I've heard the rumors... T-Mo's customer service is legendary. They're the best in the game. Everyone says so!!
Rewind: October 2007. I was a Sprint customer. After 3 years of hell with Nextel, no service in Rhode Island, replacement phones, billing errors, and long wait times, I became an ex-Spring customer when I threatened to leave Sprint for T-mobile, and the customer service SUPERVISOR said to me "You do what you have to do..." *click* and hung up on me. So I did just that... I walked into a t-mobile store and bought a wing.
Fast-forward: Today. It's now 6 months later. I've had 3 warranty replacements on the Wing, then (because I was fed up with the wing) I asked for an alternate model. They told me the only other "multiple exchange" model was the Dash. So they sent me a dash (which I can't figure out because it's cheaper). That was 3 weeks ago. Today, I noticed a bunch of white lines on my screen (see my other post for a screen shot).
I just got off the phone with T-mobile. They confirmed that this is a problem with the Dash, and the brackets holding the screen apparently break for no reason at all, causing this problem. It can happen for any or no reason at all. Well, the wing might be slow and lock up and reboot itself when it wants (though I fault t-mobile's ****ty software for that) but at least it kept it's screen in tact.
So I told them I wanted a wing back. They refused, because I did not qualify for the multiple exchange, since it was only my first dash. I told them I needed a phone that DIDN'T lose it's screen at random, so I wanted the Wing back (which is what I originally paid $300 for) and they said no, because that only applies if I had 2 or more defective dash's. What the hell is wrong with this company!?!? They can't send me a Blackberry Curve (even though it's the EXACT same price as the Wing), they can't send me ANYTHING, not even a basic phone. They said if I wanted the wing now, it would cost me $400!!!
Now, looking back at Sprint, with their new CEO (who has vowed to clean up customer service) and their newest plan (simply everything), and the coolest phone I've ever seen (the Sprint "Touch") I think I'm going to pay the early termination $200 fee and switch back to sprint when I get my $600.00 economic stimulus check from the government in May, and I told the t-mobile guy that too. He said "Well, sorry to hear that, but there's nothing we can do for you..." <-- What the hell is that??? What happened to customer service? I left Sprint because they sucked, and now they're getting better and T-Mobile sucks.
Looks like I picked a bad time to leave Sprint and an even worse time to join T-Mobile.
WARNING TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT SWITCHING TO T-MOBILE OR BUYING A PDA FROM T-MOBILE: DON'T do it!!! If it's a bad model, you'll be stuck with it!!
I am SICK of getting new phones every month in the mail. It takes me about 6 hours to get my phone looking & acting the way it should. I have to flash the ROM, copy pim.vol, change the theme, remove the stupid "callstart.wav" file, hack the **** out of the registry, and set up email, internet connections, and everything else. I've wasted countless days of my life doing this.
I've reached the end of my tether. I hope a perspective T-mobile customer reads this and it helps them decide to NOT go to T-mobile. Likewise, I hope a higher-up at T-mobile reads this and gets the message.
LMFAO Dude grow up.
SpringfieldXD45C said:
I've heard the rumors... T-Mo's customer service is legendary. They're the best in the game. Everyone says so!!
Rewind: October 2007. I was a Sprint customer. After 3 years of hell with Nextel, no service in Rhode Island, replacement phones, billing errors, and long wait times, I became an ex-Spring customer when I threatened to leave Sprint for T-mobile, and the customer service SUPERVISOR said to me "You do what you have to do..." *click* and hung up on me. So I did just that... I walked into a t-mobile store and bought a wing.
Fast-forward: Today. It's now 6 months later. I've had 3 warranty replacements on the Wing, then (because I was fed up with the wing) I asked for an alternate model. They told me the only other "multiple exchange" model was the Dash. So they sent me a dash (which I can't figure out because it's cheaper). That was 3 weeks ago. Today, I noticed a bunch of white lines on my screen (see my other post for a screen shot).
I just got off the phone with T-mobile. They confirmed that this is a problem with the Dash, and the brackets holding the screen apparently break for no reason at all, causing this problem. It can happen for any or no reason at all. Well, the wing might be slow and lock up and reboot itself when it wants (though I fault t-mobile's ****ty software for that) but at least it kept it's screen in tact.
So I told them I wanted a wing back. They refused, because I did not qualify for the multiple exchange, since it was only my first dash. I told them I needed a phone that DIDN'T lose it's screen at random, so I wanted the Wing back (which is what I originally paid $300 for) and they said no, because that only applies if I had 2 or more defective dash's. What the hell is wrong with this company!?!? They can't send me a Blackberry Curve (even though it's the EXACT same price as the Wing), they can't send me ANYTHING, not even a basic phone. They said if I wanted the wing now, it would cost me $400!!!
Now, looking back at Sprint, with their new CEO (who has vowed to clean up customer service) and their newest plan (simply everything), and the coolest phone I've ever seen (the Sprint "Touch") I think I'm going to pay the early termination $200 fee and switch back to sprint when I get my $600.00 economic stimulus check from the government in May, and I told the t-mobile guy that too. He said "Well, sorry to hear that, but there's nothing we can do for you..." <-- What the hell is that??? What happened to customer service? I left Sprint because they sucked, and now they're getting better and T-Mobile sucks.
Looks like I picked a bad time to leave Sprint and an even worse time to join T-Mobile.
WARNING TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT SWITCHING TO T-MOBILE OR BUYING A PDA FROM T-MOBILE: DON'T do it!!! If it's a bad model, you'll be stuck with it!!
I am SICK of getting new phones every month in the mail. It takes me about 6 hours to get my phone looking & acting the way it should. I have to flash the ROM, copy pim.vol, change the theme, remove the stupid "callstart.wav" file, hack the **** out of the registry, and set up email, internet connections, and everything else. I've wasted countless days of my life doing this.
I've reached the end of my tether. I hope a perspective T-mobile customer reads this and it helps them decide to NOT go to T-mobile. Likewise, I hope a higher-up at T-mobile reads this and gets the message.
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Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! I for one would never EVER go to sprint. I don't care how much 3g or EV-DO they have...I used to be work for sprints technical support desk and i absolutely hated it! all they cared was for you to get off the phone as quickly as you could try to sell some add-on crap that you didnt need... retrigger the IOTA (internet over the air refresh) and get off the phone ASAP! and the reson why the tech do this is they dont get a bonus if they dont have an average call time under 7 minutes! i went to work for them thinking it was a technical job and all it was , was a front for over the phone sales! i was only there for 8 months and i hit the door as soon as the opportunity arose.
Maybe its you, not the phones. Ever think about that.
T-Mobile is not here to exchange any phone "YOU" decide to mod, drop, throw, dunk,etc.
They have a limit on how many, per customer, can get an exchange.
There is a thing called insurance you can buy from them, for this specific reason.
Pay up to keep getting a new phone every 4-6 months.
And see, I am the exact opposite of what the first poster said, I am a current SunCom Wireless customer, who was just bought out by T-Mobile, and I have had nothing but good things from TM's customer service. I called them about getting a Wing, and if they would provide me with a TM SIM card that would work with my SunCom plan....which wont work of course, so instead they say-"Hold on one moment and let me look at your account...(so I give em my account number, a SUNCOM account number mind you)and the dude comes back and says, well with your anytime rewards(basically 5USD off of a new phone that yoy get for every month you stay with SunCom), you can get a Wing for 249.99, and we will go ahead and SIM unlock it for you before we ship it, so that you can use it with SunCom. Then when SunCom and TM become one company, we will send you a TM SIM card(because thats what they are doing with everybody) and you will still be able to use your SunCom services and current billing prices." So of course I say hell yeah, and give the guy my debit card number, and he comes back and says, "Oh, and you also qualify for free next day air!" so hell yeah, I do LOVE TMs customer service already, and im not even one of their customers yet! BTW, teh Wing=AWESOME!
I sort of had a similar experience.
I had a Shadow, and did not like it, I really wanted the Dash to begin with..
I called and asked to send the Shadow back, and that was fine, but they wanted me to pay $200 upfront.
After thinking about it, I said no.
Called back asked for a supervisor, who immediately called the proper department, got my phone sent out FREE, gave me the rebate instantly, and also sent me a free bluetooth headset.
I have no problem with T-mobile, but if you do, call back and ask for a supervisor.
I LUV me dash and I think that Tmobile is probably the best mobile phone company. Hell they didn't ever try to sell up, but they did help me downgrade my plan with courtesy and respect and no additional months on my contract.
As to your problems with the Dash, I am sorry I would still get another. Even great products have some problems with them. I have had my Dash for over a year and couldn't possibly be more pleased. I keep it in a case and it is in pristine condition. My contract is over and I really would like a 3g device but there isn't anything I would like more than the dash out there. Especially with google's web page compression and the opera mini.
I work at IT at a hospital and most...no every smartphone has KNOWN problems with them. Please don't ask about getting a TREO..... You won't see known issues broadcast anywhere unless you are an major enterprise client. Cellular companies don't usually ever mention problems to nickel and dime clients.
My sister has major problems keeping a working cellphone for more than 4 months since they stopped making them large plasic bricks in the 90's. She has had her Dash for over a year as well. It has a large crack in the screen (no actual harm just a large crack). Various large gashes and the power button has to be pushed extra hard but it's still workin! So if you ask me it is a brick.
Tmobile is different. They only have edge no 3g at all that is a dealbreaker with enterprise clients. They only have nickel and dime clients. I think in general Tmobile have to be nice to their personal clients and they are. Just don't put a pink logo on your website!
Allright... for those of you telling me to "Grow up" and "Maybe it's not T-mobile, it's you" First of all, I'd like to remind you that I'm at least being polite to you. See, I reply to topics to give USEFUL information, not scathing remarks. That makes for somethign we like to call "a pleasant atmosphere". Perhaps you've never heard of that before. So how about YOU grow up? Thanks
I'd also like to point out that "I" am hardly the reason for the following WING issues:
Phone #1: Random reboots, battery lasted for 2 hours max, touch screen would stop working, and only come back after a reboot.
Phone #2: Extremely slow (timed: 34 seconds for the start menu to appear after pushing the start button.. OUT OF THE BOX), random reboots.
Phone #3: Internet would not work at all. On the phone with PDA Tech support who walked me through everything he wanted me to do, then finally HE suggested replacing the phone.
Phone #4: Would not power on at all.
Phone #5: The dash: Everything is working fine. Today, while sitting on my desk (e.g. not being dropped, submersed, etc.) a bunch of white lines appear on my screen. A member of this board said he had the same problem, and even T-Mobile said it was a known issue...
I'm sorry, but please explain to me HOW that is "me" and not t-mobile!??! You've obviously proven to me what great intelligence you have by demonstrating your innate, Jedi-like ability to sit at a keyboard and say "Dude, grow up" and "Maybe it's you not t-mobile" So please explain, Captain SDA... I eagerly await your solution to "my" problems with these "perfect" phones.
My mom once told me "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". Clearly your moms never told you that, Perhaps you should ask YOUR mom for that same advice. Judging by your superior online personalities, that shouldn't be too hard: Just leave your basement and walk upstairs. I'm sorry you don't understand the value of a dollar, and the fact that I have now spent $300 on a phone that doesn't work, and I religiously pay my bill for a service I can barely use. I'm sorry that upsets me. You're right, I shouldn't complain about that.
*** sigh ***
For the rest of you: Thanks for the advice about going back to sprint. The only reason I'm even thinking about it right now is because of all the good things I heard about the new CEO and the changes he's making, and I'm excited about the Samsung Instinct as well as the Sprint HTC Touch, which I personally got to use and it was lightning fast!!
My point was that T-Mobiles history with you as their customer.
When i read the story, i thought, this guy has no luck with phones. Do you honestly think T-Mobile will start giving away replacements to a person that has a history of mishaps? Look at it from their point of view also.
The thing is these days, people think everything is about themselves.
Sorry if you hate my replies. I tell things the way I see them. I don't sugar coat anything.
If you had said THAT instead of "Dude grow up" at first, it would've been a little nicer, don't you think?? Do you think I don't have enough on my plate already, after bleeding out all kinds of money for a damn phone & service that I can't even use, without having to put up with wisecrack remarks??
Yes, I DO expect T-Mobile to stand behind their products.
I respect the hell out of calling shots as you see them, but I question HOW they're seen. Throw me a bone, will you??
SpringfieldXD45C said:
If you had said THAT instead of "Dude grow up" at first, it would've been a little nicer, don't you think?? Do you think I don't have enough on my plate already, after bleeding out all kinds of money for a damn phone & service that I can't even use, without having to put up with wisecrack remarks??
Yes, I DO expect T-Mobile to stand behind their products.
I respect the hell out of calling shots as you see them, but I question HOW they're seen. Throw me a bone, will you??
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*tosses a bone in the air *
Kidding
SPRINT!!!
you know even if i had 10 phones break on me, through running normal software or even modified i would like the company to replace, even if it was my fault... thats what u pay insurance for and thats what makes great customer service. Think about it... how many people know more about the phones then someone that modifies them? not your average user, i referred about 15 people just because sprint is so good with me breaking my phone anyway i did( twice but w/e), not just a new phone but every little thing(a new box, battery, phone, 2x stylus, etc...). no need to grow up its a normal thing to worm someone about a HORRIBLE service provider, i've had sprint for a couple months no complaints, well maybe my bill once but i just shot them an email about my bill being $300, next day they gave me an extra $500. if u switch to sprint get the sero account and you may want to do it fast because no one knows how much longer that type of plan is going to be available....
atomiix said:
you know even if i had 10 phones break on me, through running normal software or even modified i would like the company to replace, even if it was my fault... thats what u pay insurance for and thats what makes great customer service. Think about it... how many people know more about the phones then someone that modifies them? not your average user, i referred about 15 people just because sprint is so good with me breaking my phone anyway i did( twice but w/e), not just a new phone but every little thing(a new box, battery, phone, 2x stylus, etc...). no need to grow up its a normal thing to worm someone about a HORRIBLE service provider, i've had sprint for a couple months no complaints, well maybe my bill once but i just shot them an email about my bill being $300, next day they gave me an extra $500. if u switch to sprint get the sero account and you may want to do it fast because no one knows how much longer that type of plan is going to be available....
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Yea but the key element of your situation that makes it different from the person that made this thread is that you have INSURANCE! things are a whole heckofalot different when you have insurance. When you don't, you stand a chance at ending up like this poor guy! The only thing about insurance i absolutely despise is you always get a reburb.
I have to disagree...If i had a company and sold you a phone. If you modify the rom in any way, warranty is void.
I think even with insurance it gets voided. (I may be wrong)
Mikey1022 said:
I have to disagree...If i had a company and sold you a phone. If you modify the rom in any way, warranty is void.
I think even with insurance it gets voided. (I may be wrong)
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No because most insurance plans cover damage ... which cover both physical and software.firmware damage.....
pudgedaddy said:
No because most insurance plans cover damage ... which cover both physical and software.firmware damage.....
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original and modified firmware?
Mikey1022 said:
original and modified firmware?
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Yes! Heck even if it didnt and the insurance covered only physical damage. I'd beat the heck out of the phone so it wouldnt turn on to find out which firmware or ROM was installed. I mean if you think about it , the phone companies make a buttload of money gettin $5 ( or more) a month for monthly insurance charges,,,, then the customer still has to fork out a deductible when they use the insurance. So trust me, I'd love to offer insurance. Lastly most insurance policies limit the nunber of exchanges to 2 or 3 per year. so it would insure that they couldn't abuse the insurance plan
it sucks about the issues you are experiencing, but do you think this is the right forum (no pun intended) for this issue? in my opinion, you will have better luck discussing this issue with mid - senior level management at T-Mobile USA; not with a bunch of people looking to modify their mobile devices.
johnnylavah said:
it sucks about the issues you are experiencing, but do you think this is the right forum (no pun intended) for this issue? in my opinion, you will have better luck discussing this issue with mid - senior level management at T-Mobile USA; not with a bunch of people looking to modify their mobile devices.
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I agree. The mods should close this thread
I have no other place to vent, and to be honest, I was hoping to get a former T-mobile employee (or someone) who would send me a PM or leave a post with a bit of a tip in it.
If nothing else, I'm outraged and I need to vent (something wrong with that??) It's only natural.
By the way, this has nothing to do with insurance... this is still warranty!! And how do you figure flashing the ROM voids the warranty?? It changes no physical part of the phone... and as long as you can flash the factory ROM back onto it, (thus making the phone still useable) what harm was done?
I see nothing in the warranty about flashing the ROM as being grounds for voiding.
My husband and I have switched to AT&T due to T-Mobile constantly messing up the bills. We have a bad balance. I know most of you are going to say that I will have to purchase a code, but I'm not looking to spend $20 - $35 dollars for some numbers. Is there a way I could if free from TMO?
They day we went into the store to set up a payment plan to fix our over due balances, they decided to lie to us a bunch of different times. They first said we could pay $40 to get it turned back, if we submitted our bank account info, we waited about ten minutes after we paid and then called back. We got a different person. My husband talked to them, asked why our service hasn't been turned back on and they had deleted the post-dated check that they just set up. They then proceeded to tell him he had pay all of it, up front, right then. So, we decided that we weren't going to deal with that, and left.
Would my brother (only person I know with tmobile) call and get it?
I just chatted (via internet) with Tmo, and they say I need the receipt proving that I bought the phone from them, so I can fax it. What? I wouldn't even have thought of keeping a receipt that long. Ugh I hate Tmo.
sorry to hear about your experience, at any case, just call them and ask them to unlock the sim for you. they will send you an email with instructions and the actual unlock code within a couple of days, for free. now if they ask you why did you want to unlock the phone, either tell them what happened or just lie to them and say you might be traveling abroad or something.
mess up the bill?
Honestly, was it T-Mobile messing up the bill or you neglecting to pay it on time? I've been with T-Mobile for over 8 years and I have never had a single problem with a bill. Several of my friends have also been with T-Mobile nearly as long and likewise no problems. I've always received the unlock code for my phones promptly after asking.
root the phone that way you dont even need to call them.
Eh, we got billed weird, I don't know how to explain it, but they werent very good with helping or working with us. Also hated their service, but oh well. We won't be purchasing an Unlock code. Husband wants an iPhone now, so no more worries.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
JennHTC said:
Eh, we got billed weird, I don't know how to explain it, but they werent very good with helping or working with us. Also hated their service, but oh well. We won't be purchasing an Unlock code. Husband wants an iPhone now, so no more worries.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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Yeah, AT&T is so welcoming for unlocked phones LOL!!!!!
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-
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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-
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.