[Q] Esn help for fascinate - Fascinate General

Hey, I'm in need of some help. On my birthday, I lost my fascinate. I called bdubs multiple times to see if anyone turned it in and of course, no one had turned a phone in. so, I called up asurion and filed a claim. I got my replacement and had it for six days when my landlord calls my home phone.she had found my fascinate. Great news, or so I thought. I call asurion up again and explain what happened. I figured I could get it off the blacklist since I found it. Well, asurion said not only would they not remove it from the list, but that phone was now their property. they wanted me to send in my old phone. Not only that, but they won't give my ninety bucks back.
Anyways, I've decided to give the phone to my mother in law for christmas since she has an eris. I'm assuming I need to change the esn. How would I do this? I'm just going to swap it with my moto droid. I've read that this is illegal, but if I'm swapping the esn with one of my phones, then it's legal? Any clues?

Its not illegal. I've changed esn numbers all over my verizon accounts and never had a problem. You can deactivate your phone and activate another in place of it online through your verizon wireless account.
Rockin' DJ05, Minimal Icognito, being just plain Stupidfast

TheSonicEmerald said:
Its not illegal. I've changed esn numbers all over my verizon accounts and never had a problem. You can deactivate your phone and activate another in place of it online through your verizon wireless account.
Rockin' DJ05, Minimal Icognito, being just plain Stupidfast
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Click to collapse
I think the OP is talking about something different.
The ESN on your old Fascinate is a hard coded serial number. You can't just change the number to make it so you can activate it again. ESNs are loaded into Verizon's system to identify the devices tied to their network so you're pretty much screwed and you need to just send the phone back to Asurion as they requested. As per your policy with them, that device does belong to them.

once the phone is reported lost or stolen the ESN can't be activated on another line, so if i am understanding you correctly, giving it to your mother in-law won't do you any good unless you just want to give her a headache trying to get it activated that can't be done.

it can be done and it isn't illegal as most people think... google is your friend
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Try calling VZW and telling them what happened. They control the database, so if you tell them that you found the device and it is no longer lost, they may be able to de-blacklist the ESN for you.

Check the terms and conditions for your insurance. This is all detailed there.
Vzw can't remove it. Asurion owns it now.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Let me get this straight, Mr. Kuhlman.
You lost your $500+ phone, filed an insurance claim ... Does your insurance cover lost or did you claim it was stolen? ... .... So they send you another $500+ phone after you only pay, I'm assuming shipping + deductible = $90? Now you "found" your phone and plan to keep both $500+ phones? You make out quite well with that deal. How is this fair? What makes you think you are so entitled? And you want the $90 back as well!!!
Mr. Kuhlman, are you familiar with insurance fraud? And you posted this on a public forum...

SupraLance said:
Let me get this straight, Mr. Kuhlman.
You lost your $500+ phone, filed an insurance claim ... Does your insurance cover lost or did you claim it was stolen? ... .... So they send you another $500+ phone after you only pay, I'm assuming shipping + deductible = $90? Now you "found" your phone and plan to keep both $500+ phones? You make out quite well with that deal. How is this fair? What makes you think you are so entitled? And you want the $90 back as well!!!
Mr. Kuhlman, are you familiar with insurance fraud? And you posted this on a public forum...
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Click to collapse
couldn't agree more...this is exactly the reason why we have high deductibles...send it to asurion it is their property....
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Some confusion about changing ESN numbers here. There are two types of ESN swaps.
1) Changing your ESN # registered to your account
2) Changing the ESN # of the phone itself
#1 is to get a phone activated on the network. #2 is to get the phone unlocked and activated on *another* network. Neither is illegal.
The only thing illegal related to ESN swaps is if you clone an ESN, so that two phones have the same ESN at the same time. Although it is only illegal if done for purposes of fraud. If you were to buy 2 phones, and for whatever reasons wanted to clone their ESN's and put the other away on a shelf and never use again, then you could do this legally.
For instance someone may want to use a fancy Droid X on their limited verizon plan. Verizon wont sell or activate a droid x if you dont subscribe with a data package. You may decide to activate it yourself by cloning an existing phone's ESN so that your droid x can make voice calls and receive texts, but nothing else.

Thread closed per rule 9.
This is insurance fraud and the recipient of the phone could be charged with handling stolen goods, and more ... you could be charged with fraud and theft.

Related

Bad ESN, now what?

So I found a person on Craigslist who had a Droid 2 for sale, good deal. So I met up with him, checked out the phone, everything looked good. I called Verizon before making the exchange for the phone and verified the ESN was clear. I get home and try to activate the phone and can't. I called Verizon back and this time I'm being told the phone is still allocated to an account but not active, probably someone who didn't pay a bill would be my guess. It's still early and I haven't tried contacting the person I purchased it from, but providing that falls through what are my options? Or are there any?
I've had verizon for almost 12 years now, can't say I've had the best experience but this just takes the prize. First guy says yes, second person says no, I'm probably out money. ><
Be careful. It could either be stolen or his and he could be filing a claim that the phone was stolen so document everything from the transaction to ensure you don't end up in the wrong. I'm not sure if anything can be done if you have a linked but not active ESN.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
newk8600 said:
Be careful. It could either be stolen or his and he could be filing a claim that the phone was stolen so document everything from the transaction to ensure you don't end up in the wrong. I'm not sure if anything can be done if you have a linked but not active ESN.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
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Yea I kinda figure that I'm out some cash and got a nifty paperweight now. I'm calling VZW to raise hell since one person told me it was clean, and the other told me the truth about it. Nothing will probably come of it, but at least I get to ***** at them for it. I did manage to get the guy I bought it from to tell me earlier today that it was on his wifes account and that she needed the money from getting rid of the phone to buy another and have it activated. Of course he hasn't returned any of my follow up calls asking when this is going to happen. Unfortunately this isn't someone I know, but do feel like giving him the ass beating of his lifetime.
Oh well, I should have tried to activate it myself on the spot so I guess you live you learn.
By the way, I've got this new thing called an Android Paperweight that runs OS 2.2 if you're interested in buying it let me know (j/k)
StirCwazy said:
Yea I kinda figure that I'm out some cash and got a nifty paperweight now. I'm calling VZW to raise hell since one person told me it was clean, and the other told me the truth about it. Nothing will probably come of it, but at least I get to ***** at them for it. I did manage to get the guy I bought it from to tell me earlier today that it was on his wifes account and that she needed the money from getting rid of the phone to buy another and have it activated. Of course he hasn't returned any of my follow up calls asking when this is going to happen. Unfortunately this isn't someone I know, but do feel like giving him the ass beating of his lifetime.
Oh well, I should have tried to activate it myself on the spot so I guess you live you learn.
By the way, I've got this new thing called an Android Paperweight that runs OS 2.2 if you're interested in buying it let me know (j/k)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if it ends up being a bad ESN and you aren't ever able to activate it you could probably sell it to a developer to recuperate some of the cost. You probably wont get it all but I'm sure you could get a nice chunk back.
kwheel596 said:
Honestly, if it ends up being a bad ESN and you aren't ever able to activate it you could probably sell it to a developer to recuperate some of the cost. You probably wont get it all but I'm sure you could get a nice chunk back.
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't even know where to start, but good suggestion, thanks.
I called VZW a few minutes ago to complain and found out that the person I spoke with last night didn't log anything in our account indicating a call and regarding what. The person I spoke with earlier today did. I just wish everyone knew how to do their job properly to make sure everyone in my situation ends up with the best possible results, and not out some money that could be used elsewhere.
So if life I guess
How much does it take to buy the phone..... paper weight
rdking said:
How much does it take to buy the phone..... paper weight
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At risk of being ridiculed over what I paid for the said item I'll take offers via PM For the time being I'm still holding out on the dream it will one day soon be functional.
put it on ebay you can still get a couple hundred bucks out of a droid 2 with a bad esn
Good luck man, I hope it will be activated soon!
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
First things first, never buy a CL phone unless you activate it on the SPOT. Regardless if the 'account is late on payment' or whatever that doesn't mean they can blacklist the phone from activating on the network.
If it is a insurance claim phone it can never be used and you are SOL, but if it's stolen I'd call Verizon again and have them contact whoever owns that phone to call you. You seem like an intelligent person, not some kid posting on here, and having VZW for 12 years confirms that. Do the right thing and contact the owner should it be stolen. Maybe work something out?
You could always use it with a different carrier or sell it to someone who wants to use it on a different carrier..
They flash over to cricket easily, probly to sprint or u.s. cellular also
Doesnt matter what the esn says in verizons system when going somewhere else
If you complain enough they will *SOMETIMES* allow you to swap it for a replacement with a clean ESN, though not always. You could also try going into a store and telling them you got ripped off and seeing if they have a carrier return laying that they might be willing to replace your bad one with, Verizon themselves doesn't care about blacklisted ESN's once they have them, they just simply remove it from the blacklist and sell it off
Streak 7 bad ESN
May be an stupid coment, but just by curiosity: when you change the ROM for some custom ROM , the STK7 is not by default unlocked?.
Mr. Cell Phone Unlocker
If you are willing to pay $75, I stumbled across this site that will do it.
Reputable company, but I make no guarantees of their effectiveness. Never tried it either.
Might be worth a shot
http://www.mrcellphoneunlocker.com/V2/products.php?product=Verizon_ESN

Can I use an unactivated Epic 4g?

Search wasn't working for me so I am going to try my luck with a new topic
My Epic broke a few weeks ago and was denied warranty service, so I suspended my phone service and I will replace my broken screen myself with one from another unit. Assuming Samsung wiped my device during their diagnostics test and my phone would require activation upon boot, will I be able to use my phone without cellular data/voice until I decide to resume my service?
I've read up that the G1s and Droids can be used unactivated by touching the screen corners and I have a link that says the Fascinate can be used with a dialer code (http://androidforums.com/fascinate-tips-tricks/171348-bypass-fascinate-activation-screen.html)
Would any of those work?
Pic of the broken sAMOLED:
http://tibwolf.smugmug.com/photos/1090857987_wGDm8-XL.jpg
Assuming I'm understanding your question right, the answer should be yes. Sprint sent me a replacement phone when mine was just SUCKING BATTERY. I "switched" the activation from one phone to the other a call to Sprint. When the service was switched, I turned the old phone back on, and it worked on wifi only (no cell or data connection). I'm assuming that signing back in to the market via my Gmail account would have worked fine, but I can't tell for absolutely certain as I didn't actually try it. SHOULD work though. If someone has a more concrete answer, that'd be great.
Why not pay the $35 at a sprint store for repair? We have to do these and evo's often.
And on topic yes market and email etc work on wifi without being activated.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
You should be able to. I was using my hero as an mp3 player for a little while after I got my epic. The only problem I ran into was I couldn't sign into the android market on my hero if I was using the same gmail address on my epic
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Sprint fixed my strewn for free. They actually gabe me a new phone at the store since they didn't have the parts. I called and made an appointment but they don't know what happened to my part
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I don't have TEP so the Sprint store wanted nothing to do with me.
I bought a replacement shell with screen on ebay for $35 so I will repair it myself. Samsung wanted $150 to repair it and every single Samsung rep I've talked to on the phone said that their warranty never covers a broken screen under any circumstances.
Hopefully I can make sure I have a working phone before I go off to bootcamp
Thanks for the input guys
tibwolf said:
I don't have TEP so the Sprint store wanted nothing to do with me.
I bought a replacement shell with screen on ebay for $35 so I will repair it myself. Samsung wanted $150 to repair it and every single Samsung rep I've talked to on the phone said that their warranty never covers a broken screen under any circumstances.
Hopefully I can make sure I have a working phone before I go off to bootcamp
Thanks for the input guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you already bought the screen, this isn't really necessary, but I work at Sprint and with TEP it is a free repair. Without it is $35. I promise! In another thread someone argued that this was not true, but it surely is. I'd be happy to take a pic of an eticket for someone without tep and it clearly shows the $35 charge populated for cracked/damaged screen.
I should mention I didn't purchase any insurance on the phone at all ($71.76 a month after all fees and taxes)
The manager at the Sprint store I went to, which also happens to be the only store in the area authorized for repairs, said that TEP would have been $35 out of pocket, and regular insurance would be $100. Once I said I had no insurance he pointed to a phone and said it was Samsung's problem
tibwolf said:
I should mention I didn't purchase any insurance on the phone at all ($71.76 a month after all fees and taxes)
The manager at the Sprint store I went to, which also happens to be the only store in the area authorized for repairs, said that TEP would have been $35 out of pocket, and regular insurance would be $100. Once I said I had no insurance he pointed to a phone and said it was Samsung's problem
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Click to collapse
If they are corporate or preferred then they are seriously misinformed. The insurance is only for lost/stolen, liquid, or device is in 3 or more pieces. All housing/screen other than that is covered for free if you have TEP or ESRP, but if you only have ERP or NOTHING, then its $35 charge with the option to add tep after the repair or replacement.
I'd complain if they are a corporate or preferred store. If that's the case they are basically saying that they didn't feel like dealing with you, or they have not been properly trained on the new policies.
tibwolf I'm in the same situation as you ... can you tell me how it went? How difficult was it to actually replace it? I couldn't find instructions on the web.
I had my Epic for over two weeks before I activated it and it worked fine as everything but a phone. There were no tricks involved at all - I even did the Google setup so I could access the market, Gmail, etc.
I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.
Overstew said:
I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.
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Click to collapse
For him to say "android" based phones have to be activated is false. i had my htc hero without being activated and performed a factory reset and i just walked through the setup with wifi and I could do everything on the phone except the phone. When i bought my epic 4g, It was not activated yet I turned it on and messed around with it.
I hope this helps you out!
p.s - i dunno if this matters but both phones had been previously activated but were unactivated through sprint.
Sincerely,
D3luSi0n4L
I can confirm that you can sprint does repair cracked screens for $35 ( I also smashed mine with no (none of any kind) insurance. You can also use your phone through wifi by skipping activation.
You can bring it to sprint even if you have no account with them?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
ramsestut said:
If they are corporate or preferred then they are seriously misinformed. The insurance is only for lost/stolen, liquid, or device is in 3 or more pieces. All housing/screen other than that is covered for free if you have TEP or ESRP, but if you only have ERP or NOTHING, then its $35 charge with the option to add tep after the repair or replacement.
I'd complain if they are a corporate or preferred store. If that's the case they are basically saying that they didn't feel like dealing with you, or they have not been properly trained on the new policies.
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Click to collapse
^This. There was a recent policy change and this is now the policy. If it is repairable, the repair is free with insurance or $35 without. If it is non-repairable, water damaged, or stolen, then you can get a replacement under insurance and nothing without insurance.
Overstew said:
I got mine @ the Bestbuy mobile store. The rep there said that Android based phones have to be actived to be used and that was the reason I couldn't play with a real one before purchasing. He would let me play with a Blackberry though.
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Click to collapse
I had a Best Buy guy tell me the same thing and I had to correct him. Best Buy in my area doesnt know much about the phones they sell. I had my Epic for awhile and never had it activated, but I could use it on wifi for everything other than calls. I finally decided to acitvate it and switched back and forth for some time, flipping between my Evo and Epic. Both worked over Wifi, and still functioned without wifi, when not activated on Sprint. Same with my old Hero.
DiGi760 said:
^This. There was a recent policy change and this is now the policy. If it is repairable, the repair is free with insurance or $35 without. If it is non-repairable, water damaged, or stolen, then you can get a replacement under insurance and nothing without insurance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this include parts? Also what kind of things can they replace? The bezel around my screen on the sides has hairline scratches that kinda bug me, I wouldn't mind paying $35 it they'd completely replace it. Please let me know asap!
Thanks!
D3luSi0n4L

[Q] Question about general insurance terms.

Two quick questions about the insurance terms an conditions.
1. If you report it stolen or lost or whatever, do they send you a brand new phone after you pay the deductible or is it a refurbbed one?
2. If report it lost and order a new one, and you find the lost one(or you never actually lost it) do they deactivate the original one somehow?..or track it somehow?....or do they just accept your deductible and let you do whatever you want with them?
They send you what they have in stock at the moment. The longer a phone has been out the more likely you are to get a refurbished one.
The insurance company can't track it or do anything with it, you can do what you want with it and T-mobile won't care.
I advise reporting it lost, if you say it's stolen you have to submit to them a police report.
Good luck, let us know your results.
T-Fanatic said:
They send you what they have in stock at the moment. The longer a phone has been out the more likely you are to get a refurbished one.
The insurance company can't track it or do anything with it, you can do what you want with it and T-mobile won't care.
I advise reporting it lost, if you say it's stolen you have to submit to them a police report.
Good luck, let us know your results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Helpful information. Have you personally reported lost phone before?
T-Fanatic said:
They send you what they have in stock at the moment. The longer a phone has been out the more likely you are to get a refurbished one.
The insurance company can't track it or do anything with it, you can do what you want with it and T-mobile won't care.
I advise reporting it lost, if you say it's stolen you have to submit to them a police report.
Good luck, let us know your results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure but I'd be surprised if T-Mobile didn't blacklist lost /stolen phones.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Jaskwith said:
Thank you. Helpful information. Have you personally reported lost phone before?
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Click to collapse
I have not personally, but I worked at T-mobile up until a couple of weeks ago.
Your insurance isn't through t-mobile, so they don't care if you now have another one all of the sudden. Your insurance will only allow two phone replacements in a year because they can't actually blacklist or stop the phones.
T-Fanatic said:
I have not personally, but I worked at T-mobile up until a couple of weeks ago.
Your insurance isn't through t-mobile, so they don't care if you now have another one all of the sudden. Your insurance will only allow two phone replacements in a year because they can't actually blacklist or stop the phones.
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Click to collapse
Wrong! The phones can be blacklisted. Honestly if you do find its best to report it BC if you start using that old one or sell it then asurion can and will prosecute for insurance fraud.
sk337sk337 said:
Wrong! The phones can be blacklisted. Honestly if you do find its best to report it BC if you start using that old one or sell it then asurion can and will prosecute for insurance fraud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just have a question, cause I'd like people to be clear about what they're saying.
How would Ausrion even know if you sold it?
I mean, I could understand you finding the phone and using it again..cause maybe that could be tracked. (Maybe.)
But what could be done about selling it? That makes no sense.
Unless you try to sell it by posting "Selling my supposedly lost phone" on the TMobile forums.
nguyendqh said:
I just have a question, cause I'd like people to be clear about what they're saying.
How would Ausrion even know if you sold it?
I mean, I could understand you finding the phone and using it again..cause maybe that could be tracked. (Maybe.)
But what could be done about selling it? That makes no sense.
Unless you try to sell it by posting "Selling my supposedly lost phone" on the TMobile forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure what they actually do, but in theory it's pretty easy.
You claim the phone is lost
TMobile blacklists the phone's IMEI
Someone tries to register the phone on the TMobile network
TMobile and/or Asurion go after the account holder for the associated SIM
They show they bought it from you
No profit
chrisjs81 said:
I am not sure what they actually do, but in theory it's pretty easy.
You claim the phone is lost
TMobile blacklists the phone's IMEI
Someone tries to register the phone on the TMobile network
TMobile and/or Asurion go after the account holder for the associated SIM
They show they bought it from you
No profit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone can be unlocked to use on any provider.
So...wouldn't selling it as an unlocked phone give you a better chance?
And you could sell it to a friend and have them say they bought it from off the internet or at a pawn shop or anything.
I just don't think it's that precise. (Who knows maybe it is.)
Anyway. I'm not trying to prove there's ways around it. I just wanted to understand the statement better.
And is blacklisting a phone's IMEI a new thing? Cause I've had phones stolen in the past that ended being in use by other people. Nothing ever happened there. (And I know that because I found out who stole the phone.)
*Just curious by the way, not trying to start a heated conversation or anything.
Thank for the info!
The insurance companies are NOT as dumb as you think they are. Insurance fraud is a booming business and companies are always looking to minimize their losses against fraud.
I know this because one of my specialty fields includes loss prevention and fraud. They can and will blacklist your IMEI number and despite your noble efforts to sell to a friend who magically ends up buying that very same phone off craigslist [unbeknownst to you ] will get you in trouble.
Do the smart thing and heed the advice given here by people who know. Don't try to fool businesses or people who have been around the block way longer than your ingenious plan of trying to net an extra phone.
You're better off slipping in the Taco Bell parking lot and claiming an injury.
CBConsultation said:
The insurance companies are NOT as dumb as you think they are. Insurance fraud is a booming business and companies are always looking to minimize their losses against fraud.
I know this because one of my specialty fields includes loss prevention and fraud. They can and will blacklist your IMEI number and despite your noble efforts to sell to a friend who magically ends up buying that very same phone off craigslist [unbeknownst to you ] will get you in trouble.
Do the smart thing and heed the advice given here by people who know. Don't try to fool businesses or people who have been around the block way longer than your ingenious plan of trying to net an extra phone.
You're better off slipping in the Taco Bell parking lot and claiming an injury.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think I could get some more detail about slipping in the parking lot of Taco Bell?
Asurion watches your account and tracks people down if they see someone you talk/text has the imei of your "lost" phone. Trust me don't lie to insurance companies
But if you sell it on Cl and report it lost at a bar...? What can they prove?
sk337sk337 said:
Asurion watches your account and tracks people down if they see someone you talk/text has the imei of your "lost" phone. Trust me don't lie to insurance companies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my MT4G running Gingerbread
So they actually blacklist imei numbers?
Sent from my MT4G running Gingerbread
Jaskwith said:
So they actually blacklist imei numbers?
Sent from my MT4G running Gingerbread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes they do.
Sent over HSPA+ using XDA app.
Jaskwith said:
So they actually blacklist imei numbers?
Sent from my MT4G running Gingerbread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also noticed your sig says your MT4G is running Gingerbread. Wanna explain?
Sent over HSPA+ using XDA app.
Well its cm7... basically gingerbread.
CBConsultation said:
I also noticed your sig says your MT4G is running Gingerbread. Wanna explain?
Sent over HSPA+ using XDA app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my MT4G running Gingerbread
Better not do that. Just don't lie to insurance companies
I'm not advocating fraud, but last time I checked the two big US GSM providers (AT&T and T-Mobile) don't utilize an IMEI blacklist. I checked because I had a phone stolen from me and I asked T-Mobile to blacklist the IMEI and they told me that they can't (or won't) do that. They said the best they could do was deactivate the SIM card to prevent the thief from running up my bill. After doing some digging, I discovered reports of many AT&T customers with the same experience.
moto211 said:
I'm not advocating fraud, but last time I checked the two big US GSM providers (AT&T and T-Mobile) don't utilize an IMEI blacklist. I checked because I had a phone stolen from me and I asked T-Mobile to blacklist the IMEI and they told me that they can't (or won't) do that. They said the best they could do was deactivate the SIM card to prevent the thief from running up my bill. After doing some digging, I discovered reports of many AT&T customers with the same experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is absolutely true. USA gsm carriers have 0 interest in blacklisting for obvious reasons = more money in their pocket. You get to buy a new phone for more money and whoever steals/find the phone gets to pay the company even more money.
I have no idea what insurance companies will do, though, but I've reported a lost phone, which I'm sure someone is still using, got a replacement and never heard word of it being tracked down or something.
Best advice I have is call assurion and ask if, in case your phone gets lost, if they'll do anything to retrieve it. My guess would be a resounding NO unless you have a police report, a subpoena and a lot of time to waste on this.

stolen droid x problems

My room mate just bought a Droid X from a girl on craigslist. She seemed nice enough, but mentioned it had ties to her (ex?)boyfriend and she just wanted to get rid of it. Sold it to my roommate for $175. Me and my room mate went straight to the Verizon store to activate it, and they said it was on the lost and stolen list and they couldn't activate it. Been on the phone with Verizon for a while now, seems like they can't do anything. Any ideas? The girl wont answer her phone now.
Here's the craigslist ad
http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mob/2299532665.html
jasongthang said:
My room mate just bought a Droid X from a girl on craigslist. She seemed nice enough, but mentioned it had ties to her (ex?)boyfriend and she just wanted to get rid of it. Sold it to my roommate for $175. Me and my room mate went straight to the Verizon store to activate it, and they said it was on the lost and stolen list and they couldn't activate it. Been on the phone with Verizon for a while now, seems like they can't do anything. Any ideas? The girl wont answer her phone now.
Here's the craigslist ad
http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mob/2299532665.html
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Click to collapse
Nope, not a damn thing you can do. If it's on VZW's black list, that's that. Unless the seller pay's their bill, it's most likely stolen, past due amount on the account or there is an ETF not paid.
You can take it to Cricket and flash it worse case scenario. We don't know if it is indeed stolen or not and if you guys think it is, I would contact the Police and make a report to try to get your money back and press charges.
No phone number, no pictures taken of the phone...man, that's a huge red flag right there for buying a used cell of craigslist. Sorry for your luck.
Make sure to always ask for the MEID number before buying ANY CDMA phone; VZW verifies it for free if it is OK to activate or if it's not clean. This type of thing happens a lot more then you even imagine.
Good luck.
Ben's said:
Nope, not a damn thing you can do. If it's on VZW's black list, that's that. Unless the seller pay's their bill, it's most likely stolen, past due amount on the account or there is an ETF not paid.
You can take it to Cricket and flash it worse case scenario. We don't know if it is indeed stolen or not and if you guys think it is, I would contact the Police and make a report to try to get your money back and press charges.
No phone number, no pictures taken of the phone...man, that's a huge red flag right there for buying a used cell of craigslist. Sorry for your luck.
Make sure to always ask for the MEID number before buying ANY CDMA phone; VZW verifies it for free if it is OK to activate or if it's not clean. This type of thing happens a lot more then you even imagine.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, through email we had a name and she gave us a contact phone number, and we had no problem contacting her up until the sale, after that she didnt answer anymore. Shes not a verizon customer, based on the name associated with the email and the phone number she gave. There were pictures of the phone, but they may have just been pictures from the ads.
One thing I wished we had done was met at a verizon store and got it all checked right then and there.
Verizon gave my room mate the phone number and case number (i think) to take it to the fraud department and try to at least get his money back.
jasongthang said:
Well, through email we had a name and she gave us a contact phone number, and we had no problem contacting her up until the sale, after that she didnt answer anymore. Shes not a verizon customer, based on the name associated with the email and the phone number she gave. There were pictures of the phone, but they may have just been pictures from the ads.
One thing I wished we had done was met at a verizon store and got it all checked right then and there.
Verizon gave my room mate the phone number and case number (i think) to take it to the fraud department and try to at least get his money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to my best friend, he bought a DX from a girl on CL, she wanted $200 for the device, but took $150 after some haggling (from the way he described her and her outfit she was probable a dancer/escort).
When he tried to set the device up on his VZW account, the CSR informed him that it was on the "Lost or Stolen" list and was given an incident #. He contacted the Dallas PD, turned out the girl was a stripper/escort/dopehead and had been jacking her customers for their wallets or cell phones.
He ending up, having to turn the device over to the PD and was out the $150.
After all of this (and at the time this was probably a [email protected] thing I pointed out to him), but you can pick up a pre-owned DX from VZW for $149 and they come with the full warranty.
Sorry to hear about your friends misfortune,
Hatxtrick
Rule of thumb, never buy a cdma phone (VZW or Sprint) without first checking with C.S if the ESN is clean.
Fuuton: Atsugai

Verizon Sucks!!

Ok, it all started that I went into the store to get a replacement sim card because I was stuck on 3g. Some how my phone's prl changed when I turned on my phone. The prl was 53112 in which is 3g. Now these sim cards a suppost to be free right. They would not replace it since my phone was rooted in which it violates there policy. They would not even sell me one or replace it until I returned my phone to stock an erased my internal storage to get rid of some roms I had. They said that those files were interfering with my phone in which they did not even know what they were talking about. I argued with them for 30 mins, so I got fed up and went to best buy mobile where I originally got the phone. They gave me a new sim card and it fixed the 4g issue. I told best buy the hassle that the vzw store was giving me about being rooted. Best buy don't care if your phone was rooted. They know that people root there phones, even the guy that gave me a new sim card rooted his phone and 2 other individuals. Just beware on going to the store for a new sim card if rooted. I will never go to the store for anything. Best buy will have all my business from now on. I need to stay with vzw because of there coverage. I travel a lot.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
Droid0351 said:
Ok, it all started that I went into the store to get a replacement sim card because I was stuck on 3g. Some how my phone's prl changed when I turned on my phone. The prl was 53112 in which is 3g. Now these sim cards a suppost to be free right. They would not replace it since my phone was rooted in which it violates there policy. They would not even sell me one or replace it until I returned my phone to stock an erased my internal storage to get rid of some roms I had. They said that those files were interfering with my phone in which they did not even know what they were talking about. I argued with them for 30 mins, so I got fed up and went to best buy mobile where I originally got the phone. They gave me a new sim card and it fixed the 4g issue. I told best buy the hassle that the vzw store was giving me about being rooted. Best buy don't care if your phone was rooted. They know that people root there phones, even the guy that gave me a new sim card rooted his phone and 2 other individuals. Just beware on going to the store for a new sim card if rooted. I will never go to the store for anything. Best buy will have all my business from now on. I wish my contracts were up, but I need to stay with vzw because of there coverage. I travel a lot.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon is a joke. Thankfully, I got a new sim card without them knowing my Razr HD was rooted and unlocked
Droid0351 said:
Ok, it all started that I went into the store to get a replacement sim card because I was stuck on 3g. Some how my phone's prl changed when I turned on my phone. The prl was 53112 in which is 3g. Now these sim cards a suppost to be free right. They would not replace it since my phone was rooted in which it violates there policy. They would not even sell me one or replace it until I returned my phone to stock an erased my internal storage to get rid of some roms I had. They said that those files were interfering with my phone in which they did not even know what they were talking about. I argued with them for 30 mins, so I got fed up and went to best buy mobile where I originally got the phone. They gave me a new sim card and it fixed the 4g issue. I told best buy the hassle that the vzw store was giving me about being rooted. Best buy don't care if your phone was rooted. They know that people root there phones, even the guy that gave me a new sim card rooted his phone and 2 other individuals. Just beware on going to the store for a new sim card if rooted. I will never go to the store for anything. Best buy will have all my business from now on. I wish my contracts were up, but I need to stay with vzw because of there coverage. I travel a lot.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have told them to cancel my service and buy the phone back from me because they won't make it work on their network.
Droid0351 said:
Ok, it all started that I went into the store to get a replacement sim card because I was stuck on 3g. Some how my phone's prl changed when I turned on my phone. The prl was 53112 in which is 3g. Now these sim cards a suppost to be free right. They would not replace it since my phone was rooted in which it violates there policy. They would not even sell me one or replace it until I returned my phone to stock an erased my internal storage to get rid of some roms I had. They said that those files were interfering with my phone in which they did not even know what they were talking about. I argued with them for 30 mins, so I got fed up and went to best buy mobile where I originally got the phone. They gave me a new sim card and it fixed the 4g issue. I told best buy the hassle that the vzw store was giving me about being rooted. Best buy don't care if your phone was rooted. They know that people root there phones, even the guy that gave me a new sim card rooted his phone and 2 other individuals. Just beware on going to the store for a new sim card if rooted. I will never go to the store for anything. Best buy will have all my business from now on. I wish my contracts were up, but I need to stay with vzw because of there coverage. I travel a lot.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the thing about this is, you knew the risks when you rooted, and you still did it...the vzw rep didn't do anything but enforce the rules to which you agreed when you signed on the dotted line, the reason the bbm rep didn't care was because he doesn't work for verizon, he works for best buy...i'm lucky enough to live near a vzw store where they don't care if you're rooted or not, and will even talk to you about rooting and what can/can't be accomplished...but as it is, this is the exception, not the rule...i'm failing to see where the vzw rep you encountered was wrong...if you didn't like the rules, you shouldn't have signed on the dotted line(btw, i'm rooted, unlocked and running a custom rom...but if something were screwed up on my phone, i'd have figured it out before i did any of this so that i could have a 100% working phone before i went in and changed things) you can call me crazy, you can call me stupid, but i'm not the one complaining about knowing the rules and breaking the rules and then when the powers that be get wind of it they refuse to help me
Yeah, it really sucks since something as trivial as a sim card should not matter. However, on principle I have to agree with Verizon as well.
The reps don't have to be technical. They don't need to be convinced. All they have to do is enforce the rules that apply to everyone.
Trust me, I'm typically the LAST person to side with a big company lol
i hate large corporations, and silly rules and laws, but if you know the rules, and agreed to the rules by signing on the dotted line, you have no one to blame but yourself when you break the rules and things go bad for you...as i said, i'm rooted, unlocked and running a custom rom, if i change something and it bricks my phone guess what? i'm out of a phone until my upgrade. i don't expect verizon or anyone else to fix my screw up.
The only reason I'm keeping up with my $6/mo insurance is in case my $400 investment is ever lost or stolen
-- Android: It's a UNIX thing. You wouldn't understand.
Ridiculous! I had my gnex rooted and rommed for the gods and had many issues causing the need for a new sim. Not once did they complain.
Now if it was technical support you were dealing with then I could understand VZW completely. Or sending your phone in for repair replacement, insurance, etc.
They are becoming tighter and tighter doing anything to make a buck. They know they have the best coverage and will continue to hit my wallet until it's cashed.
I think their financing for phones is great for those who want an upgrade but don't have any other way.
If this happens again don't go to best buy. I would call corporate and maybe see if they have some sort of a retentions department to get compensated for your trouble.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
jfriend33 said:
Ridiculous! I had my gnex rooted and rommed for the gods and had many issues causing the need for a new sim. Not once did they complain.
Now if it was technical support you were dealing with then I could understand VZW completely. Or sending your phone in for repair replacement, insurance, etc.
They are becoming tighter and tighter doing anything to make a buck. They know they have the best coverage and will continue to hit my wallet until it's cashed.
I think their financing for phones is great for those who want an upgrade but don't have any other way.
If this happens again don't go to best buy. I would call corporate and maybe see if they have some sort of a retentions department to get compensated for your trouble.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can see it now "verizon wireless customer support, how may i help you?!" "yes, i broke the rules to which i agreed, and rooted my phone, unlocked the bootloader, and put a custom rom on my phone...and i did something wrong, and now my phone won't boot up...if you don't give me a replacement i'm going to jump ship and go to at&t" and what hte rep won't say is "oh...you'll leave if we don't give you a phone because you broke the rules and now it won't work? well here's your new device that you, yourself screwed up, and will probably screw up again and make us send you a new one" what they will say is "well, since you broke the rules to which you agreed, it'll be 599 for that new phone. oh, and if you decide you're going to jump ship to at&t that'll be 350 dollars for an early termination fee as well, have a good day"
lol when I saw the title I figured VZW screwed up like they did for me. Just prior to our upgrade I called and asked Customer Service for extra minuets because we were upgrading in a week(I asked the rep in store when looking at phones but she said call CS). The rep said "you have 100 Hurricane sandy relief minuets." Good enough..
Week later, my gf and I go in to the store and upgrade! She got an iPhone 5. I told her check it for scratch marks when the tech activated it and handed it to her. Sure enough, she pulled the protective covers off the front and back and it was scratched on the back. Well the idiot rep who upgraded us put both upgrade fees on one line. So it took 30 min or longer to get her new phone activated because they could not figure out how to cancel the previous activation/transaction because of the way he did the upgrade fees on one line!
Fast forward to the first bill. I think it was like $400 or $500. It was to high either way! Well first off we were billed a month in advance. I realize this is standard, but imo the rep should have reminded us. Typically we upgrade every ~2 years so the least VZW, ATT or any other company can do is remind you. So that explains PART of it. Here is the icing on the cake, we were billed for a voice overage because the rep who told us we had 100 Hurricane Sandy min left was in a third party over flow call center and was not authorized to tell us that we could tap in to those min. So we went over by close to 100 min. What the store rep did not tell us when we upgraded was the new share everything plan would be prorated since we were shy of our bill date by like a week. Since he did not tell us, we made the most of that week and used up almost 4GB of LTE bandwidth. So we were charged a data overage as well.
So when I call CS, the rep says he would knock off the voice overage since it was higher. However, he tried to charge us for the data still. After arguing he agreed to knock it in half. Finally after arguing more, he finally agreed to knock it off completely. to make up for all the trouble he has issued credit for both over ages and he is going to pitch in 3 accessories. I told him I was not interested in the accessories. He pushes them again at a discount price. Again, I said not interested. After further discussion he said the accessories were free and we still had credit left over plus the overage fees were wiped out. Free accessories? Why the hell not?! So I get off the phone thing everything is great and he hooked us up..
When I get my holster/kickstand case it won't fit. So I take it to a VZW third party store to see if they can get it on. He tries and then says it's bent. Call CS and they should send a new one free of charge. I call CS and they set me up a return label.After further discussion it turns out the accessories were billed to the account. I said forget this, I never asked for them. Send me a label and I will return them all rather then be charged! So she does just that.
I get the label, and ship everything back in the original packaging. Hell my gf's pos bumper case wasn't even opened because she didn't like it. I spent 2 months dealing with 10 CS agents who filled out a total of 3 "ITTS tickets." Turns out ITTS Tickets are for tracking the damn package if it is lost in transit. I told them the tracking showed it was in the warehouse in Texas since such and such date! One of the reps was a total moron. I questioned her like 5-10 min in to the convo and said look, other then accessory charges, are there any charges on the account. We go back and forth, calmly, for 45 min about late fee for this, late fee for that, fee for this, fee for that, and each time I have to say no, that was taken care of, and shes would be like oh..you're right. So 45 min in she says, well ok, can you log in to MyVZW? I said sure, and sat down at the comp. I log in, and she says you see this or that, and I am like yeah, it says credit this, or credit that. So finally I said "look besides the accessories fees, is there any other charges on the account." This time she has no choice but to say no..45 mins of bs she didn't know what she was talking about. I requested a supervisor. Waited 20 min for a supervisor. Finally she offers to have the supervisor call me back. I should have known better but I said ok..yeah no call back ever happened.
Another night I finally ask for a supervisor. This guy was far from supervisor material. The second he picekd up the phone he was trying to talk over the agent while she was getting off the line.He kept interrupting me and talking over me.I called him out on it at one point, and he said I am not talking over you or interrupting you. The next time I am talking, he does just that. Interrupts me and starts talking over me. I said I thought you said you weren't interrupting me or talking over me? I forgot what he said but he knew he was caught red handed. We went around a little bit and he finally hangs up on me for trying to stop him from babbling on about something that didn't matter.
Finally, I get some one who knows what they are doing. She did a "defill ticket" which goes to the warehouse and asks what is going on with the package and why no refund was issued. Of course she has to call me back as it takes a day or two to get an answer. She finally calls me back, and says that supposedly the accessories were not in the case! BS! One was never opened! She said she talked to her manager and because of everything I went through, they would refund me half price. I argued about how I knew one accessory, the bumper case was not even opened. I threatened to cancel service, but did no good. At this point I just wrapped it up and thanked her for her time as she did do more then any one else had. I called back a few days later and asked how much it costs to cancel service and explained what I been through over the past 2 months/10 agents later. She asks if she refunds the rest of the cost if we will stay on VZW. I think I said I would consider it, and in the end she credited the rest of the charges. We stayed with VZW but I will never trust them at their word again. The remainder of the contract is going to determine if we stay or go when it's time for a new contract. Depending on finances we may buy unsubsidized, but you want a VZW sucks story, there ya go. Can't say I feel sorry for you and your sim card situation.
balthuszar said:
i can see it now "verizon wireless customer support, how may i help you?!" "yes, i broke the rules to which i agreed, and rooted my phone, unlocked the bootloader, and put a custom rom on my phone...and i did something wrong, and now my phone won't boot up...if you don't give me a replacement i'm going to jump ship and go to at&t" and what hte rep won't say is "oh...you'll leave if we don't give you a phone because you broke the rules and now it won't work? well here's your new device that you, yourself screwed up, and will probably screw up again and make us send you a new one" what they will say is "well, since you broke the rules to which you agreed, it'll be 599 for that new phone. oh, and if you decide you're going to jump ship to at&t that'll be 350 dollars for an early termination fee as well, have a good day"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm actually my issues were unrelated to any modifications made to my phone and we're part of the reason Verizon decided to change how they provision their sim cards... But thanks for the input bud.
If I ever wanted to leave Verizon I would do an AOL as I have unlimited data on two lines.
Verizon likes the developer community for the most part. Can you imagine how much money they save on technical support?
I'm sure there are some who don't mod but are so smart they wouldn't dream of dialing 611...but I think the majority is different.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
---------- Post added at 06:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 AM ----------
Xplorer4x4 you need to call the better business bureau. Verizon has cs issues sometimes. Best thing to do next time is keep calling back until you get someone understanding on the line.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
jfriend33 said:
Hmm actually my issues were unrelated to any modifications made to my phone and we're part of the reason Verizon decided to change how they provision their sim cards... But thanks for the input bud.
If I ever wanted to leave Verizon I would do an AOL as I have unlimited data on two lines.
Verizon likes the developer community for the most part. Can you imagine how much money they save on technical support?
I'm sure there are some who don't mod but are so smart they wouldn't dream of dialing 611...but I think the majority is different.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
---------- Post added at 06:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 AM ----------
Xplorer4x4 you need to call the better business bureau. Verizon has cs issues sometimes. Best thing to do next time is keep calling back until you get someone understanding on the line.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you root your phone it voids the warranty...you signed on the dotted line, you rooted, you had your phone screw up(whether or not it was because you rooted is moot)...your problem, not vzws
Here is something you need to remember. Reps in stores deal with people that have no clue what they are doing all the time. Flashing ROMs incorrectly, incorrect radios, kernels, etc can and do cause service issues. If you think that a rep is going to chase their tail around when they have no clue if you know what you are doing or not then you are wrong, especially if they have no clue what they are doing when it comes to development. Troubleshooting a device that is stock is one thing, the uncontrolled variable of your non-stock ROM is another. That being said, had you came into my location you would have gotten a SIM and been on your way. If you were still locked on 3G then that would have been the end of the troubleshooting I had for you until the phone was back to stock. It is easy to point the finger and talk about how bad people "suck", but take a second to look at it through eyes other than your own.

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