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Please read title. Thank you kindly.
Cant they track it?
You could sell it, but that's kinda morally objectionable.
Plus it will be flagged as having a bad ESN, so it won't be able to be activated on Sprint.
ShadowDrake said:
You could sell it, but that's kinda morally objectionable.
Plus it will be flagged as having a bad ESN, so it won't be able to be activated on Sprint.
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Yea But cant you still use it??
the point is you can do what you want but sprint is not going to let it be put on a line.The ESN has been blacklisted so if you want to use it as a music player or whatever you want that does not use phone service or data then yes but as a phone No.
I will buy it for forty dollars!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Once you lose a phone, Sprint places it on a lost/stolen list. If you sell it, the purchaser will not be able to activate it.
Sell on ebay and state has bad esn
I think if you only went through asurion the phone might still work. I had a phone that was lost and I did it through the website and i gave the phone to someone else when i found it and they told me that it activated. So maybe have a friend try and see if it works.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4g using Tapatalk
Ill Buy it for $50 dollars, no questions ask!! I want to start into development roms, and ill be good for me!!!
Why even ask a question like that? Once you accepted the condition to file the claim then the phone belongs to the insurance company. The only sense to this question is that you want to know if you will be in any kind trouble.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
i thought the same thing too when i lost my phone in the movie theatre after it fell out of my pocket. I filed a claim and got the replacment then i was able to find my lost phone shortly after. i checked the ESN and it was still clean. i was surprised but now i have two evos. You can always call them and check if its still a valid esn.
Because I don't want to cause anyone any undo trouble. I would like to get my deductible back so I will say bad esn on eBay for $100 as another forum member sugested. Thank you for all input into this discussion.
Why even ask a question like that? Once you accepted the condition to file the claim then the phone belongs to the insurance company. The only sense to this question is that you want to know if you will be in any kind trouble.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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You certainly can activate it still.
I lost my TP2 and got a new one thru insurance and then Sprint called me and told me someone turned in my lost tp2.
I reactivated my original the second I got home. I sold the new TP2. I called Sprint and they told me I was supposed to send the lost one to the insurance but it was up to me. They didn't really care.
Moral wrong..yes... doable .. yes.
if you call ausrion and get a replacement phone they send you another one out but by law or sprint policy (not sure which its to early for me to google it a few sprint employees have told me though) they cant contact sprint and flag it as bad ESN your suppose to do that yourself. So you can activate the old one if you like with 0 issues. Been their and have done it. (on accident found the missing phone like a week or 2 later) sold it to a friend and he is still using it.
There are methods to make a phone work on another carrier if it has a bad ESN on Sprint. Cricket and Metro PCS are the carriers that are most commonly used in the US. I actually bought an Evo on Craigslist a while back for a good price. It wasn't listed as lost/stolen, but it was still tied to a suspended Sprint account. I later sold it on eBay for $360 and listed it with a bad ESN and a bad headphone jack. I think the guy I sold it to was planning on using it in Mexico.
Even without activation, an Evo makes a pretty nice MID on Wifi. Just be warned that most Android devices won't connect to an ad-hoc Wifi network, so it's hard to tether it to another phone.
You could sell it for more than $100. Can't you hack it to work with VZW PRL? Maybe that'll sell for more.
Technically you could sell it to someone on metro pcs or cricket.. they dont care about esn's being blacklisted they'll activate it anyway.
nunyabiziz said:
Why even ask a question like that? Once you accepted the condition to file the claim then the phone belongs to the insurance company. The only sense to this question is that you want to know if you will be in any kind trouble.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Oh God the moral police is here. Its a very valid question. I would do the same damn thing this Guy is doing. Just think of it as a way to recover that 10 dollars extra a month we are ALL getting hosed for every month.
Sent on my cursed EVO
The "moral" thing to do is call the insurance company, explain that you found your old phone and you would like to return the phone and get your deductible returned as well.
I would think they would go for it as they make out in the end.
And you can sleep at night knowing they won't catch on to you some day and deactivate your phone. (highly doubt that could ever happen, but I tend to have a really guilty conscience. what's a $100 anyway.....)
My friend got a new evo 3d and just flat out let me have his old evo 4g
the ONLY thing wrong with it he said was it had a bad esn
First can someone tell me what this means because I can't find accurate information about this and also could I sell a phone with a bad esn?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
It means the account the phone was on is not in good standing with Sprint. You can sell it y o somebody who is going to flash to Cricket or some company like that. Make sure you disclose the Bad ESN to the buyer.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Yep, Sprint has flagged it either because of lack of payment on the account, or leaving without paying an etf. The ONLY was to remove the esn block is to have the original owner settle the debt with Sprint. Otherwise you can use it as a media player/web browser on wifi only.
After a few months, you can actually get the ESN put back in good standing if it is bad due to payment reasons. You may have to pay someone a few bucks to get it done, but it is legal and cheaper than paying off the bill.
Otherwise, you have a toy, or you can sell it to someone else who wants to swap carriers, fix it, or do other things with it.
If the ESN is flagged as stolen though, there are fewer options, but you can still get some money out of it if nothing else.
I bought a GS2 from someone off craigslist and then they reported it stolen and I had a device with a bad IMEI.
I think down the road I would like to see my GS2 for a One S. How can I do this safely? What should I require from the buyer to prevent that from happening again?
decko5 said:
I bought a GS2 from someone off craigslist and then they reported it stolen and I had a device with a bad IMEI.
I think down the road I would like to see my GS2 for a One S. How can I do this safely? What should I require from the buyer to prevent that from happening again?
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Well... You would have to talk to a lawyer about this. If you could find a way of writing up a legal contract (which isn't too difficult) that would stop the seller from doing anything that would ruin the sale, then you might be ok. The problem is that doesn't stop them, and if they did something then you would have to take them to court. That's a lot of money for a little assurance.
I think the more typical answers is you would need some luck, or to buy from someone you trusted. On ebay you can look at their record and see if other people buying cellphones were happy and that no one had this issue, but that could still be sketchy (and cost more than your average used phone).
What if I make the seller meet me at a T-Mo store and have him make sure that the seller does not have insurance plan? maybe that'll be a way to prevent this?
He needs a police report to file that claim. You now have stolen property. I would make that your first concern. I would do what I had to do to prove insurance fraud just on principal alone.
Craigslist is hit or miss. I've been burned twice. But my most recent gs2 purchase went smooth.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium
I would recommend not using either. Use swappa. All the IMEIs are clean, no damage. Was gonna buy my SGS2 off of it, but got a better deal through the store.
You're right, the best way to prevent this if to meet at a store. We have an imei blocking tool that we can reference.
Only problem is that the if the claim is still being processed, it will show unblocked.
I guess it's a good sign if the seller is willing to meet at a store in the first place.
Not sure if it is unlocked. But if it is and the issue is not sorted, you can use it on another carrier still. Not a total loss atleast.
android4sunny said:
Not sure if it is unlocked. But if it is and the issue is not sorted, you can use it on another carrier still. Not a total loss atleast.
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Except that the FCC just passed new regulations that require AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile to share a database off blocked IMEIs.
I bought my SGS2 from Craigslist and what ended happening is I was way hesitant to buy.
Took longer than expected to meet up, but he explained the situation. The dude has a $500 tmobile bill and is moving back to Texas. And just this week I've actually abandoned my G2X and am using my GS2 as my main device.
Luckily I didn't get sold a banned IMIE
This is the reason I like GSM phones. I guess it makes sense for people snatching and selling stolen devices, but sucks you have to do more to make sure you don't get screwed.
If there is nothing preventing people from screwing you with ebay protecting you for 90 days then there is absolutely nothing protecting you in craigslist where they wouldn't care if you got stabbed in a transaction
G1ForFun said:
Except that the FCC just passed new regulations that require AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile to share a database off blocked IMEIs.
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Incorrect. The carriers are working with the FCC on a plan to curb phone theft that may involve using a shared database.
However, this is not regulation passed by FCC. It's also important to note that other countries have been using this type of theft tracking database since 2002, and the database itself has been in existence since 1996.
As usual, the US is behind the rest of the world by about 10 years.
On topic, it really is buyer beware when buying used. Meeting at a TMo store, having the rep verify if IMEI is valid, having it on record that the phone was sold and transferred to the buyer, all help in reducing the likelihood of getting burned.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
honestly, try to buy devices with the box that has the matching imei number, although this has a chance of getting banned too, it is much slimmer.
Many of banned devices are results from stolen phones or are the replacement phones where the person goes "oh i did not receive my package" and ends up selling it.
You can meet in the t-mobile store, have them take note or call or rep and have them put a note that the IMEI is now in use by your account and should not be banned. You can even photocopy or take a picture of the guy's ID, if the guy is reluctant to give you his INFO, don't buy it.
I bought my phone on craigslist NIB, I never knew of this IMIE stuff. Luckily for me, my phone's been fine (knock on wood)
I talked to multiple customer service agents who told me there was nothing they could (or would) do about the situation. Even if the guy meets you at the store and the reps watch, they are just witnesses. It would help if you have to take the guy to court, but is it really worth it?
I mean, it sucks, but it's a gamble.
Well there are many honest people out there doing honest transactions but I think this latest burn has ruined me. I used to love swapping phones very often and I planned to swap this for the One S. It's a shame.
degeneration said:
I talked to multiple customer service agents who told me there was nothing they could (or would) do about the situation. Even if the guy meets you at the store and the reps watch, they are just witnesses. It would help if you have to take the guy to court, but is it really worth it?
I mean, it sucks, but it's a gamble.
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Add in court fees to the total amount.
just unlock the phone and sell it and tell the buyer about it. Only issue is if they are using the phone on tmobile.
It'll work perfectly fine on another carrier. All of the phones I have been through I unlock for a local carrier. Past few years since the nexus one came out I've been through almost every higher end android phone and never once have had an issue.
funny this thread comes up, a year ago i acquire a tmobile G2 from CL, and it was stolen, all i had to do was cooperate with a detective and track down the thief, dont know if they caught them but i get to keep the phone.
in the future i think you should all your service and give them the IMEI numbers to see if it stolen. dont know if that works but doesnt hurt to try.
Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602
snoopycr said:
Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602
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My best advice would be to ask the seller if he/ she would be willing to meet at a T-mobile location to make sure the handset is legitimate. Tell the seller a friend or relative of yours was ripped off in the past and you just want to make sure. Best of luck to you friend.
sent from my note 3
Meet in a Tmobile store and have the seller have the tmobile rep look at their account and verify the phone is not on an equipment installment plan and the imei is not reported as lost or stolen. Also get a signed recepiet (with both parties printed name and the description of the item sold)from the seller stating they sold you the phone. There are many stories where a phone is reported lost or stolen after the sale and after the imei was checked to be in good standing.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
If meeting at a store isn't possible you can call T-Mobile and have them switch it over to you over the phone while standing there with the guy before any money exchanges hands.
Shouldnt there be less problems with this now? I mean, even if someone cancels, they are charged the remaining value on the phone, right? So none of these phones should be blacklisted at all, ever. I mean, they cant make you pay if you leave and still blacklist the phone. Even if u never pay the final bill, if its even on your credit report, you're responsible for it. Is my train of thought here wrong?
tony yayo said:
Shouldnt there be less problems with this now? I mean, even if someone cancels, they are charged the remaining value on the phone, right? So none of these phones should be blacklisted at all, ever. I mean, they cant make you pay if you leave and still blacklist the phone. Even if u never pay the final bill, if its even on your credit report, you're responsible for it. Is my train of thought here wrong?
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Tmo will block the phone until the bill is paid in full. So if they never pay the bill with the phone balance due the phone bought will not work. And now tmo and att share a blcklist so cant use it on att network either. Also as stated even after the sale some people report the phone as lost or stolen and claim a warranty on it making the phone sold useless.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
blakkheartt12 said:
Tmo will block the phone until the bill is paid in full. So if they never pay the bill with the phone balance due the phone bought will not work. And now tmo and att share a blcklist so cant use it on att network either. Also as stated even after the sale some people report the phone as lost or stolen and claim a warranty on it making the phone sold useless.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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What happens when the bill goes to collections? Tmo gets paid by the collection agency but when the collectors get paid will they unblock the phone?
Besides, if they were to report it stolen 2 months later, who would believe you would wait 2 months to report a stolen $700 phone?
tony yayo said:
What happens when the bill goes to collections? Tmo gets paid by the collection agency but when the collectors get paid will they unblock the phone?
Besides, if they were to report it stolen 2 months later, who would believe you would wait 2 months to report a stolen $700 phone?
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Apparently people do. Just search on xda for phone stop working or phone doesnt get service after working for a few months (there were a lot of threads like that in the tmo note 2 forum). Many said tmo wont unblock it until the original owner pays it off. They wont even allow you to pay it off if you wanted to. So its better to have all the evidence as possible that the phone was sold to you.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I personally wouldn't buy new T-Mo phone on craigslist nowa days, and I would be super careful and do due diligence when purchasing on eBay. Even eBay is subject to these issues, just look at how many people are selling Note 3(s) on eBay that are listed as having bad IMEI(s). Why do you think that is? People are are doing multiple different scams and such that involve the IMEI getting blacklisted after a while.
One involves people selling the phones and then not paying their bill after it was purchased on a payment plan. Once they don't pay their bill they blacklist the IMEI. The ONLY way to unblacklist the IMEI is for the original purchaser to pay their payment plan bill. Even if you legitimately purchased the phone they will not unblock it for you. I know of more then one person that has tried to resolve this with ZERO success. Going to a T-Mobile store to do the transaction will not help in this situation because often the account is not in a negative standing yet and doesn't happen till a later date. The only thing a T-Mobile store can help with is identifying if the phone is stolen or not, which doesn't help with these latest scams.
The only way to avoid this is to 100% make sure that the phone you purchased was paid for in full at full price and not on a payment plan. Even then I have heard of sellers providing photoshopped receipts to buyers only to get their phones blacklisted months or weeks later because the phones were not really paid off. One might think that eBay is safer from a seller that has feedback but no not really. Often by the time you get blacklisted you cannot leave bad feedback or file a dispute. However with that said, most card companies (VISA, MC, ETC) allow you to do a chargeback within six months of a purchase if its some type of fraud that happened as a result.
The other way involves a more scammy way that I will not explain, with again the outcome being a blacklisted phone that the 2nd purchaser cannot resolve. However these are happening all over the place and there's not a sure fire way to avoid it. The best way to avoid this is to simply buy a phone directly from a authorized seller like T-Mo, or to trust your buyer 100%.
Just saying.
There is no way to be 100% sure that a T-Mobile phone is a safe bet, unless it is coming from someone you trust.
Even if you go to a store with the seller and verify that the phone is fully paid for, they still have 30 days from the incident date to report it stolen or lost if they have insurance or JUMP! Yes it is fraud, but it is almost impossible to combat. Police will record your incident and file it, but will not actively pursue a situation such as this in most cases. T-Mobile will suggest that you contact your local police and will not do anything to help you.
Another note: If you call or go into a store and ask them to check the IMEI number, they can't give you information regarding financing unless the phone is being financed under your name or a authorized account manager. You will need the phone seller to go in to the store to verify this information for you.
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there trying to sell their TMO phones honestly, but do you want to take a high percentage chance that you are being ripped off? That percentage rises if the phone is brand new selling at a huge discount. EX. Craigslist in my city shows a guy selling 4 TMO Note 3's brand new for 550.00 each. I can almost guarantee that those phones will be blacklisted sooner or later.
buy it on swappa
There is a certain amount of risk involved. It all depends on how good of a deal you get. I've bought quite a few phones from CL then sold later on Ebay. Right now I'm using a Note 3 bought on CL for $400. I could sell it with a bad IMEI on Ebay and still make a good profit. I always disclose in my auction that the phone has been verified as clean at the time of sale but that could change in the future since I don't know the history of the phone. it doesn't seem to stop people from buying the phones.
Just last weekend I found a great deal on a S4 international version, or so I thought. After getting home and messing with it I found out it was a fake! The owner never answered my calls or texts, go figure. I was able to sell it on Ebay fully disclosed as a fake and only take about a $40 hit. If you're going to use CL you better be willing to take some risk.
Also my research leads me to belive that Tmo and att do not SHARE blacklist info for phones that the bill is not paid on, only units reported lost or stolen. Nobody had been able to prove to me they do. Since I use Straight Talk with att sim card that eliminates some risk of my phone becoming blacklisted. In my mind anyhow it makes me feel better!
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
snoopycr said:
Any tips or suggestions on how I can buy a tmobile note 3? How can I be sure it's a good esn/imei without it being reported stolen from tmobile?
Sent from my C6602
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Best way to buy it is to PRESUME the phone you are buying is ALREADY blacklisted. Next is to buy it at the lowest price you think it fair. For example, I bought a Note 3 T-Mobile from craighstlist for 525. The guy said it had a clean IMEI but I was skeptical of it but since it was at 525, I could not have cared less since I was planning on using it with AT&T. I later unlocked it using RegionLock Away and everything is SMOOTH. Love the phone.
i wouldnt trust craigslist.. i had bought a phone on it that i thought worked. when i came home it bricked.
Just thought I'd share my craigslist experience this morning. I wanted to post a screenshot but cannot for some reason so copy and pastiing.
Me: you still got the note 4 for sale?
Him: yes
Me: Can you provide a reciept to show that its fulky paid for and a bill of sale with your name and id number? I'm just trying to avoid insurance scammers.
Him: It's not fully paid off. I just got the phone because it came with the line which is all i needed at no additional cost to me.
Him: But I'm not eligible for insurance because I've used my two for the year up already.
Me: Well if you're selling a phone that isn't fully paid off tmobile will block it when you stop making payments. Which makes the phine useless and you're trying to sell it is fraud.
Me: lol good luck man
Him: Umm your wrong
Him: but ok
Funny how his insurance is already used up, i wonder what became of those phones hmmm. So I would encourage anybody buying off craigslist to ask the same questions i did. They're are some genuine sellers i buy and sell from Craigslist all the time.
Make sure the box is a genuine t-mobile box the phone will set in a recessed form fitted area and not just on top of flat paper.
So I realize this is probably a pretty dumb question to ask - but I just don't really know where to find the answer. Being's I own and cell phone store, I do a lot of buying and reselling of used phones. I see on ebay that Bad ESN phones are selling (sometimes) for as much as the good phones. My question is - why? What are people doing with these phones that they are willing to pay so much for something that is bad?
That is all!
thanks!
Depends on the "good ones". The only reason I see people buying near mint bad esn phones are for parts. Sometimes cheaper than ordering the part itself. Or so they can be flashed to another carrier.
-Whiplashh
Sent from a Premium Xda app using the Flo Nexus 7.
Originally I thought people were buying them to flash as most flashing threads say buy a bad ESN phone as they are cheaper and it won't matter since it won't be used on the Sprint network. I found the same thing as you though, the bad ESN phones sell for around the same price as good ESN phones.