Develop Bugs

[Q] Sprint, root, and total equipment protection/manufacturer warrenty

I recently rooted my Samsung epic 4g and installed cm7. By rooting my epic I knew I was voiding my manufacturer warrenty and that if my actions bricked my device that was on me to replace it. However, I am on the Sprint network and have been paying for "Total Equipment Protection." Two days after installing a new rom, I noticed my screen was highly distorted and by the end of the day the screen would only flicker. I discovered that the flex cable for the slide keyboard was worn and was in need of being replaced. After reading several posts on this website about sprint serviceing rooted phones with hardware problem, I decided I would call sprint and get some more information on the topic. The CSR informed me that sprint isn't really so hard on people with rooted phones and that any sprint repair center would still fix my phone under total Equipment Protection as it was damaged due to normal wear and tear of a piece of hardware. Acting on this information I went to the nearest repair center. When i went to check in my phone for service, I told the tech the phone was rooted and I was told that they would still service it. He told me that no, they wouldn't service it and he would make sure to flag my account and void my warranties. Now, a few days later, I have been too three repair centers and have been refused at all three. In fact, when i offered to pay for the service out of pocket, I was informed that my money "has no value here" and i should leave. I should add that I was very polite to the tech. Today I called Sprint again, and explained the situation. The rep told me that they should have serviced my phone under the total Equipment Protection "because with that, you could smash your phone with a hammer outside the store and it would still be covered ( with deductibles of course). ". So here I am, I had to get a new phone because corporate Sprint says one thing, but local Sprint stores say the opposite.
Is there any sort of formal policy letter released by Sprint to address this complete breakdown of communications? I keep seeing people refering to it, but after all this Id love to get my hands on something.
I'm not sure where this thread should actually go, sorry if its misplaced, I just figured this is something that should be addressed if for nothing else, to prevent a situation like mine from ruining someone else's day .

Searched the Epic 4G sub forums using the keywords "root policy", and the result was halfway down the first page.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1227396

That's crap I feel for ya that's a load of bs but it is usally smarter to play stupid than tell them straight up its rooted I hate local reps who think their The Ultimate Being of all things righteous and technilogical....
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/

brianjones9110 said:
Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/
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Coulda cleared ur sd card of rooted files and "tried" odin back to stock and let it brick.
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

brianjones9110 said:
Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/
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Click to collapse
Oops. Accidentaly hit thanks. Just try odining blind and if it bricks oh well, don't tell sprint you odined.
-Marcusant via Tapatalk

At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.

brianjones9110 said:
At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.
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That's a load.......
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

brianjones9110 said:
At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.
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Click to collapse
Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

ac16313 said:
Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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Because he is rooted... that is absolutely ridiculous... my local sprint store has serviced my phone on more than one occasion... and me and him were both running the same rom! That's crap man!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Emailed sprints ceo and hoping something comes of it, like maybe a policy letter from the ceo could get the local stores to do there job. Either way, ill upload a copy of the email conversation when i hear back from him or his assistant.

Email Sprints CEO with a copy of their own handling policy for root devices. Basically they are told to flash it to stock firmware. If problem persists, repair or replace the device and "note" the device was rooted. If unable to flash stock firmware, "note" device was rooted and replace the device. Nowhere in their own policy does it state "you have the right to refuse service to a rooted customer and blacklist their device" or anything of the like.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

A few months ago the screen slowly started turning red on my epic, then purple, then black. You could still see a few lines of pixels right along the edge showing the screen was on, but otherwise it was useless.
I went to the sprint store and had them look at it. I mentioned it was rooted, the guy said no problem, it looks like a hardware issue covered under your warranty. They ordered me a new epic, but since it was a couple weeks out on backorder, they sent me to another store that went ahead and replaced my screen for free (other store had an extra one for that use) while I waited for a new phone. After the repair I would have canceled the new phone, but the wifi and cell signal took a drop from having the phone opened. Long story short, at the end of the week, my replacement arrived, they set it up, and I was out the door. Gave them my rooted/ROM'd/overclocked epic4g and they gave me back the battery and SD card. They even gave me a free water bottle.
This cost me $0, a couple hours, and was nothing but a good experience. The guy there said they never turn rooted phones down for unrelated hardware failures. A separate store in Colorado helped my mother set up PDAnet tethering on her phone so she could check her email on her computer without paying for wifi tethering. Never seen a company so committed to their customers, at least in my experience.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

One recommendation that I can offer u is, report this issue to the fcc, and send a copy of ur email to the fcc right to sprints ceo. And emphasize that u did report to fcc. Major customer service complaints do get handled by the fcc. And also state that u felt discriminated against.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

Omg LOL I was literally just in the process of researching what kind of FCC complaint I could make LOL but thanks for the effort to assist me, I do appreciate it. As an update, I haven't heard backfrom Dan Hesse but I'm still waiting.

Continue sending him an email. Do it as many times as u need to. That needs to get his attention and resolved appropriatly. Sprints main focus now is "customer satisfaction". Also, if u were able to get the names of the reps that caused u this problem, place that in the email as well. Be specific on every detail of the occurence. This will show to the ceo, factual evidence and discrimination. Also, report it to the better business bereau. They accredit all compaines.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

Sprint is no longer concerned with customer satisfaction. Those days are passed. They are only concerned with saving their business now. That is why they locked down on moving upgrades and releasing people from ETFs. I have had several drawn out arguments with Executive office and they won't budge.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

ac16313 said:
Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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theres always more to the story. were blind on one side here.

You should go back to the store and get the techs name. That guy should lose his job and testicles.

[Q] Should I check anything B4 buying from Craigslist?

Hi.
Just making sure. Anything I need to check in terms of stolen/reported or whatnot?
I am about to buy one, so just asking for your advice
thanks

Bring your SIM card and a sd card. Make a phone call then save something on the sd card.
If he let's you, download a benchmark app and check if the reported specs match to see if it's a fake or not.
At this point you've checked whether the phone is banned, has a working sd card slot and isn't fake. The only thing left is cosmetic damage.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

kr3w1337 said:
Bring your SIM card and a sd card. Make a phone call then save something on the sd card.
If he let's you, download a benchmark app and check if the reported specs match to see if it's a fake or not.
At this point you've checked whether the phone is banned, has a working sd card slot and isn't fake. The only thing left is cosmetic damage.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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Thanks so much (i thanked u)!!!
I would never in a million years think it could be a fake one.....
wow!

You can also if they're willing to, meet at a t-mo store to have them check the ESN for a stolen phone or not

You can't check if the phone is banned. I just lost 450 dollars as I bought s2 from Cl. I used the phone for 2 months and it quit working. I called T-Mobile and they told me it was reported lost or stolen. Imei got banned.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

theghazi said:
You can't check if the phone is banned. I just lost 450 dollars as I bought s2 from Cl. I used the phone for 2 months and it quit working. I called T-Mobile and they told me it was reported lost or stolen. Imei got banned.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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That's horrible! I am surprised that they can even do that (t-mobile, i mean)! But how is the IMEI related to their ability to shut it down? does the phone transmits this info to their servers? I was under the impression that only the CDMA phones can do that....

If your sim card on their network is in a phone, that phone has a specific number that is transmitted as your using the phone. If the number comes up as stolen or otherwise the network can stop that specific numbered phone from accessing the network.
Hence my above post.

I see.
But that means EVERY buyer is in risk!

That is what I though that only cdma phones. But since they signed the contract to get these phones. If they break the contract and don't pay their bills. They banned the imei number. The phone will not get any signal and it would say can't register to network. Same things happens when you claim the phone as lost or stolen. My first hand experience.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

theghazi said:
That is what I though that only cdma phones. But since they signed the contract to get these phones. If they break the contract and don't pay their bills. They banned the imei number. The phone will not get any signal and it would say can't register to network. Same things happens when you claim the phone as lost or stolen. My first hand experience.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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So how can one be protected?

benyben123 said:
So how can one be protected?
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You can either have the ESN checked on the phone before making any final deals, buy brand new phones, or buy straight from the carrier or phone manufacture.

icepally said:
You can either have the ESN checked on the phone before making any final deals, buy brand new phones, or buy straight from the carrier or phone manufacture.
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If I had the money

theghazi said:
You can't check if the phone is banned. I just lost 450 dollars as I bought s2 from Cl. I used the phone for 2 months and it quit working. I called T-Mobile and they told me it was reported lost or stolen. Imei got banned.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
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I actually think that rep you talked to told you the wrong information. I highly doubt that the original owner could report a stolen phone that he has not used under his account after 2 months, I've played with a friend's t-mobile agents account and the IMEI of every phone you ever used is listed including the date used. It is most likely that asurion or t-mobile will not agree to do a insurance claim on a phone that he or she has not used for 2 months.
I actually believe that the original owner had a subsidized phone and stopped paying for it after he sold it to you, t-mobile probably warned him the first month and ended up banning the imei the 2nd month.
Now I am wondering myself, I thought T-mobile/asurion only bans a phone if it was reported STOLEN not LOST. Can someone clarify this for me? I use to buy a lot of phones off CL even though I bet many are reported "lost" and people filed insurance claims for them; however, I have yet to have a phone become "banned." Well I haven't bought any phones off CL since January.... sooo i guess things might have changed?

Phones can honestly be blocked for any reason, I usually have heard of them for non payment on the device or being stolen at the time of delivery

kylephillips66 said:
Phones can honestly be blocked for any reason, I usually have heard of them for non payment on the device or being stolen at the time of delivery
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Click to collapse
If it was indeed blocked, is that the final story for the device? That's it? Dead? Gone? Nothing to do about it? Can't one unlock it, use it with a different number of the same carrier (tmobile)?

You could unlock the sim and go to at&t
Sent from next year on my CM 10ed G-Mobile Galaxy Note 2!

icepally said:
You can either have the ESN checked on the phone before making any final deals, buy brand new phones, or buy straight from the carrier or phone manufacture.
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Click to collapse
you can get scammed with brand new phones too. there's the "equipment installment plan" with tmobile. the way the scam works is to put a loan out on a phone, then don't pay the monthly payments.the scammer sells the phone, and then tmobile bans that phone

ceejay83 said:
you can get scammed with brand new phones too. there's the "equipment installment plan" with tmobile. the way the scam works is to put a loan out on a phone, then don't pay the monthly payments.the scammer sells the phone, and then tmobile bans that phone
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Click to collapse
I respectfully have to disagree with you. I am a RSA with T-Mobile USA and the way the payment plan or the "equipment installment plan" works is that it is on your account so if your account gets cancelled due to non-payment it's gets charged off to your account including the ETF. One thing T-Mobile cannot do is ban your IMEI because it is unlawful, it is not different then you buying clothes on your macy's card and then not paying for it and them coming into your place to confiscate your clothes. the only time T-mobile will ban a IMEI is A. when it is stolen from a store i.e Demo phones or missing merchandise. or B customer calling in to report the phone missing. in the case where the gentleman stated his phone got banned after 2 months isn't because of a late insurance claim but much more likely due to a missing phone coming up in the quarterly inventory. the best way to ensure you are getting a legitimate deal is by calling 611 from your phone during the purchase and verifying the IMEI and then asking the rep to memo it in your account so if in the future the phone is reported missing the burden is on T-mobile and not you. I hope this helps you all.

willywonka84 said:
I respectfully have to disagree with you. I am a RSA with T-Mobile USA and the way the payment plan or the "equipment installment plan" works is that it is on your account so if your account gets cancelled due to non-payment it's gets charged off to your account including the ETF. One thing T-Mobile cannot do is ban your IMEI because it is unlawful, it is not different then you buying clothes on your macy's card and then not paying for it and them coming into your place to confiscate your clothes. the only time T-mobile will ban a IMEI is A. when it is stolen from a store i.e Demo phones or missing merchandise. or B customer calling in to report the phone missing. in the case where the gentleman stated his phone got banned after 2 months isn't because of a late insurance claim but much more likely due to a missing phone coming up in the quarterly inventory. the best way to ensure you are getting a legitimate deal is by calling 611 from your phone during the purchase and verifying the IMEI and then asking the rep to memo it in your account so if in the future the phone is reported missing the burden is on T-mobile and not you. I hope this helps you all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interesting stuff, but there were a couple cases where reps told the customer that the phone is blocked because the owner stopped paying for the phone. I think there are a couple stories of that floating around this subforum.
But okay can you elaborate more on what you mean by the missing phone coming up in the quarterly inventory?

also make sure u plug the phone in and make sure it charges, bring a laptop and usb cable if u can too. If the microusb port doesn't work, u can't charge, root, or do anything else.

[Q] Recovering a lost nv_data.bin

I received this phone to work on that was recently "flagged" for stolen due to some drama regarding unpaid bills and a phone call to TMO CS. Relative called TMO to unflag the phone. The issue came up shortly after the unflag and relative proceeded to "Factory Reset"(didn't solve anything). Phone is completely stock. Never touched. It's not a hardware issue as I do receive a signal "occasionally" but most of the time the phone reports no signal and doesn't even detect my SIM chip. When I can get a signal, I try to auto-set my APN but when trying to choose TMO, I get the usual "your sim card does not allow a connection to this network".
No kidding as I noticed in the EFS folder that nv_data.bin is missing as well as its .bak file. Everything else AFAIK is in-tact such as Wi-Fi MAC and BT MAC as well as the IMEI. Baseband is identified, Phone Number does show up when popping in a SIM Chip, but Network, Service, and the usual is out.
TL: DR - Is there a way of rebuilding the nv_data from this? Do I take it into a TMO store and let them handle it?
If it means anything, the phone's on the latest KL1 modem.

Save yourself the headache and just let TMobile handle a warranty replacement. They usually ship next day
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Yeah, I'm going to do that. However I'll just do a Sammy warranty instead. Screw the Tmobile fees.
$70 for the service plus paid shipping both ways doesn't sting as much.

alpha-niner64 said:
Yeah, I'm going to do that. However I'll just do a Sammy warranty instead. Screw the Tmobile fees.
$70 for the service plus paid shipping both ways doesn't sting as much.
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wait what? t-mobile fees? if it is just warranty exchange, it is like $10-20 if you don't have insurance and $5 if you do.

[Q] Little Dilemma here, need info

Hello all, just wanted to start out saying this forum ROCKS! And wanted to say thank you to all the Devs and contributors for your time invested in creating a venue that we can all learn from.
Now to my dilemma. I''ve fallen on hard times (as I am sure many have due to this economy) and need a little help here. Had to let my 2 year plan drop due to financial issues, (They got a year out of me @ $130.00 a month) don't see it improving anytime soon, so I had to get a prepaid sim (on the same provider network, as I want to be able to keep using them but on a prepaid basis), the sim was activated (through an old razor I had with a good IMEI no.)
I paid for my phone ($200.00) through the plan, sim is now deactive. Looking to see if I can put my new prepaid sim in the plan phone but have not done so as I am sure it will get hit in a few days due to ID no. I am aware of the issues with respect to the ID no. Need a workaround for this to use my new prepaid sim on the phone I purchased through the plan. I am probably nerfed. Maybe I can use odin for the issues if possible?
Any help I can get (privately) just email me in here would be greatly appreciated.

If you paid for your phone, there should be no problem with it, if you still owe on your old account, then there would be a problem.

Doesn't make sense, the phone is his, he's not on a subsidize phone payment. The phone is his to keep. If anything he woruld talk to the retention department. Do an etf but maybe he can plea for it to be lowered? I'm not sure if they'll give you any discounts but it doesn't hurt to ask from this department. In the end you should pay for the etf. Do monthly payments of it or something. It's better than avoiding it.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Teo032 said:
Doesn't make sense, the phone is his, he's not on a subsidize phone payment. The phone is his to keep. If anything he woruld talk to the retention department. Do an etf but maybe he can plea for it to be lowered? I'm not sure if they'll give you any discounts but it doesn't hurt to ask from this department. In the end you should pay for the etf. Do monthly payments of it or something. It's better than avoiding it.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app[/QUOTE
Let me see if i understand this correctly, and provide some details. I got the phone at a reduced price through a promotion. The promotion stated get the phone for X dollars if you sign up for a two year contract. Since I paid the x dollars the phone is now mine, I own it correct? Now.....since I can't continue with the contract I have to pay an etf, if I don't (Or better said if I can't afford it) Then they nerf my phone from being used on their network? How wrong is that! I paid for the phone so if I put in a new sim it should be allowed to be used on their network because I am basically still paying for service, difference is its pre-paid. They shouldn't have a right to nerf an IMEI of a pesons paid for phone based on not being able to live up to the contract, as the contract is one thing, and the phone, (since it was paid for),is separate being that it's your property. IMEI's are supposed to be nerfed if a customer reports it stolen or lost. NOT as a means for a service provider to track your phone to the extent of since you could not live up to the contract, completely nerf your phone from their network. The way I see it, I paid for the phone, and since I am paying for the usage of the prepaid I should have the right to use that prepaid sim on my paid for phone. This looks like a class action suit here if you ask me. What say you?
Click to expand...
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Ya they will try to block I'm pretty sure. You paid only a portion of the device. They technically still own it. Its like a lease for a car. If you don't pay the etf its still their phone
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

This isn't Sprint. I got my T-989 from T-Mo in May with a 2 year contract. I paid $100 for the phone. For a undisclosed reason, my contract was terminated and I kept the phone. In July I bought a Sim from Simple Mobile, popped it in and still to this day, it works great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

patrao_n said:
Ya they will try to block I'm pretty sure. You paid only a portion of the device. They technically still own it. Its like a lease for a car. If you don't pay the etf its still their phone
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch
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Click to collapse
I disagree. when you lease a car the contract states you are leasing the car. When you take out a loan on a car, the car is owned by the bank that holds that loan until you pay the loan back. When you buy the phone you are buying the phone with your own money so no bank can take it from you nor should a service provider block you from using it. Because you own the rights to that phone, you purchased it.
I paid the full price they were offering the phone for, IF I signed up for a Service Contract, key words here. I signed up for a contract for service NOT for a contract for the phone I had to buy a phone that works on their network. So basically what happens here is that you get the phone at a price. From the moment you pay for that phone it's yours. Why? Because it was contingent on you signing up for their service. From the moment you sign up for that service you fulfilled the part needed to get the phone at a said price. It does not say "lease" this phone if you sign up" It says buy this phone.
After that if you can't pay for the service you don't get that service and yes you are liable for an etf of the service not the phone, it's yours, you own it, you did not lease it nor does the the service agreement state that you leased the phone. You fulfilled the obligation to sign up, you paid for the phone. It's your property.
Key words here are service contract

tony5593 said:
This isn't Sprint. I got my T-989 from T-Mo in May with a 2 year contract. I paid $100 for the phone. For a undisclosed reason, my contract was terminated and I kept the phone. In July I bought a Sim from Simple Mobile, popped it in and still to this day, it works great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
At this point I'm not sure if the IMEI of my phone was nerfed or if the sim was nerfed. And I'm afraid of putting in my new prepaid sim in it and run the risk that the prepaid sim gets nerfed if my IMEI is still o.k.,
1)Did you have to pay an etf though to keep using a phone you already paid for? and 2)That sim is a prepaid sim right?, and simple mobile is part of t-mo so I wonder if I use my prepaid tmo sim if they will nerf my sim (Though I don't think they would have a right to as I am paying for a different service on my own phone). But I would hate to find out that they would do that the hard way and end up having to buy another sim. I need my money.

I didn't have to pay anything. I paid the $100 for the phone when I signed the contract. When it was terminated, I didn't pay anything else.
Yeah, it's a prepaid Sim and Simple uses T-Mo's network.
They don't do that, what if you buy a Tmo phone from ebay and that persons contract was terminated, the phone woukd still work correct? Sprint doesnt that to the phons ESN number, but Tmo is a GSM network using Sim cards.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

tony5593 said:
I didn't have to pay anything. I paid the $100 for the phone when I signed the contract. When it was terminated, I didn't pay anything else.
Yeah, it's a prepaid Sim and Simple uses T-Mo's network.
They don't do that, what if you buy a Tmo phone from ebay and that persons contract was terminated, the phone woukd still work correct? Sprint doesnt that to the phons ESN number, but Tmo is a GSM network using Sim cards.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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So I could use a tmo prepaid sim in my phone with no worries then correct? They wont zap the new sim or IMEI?
My phone is not rooted (yet need to read up in here first) it's stock and locked to tmo, not unlocked.

Yes what If you had a contract SIM and a prepaid one and used both, or if you traveled and had another SIM, they aren't going to flag your phone.
You'll be fine.
& My phone is locked.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

Check out this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1781304
http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/587282-blocked-imei-tmobile-s3-problem.html

Those are for stolen phones. They were bought from someone else, not from Tmo. That could only happen to him if he bought the phone from someone or if he reported it stolen since hes the owner.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

tony5593 said:
Those are for stolen phones. They were bought from someone else, not from Tmo. That could only happen to him if he bought the phone from someone or if he reported it stolen since hes the owner.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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No, one of the posts mentions if the payments weren't made

Well idk it all depends. If there was only one payment for the phone then its okay.
Anyway what's done is done. They won't block the prepaid Sim if he uses it in his phone. The worse that can happen is that they block the phone, but not the Sim.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

tony5593 said:
This isn't Sprint. I got my T-989 from T-Mo in May with a 2 year contract. I paid $100 for the phone. For a undisclosed reason, my contract was terminated and I kept the phone. In July I bought a Sim from Simple Mobile, popped it in and still to this day, it works great.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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Nobody said it was sprint dude.
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch

tony5593 said:
Well idk it all depends. If there was only one payment for the phone then its okay.
Anyway what's done is done. They won't block the prepaid Sim if he uses it in his phone. The worse that can happen is that they block the phone, but not the Sim.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I just went through all ten pages of the first link and the page of the other link, the other link mentioned that they block the phone to force payment. (Something I can't do due to financial difficulty) Now the issue with that is that if they do that, then they are in essence doing something illegal because the phone was not reported stolen by me or lost and I didn't place an insurance claim. So that being the case, they are messing with MY property, as I paid for that phone. I have the receipt. If they block my phone then that is basically a company using unscrupulous pratices to peoples property in order to force payment and is like strong arm tactics much like the mob asking for protection money for christ sakes! How can we put an end to these companies doing this? It's not right. What other recourse would a righful owner have other than to change the IMEI number then?

First of all, they will not be able to block your prepaid SIM with your phone. That's impossible as it is prepaid. They aren't going to block any sims based on the imei. If anything they will block your account or blacklist your phone. First of all you already paid for your phone. The matter is that you have 1 year remaining on contract for the service not the phone itself. I forget but i remember a csr for T-Mobile, a fellow xda member, said they should not blacklist your phone. There were other cases where it is blacklisted because the phone was being paid off monthly. The subsidized monthly payment for the phone. A few have claimed that they have been blocked because of that. However that rep did say they do not black list the phone for that, only if it is reported stolen or lost.
Do yourself a favor and test another SIM on your phone. If it works you're good to go. It would not be shot down again. If it doesn't work you're blacklisted. Get it unlocked and trade with someone who uses att
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Teo032 said:
First of all, they will not be able to block your prepaid SIM with your phone. That's impossible as it is prepaid. They aren't going to block any sims based on the imei. If anything they will block your account or blacklist your phone. First of all you already paid for your phone. The matter is that you have 1 year remaining on contract for the service not the phone itself. I forget but i remember a csr for T-Mobile, a fellow xda member, said they should not blacklist your phone. There were other cases where it is blacklisted because the phone was being paid off monthly. The subsidized monthly payment for the phone. A few have claimed that they have been blocked because of that. However that rep did say they do not black list the phone for that, only if it is reported stolen or lost.
Do yourself a favor and test another SIM on your phone. If it works you're good to go. It would not be shot down again. If it doesn't work you're blacklisted. Get it unlocked and trade with someone who uses att
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far so good. It's working. Thanks!
My only fear is that they hit my phone later because of using a different Sim on the phone. But I am going to trust in your info and cross my fingers and hope for the best.
When I got this phone, I purchased it in a T-Mo store, the receipt shows two Items. 1) A security deposit of $100.00 (cause my credit sucked and 2) states the name of the phone, followed by the serial number, followed by something that says post payed Activation with two years after that, followed by Not discount eligible, followed by the sale amount (the price I paid for the phone and the $100.00 Security deposit combined, followed by the total and then it shows cash with a minus sign to the left of the amount paid. So Based on that I figure it safe to say it's not subsidized, correct?

Don't worry about it. There is no way that T-Mobile is going to look up the imei number for your old account and zap that SIM too. They have better things to do than assign someone to do that. If anything that will cause problems because if you sold the phone to someone else and they zap their SIM, they're going to get an ear full. And in most cases. The lower tier csr does not have access to imei searches.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Can I Claim Warranty?

Hi,
I just bought a T-Mobile galaxy s3 from someone and it has 9 months warranty on it as the person just recently bought it in contract from tmobile. My question is, can i go to the tmobile store and claim warranty even though im not the original owner who bought the phone with contract! I just inserted my sim and started using it. The headphone jack is faulty as I only hear sound in one ear when plugged in. I have the box and all the accessories.
Thanks
Action

Worth a shot. Just don't tell them you bought it second hand. They'll check the serial/Imei for warranty time left.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

If you have the PHP bundle you can do a swap after three days with no questions asked all is required is a $5 processing fee and confirmation it has no physical or water damage.
I am a T-Mobile sales rep so you can take my word as good :good:
EDITED:
Reason being you need PHP and to wait three days is to make it a quick no questions asked process.
It take three days for the IMEI of a new device you are using to register in your account as "being in use"
Also, having PHP (Full Insurance) goes over any existing or non existing warranty and extends it so you will always be able to get and exchange or alternate, even if they don't sell the device anymore

If they do ask I'm sure you could say that its your friends and he gave it to you.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

just in case, did you try a different set of headphones?

JaY iZz BaKk said:
If you have the PHP bundle you can do a swap after three days with no questions asked all is required is a $5 processing fee and confirmation it has no physical or water damage.
I am a T-Mobile sales rep so you can take my word as good :good:
EDITED:
Reason being you need PHP and to wait three days is to make it a quick no questions asked process.
It take three days for the IMEI of a new device you are using to register in your account as "being in use"
Also, having PHP (Full Insurance) goes over any existing or non existing warranty and extends it so you will always be able to get and exchange or alternate, even if they don't sell the device anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And as a customer service rep who handles cleanup calls all day from people who listened to the sales rep could I just point out the fact that he already clearly stated the phone was purchased from someone else who purchased it 3 months ago on a contract. He put his sim card in it so it will work until they check the ESN and begin to wonder where this phone came from, which sounds like another person still under contract who hasn't paid the ETF. And if the phone wasn't purchased off contract BAM now the earphone jack wont matter anyway..... Get your money back and stop listening to salesmen!!
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

stinkeye22 said:
And as a customer service rep who handles cleanup calls all day from people who listened to the sales rep could I just point out the fact that he already clearly stated the phone was purchased from someone else who purchased it 3 months ago on a contract. He put his sim card in it so it will work until they check the ESN and begin to wonder where this phone came from, which sounds like another person still under contract who hasn't paid the ETF. And if the phone wasn't purchased off contract BAM now the earphone jack wont matter anyway..... Get your money back and stop listening to salesmen!!
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
thats why tmo customer service ranks so low, you have no ideal what you are talking about. tmo is gsm and uses imei # not esn, the salesmen is absolutely right, once the phone shows up on ur acct. and its not a iphone or non tmo devise you can claim warranty. sales reps dont ask where you got the phone but they will inspect the devise for damage. stinkeye22 get a tmo phone. ur att s3, is killing your brain cells.

darocsfinest1 said:
thats why tmo customer service ranks so low, you have no ideal what you are talking about. tmo is gsm and uses imei # not esn, the salesmen is absolutely right, once the phone shows up on ur acct. and its not a iphone or non tmo devise you can claim warranty. sales reps dont ask where you got the phone but they will inspect the devise for damage. stinkeye22 get a tmo phone. ur att s3, is killing your brain cells.
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Click to collapse
Lol. I have to agree with you. Because if T-Mobile would actually ignore the fact that that imei (my bad) is/was attached to another account and used (once again probably on an unpaid contract) and actually replace it, let alone allow it to operate after it finally does register then they are pretty stupid. If an IMEI is banned and the cell phone is stops working on the network, putting a new SIM card in the phone will not make the phone work. If that phone has an open contract it will pull a flag eventually I would think. Maybe I'm wrong, don't work for T-Mobile or AT&T. But if it does work wow, they really are idiots. Either way stop trying to scam the phone company for a mistake you made.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

stinkeye22 said:
Lol. I have to agree with you. Because if T-Mobile would actually ignore the fact that that imei (my bad) is/was attached to another account and used (once again probably on an unpaid contract) and actually replace it, let alone allow it to operate after it finally does register then they are pretty stupid. If an IMEI is banned and the cell phone is stops working on the network, putting a new SIM card in the phone will not make the phone work. If that phone has an open contract it will pull a flag eventually I would think. Maybe I'm wrong, don't work for T-Mobile or AT&T. But if it does work wow, they really are idiots. Either way stop trying to scam the phone company for a mistake you made.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
OKAY Mr.CS, if you take a look at device support in Quickview you will see that it shows the devices warranty status plus how long it's been in use. If the customer had PHP it acts as an extended warranty to the device even if he was not the first person to use it.
Original Poster, contact me through PM I will help you get a replacement.

Action1 said:
Hi,
I just bought a T-Mobile galaxy s3 from someone and it has 9 months warranty on it as the person just recently bought it in contract from tmobile. My question is, can i go to the tmobile store and claim warranty even though im not the original owner who bought the phone with contract! I just inserted my sim and started using it. The headphone jack is faulty as I only hear sound in one ear when plugged in. I have the box and all the accessories.
Thanks
Action
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... What was the outcome?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Wouldn't the insurance be linked to the original account holder? Once it registers with the new sim I'm pretty sure they'd void it.
i.e. if I sell my car and the new owner crashes it, my insurance isn't going to foot the bill.

The warranty carries over to the new device. I've had had a similar issue. Sold my old phone bought a new one out of tmobile. My account registered the new mobile and I had to do an insurance claim one time I lost my phone and I got the phone I bought out of tmobile back for a deductible.

Oh well, no reply. My point was that you can't (or shouldn't be able to) purchase a used phone, especially one that hasn't had the contract paid off, slap a warranty on it & have it replaced. Doesn't make sense..
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

stinkeye22 said:
Oh well, no reply. My point was that you can't (or shouldn't be able to) purchase a used phone, especially one that hasn't had the contract paid off, slap a warranty on it & have it replaced. Doesn't make sense..
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh no worries, you will get your response.
I'm helping him right now and we will post the result.