Sprint won't give me that person's contact info either. eBay declined my request for a refund, so now I'm just trying to see if I can make this thing usable at all.
Thanks!
Changing IMEI is illegal you know?
t1mman said:
Changing IMEI is illegal you know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done some research and can't find anything that says it is illegal in the United States, which is where I live. I do believe it's illegal in Europe but I don't intend to use the phone there so I'm not really concerned about that.
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself. So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2249666&p=40723213
Is it google account lock ? Did you do a imei check ?
If its google account lock some sites provide service to bypass that
Imei check status - will tell you about just that the status. Could say clean , unpaid bills anything other than clean you may have to pay to get rid of that bad status aince sprint aint helping u
Another thing when you try to activate it on your sprint account they will remind you that you will be taking over unpaid payments left by previous owner. All the times i activated sprint phones a d the rep tells me that means ill be takong over payments. And on some phones wherr the rep doesnt say anything about taking over payments means phone is paid off by previous owner.
nizmoboy98 said:
Is it google account lock ? Did you do a imei check ?
If its google account lock some sites provide service to bypass that
Imei check status - will tell you about just that the status. Could say clean , unpaid bills anything other than clean you may have to pay to get rid of that bad status aince sprint aint helping u
Another thing when you try to activate it on your sprint account they will remind you that you will be taking over unpaid payments left by previous owner. All the times i activated sprint phones a d the rep tells me that means ill be takong over payments. And on some phones wherr the rep doesnt say anything about taking over payments means phone is paid off by previous owner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I put the IMEI into swappa's IMEI checker it says "Financial Eligibility - Device is not eligible for resale (financed)." When I talk to Sprint (Which I've done over a few calls and trips to the store) they tell me it can't be put on my account because it's still attached to another account, but they don't tell me why at all. They've never told me if I could just take over payments for the phone, which is interesting since I've asked specifically about that. I wonder if something else is blocking this IMEI? So far I haven't been able to reach anyone at Sprint that can tell me anything about the phone's previous owner or any financial obligations on the phone.
Do you happen to know of a different IMEI checker I should try that might give me more information?
Imei checker by cavallo enterprise
I tried that on my insuranced replacement lg v30 and it gave me unpaid balance on mines
cjshrader said:
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself.
So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry you are out the money....
But the flaw in your logic is that 2017 $800-$900 LG V30 phone still belongs to Sprint, until paid off. The person who "sold" it to you had no right to sell property they do not own (unless they used the money to pay off the balance). So, technically, they are stealing it. The only reason it's not been "reported" stolen is Sprint is probably taking care of this in civil proceedings as opposed to criminal proceedings? They are probably getting a judgement against the person. In which case, Sprint doesn't want to deal with you because that just complicates the case.
IF the person you bought it from had used that money to immediately pay of the balance, then everything would be OK. But they probably sold for lot less than owed to Sprint. (Sprint wants customers with recurring monthly payments, they don't want to be Best Buy. The financial price of the contract is probably a LOT more than the hardware cost of the phone.)
This phone was released in October. The user probably didn't make any payments, to be honest. So you would be out not only what you paid them, but probably the full amount they owe Sprint for up to two years?
Sprint also had deals where you would get a phone, get free first year service, but then be obligated to pay for 2nd year of service. People signed a legal contract. To get out of the contract they had to pay the value of what was still left. The amount owed on this phone might not be just the cost of the phone, but a year or two of Sprint service charges. I haven't seen the contract, I really couldn't care less about Sprint --- I've helped many friends escape Sprint -- I'm just speculating why Sprint isn't being helpful with you. It seems it's more than just the phone?
One Sprint deal was to LEASE TWO PHONES. LEASE one phone, get one for free:
http://newsroom.sprint.com/lg-v30-a...e-get-one-on-us-just-38-per-month-for-two.htm
In which case, they weren't even buying the phone from Sprint over two years, they were renting it.
I see this a lot with new Sprint phones sold on Craigslist and eBay -- lots of drama for some reason. Earlier this year was lots of posts for help in unlocking Sprint Galaxy S8/S8+. It's not that those model phones cannot be unlocked, it's that money was owed on them still. People were getting new Sprint phones for "free", then turning around and selling them on eBay, Craigslist. But they weren't free. They had signed a contract, and until the terms were fulfilled it was still Sprint's phones. So, it was really a scam.
In many countries, changing IMEI numbers is like changing VIN on a car. It's against the law, because either the car is stolen or some other bad intent is happening.
Sent from my carrier unlocked LG V30+ US998
cjshrader said:
I've done some research and can't find anything that says it is illegal in the United States, which is where I live. I do believe it's illegal in Europe but I don't intend to use the phone there so I'm not really concerned about that.
The way I see it I legally bought a phone. I was mislead a little bit, but the phone is not reported stolen so that means the original owner sold it legally to someone else who bought it. That original owner still owes Sprint money, but that should have nothing to do with the phone itself. So I'd just like to use the phone I paid for. I have an IMEI from an older phone that went into the toilet, so I don't really see the problem with swapping the IMEI of this one out for that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_cloning#Effectiveness_and_legislation
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/cell-phone-fraud
Contact your seller, explain the situation, and if the description didn't state the IMEI issue, or didn't state the item was AS-IS, contact paypal/ebay and open a dispute.
If it was stated, well, you knew what you where getting into!
Good luck!
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
cjshrader said:
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you paid by CC, just dispute the charges with your CC company and they'll give you your money back. (Chargeback) now if the seller indeed showed it was not usable, you're outta luck.
cjshrader said:
I appreciate all the comments from everyone. Although I'm not sure that simply changing your IMEI is specifically illegal, I can see 100% how someone could use that information to do something illegal and therefore this forum wouldn't want to discuss it.
I'm going to continue to try to use the resources nizmoboy98 provided to me to see if I can learn any more (They haven't been working so far and have me a little nervous that they are also some form of scam...but I'll give the benefit of the doubt).
If that doesn't give me any additional worthwhile information, then I'll have to sell it for parts on eBay and be much more upfront than the seller was to me. I won't make all my money back but maybe I can make some. (The seller did say the phone was as-is but also said the only problem with it was it was "Activated on someone else's account" which didn't mean the same thing to me as it did to him) I've learned a valuable and expensive lesson about checking IMEIs in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really sorry for what seems like a loss. The phone is a great phone. I hope something positive and inexpensive works in your favor.
Sent from my LG-H931 using XDA Labs
Just use some of the online services to sim unlock the phone. Screw the provider, they are all assholes.
That's if I understood correctly what you meant by "locked to another persons account"
Mr CATFISH said:
Really sorry for what seems like a loss. The phone is a great phone. I hope something positive and inexpensive works in your favor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate that, and even though I'm paying extra for one I'm definitely thinking it's going to be the next phone I get. I've been on a Note 4 for a long time and it's on its last legs.
adsubzero said:
Just use some of the online services to sim unlock the phone. Screw the provider, they are all assholes.
That's if I understood correctly what you meant by "locked to another persons account"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The IMEI is tied to that account, I don't think the SIM card would affect anything.
Josh McGrath said:
If you paid by CC, just dispute the charges with your CC company and they'll give you your money back. (Chargeback) now if the seller indeed showed it was not usable, you're outta luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The purchase was through Paypal, and since eBay and Paypal are generally in lock step together. That being said, I should still take a shot, it wouldn't hurt. This is effectively a bad IMEI phone, and the seller said the problem with it was it was "activated on someone else's account." Those two things don't mean the same to me.
cjshrader said:
The IMEI is tied to that account, I don't think the SIM card would affect anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's saying there are other providers who don't care that it's a blacklisted phone. That IF you get the phone carrier unlocked through an unlock code perhaps you can then use it with another service provider.
My understanding is there's a U.S. carrier blacklist covering all four major carriers. Whether there are loopholes, I don't know. Like maybe since is not actually been reported lost/stolen?
But there's also tons of U.S. MVNOs who may or may not suscribe to that list. Those MVNOs use the major carriers, like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, but provide their own SIM cards.
I'm just explaining what the other person meant. What you do is your own decision.
Sent from my official carrier unlocked LG V30+ US998
Try and search ebay for the this seller and message the seller any questions you have. Ask seller if you will get refund if it does not work . im guessing sites that provide this service knows someone that works at sprint and maybe pays them under the table to change status of imei
Hey all,
Just to close this topic I called eBay just to give it one more shot (I'd already opened a case and had it denied, even after appeal). After speaking with them, they told me it's against eBay policy to sell a phone with a bad IMEI so they will actually go through with the refund. I immediately bought another version of this phone on swappa, so basically I think this is the happiest possible ending (except for the seller on eBay, who is about to have their phone back).
Once again thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
cjshrader said:
Hey all,
Just to close this topic I called eBay just to give it one more shot (I'd already opened a case and had it denied, even after appeal). After speaking with them, they told me it's against eBay policy to sell a phone with a bad IMEI so they will actually go through with the refund. I immediately bought another version of this phone on swappa, so basically I think this is the happiest possible ending (except for the seller on eBay, who is about to have their phone back).
Once again thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sent the seller back a bad phone?
MicroMod777 said:
You sent the seller back a bad phone?
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Click to collapse
Well, with the refund it's now eBay seller's property (again)...
He can sell it to someone outside the U.S. and it will work.
MicroMod777 said:
You sent the seller back a bad phone?
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This is a year old thread ?