Related
Hey guys, i might be buying a note 2 very soon .. I was just wondering if any of u got it unlocked? If yes then HOW MUCH DID YOU SPEND ..
Cellunlock.net offers it for 25$. Looking for some cheap alternatives !!
Call T-Mobile, and ask to have the phone unlocked. I had to fax them a receipt (a t-mobile one, which made no sense to me), along with my remedy trouble ticket number, and imei. They later sent me the unlock code. Free.
My store said they would do it for free after 30 days.
I paid the $25 because I didn't want to wait and I wanted to try it out on ATT.
i was thinking to buy a tmobile one and use it at my local network .. for that I need the unlock code .. 25$ is not what I am looking to spend ..
Again, it's free if you buy a t-mobile one and call their customer service to get the unlock code.
mdt73 said:
Again, it's free if you buy a t-mobile one and call their customer service to get the unlock code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they give you static, just tell them you plan to go overseas and need it unlocked for that.
I dont think they will give the code to a new contract !!
Tell them you are going out of the country, and if they won't budge contact me and I can get it unlocked for about $15.
Guys, chill out. There is really no need to be so concerned about unlock codes. I work for T-Mobile, and I want to offer some advice. Completely on my personal accord, not as part of my job with T-Mobile of course. Mind you, I will not do anything that violates any NDA or other agreement, contract, association that I have with T-Mobile, but I can offer the policy information, since it is not anything I wouldn't tell any other customer I talked to as part of the job.
Basically, if you buy a phone from T-Mobile you can get it unlocked, so long as you are at least 40 days into your account. Not contract, not tenure, but account. The account you are using the phone on has to have been open at least 40 days. You also have to have used the phone on that a line on that account. Meaning you made at least 1-2 minutes worth of phone calls.
Otherwise, assuming you bought it and do not want to use it on your account, you can send in proof of purchase that you bought it at full cost, or they can see on your account that you bought it. Phone purchases in store, just to address one earlier comment, do not always show the full receipt information (device, etc) and that is why a fax is required. Purchases made through customer care, online, or through telesales, are viewable through the proper phone team.
If you buy a phone at full cost and DO NOT have a T-Mobile account, you can get it unlocked by calling in and providing the imei number and they will submit the request. No faxing or any other hassle. Many agents are not aware of this exception in the policy because it does not come up all that often. So you may get someone on the line who is unaware and will swear up and down that it is not part of policy. I, personally, have had to spend time talking to managers who did not even know this part of policy. However, it is a part of a policy, and therefore is the easiest way to unlock the device.
There are other little minor things in policy, but most of what I have said is for the average buyer. Also, note that 'going overseas' is not any sort of exception to policy. If you do not meet the normal policy requirements, you could be going to the moon for all it matters and it would not be any reason to go outside of policy. The requests are completed by an offline team, and they are strict to policy. I have seen many customers get angry because "the store told me I could just call in and unlock it" or "I am going overseas in two days and that is why I bought the phone in the first place." If you say you are going overseas, then you will just be offered international roaming information for using T-Mobile overseas, or be told about cancelling your contract, paying any applicable ETF, and then getting the unlock request submitted in as part of the cancelled account part of the policy (which has its own set of requirements).
As a disclaimer I will say that while I work for T-Mobile, I am not writing this as part of any association with T-Mobile, and I do not condone any abuse of policy or misrepresentation in order to circumvent or manipulate policy. I also will not do anything outside of policy for anyone. I am unable to submit any unlock requests for anyone or call in for anyone or do anything of the such.
However, I do hope my advice helps.
The only real time to pay to get the device unlocked is if you just bought the phone at a discount, started a brand new T-Mobile account, and are under 40 days since activating your account.
phoenixbennu said:
Guys, chill out.[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just to back phoenix up (thanks for the writeup btw) i've done this twice on Tmo
- 30+ days into my value plan and I requested the code for my s3, had it the next day in my email.
- paid full price for another s3, same thing, didn't have to wait at all, just called and requested the same day.
easy as pie.
Thanx phoenix... N other guys .. I will try to get it done from t mobile only ..
I purchased the phone outright from T-Mobile, did the fax thing the next day, and proceeded to wait about a week for the unlock team to get me my code. Glad I didn't need to have it with Solavei. Of course I found that out after the fact, lol!
mdt73 said:
I purchased the phone outright from T-Mobile, did the fax thing the next day, and proceeded to wait about a week for the unlock team to get me my code. Glad I didn't need to have it with Solavei. Of course I found that out after the fact, lol!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All carriers are required to unlock phones at the customers request, it was put into law a year ago or so. Same law that said jailbreaking/rooting is legal and cannot void a warranty. No one knows about it yet because it loses money for telecoms, but they can't refuse to unlock your phone because it is illegal to do so.
You do know there's a write up to unlock this phone for free right ?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using XDA Premium HD app
So in nov I signed up with tmobile and got the note and a gs3 for my wife. I plan on selling the note and getting the s4 in march. I call tmobile to pay it off and they tell me I have to pay both phones off? This isn't what the agent told me when I signed up. He knew I swap phones about every 6 months. So my question is why can't I pay the note off separate? My wife never upgrades her phone plus it would lower my bill per month down. Tmobile is ending the subsidiaries anyways so I don't see what the issue is? The reason I went gsm is to be able to put any phone on the carrier as I like, such as international versions.
Talk to a different rep. Cause that rep is an asshole
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Nope just spoke to customer relations and was told it cannot be done until tmobile ends the subsidiaries in a few months. No way in hell I'm paying $700+ for both phones. Basically the rep I signed up with flat out lied to me. If I would of known this I would of just bought my note full retail. Really ticked off right now.
$720 for both phones + $600 or so for the s4 is just too much for me.
3rd damn carrier that seems to lure their customers in with lies. Who would refuse me paying off a phone today? Basically I was told their systems cannot allow only one device to be payed off until may when they change their policies. This is really going to screw over a lot of people. I just don't get it.
Can anyone explain tmobiles logic in this? I'm baffled.
I've heard that since it was Even More Plus. The credit line is for everything combined, you can't separate them out. No idea if that's the truth, but they have been consistent in telling me that. If you were lied to, that really sucks and, IMO, they should try to do something for you. No idea what, but they could offer something.
Not much help, but at least confirming what they are telling you now anyway.
ttabbal said:
I've heard that since it was Even More Plus. The credit line is for everything combined, you can't separate them out. No idea if that's the truth, but they have been consistent in telling me that. If you were lied to, that really sucks and, IMO, they should try to do something for you. No idea what, but they could offer something.
Not much help, but at least confirming what they are telling you now anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have it in writing too from the original kiosk rep. I'm really ticked as I talk to this guy all the time when I'm at the mall. Tmobile is investigating what he told me and I've notified his manger. This really screws anyone who wants to get another phone anytime before may. I just don't understand the logic. Why would they care if I decide to pay the device off? Now I'm screwed if I wanted to get the s4 in a few weeks unless I add a 3rd line.
Now I can see why so many go prepaid. To avoid all of the carrier BS. This is worse then what I dealt with on both sprint and Verizon.
There has to be a loophole for this. Any ideas guys?
It does make sense that the credit extended is put into one loan. I'm sure it makes it easier on the accounting for them....... BUT...... If that guy told you something different, I would go straight to him and have him help you get this sorted out immediately. He's the one that gave you misinformation, I would make him spend time working to correct it also.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
yeah, this really makes no sense to me why they would require this just because the phone accounts are linked? Just to be sure though, I'm going to make sure I buy my phone and my wife's phone separately.
Im told its becuase both phones were purchased together but that was becuase thats the day i switched from verizon to tmobile. The rep knew i switch devices often and told me it wouldnt be an issue. I got an email from the manager that they are investigating. If any of you bought the phones together id check on this. Im glad they are ending the pay per month on the phones BS. From now on ill pay full price.
This happened to me too. Opened a tmo business account and bought an S3 and a cheap text phone for the wife. Financed $500 between the two, and was told I could pay them off seperately. The note 2 comes out, so I go to pay the balance of the S3. I was told the same, you have to pay both off because they where contracted at ths same time. But I still had enough available credit to finance the note 2, swap the sim from the S3 in to the note 2, put the S3 on Craigslist, it sold the next day for the $400 balance I had on the note 2. Walked in to tmo the very next day and paid the note 2 off.
This is just an idea, I don't know for sure if it will work, but when I bought
my Note and my wife's phone, they told me that is no penalty if I pay
the phone(s) in advance OR if I pay more per month to shorten the pay
period of 20 months.
So, I guess you can go into the store and tell them you want to pay, let's say
$300 in the account for the phones. That will lower your montly payment, just
like you payed yours out and not "mess" with they're account number.
It's worth a try anyway....
Wait. So I have a $2000 credit on my account for devices. There's like $700 available. Your saying they won't let me pay a partial payment towards that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
I think you can make a partial payment, but your monthly bill stays the same until its all paid off
mikeyinid said:
Wait. So I have a $2000 credit on my account for devices. There's like $700 available. Your saying they won't let me pay a partial payment towards that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was told flat out i cannot pay off just one device, it has to be all of them or none until they end the subsidies and change their systems in may. im waiting to hear back from the store manager.
stevessvt said:
I think you can make a partial payment, but your monthly bill stays the same until its all paid off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the way tmobile does business is BS. never had this issue on sprint or verizon, i could swap phones when ever i wanted without penalties. knowing me the s4 will be announced and ill get impatient and just pay the $720 off and get the new phone lol. from now on ill always just buy my devices outright.
You could do what I did. Pay the deposit on the new phone and finance the rest, sell the old phone, then pay off the new phone.
premiatul said:
This is just an idea, I don't know for sure if it will work, but when I bought
my Note and my wife's phone, they told me that is no penalty if I pay
the phone(s) in advance OR if I pay more per month to shorten the pay
period of 20 months.
So, I guess you can go into the store and tell them you want to pay, let's say
$300 in the account for the phones. That will lower your montly payment, just
like you payed yours out and not "mess" with they're account number.
It's worth a try anyway....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i get what your saying but until these phones are payed off i wouldn't be able to activate the s4 or whatever phone on the current lines without penalty. id have to open a 3rd line. if i cannot get this resolved i guess ill just have to wait until they change their systems in late april or may.
stevessvt said:
You could do what I did. Pay the deposit on the new phone and finance the rest, sell the old phone, then pay off the new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's when tmobile gets the s4, i was planning on buying the international version as it will ship much sooner than the US carriers will get it. plus from now on i won't finance phones from tmobile, ill buy them outright. if that's what you meant buy putting a deposit down.
it's my fault for believing the rep and not reading all of the fine print. the dude must be like a car salesman. says anything for a sale.
fix-this! said:
i was told flat out i cannot pay off just one device, it has to be all of them or none until they end the subsidies and change their systems in may. im waiting to hear back from the store manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the case, which I will call tomorrow and find out, me and tmobile are gonna have a huge problem. I upgrade very often. If I can't pay a portion of that off to free up space for a new device there's no point.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
mikeyinid said:
If that is the case, which I will call tomorrow and find out, me and tmobile are gonna have a huge problem. I upgrade very often. If I can't pay a portion of that off to free up space for a new device there's no point.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here man, i upgrade very often. go ahead and call and i bet you get the same response i was given. once they end the subsidies and change the policies you will be able to pay just one device off. "take that with a grain of salt". to me this just doesn't make much business sense. if i finance two cars at the same time for lets say 2 years and decide to pay one of them off early i doubt anyone would be complaining getting their money early.
fix-this! said:
Nope just spoke to customer relations and was told it cannot be done until tmobile ends the subsidiaries in a few months. No way in hell I'm paying $700+ for both phones. Basically the rep I signed up with flat out lied to me. If I would of known this I would of just bought my note full retail. Really ticked off right now.
$720 for both phones + $600 or so for the s4 is just too much for me.
3rd damn carrier that seems to lure their customers in with lies. Who would refuse me paying off a phone today? Basically I was told their systems cannot allow only one device to be payed off until may when they change their policies. This is really going to screw over a lot of people. I just don't get it.
Can anyone explain tmobiles logic in this? I'm baffled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Business 101.... get it in writing otherwise it's hearsay
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 05:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 AM ----------
fix-this! said:
same here man, i upgrade very often. go ahead and call and i bet you get the same response i was given. once they end the subsidies and change the policies you will be able to pay just one device off. "take that with a grain of salt". to me this just doesn't make much business sense. if i finance two cars at the same time for lets say 2 years and decide to pay one of them off early i doubt anyone would be complaining getting their money early.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmm a car and a cellphone are two different anomalies... .
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Hi All,
I searched and saw many threads about a similar problem, but my specific question is what can I do about this as far as getting rid of the phone? I learned my lesson the hard way - I dropped my HTC One and broke it a day before a business trip and I needed a phone. I am planning on switching to T-mobile in a month when my AT&T contract is up, so I decided to purchase a T-mobile variant of the Galaxy S4 on Craigslist. It was new, sealed, and cost $500 from what seemed like a somewhat reputable seller.
I got the phone and all was great. It was unlocked and worked perfectly with my AT&T SIM. I got home from the business trip, put in a T-mobile prepaid SIM card (so I could test the service at my house before switching) and got the dreaded "Not registered on network" error message when I tried to make a call. Sure enough, T-mobile said the IMEI had been blacklisted for "fraudulent activity." I believe the seller opened an account and then simply didn't pay the bill for the phone. I've bought quite a few used phones, but I learned my lesson this time. I even asked T-mobile if I could pay the remaining balance, or if they even wanted the phone back. I received a prompt "no" to each question. I asked if the phone was "stolen" and they said no as well - it was marked as fraudulent, but not lost of stolen. Whatever they want to call it, it don't work!
So my question is this (and sorry for the long-winded vent): can I sell this phone? I just want it gone. I look at it and I get angry and upset with myself for making this mistake. I know I will lose a ton of $$$, but I would rather sell it on eBay while FULLY disclosing the phone's history and let someone overseas use it or someone on AT&T use it. Am I violating any rules by doing this as long as I fully disclose everything I know? Also, if this is the wrong forum, I apologize. Thank you for any insight and to save you all the trouble - yes I screwed up and I'm an idiot. But, I'm not the thief here. I sure wish I could get a hole of the seller!
-Collin-
i had the same happen to me this weekend i bought a sealed s4 from cl i also payed 500$ it was for great for 3 weeks up until this weekend i wasn;t getting 4g data so i called tmobile and they told me that that they blocked the imei sue to the person deciding not to pay for the phone..i learned my lesson NEVER TO BUY any phones from Cl. i went to the store and paid retail price for a s4 and i have the receipt just in case tmobile comes back and try to screw me
CollinFX45 said:
Hi All,
I searched and saw many threads about a similar problem, but my specific question is what can I do about this as far as getting rid of the phone? I learned my lesson the hard way - I dropped my HTC One and broke it a day before a business trip and I needed a phone. I am planning on switching to T-mobile in a month when my AT&T contract is up, so I decided to purchase a T-mobile variant of the Galaxy S4 on Craigslist. It was new, sealed, and cost $500 from what seemed like a somewhat reputable seller.
I got the phone and all was great. It was unlocked and worked perfectly with my AT&T SIM. I got home from the business trip, put in a T-mobile prepaid SIM card (so I could test the service at my house before switching) and got the dreaded "Not registered on network" error message when I tried to make a call. Sure enough, T-mobile said the IMEI had been blacklisted for "fraudulent activity." I believe the seller opened an account and then simply didn't pay the bill for the phone. I've bought quite a few used phones, but I learned my lesson this time. I even asked T-mobile if I could pay the remaining balance, or if they even wanted the phone back. I received a prompt "no" to each question. I asked if the phone was "stolen" and they said no as well - it was marked as fraudulent, but not lost of stolen. Whatever they want to call it, it don't work!
So my question is this (and sorry for the long-winded vent): can I sell this phone? I just want it gone. I look at it and I get angry and upset with myself for making this mistake. I know I will lose a ton of $$$, but I would rather sell it on eBay while FULLY disclosing the phone's history and let someone overseas use it or someone on AT&T use it. Am I violating any rules by doing this as long as I fully disclose everything I know? Also, if this is the wrong forum, I apologize. Thank you for any insight and to save you all the trouble - yes I screwed up and I'm an idiot. But, I'm not the thief here. I sure wish I could get a hole of the seller!
-Collin-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Collin. I had a similar issue with an HTC one being blacklisted but thankfully I bought it from eBay and their buyers protection came into play and I got a full refund. Because blacklisting is a very effective way to lose a heck load of money, I now suggest not getting phones from craisgslist or actually meeting at a carrier store to check phone status before the purchase is made. I'd stick to buying on eBay or swappa..now my suggestion is selling the phone overseas where the blocked imei doesn't really work. That would be the best option for now and you'll lose money but because it is basically a relatively new phone, you should not loose too much. Hope this helps.
-piterson
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Thank you guys for the thoughts. It's terrible that this sort of thing happens and personally, I wouldn't risk jail for 500 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't risk jail for any amount of money. It just blows me away that these people do this.
I guess what I will likely do is list it on eBay internationally with a full disclosure. Thankfully, my HTC One repair is finally complete and the phone should be back in my hands any day now. But, it's the developer edition and doesn't work well on T-mobile, so I'm back to square one for a T-mobile phone!
Anyway, sorry that this happened to you guys as well. It's just not as simple as it used to be, is it. Though I guess blacklisting has been used for a while now.
-Collin-
i listed mine on ebay with full disclosure and its not looking good..so far i have 4 days left in the auction and 1 day has passed & no one bid on it yet lol your best bet to purchase a new phone is go straight through tmobile unless you want to risk swappa or ebay then a month later if they cancel or don;t pay for the phone for it to happen again ... i would n;t risk it
CollinFX45 said:
Thank you guys for the thoughts. It's terrible that this sort of thing happens and personally, I wouldn't risk jail for 500 bucks. Hell, I wouldn't risk jail for any amount of money. It just blows me away that these people do this.
I guess what I will likely do is list it on eBay internationally with a full disclosure. Thankfully, my HTC One repair is finally complete and the phone should be back in my hands any day now. But, it's the developer edition and doesn't work well on T-mobile, so I'm back to square one for a T-mobile phone!
Anyway, sorry that this happened to you guys as well. It's just not as simple as it used to be, is it. Though I guess blacklisting has been used for a while now.
-Collin-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Romcrazguy said:
i listed mine on ebay with full disclosure and its not looking good..so far i have 4 days left in the auction and 1 day has passed & no one bid on it yet lol your best bet to purchase a new phone is go straight through tmobile unless you want to risk swappa or ebay then a month later if they cancel or don;t pay for the phone for it to happen again ... i would n;t risk it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bummer. Did you list it internationally? I know you probably can't link to eBay, but can you give me the auction number? I want to watch and cheer you on
-Collin-
There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.
lancemoreland said:
There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate that information. Unfortunately from my limited research, I think this thread will get locked if we even go down that road since it is illegal. Argh.
-Collin-
Wow. that sucks so much. The worst I have experienced in craigslist is some guy tried to scam me out of an iPod touch that i found. I still remember the email. It said something along the lines of:
Can you please send this device to my son in Africa? I will pay you full price for the phone + $50 dollars of shipping!
I knew it was a fake because 1) the email they sent was a very random email. (like [email protected]) and 2) PHONE? it's not a phone. thats how i knew that he was scamming multiple people and just copying and pasting.
Oh craigslist is full of scammers and idiots.
Yeah that's what these scammers are doing, buy the phone on a payment plan and not make the payment. A lot of times unknowing buyers get the phone and it will work for a month till payment is due but not paid. I see great deals on CL but steer clear.
The best thing to do is unlocked the device and sell it Internationally via eBay. I have a GS3 in my possesion that my wife's little brother bought from CL and was later blacklisted since the person reported it stolen two hours later after he took the cash.
lancemoreland said:
There are services on ebay that will change the IMEI for $50.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is right it is illegal and if caught could face jail time.
Wayne Tech Nexus
i just got a s4 on ebay for 420 i call tmobile they told the imei is clean that dont worry about future non payment fraud or blacklisted the lady told me when i get the phone is going to be in my account so the owner will have to pay any remaining balance but they cannot block the phone idk know im worry
Whenever I buy something from craiglist I always ask for 2 valid ID and have them photocopy.
I'll buy it for parts. If interested inbox me. Thanks!
I had the same damn thing happen but with a Galaxy S2 a while back. What I had to do is buy a used motherboard from a cracked screen one on eBay. Spent way more on the phone than I intended but all I did was switch the motherboards and voila. Good as new.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Just sell try and sell it on Craigslist and ebay. Specify that it is blacklisted with tmobile but it ia unlocked so you can use it with att. Here's one and it's at almost 300 with 17h left on the auction
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=200948373767
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
elflip88 said:
Just sell try and sell it on Craigslist and ebay. Specify that it is blacklisted with tmobile but it ia unlocked so you can use it with att. Here's one and it's at almost 300 with 17h left on the auction
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=200948373767
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read not long ago that AT&T and T-Mobile started sharing IMEI blacklist. Not sure if the policy is in effect yet or not.
baseballfanz said:
I read not long ago that AT&T and T-Mobile started sharing IMEI blacklist. Not sure if the policy is in effect yet or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Op said he used it on att network so my guess is no
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
rona809 said:
i just got a s4 on ebay for 420 i call tmobile they told the imei is clean that dont worry about future non payment fraud or blacklisted the lady told me when i get the phone is going to be in my account so the owner will have to pay any remaining balance but they cannot block the phone idk know im worry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
Walk away.
I bought an almost new S3 LTE SGH-T999L for my son off CL. It checked OK on swappa and it worked for a week, then unable to connect to network. Swappa now says blacklisted. DOH!
It sucks to have a $350 paper weight! I tried to contact the seller with no luck.
Couple questions...
Any way to fix it?
Can this model be downgraded to 4.1.1 to use free unlock method and even then will it possibly work on anther carrier is the US. I know it will work outside the US if unlocked.
I contacted T-Mobile and they said nothing I can do, only the original owner can have the blacklist lifted.
Any help or advice much appreciated!
Also let this be a lesson to all...just because it works when you buy it, don't mean it wont go belly-up in a week. :crying:
Sorry I didn't answer your PM before. Wasn't ignoring you. Unfortunately your options are extremely limited.
You will have to pay for an unlock code online (see the last couple pages of the unlock thread), and then sell overseas. Just please be honest about it to whoever you sell it to in case they plan on bringing it to the states.
Personally, I'd also file a police report. May not come to anything, but if the guy gets arrested for anything else, or enough people file a report against him for similar stuff, you may then have some recourse against him. But he has twice committed fraud, or theft by deception (or something like that). First against T-Mobile, then against you.
Once unlocked, it might work on other carriers here, but not for long. I'm told all US carriers will be sharing the same blacklist by year's end. I've also heard it may also be shared with Canadian carriers as well.
Sorry to hear that happened to you. You're definitely not alone! This happens all the time, unfortunately.
Never buy used unless you make the transaction in person at a T-Mobile store where the seller can prove they have paid for the device in full and are allowed to sell it. Also, have a note made on both accounts (preferably by a manager) that the sale is made so they can't report it stolen a few weeks later.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
I hear you, but it never goes down like that. I've bought and sold 30 or 40 smartphones. First time I've ever got burnt. I make small profit along, but this one is a stinger. I've had people want to meet me at Verizon, ATT and T-Mobile and every time I met them there all the store employees would say is if the sim card works it's ok.
Of course you could ask for a receipt...but what if it's a reseller like myself? I've had one receipt the whole time. Most of the time you can spot a fraud and steer clear. I check esn on swappa and/or Verizon site. I guess it's just a risky thing and I've been very lucky so far.
I did get a guy on ebay to unlock the phone for $10 last night. It works with a Lycamobile sim(T-Mobile reseller) and also works with a new LTE ATT Straight Talk sim...recieves LTE even. Maybe not for long...but it works fine now and it's been blacklisted about a month.
Guy on ebay unlocks clean phones for $5 & blacklisted for $10, he does remote into your pc to do it, but it only takes 2-3 minutes. He gave me the code, but it was never needed.
I'm a PagePlus dealer and I do alot of carrier flashing, not to beat blacklist, but to get more use from older 3G devices. Anytime I sell a phone I always give a 2 days return policy if they change their mind.
The seller of the phone should be able to get some sort of confirmation off of his own account showing he is not currently making payments on it. If the employees are only saying to see if the SIM works, they are just being lazy or ignorant! With the owners permission they can look it up, or call support from the phone and have him ask them to verify on speaker so you can hear. I'm just trying to say there's other ways to get the info before buying.
I'd say that if you've bought that many you are pretty lucky. But for the blacklisted one that worked on other carriers...expect it not to on AT&T very soon and all other US carriers around the end of the year. Right now T-Mobile and AT&T share their lists, but don't use the same one, so it'll often take a few weeks to catch up. As I understand it, once the national list is in place, all carriers will be using the same one so it'll be more instant.
I have spoken to a few people who bought their phone used and all seemed good, but then nearly 2 months later it got blacklisted! Some people are apparently selling it, but then waiting a month or two to report it stolen!
I just hope that if one of your customers gets blacklisted a few weeks after buying from you, you will be willing to at least exchange it.
But before you try and sell this one, please consider that it's practically a given that it's not gonna work for very long.
Also, (and I'm not sure of the ramifications here) keep in mind that you are knowingly in possession of stolen property. That by itself is probably not a big deal for you, legally speaking, since it happens to so many people and hardly no one knows what they are buying when this happens to them. But if you sell it, you will be knowingly selling stolen goods. If one of your customers gets blacklisted, you could be the one held liable.
Don't take it wrong, I'm just trying to help!
And I'm just curious, what do you mean by "carrier flashing"?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
I understand where you're coming from and I will not sell this phone except to one particular customer who takes them outside the country. My son is using it now on LycaMobile which is a UK based reseller using T-Molile towers. We will see how long it lasts...strange circumstance there since the provider is not from the US, will they also adhere to universal blacklist? I dunno...time will tell. At $30 per month they are cheapest unlimited I know of(Only 50MB 4G data, then 2G/3G).
I run a legitimate part time business and have rarely had phones returned, but always made the customer happy. Happy customers come back and most of my profit is selling refills and flashing/rooting/unlocking...not the actual phone sales.
Carrier flashing: Mainly I've flashed older Metro phones to work on PagePlus and GS3's from Sprint or Verizon must be flashed for pageplus because they don't yet allow 4G phones. I never do any ESN changes. I'm an old techie and I go way back to Nextel mods in mid 90's. lol
BTW I installed CM 10.1.2 RC2 right from the phone yesterday after originally flashing the CM10 linked in Doc's T999L thread. It flashed perfect right through CM update utility automatically and seems to run perfectly.
I'm currently with Sprint and would love to switch to Tmobile. That being said has anyone ever had Tmobile help pay or credit when switching to Tmobile?
i know i've read someone claiming that in the past but i cant' find the story via search. My closest corporate store is about 40min away so not sure its worth trying or not.
knives of ice said:
I'm currently with Sprint and would love to switch to Tmobile. That being said has anyone ever had Tmobile help pay or credit when switching to Tmobile?
i know i've read someone claiming that in the past but i cant' find the story via search. My closest corporate store is about 40min away so not sure its worth trying or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be jealous if you actually manage to do so. I know I've seen some ancient posts on slickdeals where some folks have managed to do this albeit with a lot of negotiating. I was in the same boat as you. I ended up paying the ETF. I was already paying sprint for providing me with essentially nothing, it didn't make sense to wait out another year. I made the switch and couldn't be happier.
I had some success with this - but I didn't do all that much for it so it may be one of those right time/right place/right person asked scenarios. I was checking out a T-Mobile store and was chatting up the employee, and mentioned that I'd love to switch but it'll be a long time before I could afford it due to ETFs. I asked if they ever do anything about things like that, and was then put into contact with a T-Mobile rep that handles business accounts among other things (more of a corporate guy I would expect). He had me figure out what my ETFs were, and then said he'd put a same-value credit on my account if I switched. He mailed me a tester phone to try out even, which was nice. I ended up keeping that tester phone for my wife, and per his instructions went into the T-Mobile store I went to originally and got set up. I called him afterwards and he put the credit on my account. I couldn't believe it to be honest (it was a few hundred bucks - came from Verizon), but I was rather happy with the outcome. I still had to pay the ETFs out-of-pocket of course, but in exchange I didn't have a phone bill for a few months
Albaholic said:
I'd be jealous if you actually manage to do so. I know I've seen some ancient posts on slickdeals where some folks have managed to do this albeit with a lot of negotiating. I was in the same boat as you. I ended up paying the ETF. I was already paying sprint for providing me with essentially nothing, it didn't make sense to wait out another year. I made the switch and couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best thing you can do....
#1. Call T-Mobile and tell them you wanna switch carriers but don't sound set on them, mention verizon and att.
#2. If you have no problem paying $70+ a month, sell your current phone and head to costco or wirefly for a new line and a discounted device.
#3. If you want a cheaper monthly and can pay for a device upfront, ask t-mobile for a migration incentive, ask for a supervisor and if they don't satisfy ask for their supervisor.
T mobile has ran promotions for this in the past.
Not gonna happen though. Now that t mobile is all no contact they are not going to pay to get you out of your contact when there is no guarantee you will even stay with them because your not in a contract
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
clninja said:
T mobile has ran promotions for this in the past.
Not gonna happen though. Now that t mobile is all no contact they are not going to pay to get you out of your contact when there is no guarantee you will even stay with them because your not in a contract
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good point. it totally forgot about their switch to no contracts
Just tried to see if they would provide any credit. The answer was no. They simply can't do it. Was looking to transfer 4 lines. Will have to wait when my ETF is over or Sprint terms change.
I got out
What I'm about to offer is good as a last resort, it worked for me, but i'm not a lawyer, and I'm only sharing this for those of you who are desp, and really want out of Sprint.
The only way I could find to get out without paying the ETF is to call sprint and tell them you are moving out of the country for a job relocation or something. They will ask you to prove it with an apartment lease, or utility bill, etc. The utility bill is hard to prove, but you shouldn't have a problem creating a lease agreement with a family member who lives abroad, etc.
In my case, I used an apartment of a friend, and made it all legit, and they let me out without paying ETF.
Sprint sucks.
Just do what I did with sprint, roam until they kick you out without ETF. Some people see this as cheating your way out but believe me after dozens of calls and complains about horrible service at home they didn't do nothing to help me. Just broken promises of service improvements, towers upgrades, etc. Before I hadsSprint I was with Verizon for 10 years and I never remember calling them because I had service issues.
So Sprint doesn't rape you with ETF fees anymore, when they kick you for roaming too much? That is a good thing. I know that they used to make people pay the fees even though they kicked their customer.