Bad ESN vs Good ESN - Epic 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I wanted to see if somebody could explain to me the difference between the two. I was looking for a new phone on ebay and some stated Bad ESN. I think I know what the ESN is (hex or dec serial) but I don't know what's the difference between the two.
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How I understand is that the bad ESN are the ones marked by the provider as unable to be put on service. That can happen for various reasons such as being stolen, overdue accounts, and the like.
Good esn's are phones that may be put back on service with the original provider.
These records are all stored with the provider and there is no way to change them without corrected the original reason for them being marked as bad.
If for example you were looking at two phones, a bad esn epic and a good esn epic. If you wanted to put it on Sprint you would have to get the good esn epic, however if you were just interested in flashing to cricket or metro, then the bad esn epic would be just fine.

Bad esns, are phones as stated above - stolen or lost phones.
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LORDFIRE00 said:
Bad esns, are phones as stated above - stolen or lost phones.
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Also people who terminate contract and do not pay their bill. The ESN will be locked out until the bill is paid.
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Yes, that too!
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If you happen to be looking at an item on ebay and it doesn't say if it is a good or bad ESN, don't be afraid to ask the seller for the ESN and call Sprint to verify! It takes about 2 minutes, and is well worth not wasting your money on a phone that wont make calls!

Thanks all for the help
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Related

How does one even get a bad esn?

So I saw a lot of posts on my old forum about people getting bad esns and having to buy another phone. But what I never understood is HOW they got a bad esn. So if somebody could be nice and explain to me how somebody gets a bad esn I would greatly appreciate it!
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The phone is either stolen and reported as such or the person discontinued paying their bill.
Sent From My SPH-D700 Running Android 4.0
Yep. All of that fun jazz.
And a bad ESN doesn't make the phone useless. Just not usable on Sprint anymore. Boost, Virgin, Cricket, etc. S'all good.
Also lost phones are usually locked out as well to prevent insurance claims to just get a second phone.
darkierawr said:
Yep. All of that fun jazz.
And a bad ESN doesn't make the phone useless. Just not usable on Sprint anymore. Boost, Virgin, Cricket, etc. S'all good.
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Boost is Sprint are the same, so I would be careful with a bad esn.
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Is the E4GT unlockable for Verizon?

Would much rather keep my E4GT than get a Galaxy Nexus. Can I use it on VZ?
No you can not. Verizon does not allow sprint phones on their network.
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killakarl said:
No you can not. Verizon does not allow sprint phones on their network.
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Thanks. Google wasn't doing much for me this morning.
Hold on,old epic could be flashed to verizon I dont see why you cant flash epic touch.
They are both cdma phones and will work on verizon minus 4g.
lviv73 said:
Hold on,old epic could be flashed to verizon I dont see why you cant flash epic touch.
They are both cdma phones and will work on verizon minus 4g.
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There are "other" methods you can use, but non of which are legal.
Maybe you can.....google it.....
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If you have friends in high places they can get esn added but doesn't happen often..... Otherwise it's illegal options with changing esn from one phone to another ..... In my opinion it's not worth it sell e4gt buy another phone so much easier
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Epix4G said:
If you have friends in high places they can get esn added but doesn't happen often..... Otherwise it's illegal options with changing esn from one phone to another ..... In my opinion it's not worth it sell e4gt buy another phone so much easier
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Changing ESN is illegal?
What about cloning esn from a donor phone to flash epic to virgin mobile,boost and cricket.
You trying to.say that those methods in them threads are not legal?
lviv73 said:
Changing ESN is illegal?
What about cloning esn from a donor phone to flash epic to virgin mobile,boost and cricket.
You trying to.say that those methods in them threads are not legal?
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Technically yea they are not legal if you are doing It and paying for service not so bad but yea they frown upon it because it can be done to steal service
Cricket does not involve changing Esn ....boost and virgin and others do because you can't use phones that they don't sell and are usually low range Android....you can't call up virgin and have them activate a topic touch but you can go to cricket and they will flash it
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Does att block imei?

I have been chatting with this girl on Craig list who wants to get rid of her sgs3 to help pay for an iphone later this week....
I know all the sprint / tmobile phones on Craig list eventually are blocked for non payment / reported stolen...
To my understanding att doesn't care about this stuff... At least last year the un didn't..
Is that still the case? Don't want to get this good deal on a phone just to have to unlock and sell it again..
Want to buy it for my sister
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Yes at&t now DOES block imeis. Ask her to meet at a store to confirm the device is legit.
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+1
They do indeed imei block now.
No they dont i know this for a fact i have 3 broken contract phones and they all work they would rather have money from prepaid service then all that ****
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JB calhoun said:
No they dont i know this for a fact i have 3 broken contract phones and they all work they would rather have money from prepaid service then all that ****
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Actually yes att does block imeis for stolen devices. I work for them and it just came out. Its called blocklisting. Will not work on att and if you put an att sim in it it will suspend your service.
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Justinfedor said:
Actually yes att does block imeis for stolen devices. I work for them and it just came out. Its called blocklisting. Will not work on att and if you put an att sim in it it will suspend your service.
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What if somebody opens an att account.. Sells their phone on Craig list and stops payments to it.. Will att block the phone they got with the contract?
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Just meet up at the store make the purchase there. If the seller is unwilling to go there then tell them to screw off. They will have security cameras all over the place so there is evidence that this person is selling you the phone; and you will also have a witness that this is taking place so if later they claim that they never sold it to you and it was in fact stolen then you have some evidence in your corner. Legally speaking nothing is concrete but you have to think as litigious as possible because scum is everywhere.
And if you want to get really ridiculous you could type up a document stating that they will in fact pay in full the remainder of the contract and/or pay any fees necessary to keep "the specific ImeI" from being blocked from att service. You would have to have them sign it in front of a witness and a notary. If I were spending more than 400 bucks I would get this ridiculous. Then if you have to take them to small claims court this contract will be as good as any other contract and any judge worth a damn will force them to pay the damages.
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waiters said:
What if somebody opens an att account.. Sells their phone on Craig list and stops payments to it.. Will att block the phone they got with the contract?
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Att only blocks if the owner calls and reports it stolen and contacts device blocklist speciality group.
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Quick question about flshing. Plzz help.

OK so my wife had her s2 with sprint but the bill is too high. OK so I had flashed evos to metro before but I was able to find someone to add the ESN to metro inventory. But now the only thing I can find is people selling ESN on eBay but that means I would have to change the ESN on the phone .. Is this even legal. Is there no more ppl that add ESN to metropcs. And if its legal has anybody done it before.?????
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Although its a gray area. It's legal. But its illegal under certain conditions. Also xda doesn't allow it to be discussed because it is in the gray area. Google. Thats your best bet. Sorry
sent from MY BAD A$$ ET4G
If you go to a metro dealer they will add your phone to there system only issue is thats only talk and text getting data working isnt that difficult its been posted a few times in the treads best bet is find a store that is not a corporate store there usually cheaper we have one at the flea market that puts them on for 30 dollars plus first month. Theres also a program you can buy that will add you aswell but its 150.00 then theres doing it yourself and just calling them to activate.
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How to sell my Sprint Galaxy S3

Hi... This is my first post here. I have a sprint galaxy S3 and I want to swap it for a GSM galaxy s3. So what should I do? I just call Sprint and ask them to stop the service? how will the person buying my phone port his/her sprint number to the S3 I sell them?
Just sell it on eBay or something. If the account is in good condition, no problems. If not, Sprint will flash the phone. If you advertise it, make sure you post the esn is clean (assuming it is).
You want to be sure all your account info is wiped. It's more than a factory reset. I don't know how to do it, but I suspect Sprint could tell you how. They helped me when I was activating my last used phone (mopho).
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studentjunk said:
Just sell it on eBay or something. If the account is in good condition, no problems. If not, Sprint will flash the phone. If you advertise it, make sure you post the esn is clean (assuming it is).
You want to be sure all your account info is wiped. It's more than a factory reset. I don't know how to do it, but I suspect Sprint could tell you how. They helped me when I was activating my last used phone (mopho).
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Thanks! but how do i find out if it has a good or bad ESN? I'm using the phone right now and I don't see any such message. But is there a specific way to find that out?
What's ESN? is it IMEI?
If you are using it, you have a good ESN. If you let the account with a debt Sprint will give you a bad ESN or easier, your phone will be blacklisted, and nobody would be able to use it, unless they flash to another carrier.
In other words
GOOD ESN = More money.
Sent from my O=O
So how much are you asking and what color is it
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csmasn said:
If you are using it, you have a good ESN. If you let the account with a debt Sprint will give you a bad ESN or easier, your phone will be blacklisted, and nobody would be able to use it, unless they flash to another carrier.
In other words
GOOD ESN = More money.
Sent from my O=O
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ok I get that part... but this is my current active phone. if i sell it to someone he will be able to use my number and make/receive calls from this S3 right?
mcasas6969 said:
So how much are you asking and what color is it
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it's white color. I don't know how much to ask
I used it for like 2 days and i got my nexus 4 shipped now. So I don't want this one.. I thought nexus will never get shipped. I will now go for tmobile $30 100 minutes plan.. that's why I'm selling it
You have to close your account with Sprint, and pay the current bill. Then you can sell the phone and the person have to make a account or change current device with Sprint, but not use the same number.
Sent from my O=O
Read the ESN (many programs that can do.this) and if it matches the number on the battery then you have yourself a 'good' ESN
If you have had it to days I would jyst return it. Cancellation is 350 if youve had it less than 6 months with sprint. You got a 14 day return policy. Or if you dont care about your credit put an old Sprint phone in place of the S3...that will free up the ESN to use for someone else and just not pay your bill.
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prvn133t said:
Thanks! but how do i find out if it has a good or bad ESN? I'm using the phone right now and I don't see any such message. But is there a specific way to find that out?
What's ESN? is it IMEI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://checkesnfree.com
Open the dialer and hit *#06#. That's your imei
I was unaware of this. Alternatively there is ##786#
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