Hi,
Awhile ago, I lost my XDA and claimed it lost. Through insurance I received a new one. Funny thing is that few days ago I ended up finding my old XDA but I had already locked the sim and the phone.
I called o2 regarding the phone to be "unbarded" but they refused as they said I have already made a claim.
I know its cheeky but does anyone know how to unblock the phone? Im not too bothered about the sim as i'll be using the o2 sim anyways.
Please if anyone can help.
Your title is slightly misleading. Usually when people talk about "unbranding" here they refer to removing cell co. customization.
In your case, since you reported the phone lost, its IMEI (an ID number unique to the phone) was blocked by the company. The lock is not actually on your phone, it is just black-listed.
Since in most countries cell companies share IMEI black lists there is no way to use your phone in your country without risking a prison sentence.
If you look in "Upgrading, modifying, unlocking" section for IMEI change tools you will find what you need, but you must read this first.
Hello everyone.
I've been searching the forums and have yet to find a solution (at least one that I can perform).
Any way, I have a Softbank X01HT which is a re-branded HTC Hermes.
I purchased the phone in September 2007 from a shop in Hong Kong. I live in the UK and have been using my phone happily for the past 5 months. My phone was blacklisted bout 2 days ago and despite having kept the original box and receipt from the store as a proof of purchase, it seems there is nothing my network (T-Mobile) is able or willing to do.
Is there anything I can do to legally lift this Blacklist of my phone? If not does anyone know how to change the IMEI.
At the moment, I feel very upset about all this because I have bought this phone legitimately and have been using it for 5 months, and NOW... someone can just blacklist my phone?
I have read that there is a solution by using 'Wizard Service Tool' but I need to do something like change it's SPL to 1.1.1. Does anyone know where to obtain the SPL 1.1.1 and how to install it?
Thank you for much in advance and please please please spare me from comments like 'ITS ILLEGAL'. I realize that by UK law it is a crime punishable by 5 years imprisonment. However I have a genuine phone that was purchased legally and I have everything to go with it! If changing the IMEI of a phone that I own to an IMEI of another phone I own is illegal.. well.. thats just stupid.
dont know of any way to change the imei but
you could try to contact the police and ask their advice
being that it's usualy them who have the stolen phone's
imei's reported to and who have them blocked
i would likely have some advice
screen rotation icon for imate jasjar
after having my imate jasjar upgraded to wm-6, i lost 2 things, my video calling and the screen rotation icon. does anyone here in the xda family have a link that will restore my screen rotation icon back
Isnt that a bit off-topic harrio?
Thanks for the advice Rudegar but I have already contacted the police. They can find no record of a stolen phone with that IMEI and they even reffered me to the Mobile Crime Unit, who dont have any idea about the number being blacklisted. They recomended I talk to my network who said they cannot/will not do anything.
it would make sense to be that there would be some higher place to take it
to make sure that no phone company blacklisted phones of people who simunlocked and
left the company for the compatitions
maybe thats a thing to look into
first step would prob be to try another network sim to make sure that it's a general blacklist
Yeh I have tried. It seems to be blacklisted on most netwokrs but works on Orange.. strange? The funny thing is I bought the phone without a contract already unlocked in Hong Kong so there would be no reason for the network to even blacklist it.
In Australia, we have a "Telecommunications Ombudsman" who we can escalate matters to after exhausting options with our phone company.
Is there something like that for you?
It does sound unfair - good luck with it.
Oggy.
Contact the Citizens Advice Beaurau. There must be something you can do.
If all else fails get the police/mobile unit to give you some kind of written confirmation on headed letter paper that there is no ban on your number.
Send t-mobile a friendly worded but grievence stating email about there having banned your phone for an undescernable reason. State in it the dates and times of your previous calls.
Then get your hands on a legal 'Cease and Desist' letter template from somewhere and send something like this:
WITHOUT PREJUDICE: IMMEDIATELY CEASE AND DESCIST.
Dear Sir,
I am contacting your company (Herafter refered to as 'You') on behalf of *your name* (Hereafter refered to as 'The Client') to inform you that Your blacklisting of The Client's phone is unlawful. This letter calls for you to immediately cease and descist from all such unlawful actions.
Blah blah blah
You'll find templates and guidance for drawing them up on the net. Works much better if you can find the name of some applicable law to drop in.
Make sure you don't specifically state that legal proceedings will definately follow. State that if they fail to comply then legal actions 'may' follow and that their case will be refered to the business ohmbudsman, trading standards, and your local MP.
I should state right off the bat that I'm not a lawyer - I'm a medic. But I have found that cease and desist letters are sufficient to make most organisations instantly start behaving themselves.
Don't forget the 'Without Prejudice' statement - I believe it means something along the lines of you do not wish anything said in the email to harm your rights to compensation etc....It's a very lawyerly phrase anyway so it's always good to chuck in the mix.
You should be able to find guidelines/templates for cease and descist letters on the net
Good Luck!
Citizens Advice Beaurau? Never heard of them. Are they a British organization?
Just to clarify, here is what I've done.
Contacted my provider T-Mobile. Provided them with Receipt of purchase and a box. They did nothing.
Contacted the police. They have no record of a phone being stolen with my IMEI number. They recomended contacting my provider T-Mobile.
Contacted the mobile crime unit in the UK. They said that that I would have to take it to my provider also as only the mobile phone companies in the UK can unblacklist.
Anything else I can do?
Does T-Mobile UK have shops like in Germany (called "T-Point")?
The people there were always friendly to me and helpful.
Randvegeta,
I would walk down your nearest high street, find a T-Mobile shop, walk in with all your evidence and don't leave until they have sorted it. It is essential that you are polite but firm.
One thing that puzzles me; you live in the UK but have never heard of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)? Strange.
WB
wacky.banana said:
Randvegeta,
I would walk down your nearest high street, find a T-Mobile shop, walk in with all your evidence and don't leave until they have sorted it. It is essential that you are polite but firm.
One thing that puzzles me; you live in the UK but have never heard of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)? Strange.
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a hypothesis... it is only a hypothesis so please don't take offense. It can be tested, but maybe not easily. Here it is. You have been scammed, your hermes is not genuine it is a device that failed QC and was discarded by HTC. Your vendor in HK is dishonest. Contact HTC somehow and ask them about the IMEI, explain your situation and find out if they know anything. They should have a record of every phone they manufactured and may be able to tell you whether yours was sent to a retailer or to the garbage bin.
If I'm right at least you'll know for sure what's wrong.
If I'm wrong... well you know that too and maybe you can advance the ball a bit.
Good luck
Ive already been to a T-Mobile shop. Not helpful at all. I beleive Ive almost exhausted all legal options in the UK at least. I think there are only 3 more options.
1: Contact my supplier and ask for help/replacement.
2: Give up on my phone and let it be lost at my expense.
3: Hack/spoof the IMEI.
I think you'll find that T-Mobile don't have to help you as you purchased the phone from an indipendant supplier unless of course it was them who locked it, you are well within your rights to demand a copy of your account information under the Data Protection Act, this could include your account managent info which may identify whether they locked the IMEI or not. I guess the other option is to try and locate who exactly locked the IMEI, not even sure where to start unless you can find a very helpfuls service engineer at T-Mobile.
As said above, contact HTC, they may be able to help, but your first port of call should be the guy who sold you the device.
The shop I bought from.. im fairly sure is quite reputable. It has been arround for a while and is in in the Wan Chai Computer center. I will of course ask but I do not for a moment believe that they sold me a dodgy phone. And it certainly wasnt defective. It was in perfect condition and everything worked. Besides, there are hundreds of legit shops in HK selling the exact same phone. I just bought it from them cuz they had it in Black.
IMEI Barring.
The Flaw Is In The IMEI Blocking Procedure.
I Used To Work For Vodafone And All That Is Required To Bar A Handset, Is An E-Mail Containing The IMEI Only.
Unblocking A Phone However Is A Very Difficult Procedure. The IMEI Ban Database Is Shared Between All Countries Of The EU. Because Of This Most "Stolen" Phones Are Shipped To The Middle East And HK CH JP etc Who Dont Use This Database.
That Said And Done Tho They Should Know The Reason For The IMEI Ban And If Its Because Somebody Reported That IMEI As A Stolen One They Could Check Your Account And See That Your Account Has Been Using That IMEI for The Last 5 Months. And Therefore Couldnt Possibly Be The Stolen One As The IMEI Has Only Been In The Database A Short While.
Its TOO EASY To Make A Typo And Blacklist A Non Stolen Phone.
Prime Example. Your Phones Broke And Gone In For Repair, You Borrow Your Friends Expensive XDA For 2 Weeks While Your Phone Is Repaired, You Give Your Friend His XDA Back and Then Your Newly Repaired Phone Gets Stolen, You Report Your Phone As Stolen And When They Check The System Your Friends IMEI Is The Last One You Were Using On The Account, Employee Doesnt Check Propperly (Copies And Pastes Your Friends IMEI Into A Blacklist Email) And Your Friends XDA Gets Banned.
It Could Prove Quite A Pain To Resolve This Issue..... But...
Call Your Customer Support Desk For Your Mobile Network.
Ask For A TEAM LEADER/MANAGER ( They Can Do Anything For A Customer To Keep Them Happy, Their Privaledges Exceed Those Of Normal Staff And They Can Sort Problems Beyond The Means Of Your Average Callcentre Staff)
If A Problem Gets Escalated To A TEAM LEADER/MANAGER It MUST Be Dealt With. (Company Policy)
They Might Offer For A Team Leader To Call You Back As Their Usually Busy, Althought Your 100% Guaranteed To Get A Callback By A Team Leader As Long As They Werent Jus Fobbin You Off.
I Wish You The Best Of Luck Sorting Out This Mess.
Hey OllieD,
Sound very in depth. Ive already spent hours with T-Mobile with no luck.. but will Vodafone help me out? At least tell me who blacklisted me.
As for this database, is it only Europe wide? Or is is World wide? And if it is EU wide.. are you 100% sure?
Just to clarify to people reading, I am using a SOFTBANK, (Japanese Brand) purchased in Hong Kong, and have been using it since September.
If it is an EU database and not a world wide one, I will need to find out who blacklisted it and contact them.
Thanks very much!
Since you are using Softbank, so it should not be blacklist as it should not be used in EU before. please check carefully your IMEI on the phone label match your IMEI inside the ROM, I think the shop clone a English rom to your phone before selling to you (original Softbank should be Japanese rom) and this clone the IMEI also which IMEI reported as blacklisted. (they clone the rom because of sim locked and change English, what they called it is hard-modify not soft-modify)
I stayed HK and I had 2 phones with same situation (label IMEI were difference to the ROM) but still can be used in China and HK, 5 more phones buy from another shop without problem.
The shops you buy the phone with the phone came from the same dealer, so no luck to change, only some shops you can trust.
clean imei
Randvegeta said:
Hello everyone.
I've been searching the forums and have yet to find a solution (at least one that I can perform).
Any way, I have a Softbank X01HT which is a re-branded HTC Hermes.
I purchased the phone in September 2007 from a shop in Hong Kong. I live in the UK and have been using my phone happily for the past 5 months. My phone was blacklisted bout 2 days ago and despite having kept the original box and receipt from the store as a proof of purchase, it seems there is nothing my network (T-Mobile) is able or willing to do.
Is there anything I can do to legally lift this Blacklist of my phone? If not does anyone know how to change the IMEI.
At the moment, I feel very upset about all this because I have bought this phone legitimately and have been using it for 5 months, and NOW... someone can just blacklist my phone?
I have read that there is a solution by using 'Wizard Service Tool' but I need to do something like change it's SPL to 1.1.1. Does anyone know where to obtain the SPL 1.1.1 and how to install it?
Thank you for much in advance and please please please spare me from comments like 'ITS ILLEGAL'. I realize that by UK law it is a crime punishable by 5 years imprisonment. However I have a genuine phone that was purchased legally and I have everything to go with it! If changing the IMEI of a phone that I own to an IMEI of another phone I own is illegal.. well.. thats just stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MyeBayAllSelling&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK:MESX
I clean them.
I need some guidance for buying tips off CL.
Recently,I bought a TMo S3,which was claimed to be unlocked..I was able to make some calls with sellers ATT sim and calls went fine.
Later, I got my microSIM for SIMPLE MOBILE and put it in the S3. NO LUCK. It did not pickup the signal and just kept "searching" for network.
Apparently, the S3 might have been reported stolen or something. So IMEI on TMo/SimpleMo network was blocked. So my money was in drain, though I recouped some of it by selling again (with disclaimer that it works on ATT and not TMo/SimpleMo).
Now, I'm back to search again. If I find a Tmo S3 again,and want to buy what are the precautions to consider.
I'm thinking of 3 things right now.
1. Put my SImpleMo microSIM and make sure it works.
2. Get all the seller's details (like name,address etc)
3. Go to TMobile shop and dis-associate his name with device's IMEI so that he no longer is the owner of the same.
(That will avoid in future that he calls in and report it at stolen).
Anything else to be considered? PLease HELP AND ADVISE.
Thank you very much for your time!
Hello everyone,
I have a Note 3 n900w8 locked to Roger (Canadian provider), I also have protection plan that cost 8$/month. I am looking to take advantage from this protection plan. Today I called roger to file a report for lost phone, I was told by the representative that my phone will be blacklisted and they will ship me another device that cost 120$ plus 13% tax, so I decided to cancel the file report until I get more information of this process. so here is my concerns!
1-I remember someone told me to unlock the phone before I call to file a lost/stolen phone, any idea why?
2-If I take out the sim card from the device before I call to file a report for lost/stolen phone, will they be able to blacklist the phone??
All I am trying to do is get a replacement note 3 for 135$ and sell the phone I have for 450-500$.
Thanks in advance
tonnylancaster said:
Hello everyone,
I have a Note 3 locked to Roger (Canadian provider), I also have protection plan that cost 8$/month. I am looking to take advantage from this protection plan. Today I called roger to file a report for lost phone, I was told by the representative that my phone will be blacklisted and they will ship me another device that cost 120$ plus 13% tax, so I decided to cancel the file report until I get more information of this process. so here is my concerns!
1-I remember someone told me before to unlock the phone before I call to file a lost/stolen phone, any idea why?
2-If I take out the sim card from the device before I call to file a report for lost/stolen phone, will they be able to blacklist the phone??
All I am trying to do is get a replacement note 3 for 135$ and sell the phone I have for 450-500$.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) - NO clue never heard of this
2) Yup - IMEI will be blacklisted/
3) Impossible feat. - Once you report it stolen/lost, it gets banned from networks via the IMEI number and added to a stolen/lost phone Database.
Lastly, It's fraud man.. Not an advisable idea really.
Mod Edit
^^^radicalisto^^^ sums this up well
Thread closed
malybru
Forum Moderator
Hello, I'll get straight to the point, I have a galaxy S5 that was reported stolen so I couldn't use it, so I changed the IMEI (At least that's what it says) and I was wondering if I can call my service provider and give he them the new IMEI, will that work?
P.s. I didn't know it was reported stolen when I bought it & I have service bars just not 4G LTE.
Sorry mate....nobody on XDA is going to help you achieve this as changing imei is illegal....
A stolen phone is a stolen phone whether you purchased it in good faith or not, so if I were you, I'd have to consider cutting my losses and handing the phone along with the seller's details over to the police and moving on.....
Thread closed.
XDA does not allow discussion of illegal activity.