[Q] Sprint Note 3 - Ebay buy - ESN questions - Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Long time lurker - now a question. I bought a Note 3 for use on Sprint off Ebay - the SM-N900P. It was sold as a refurbished phone, new screen and side band. Phone arrived and went to activate - Bad ESN (reported lost or stolen). Notified the seller and he said he would take it back to Sprint for replacement.
There was a small scratch on the original phone that I had a picture of - right above the label for the ESN numbers. It was also a bit strange that the label says "WHITE" and the phone is black - but I figured the screen was replaced so - maybe a choice was made?
Sent the old phone back. Get the "new" phone back with a new ESN that is able to be activated on Sprint. It has the same scratch with a new label/ESN that still says it is WHITE (but the phone face and back are black).
Can someone tell me what likely happened here and do I need to be concerned?
Thanks,
Tetchy

Reply from seller
Tetchy said:
Long time lurker - now a question. I bought a Note 3 for use on Sprint off Ebay - the SM-N900P. It was sold as a refurbished phone, new screen and side band. Phone arrived and went to activate - Bad ESN (reported lost or stolen). Notified the seller and he said he would take it back to Sprint for replacement.
There was a small scratch on the original phone that I had a picture of - right above the label for the ESN numbers. It was also a bit strange that the label says "WHITE" and the phone is black - but I figured the screen was replaced so - maybe a choice was made?
Sent the old phone back. Get the "new" phone back with a new ESN that is able to be activated on Sprint. It has the same scratch with a new label/ESN that still says it is WHITE (but the phone face and back are black).
Can someone tell me what likely happened here and do I need to be concerned?
Thanks,
Tetchy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the reply from the seller - sounds feasible to me, but still interested in any feedback:
The process was that i received another phone with a clean esn. The phone was taken apart and the motherboard was put into the same shell. The phone is in practically new shape. The phone will not become bad or anything to do with that.​

You can do that.
Tetchy said:
The phone will not become bad or anything to do with that.[/INDENT]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's up for debate.

Related

yellow tint uk repair turnover time

anyone have any recent experience with sbe? they have my phone for the last week, and there is no sign of them returning it. i spoke to them this morning, but was told the same as i was told last thrusday another 7-10working days, its doing my nut really think about dumping the xperia because of this, cant be doing with another week without a phone.
It's not the reply you want, but mine took about 3 weeks. 1 week from sending it until it finally showed up on their system, a week of 'Awaiting replacement part' until they finally seemed to give in and changed it to 'Phone exchanged'. I got it maybe 4, 5 days later. On the plus side, it was at no cost to me, and I had a functional enough back up phone. Annoyed they didn't just switch it instantly though.
Lol - 3 fixed my screen and posted it back same day. Problem is they broke the illuminated bar and vol down button while they were at it. Sent it back to get those fixed and they did a 'software upgrade', which of course did nothing to fix the hardware issues!
Currently doing battle with them as I'm not interested in sending back for repair after they failed to fix it last time. At a minimum I want a new phone.
sent mine back & got a replacement direct from sony 2 weeks later!
Mine took just under two weeks -
Monday: I confirmed with Sony that they had plenty of parts, so posted phone
Wednesday: showed up as arrived at SBE, status with engineer
Friday evening: status changed to awaiting components
Tuesday: still awaiting components, complained to Sony that they'd told me they had parts which is why I sent it
Wednesday: status changed to exchanged, under testing
Friday: new phone arrived
Only problem I have is I sent them a sim unlocked O2 branded phone, and they sent me back a sim locked one so having to wait for O2 to give me a new unlock code :-(
Si
even when i log into the sbe tracking system nothing comes up. Been onto them yesterday and they said i would have to wait 7-10 working days yet they had my handset last tuesday. phoned sony then up to complain but they said it was out of their control as the engineer was still accessing the device......
I got a placement handset in just under a month. It may have been longer but I called up to find out what the delay was and they sent it the next day.
Sent from my LT26i using xda app-developers app
i sent mine in at the end of april
arrived at the beginning of june
the casing wasn't fitted correctly had to send it back
it arrived a week later
and now its got the yellow tint again :crying:
Few weeks ago I sent it to SBE to fix the issue. I got the phone back just over a week later and did a stress test on the screen, got it quite hot and seemed to be fine! Then I noticed the damage done to the device...
Similar to Rabangus by the look of it. There was a massive scratch out of the Illumination Bar and dents in the volume and camera buttons. My phone was perfect/new condition when I sent it.
Both white casings had been replaced, no idea why. Either they dropped it while repairing it or gave me a refurb phone and replaced the casing (but didn't see the damage to the buttons). The scratch on the bar is almost certainly when they tried to remove the bottom casing in either of these cases.
Its still under investigation but sent the phone off on Friday after they promised a full cosmetic repair job and the case is now 'VIP' (It has priority once they receive it, as they damaged it) Have asked them to ring me once they receive the phone. I know they are waiting for it to arrive as the repair department phoned me on the same Friday asking which colour I have. (They don't have black casing replacement parts, if it helps anyone. Lucky I have a white one)
My advice, check the phone before sending it, take pictures if necessary (not that they were needed for me) you never know!
Rabangus said:
Lol - 3 fixed my screen and posted it back same day. Problem is they broke the illuminated bar and vol down button while they were at it. Sent it back to get those fixed and they did a 'software upgrade', which of course did nothing to fix the hardware issues!
Currently doing battle with them as I'm not interested in sending back for repair after they failed to fix it last time. At a minimum I want a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you send me ur firmware file i dont have three firmware and need to send my phone for repair to sony
badboybiky said:
can you send me ur firmware file i dont have three firmware and need to send my phone for repair to sony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will if you tell me how to do it! My phone isn't rooted though, so not sure I would be able to?
If you're with 3, shouldn't you get your phone repaired through them? You run the risk of having your phone vandalised by their repair monkeys like mine was, but there is another thread where it seems Sony are commonly taking over a month to repair phones, whereas 3 mostly seem to take a couple of days...
Emailed their customer service yesterday and got a reply, stating they are waiting on the new yellow tint free screens, and new handset containing this new screen. If the new screen comes first it will be repaired and if the new units come in first it will be a new handset. The way it’s looking it’s going to be another 3 weeks. Not happy, love the phone but hate the customer service, shows a real lack of care on Sony’s part. They knew about the problem, yet its took them three months to properly fix the problem (if they actually have).
To the guys who had a new phone sent out to them, did you guys just get a phone sent out or a phone in a new box and accessories?
Cheers
wah007 said:
To the guys who had a new phone sent out to them, did you guys just get a phone sent out or a phone in a new box and accessories?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got a phone in a box, no accessories or anything - exactly what I sent them in the first place.
Si
i was without mine for 21 days (although the jubilee weekend didn't help) it was awaiting parts for most of the time.
the bad news is that it's still not completely "cured" and it's going back tomorrow it's a lot better than it was, it was almost going brown, but it's still not "white" around the edges on a white screen test
simonf7 said:
Just got a phone in a box, no accessories or anything - exactly what I sent them in the first place.
Si
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah right, thanks.
2 weeks snd i'm still waiting
they are hopefully resending mine back some point this week unfixed, spending that sort of money on a phone, and having poor customer service and repairs is bad. One dont know what the other is doing, with regards to parts, etc. I think this will be the last sony phone ill buy, if it was htc they would of had the device back alot sooner.
Can we still send our Xperia s with the yellow tint back once we have our bootlooader unlocked? Mine has just started with the yellow tint and ny bootlooader is unlocked. I remember seeing a while back that we could but I'm not sure. Does any one have the phone number for the UK Sony Xperia s? Thanks
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium
danlivesey said:
Can we still send our Xperia s with the yellow tint back once we have our bootlooader unlocked? Mine has just started with the yellow tint and ny bootlooader is unlocked. I remember seeing a while back that we could but I'm not sure. Does any one have the phone number for the UK Sony Xperia s? Thanks
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, mine was unlocked and since this is a manufacture problem it shouldn't matter at all.
To update this thread, after the second time of sending my phone back (because they damaged my phone) it went in for a full cosmetic repair, although I wrote a long letter and pretty much suggesting I should get a new phone....
I have a new undamaged phone with no tint problem!
Problem isn't the Sony customer support, they are the best support team I've used. The problem is with SBE....
Thanks il get a number for them and give them a ring, it's getting on my nerves now.
Sent from my LT26i using xda premium

[Q] After opening case, can't send/receive calls but have 5 bars?

I originally had trouble with GPS working intermittently and found the thread about bending the pins slightly and it worked. Now I have wonderful GPS signal but can't send or receive calls or messages.
WiFi works, GPS works, I have 5 full bars but I can't place or receive calls.
I suspect that opening the phone resulted in damaging something, but what? If the antenna is damaged than why would I have 5 bars?
I googled everything I could think of and couldn't come up with any clue, anything new to try would be helpful.
I was running Cyanogenmod 9 and ended up flashing the stock ROM but *NOTHING* helps.
Thanks,
Tim
Have you checked your APN settings?
reply:
uwannabananababy said:
Have you checked your APN settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I verified the APN settings. Even tried various other APN options that were recommended on other threads. Still nothing.
It's really weird, the signal displays sometimes 3, 4, or 5 bars and my other ATT phone works fine using the same SIM card.
Completely out in left field, but perhaps food for thought? http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=lyuGT3atgc8&desktop_uri=/watch?v=lyuGT3atgc8
BLACKSTAR X-SGH-I717 xda-developers app
Fixed - sent back to Samsung
I sent it back to Samsung for diagnostics. They said "Liquid damaged on PBA components" - which means the phone board assembly (main board).
Now I know for sure that I didn't get any liquid on any part of the phone what-so-ever, but since the repair was free, I'm not going to complain.
A suspicion is that the technicians are only given a few category codes to document the failure mode for the phone, and this seemed to be the closest one to the technician who looked at it.
What really happened is a mystery that may last for all time...
I can't wait to get the phone back so I can go rooted again!
-Tim
The water damage indicators are in the screws you remove to get inside.
rangercaptain said:
The water damage indicators are in the screws you remove to get inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh - how do they know that? There wasn't any obvious way to know I tampered with it...
-Tim
twelc said:
Huh - how do they know that? There wasn't any obvious way to know I tampered with it...
-Tim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe they watched you do the repair.
Bah
I have 2 Notes purchased second hand which exhibit the same symptoms. I tried everything, changing ROMs (including stock), modems, carrier unlocking, different SIM cards, restoring IMEIs, changed the power connecter board where I believe the cell ANT is, always got the 'Not Registered on Network' when trying to make a call. I could deactivate HSDPA and LTE in the service menu and still connect on the EDGE network.
There are a few threads on this subject, but the only way I've seen it resolved is sending the phone in for a replacement mainboard. Unfortunately that wasn't an option for me. Buyer Beware.
Well, I thought Samsung was going to repair it but they sent the phone back saying it was unrepairable.
They slapped a red dot behind where the battery sits and there's some kind of red plastic behind the antenna for the phone. So I know they took the back apart.
I called them and they said it's unrepairable, and I asked how can it be unrepairable - can't you repair the phone you invented? Anyway it's hard to get anywhere with them.
It's kind of weird though, everything works but no network lock.
Well, I guess I'll chock it up to experience and sell it on ebay and buy a used one.
Tim
Samsung refused to repair the unit under warranty - which is fine because I am responsible for breaking it and I don't expect them to pay for my mistake. However, I asked them to fix it and bill me for the damages and they said they couldn't repair it.
Huh, so I asked them how they can build such a nice and complex phone but can't figure out how to repair it?
They flat out refused so I asked to have it escalated.
The put me in contact with another customer service number and the first thing he asked was would I be willing to pay for the repair - of course! That's all I wanted in the first place.
Anyway, I paid $200 and this is the response concerning the problem and resolution. I should get the phone back by tomorrow in like new condition!
Original Problem:
TECHNICAL INQUIRY - LCD / TOUCH PANEL / LED - TOUCH SCREEN CRACKED - STD/LCD FEE
Problem found:
BAD BGA COMPONENT - LCD DAMAGED - ABUSE - REAR COVER - COSMETICS
Solution:
REPLACED LCD - REPLACED COSMETIC - REPLACED COMPONENT - REPLACED PBA
Sorry to hear you're still not back with us yet. Having an awful go of it. Surely they'll have you going soon.
BLACKSTAR XI -SGH-I717 xda-developers app SAMSUNG done right

[Q] SGH-I527 no calls in or out but

What's up fellers! Been gone a long time and know I am back. I got a deal on a I527 and found out the guy used a Metro-PCS sim. I didn't realize this until after I put my SIM in and saw ATT. I didn't see that when he had his SIM in there.
I read the 5 or 6 posts on not being able to make or take a call from a TMOBILE setup but since this may be a little different I thought I would post and give it a shot.
My symptoms are no calls (does nothing then emits a single beep then hangs up). Does the same when dialing out. 4G and everything else works 100% Phone is fast boots quick charges fast no complaints anywhere except the stinking call issue.
I used KIES to reload the stock ROM. Took about 20 minutes and completed. Still no calls. Here are the details
Phone has the ATT logo on back, says SGH-i527, has I527UCUAMK2 all 3 places. I talked to ATT customer service and they said the IMEI points to a SGHNM819N. But nothing on the phone indicate metro PCS.
I use to hack back in the ATT Tilt days. Not anymore. I had a small stroke and can't do all this complex stuff anymore. If someone points me in the right direction I can follow instructions but it seems to have gotten a lot more cumbersome to do these days.
All I am looking for is bone stock reset where everything works. I can wait for KitKat to come out so I would like a clean fix.
My sim is a ATT. The service agent online assured me the SIM was fine. My old phone was a Skyrocket that got wet. So the MEGA needed a smaller SIM. I picked it up today and swapped phones.
Thanks for any help and I am willing to pay for someone's quick help. I use the phone for work and right now I am pinched.
SD
I had a similar experience when I bought a used mega, picked up full signal, eveything worked except that I couldn't make or receive calls, I just got a single beep. I even went to an at&t store and got a new sim card, still didn't work.
The guy who helped me at the store said the sim tray was bad, made it sound like it was a common. Issue. gave me the number to the warranty dept, said they might cover it. I called them told them what happened and what the rep told me at the store.
They sent me a replacement at no charge.
my phone done that when my imei was replaced with a galaxy s4's imei. I finially found a guy that put the imei from another i527 into my phone, he also replaced that sticker behind the battery from the mega he used to fix mine so everything matches
banks2878 said:
my phone done that when my imei was replaced with a galaxy s4's imei. I finially found a guy that put the imei from another i527 into my phone, he also replaced that sticker behind the battery from the mega he used to fix mine so everything matches
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a look and sure enough the IMEI on the phone is different than the sticker in the back. I googled about 6 different IMEI sites US and EU based and checked out both numbers. Every single site says both comeback good. Nothing stolen or odd. A couple of site said not locked. I would like to have matching IMEI numbers. I would like the one used on the label. How hard is it to get rid of the one on the phone and make it match the label.
I don't think ATT will let me swap this out for a new one. I am not the original owner and there is no insurance on it.
Thanks
SD
I sent you a private message so you can have it taken care of the right way and don't get messed around like I did my first time around
SMACk-DAB said:
I took a look and sure enough the IMEI on the phone is different than the sticker in the back. I googled about 6 different IMEI sites US and EU based and checked out both numbers. Every single site says both comeback good. Nothing stolen or odd. A couple of site said not locked. I would like to have matching IMEI numbers. I would like the one used on the label. How hard is it to get rid of the one on the phone and make it match the label.
I don't think ATT will let me swap this out for a new one. I am not the original owner and there is no insurance on it.
Thanks
SD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't the original owner and didn't have insurance, just had service with at&t. The phone hasn't been out for a year, so it's under warranty unless something shady was done to it. In my case the numbers all matched.
banks2878 said:
I sent you a private message so you can have it taken care of the right way and don't get messed around like I did my first time around
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I don't see the PM yet. Let me know what I need to do.
Thank you,
John

Big issue with phone model and 4G capability..

I bought a samsung galaxy s3 SGH-T999RWATMB from ebay. The seller said it was brand new but did not include a sim card. I was suspecting that the phoen was refurbished or used and being sold as new because normally new tmobile phones come with an new unused sim card in the box. Once I received it in the mail I saw that it was shrink rapped. So I thought it is brand new. I opened the box and after picking up the phone I immediately noticed that the back cover was not properly clipped into place. So maybe it was tampered with and the ebay seller shrink wrapped it to make it seem like it is brand new. I did not see the traditional tmobile plastic cover on the screen that says "do not use your old sim card. use the new sim card provided in this box". Instead, it was a colorful one that said it had a quad core processor.
Once the phone was turned on I immediately noticed that I was getting the Edge connection. I tried to update the apn settings to avail. It showed 4G but then after a while it kicked me off of 4G and automatically showed the Edge connection symbol. The internet is extremely slow on the phone. I had tmobile phones before and I would get strong 4G signals at home. the listing on ebay said it was a 4G capable phone, but obviously it is not. this is an older model I think. I called a tmobile store and the rep told me that all S3s have 4G capability except the one not sold by tmobile which is an older model that came out before tmobile had 4G, but the back cover of the phone said tmboile. So to make a long story short I think I got the short end of the deal on this transaction.
I am confused more than ever over this. Should I just return the phone or is there a fix for this? by the way, when I boot up the phone it displays the "android 4G" splash screen.
I am thinking maybe this phone was rooted or something.
The android OS version on the phone is 4.1.2.
dial *#0*# to check if is original
alecore said:
dial *#0*# to check if is original
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dialed that and I get a series of buttons on the screen. Seems like a diagnostic interface or something.

So I'm going to check out a used G2 tomorrow.

Found a "broken" G2 in the ads today, I might go check it out tomorrow. The seller is selling it for a very low price (somewhere around 150 USD) because the phone can't register to a network. Using my previous knowledge of other Android phones and the knowledge I acquired during my time with my own G2, I've deduced the following (ordered from least likely to most likely):
- the phone was dropped and the radio cable got detached (fairly easy fix, take the phone apart and reattach everything, the physical state of the phone can't be deduced from a single photo that's put online)
- the SIM tray is faulty because at the photo I got, a no SIM icon is visible (though that could've been taken without a SIM in the phone)
- something or someone messed up the EFS partition (I plan on checking whether the phone's bootloader root checker has been tripped, if the IMEI is okay, if it has a custom recovery, etc). The phone seems to have a stock ROM which I suspect someone flashed, or tried to factory reset the phone (which raised a suspicion described below).
But the most likely situation is that the phone was stolen. Why? Well:
- if the phone can't register to a network, its IMEI may be blacklisted
- the phone is being sold without any equipment, not even its box. The guy says it was sold to him like that, which makes me even more suspicious. I have some friends working in certain operators here, I'll snoop around once I get a hold of the phone's IMEI. If I can't get a straight story out of him, I'll try some intimidation or to knock down the price to oblivion, being that the phone might be stolen, and use it for parts, if my ways of finding its owner turn up dry.
Do you guys have any additional tips on what to check? I plan on putting my own SIM card in and trying to run some diagnostics from the hidden menus to see what's what.
robogo1982 said:
Found a "broken" G2 in the ads today, I might go check it out tomorrow. The seller is selling it for a very low price (somewhere around 150 USD) because the phone can't register to a network. Using my previous knowledge of other Android phones and the knowledge I acquired during my time with my own G2, I've deduced the following (ordered from least likely to most likely):
- the phone was dropped and the radio cable got detached (fairly easy fix, take the phone apart and reattach everything, the physical state of the phone can't be deduced from a single photo that's put online)
- the SIM tray is faulty because at the photo I got, a no SIM icon is visible (though that could've been taken without a SIM in the phone)
- something or someone messed up the EFS partition (I plan on checking whether the phone's bootloader root checker has been tripped, if the IMEI is okay, if it has a custom recovery, etc). The phone seems to have a stock ROM which I suspect someone flashed, or tried to factory reset the phone (which raised a suspicion described below).
But the most likely situation is that the phone was stolen. Why? Well:
- if the phone can't register to a network, its IMEI may be blacklisted
- the phone is being sold without any equipment, not even its box. The guy says it was sold to him like that, which makes me even more suspicious. I have some friends working in certain operators here, I'll snoop around once I get a hold of the phone's IMEI. If I can't get a straight story out of him, I'll try some intimidation or to knock down the price to oblivion, being that the phone might be stolen, and use it for parts, if my ways of finding its owner turn up dry.
Do you guys have any additional tips on what to check? I plan on putting my own SIM card in and trying to run some diagnostics from the hidden menus to see what's what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like you got it all covered! Best of luck.
Hello, even if you have a friend inside, It would do you well to use one of those online IMEI Blacklist checkers, if the phone is from a US carrier and it happens to be stolen/blacklisted theres a good chance that it will appear.
Anywho, so how will you do it? Will the seller lend you the phone for a couple of hours for you to check all these things? Or Will you be gambling for it?
Best of luck, the G2 is freaking awesome! I'm having a blast!
Definitely worth it. I bought a sprint lg g2 that was "bricked" in TWRP after they tried to OTA. Lmao got it for $40! Unlocked and am using now
Bought one recently (advertised as faulty antenna) but it had a messed up EFS. IMEI was null. Checked IMEI and it was fine. Restored IMEI and phone is flying fine.. Good luck on purchase.

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