Database Info

Premium handset protection... Lost phone?

what does Tmobile do with the lost phone in question? do they disable it ? I'm wondering how they prevent people from selling their phones and getting a replacement under warranty for a profit..?

Not sure but they know. Put your sim in another phone, call them, they will be able to tell you exactly what phone you have.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Let's say my friend, Swim, has a Tmobile phone that he has insured through their PHP plan. He knows that if it were stolen or he lost it, it would cost him $130 to replace. He also knows that he could easily get $250-350 if he decided to sell his phone. So he is thinking about selling his phone and then just telling Tmobile that he lost it, so that he not only gets a newish replacement phone (possibly even an upgrade), but also pockets over 120 bones. Question is, does Tmobile deactivate his first phone somehow, so that whoever bought his original phone is essentially screwed?

frescoraja said:
Let's say my friend, Swim, has a Tmobile phone that he has insured through their PHP plan. He knows that if it were stolen or he lost it, it would cost him $130 to replace. He also knows that he could easily get $250-350 if he decided to sell his phone. So he is thinking about selling his phone and then just telling Tmobile that he lost it, so that he not only gets a newish replacement phone (possibly even an upgrade), but also pockets over 120 bones. Question is, does Tmobile deactivate his first phone somehow, so that whoever bought his original phone is essentially screwed?
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Nope the person may not beable to use it!!!!it's a 50/50 chance long as the other person does not try n give Tmobile the imei # they should be gd
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

I have 2 things to say, and they're contradictory.
1. Official T-Mobile PHP Handset Protection FAQ (http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1722) : Says phone will be disabled. Specifically:
All lost or stolen devices will be blocked from access to the T-Mobile network. Devices claimed as lost and stolen will no longer function on the T-Mobile network.
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Click to collapse
2. I used to be a tier 2 T-Mobile PDA Tech Support rep. I never once had a customer's phone not work due to being stolen/blacklisted. Not once. It was not in any of our troubleshooting steps to check such a thing either. As far as I was aware, there was NO WAY to block a stolen phone on T-Mobile and that's what we told customers.
Things might have changed - it's been about 18 months since the location I worked at was completely laid off and shut down. A lot can happen in that time.
Now.... do you want to take the chance? Go for it. But don't say you weren't warned.

So, let me get this right. You are asking in a public forum about committing insurance fraud and the forum has recorded your IP address also. Insurance fraud is a felony in most States. Makes perfect sense to discuss it here. If anyone on the forums assists you in any way then you have both committed conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Conspiracy in and of itself is a crime even if you never go ahead and commit the crime. Smart.

[Q] friend bought a phone online, seller reported it stolen. please help

It was working when she got it. Suddenly on wednesday morning, it says "restricted access changed" and when she tries to select T-mobile as carrier it says not permitted on sim card. She went into tmobile and they checked the IMEI and it turns out the user reported it lost. She called the seller and he says he didn't do anything and is not answering calls now.
Is there anything she can do? Go to the police? wrong forum?
Guessing it could also have been a stolen phone that the guy sold off right away and the original owner just reported it.

Unless the owner that reported it stolen calls back to T-Mobile and says it wasn't stolen there is nothing you can do. I would stay away from the police since your friend has received stolen property. Unless they want to give it back to the owner.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

she got scammed, and has the phone number and craigslist listing, and the fact that the original owner already reported it stolen. Why stay away from cops?

Because receiving stolen property is a crime? Do what you want with the criminal aspect of it, but you won't be able to use that device until it comes off the lost/stolen list. Sorry.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Receiving stolen property knowingly is a crime. You basically got scammed so there's no issue in reporting it to the police. Chances are however, they will do nothing to help you. It will probably be more of a hassle for you, and you won't get your money back or the status of the phone changed, but, it may stop the person from doing it to someone else.
Sorry but I think your friend is out of luck.
Buying used phones is fine but I would limit it to either people I know or actual businesses not individuals. I bought mine on Ebay, but through a retailer that have sold thousands of phones with good seller feedback.

You can go straight to the cops, does she have a receipt or bill of sale at all? That's the biggest thing. If she does then she shouldn't be in trouble
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

faehsemc said:
You can go straight to the cops, does she have a receipt or bill of sale at all? That's the biggest thing. If she does then she shouldn't be in trouble
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Very true. If she has a confirmation or receipt for the sale, then she should be good. Ya, it could be a hassle, is it worth it? Is it worth stopping this a-hole from doing this to someone else?
This biggest thing is, was the phone stolen or lost from a different person other then the seller? I am sure t-mobile can trace the original owner through the imei number.
Sent from my PACmaned SCH-I535

I have bought several phones from individuals on craigslist; to avoid the situation you describe here you must do one simple thing. Before you by the phone pull the battery, call verizon customer service. Read the EIN number to them and they will tell you if the phone has been reported stolen. If the seller refuses to let you do this then you can assume the phone is stolen… don't walk… run away!
Verizon is happy to provide this information to you and you are assured that you are getting a clean phone.
Hope this helps in future purchases.
Rick
nvertigo said:
It was working when she got it. Suddenly on wednesday morning, it says "restricted access changed" and when she tries to select T-mobile as carrier it says not permitted on sim card. She went into tmobile and they checked the IMEI and it turns out the user reported it lost. She called the seller and he says he didn't do anything and is not answering calls now.
Is there anything she can do? Go to the police? wrong forum?
Guessing it could also have been a stolen phone that the guy sold off right away and the original owner just reported it.
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Click to collapse

GTablet said:
I have bought several phones from individuals on craigslist; to avoid the situation you describe here you must do one simple thing. Before you by the phone pull the battery, call verizon customer service. Read the EIN number to them and they will tell you if the phone has been reported stolen. If the seller refuses to let you do this then you can assume the phone is stolen… don't walk… run away!
Verizon is happy to provide this information to you and you are assured that you are getting a clean phone.
Hope this helps in future purchases.
Rick
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Click to collapse
The issue was with tmobile not Verizon.

The problem with that strategy is that the phone was not reported as stolen until after she already had purchased the phone. Most people do not report their phone stolen right away because they are hoping that they will still find it. In that time someone can sell the phone which still has a clean ESN. It wouldn't become bad until the original owner reported it which is probably what happened in her case. The phone had a clean ESN days after she purchased it.
It does bring up an interesting thought. At what point does the ESN transfer to the new account? It would have to at some point, otherwise someone who owned the phone 4 years ago could still report it stolen. And it could be not immediately otherwise there would be no point in being able to report it stolen because the person who stole it would have control over the ESN just be activating it.
I'll have to ask a friend who's a manager of Sprint store.

rtan73 said:
The problem with that strategy is that the phone was not reported as stolen until after she already had purchased the phone. Most people do not report their phone stolen right away because they are hoping that they will still find it. In that time someone can sell the phone which still has a clean ESN. It wouldn't become bad until the original owner reported it which is probably what happened in her case. The phone had a clean ESN days after she purchased it.
It does bring up an interesting thought. At what point does the ESN transfer to the new account? It would have to at some point, otherwise someone who owned the phone 4 years ago could still report it stolen. And it could be not immediately otherwise there would be no point in being able to report it stolen because the person who stole it would have control over the ESN just be activating it.
I'll have to ask a friend who's a manager of Sprint store.
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On Verizon the esn always remains in the history of your account even if you clear it for sell and is used by another account.

I know they have a history of it, but at one point ownership had to be transferred like a car. Otherwise I could sell my phone to someone then report it stolen 2 years later which would make the phone obsolete without the actual owners permission or knowledge. Or, if the phone had several owners it can't be that all of the previous owners have the right to claim it as stolen indefinetly. There has to be a time limit to when a new account is linked to an ESN and the old account holder no longer can claim it as stolen. That would be the time frame that a person would have to sell a stolen phone.

rtan73 said:
I know they have a history of it, but at one point ownership had to be transferred like a car. Otherwise I could sell my phone to someone then report it stolen 2 years later which would make the phone obsolete without the actual owners permission or knowledge. Or, if the phone had several owners it can't be that all of the previous owners have the right to claim it as stolen indefinetly. There has to be a time limit to when a new account is linked to an ESN and the old account holder no longer can claim it as stolen. That would be the time frame that a person would have to sell a stolen phone.
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As long as it's active on your account it's safe but if you take it off an active line it can still be activated or reported stolen from a previous owner. I had it happen to me before. The time gap was around 2 years or so.

It does not matter which company it was...they all will check the EIN before you buy the phone...
PaulG1488 said:
The issue was with tmobile not Verizon.
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It is always a good idea to get a bill off sale making sure you note the serial numbers, etc. Also have them fill out their information as it is on their drivers license or identification.

Do not buy used phones: you are powerless!

So I know this type of discussion isn't really related to developing but since this forum was basically THE Android forum for me, I would like to get the word out here. I don't want another victim like me to happen; I hope this will help any future phone buyers from falling into the trap I did. This is going to be a long story but I hope I can clear up all this confusion about used phones, so strap in!
I bought an iPhone 4S last year from a guy on Craigslist; he offered to meet at an AT&T store to verify the clean IMEI and this action alone made me go against my gut instincts, which were telling me this guy looked kind of sketch. He was a white male in his late thirties, pot belly and dressed really sloppily; also had a slight hunch. But you can't judge a book by it's cover right? His story was that this was his wife's iPhone and that he sold his own a few days ago because he wanted a Samsung Galaxy S3; the phone had one more year on-contract and came with the original box so I knew it wasn't stolen. I gave him my $400 after inspecting the phone and left. Fast-forward to this week...
The phone was given to my dad to use on AT&T a month ago; I used the phone on T-Mobile for almost a year and nothing unusual came up. Just two weeks ago, my dad started getting messages saying "This device has been blocked from network use. Please call your service provider..." Not making much of it or even feeling any panic because I was that naive, I thought to myself "no way the previous owner would call in a year later to blacklist his phone. Who would even do that?" I called AT&T and after an hour, the representative was getting annoyed and said "I'll open up a case; wait three days." Three days pass and I had no word from them; I called in again and after another hour l found out my case was closed and got transferred to the supervisor. To sum up what he said: the phone was fine on T-Mobile until it was registered in the AT&T system, the owner can block a phone years down the line because the "30 days since it's loss" translates to "30 days since it's last been used by ANYONE," and that even if I have proof I bought the phone, only the original owner can remove it from the blacklist. So wireless carrier's have this huge hole in their policy that creates victims for people who buy phones secondhand and they honestly don't give a crap because it earns them money. I asked "so there is NOTHING to protect people like me? You can't even tell the police who this guy is?" He brushed me off and told me to call the police and open up a case, even if the police do get involved though, he said their company will stay quiet.
So I ended the call, speechless and dumbfounded. Lost, confused, and frustrated, I went to the police station in my city, but it turns out I lived outside the city limits so I had to call a dispatcher in another county; after the short conversation, the dispatcher told me to wait for an officer to call. The straightforward police officer, being much more friendly and understanding than the people at AT&T told me "since the phone wasn't actually stolen, it's a civil issue; the only thing you can do is try to find this guy and take it to court. We don't get involved in these kinds of matter. I know it's tough to accept but the wireless companies just want profit and this policy that creates victims like you gets them what they want. This happens all the time and us police officers can't do anything about it. I'm sorry for your loss and I really wish I could help but this is the truth; you're left to your own devices now. Whenever you buy a phone secondhand YOU TAKE A HUGE RISK!" I'm hung-up the the phone in a better mood than I was because someone actually had sympathy for what had happened to me. Left here with just an e-mail address, I knew there was no hope of finding this guy; this person that was a criminal in a moral sense, and yet was not in a legal sense. What this guy did, the police officer said it's COMPLETELY LEGAL!
So the best I could do was go on Craigslist again and find someone who wanted a phone with a bad IMEI for parts or use overseas; I guess luck and karma were on my side and this guy quickly responded, wanting to buy the phone for $200. It turns out he worked for a company that fixes phones and ships them overseas to sell. I knew this guy, who was in his late twenties and rotund, was trained in buying phones; he brought a toothbrush, SIM card remover, and various other tools to inspect the device. I was uneasy during and after the deal; left scarred and paranoid from the previous Craigslist experience. To show how paranoid I was, I even went to a bank teller, asking him to check if the money he gave me was fake. After this ordeal, I realized that spending that extra $300 to buy a brand new phone is worth it; all this stress, mental exhaustion, and time is worth saving by putting down that extra money.
But the problem wasn't over; I bought a T-Mobile HTC One on Swappa for myself when I gave my iPhone 4S to my dad, although from a trusted seller, I knew I could not risk it anymore. Even though I know this guy's name, address, PayPal account, and had proof of purchase, I was still powerless; the wireless and insurance companies don't care about the facts. The merit of facts flies out the window and all they do is put their fingers in their ears and scream "OUR POLICY!" But I remembered during the escapade with the AT&T supervisor, he said I could have transferred the ownership of the phone. To get my facts straight, I went to T-Mobile with all the evidence I had saying I bought this phone from Swappa; I didn't bother with the bottom-feeders and went straight to the manager. Guess what he said? "We can't tap into the system and transfer ownership of a phone since it's tied to a contract. The best we can do it make a note on YOUR account that you bought this phone; this won't prevent it from being blacklisted but it will help if you decide to escalate the issue to Asurion (the insurance company)." Now I thought to myself, "would Asurion even give a damn?" The answer: NO; no they would not. They would most likely try to push the responsibility to someone else and dismiss this huge hole that creates helpless victims because their business runs on customers "losing" their phones or getting it "stolen," and then paying them to replace it.
After all this time wasted trying to get to the bottom of things, I'm left with the cold hard truth: you WILL get burned if you buy a used phone and there is NOTHING you can do about it! NOTHING! The best you can do is to take matters into your own hands and sue; the companies don't care and the police can't help! Save yourself from what has happened to me; just spend that extra $300 to buy a new phone. It's worth every penny for that extra security because this world is full of people who will take advantage of you! I can already feel my idealism fading...

yorkies88888 said:
I bought an iPhone 4S last year from a guy on Craigslist.
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I'm sorry this happened, but you purchased the phone off of craiglist!! You should of known better a simple google search would of told you about the dangers.

That was a long read but well worth it sorry that happened to you man, But i think recommending people not buy a second hand phone is somewhat extreme not everyone is a crook and are out to get you.
Anyway glad you were able to recoup half of the money back.

I often meet with someone on the way to sell me a second-hand mobile phone, I did not bother these people.

I bought my HTC one s from a local pawn shop. It was a fido phone which I unlocked and use on Telus network. So basically as long as you buy a phone which was not on the carrier you are going to use it on, then you are completely safe right?
Could you not have still switched that iPhone back to T-Mobile?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

350Rocket said:
I bought my HTC one s from a local pawn shop. It was a fido phone which I unlocked and use on Telus network. So basically as long as you buy a phone which was not on the carrier you are going to use it on, then you are completely safe right?
Could you not have still switched that iPhone back to T-Mobile?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Well the problem is that carriers in the U.S. are starting to share the same blacklist; AT&T, T-Mobile, and the other smaller wireless companies under them share the same list. Once you get blacklisted on one carrier, you're blacklisted by most now.

Thanks for the info.. glad you told.the story. I know this now heh.. sorry for what happened
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the story.

I think it is pretty safe to buy second hand unlocked phone...
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yorkies88888 said:
Well the problem is that carriers in the U.S. are starting to share the same blacklist; AT&T, T-Mobile, and the other smaller wireless companies under them share the same list. Once you get blacklisted on one carrier, you're blacklisted by most now.
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This applies to me as well. Without getting into too much detail: Purchased a late model android phone from Craigslist, an unlocked AT&T branded device and I use T Mobile. Fast forward until 2 weeks ago the phone would no longer make calls and gave me a specific error code which I forget now. Turns out that code meant "stolen or lost device" and it would no longer work on any US cellular networks.
Someone who isn't me was unsuccessful in changing the number that shall remain nameless in order to get the phone working again.... that is all

yorkies88888 said:
Well the problem is that carriers in the U.S. are starting to share the same blacklist; AT&T, T-Mobile, and the other smaller wireless companies under them share the same list. Once you get blacklisted on one carrier, you're blacklisted by most now.
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Click to collapse
Now i am living in europe, so this doesnt really bother me, yet i am still curious: what if you buy a htc one (for example) that someone had with contract, and root it? Would it still be in a blacklist? And for the iphones: does a jailbreak do the trick to get the phone going again?
Also, sorry for your experiences :/
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my HTC MyTouch_4G_slide

Vauvenal7 said:
Now i am living in europe, so this doesnt really bother me, yet i am still curious: what if you buy a htc one (for example) that someone had with contract, and root it? Would it still be in a blacklist? And for the iphones: does a jailbreak do the trick to get the phone going again?
Also, sorry for your experiences :/
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my HTC MyTouch_4G_slide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Software modifications won't do anything as your IMEI has been blacklisted. The only way around that is a new motherboard.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

@ yorkie8888
*Interesting read, Sorry to hear what happened, everyone else, I'm from London UK and was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar to yorkie here in the UK?
Sent from my Revolutionary Htc One X

Anyone know if this affects Canada the same? For example using an unlocked fido/rogers phone on Telus. Do they share a blacklist too?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

This I feel has to be said:
Your spent $400 on a USED iPhone?
Buying used phones entails some downsides, like not getting to claim warranty, and this blacklisting thing is really sad, but, meh, that's why we buy them cheap.
Also, I feel the lesson here is, take precautions when buying second-hand, for instance, leave the phone unused for 31+ days. Buy a bat and work out. Take incriminating photos of the seller, etc.
Anyway isn't it possible -although illegal, I know- to change your IMEI?
Seems to be "common" losing/changing it when flashing ROMs.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Thanks for the info
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app

Thanks for sharing this info.

So what is the point of someone blacklisting a phone a year later? Do they get a insurance claim or something.
I have bought used sprint phones for years, but now that I am using a phone (tmobile) with a sim card/imei it seems that you are more likely to get screwed.
Does swappa and PayPal not protect against this issue? And if not what the hell is swappa charging the customer $10/transaction for?

I am almost positive I got this same error a couple of years ago on a phone purchased directly from AT&T. It was a bad SIM card. I wasn't able to make calls or anything. They replaced the SIM and it worked. So for those who buy a used phone and get that error, check your SIM card first.

I've been buying and selling used phones for the last 2 years and never had an issue. I've don't buy off craigslist though, I stick to swappa or ebay where you have some protection via paypal. Yes you always run the risk of someone reporting the device lost/stolen after the sale, but that's why you only buy from reputable/rated sellers and skip on anything that looks too good to be true.
I'm sorry to hear you got screwed on your iphone, but I wouldn't consider your experience the norm. As for the warranty/insurance issue on your other phone, that's just how it is, do your research. The warranty only applies to the original buyer of the device (when bought through an authorized retailer). Same with insurance, you can only add it in a certain time frame when you've bought the phone from an authorized retailer.
However, some carries do have an "open enrollment" where you can add insurance to your device regardless of when/where you bought it. Verizon actually has it going on right now through Dec 2.

question re possible stolen phone

i have been offered a 2nd hand phone at a very good price, however the person offering the phone is not shall we say the most honest person in the world. if i were to buy this phone and shove a sim into it and use it could it
a. be locked at a later date
b. tracked
c. is there anything i could do in the way of rooting or something in order to avoid this.
many thanks

The answer would be to not buy the phone. I received an iPhone as payment once and I called to see if it was legit. It was stolen. I contacted the og owner and there was a huge fiasco with the cops and how the owner thought i was the one who stole the phone. If I had stolen it I certainly wouldn't have tried to return it. Long story short. Don't buy stuff that could potentially be stolen or lost and always check everything out before hand.
Sent from my D5503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Unfortunately the ESN or electronic serial number CA be blocked by any of the providers and that means phone blocking which suuuuucks! What I have done in the past when I have received questionable devices I have called the provider and asked them to verify that the phone has a clean ESN before I paid for it or allowed it to be used as payment for services rendered. Most of the time if you play stupid and tell the provider that you bought the phone and were totally unaware that it had a bad ESN, they will usually send you the same model if you ask and tell them that you are going to send them the stolen one. There have been a couple of times they haven't done that and I've been stuck with the bad phone and in that case I used those as scrap and just cannibalize the parts to fix other phones.
I hope this helps you but if you have any doubt that it is stolen I would ask them to pay you with something that won't bring the cops to your door.
Sent from my LG-D950 using xda app-developers app

I used those as scrap and just cannibalize the parts to fix other phones

Don't buy it, when you buy you support robbery, I was robbed once so I know the feeling , if you want a good deal buy a nexus 5

Verizon contract etf

I have 5 months left on my Verizon contract and i am trying to find a way to not pay my $170 etf fee. If I change my phone line to a tablet, then I would only need to pay a monthly fee of $10 and have it mooch of my wife's data for the 5 months. Way cheaper... The only thing is I do not have nor do I want to buy a tablet with Verizon connectivity. So..... What if buy a tablet, activate it to my account then return it . or even better yet... Would you think it would work?
mod edited
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

moates4 said:
I have 5 months left on my Verizon contract and i am trying to find a way to not pay my $170 etf fee. If I change my phone line to a tablet, then I would only need to pay a monthly fee of $10 and have it mooch of my wife's data for the 5 months. Way cheaper... The only thing is I do not have nor do I want to buy a tablet with Verizon connectivity. So..... What if buy a tablet, activate it to my account then return it . or even better yet... Get a imei from a demo at the Verizon store and activate that to my account for the next 5 months. Anyone heard of doing something like this? Would you think it would work?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
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you could probably just get your new provider to pay it
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

GetRipped said:
you could probably just get your new provider to pay it
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
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Not in my case. It's not that huge of a deal. Just wanted to see if anything like this has been done.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

A bit of cleanup, FYI we do not allow discussion of IMEI changing etc because it is illegal. Let's stick to legal means of ETF avoidance if we can,
Thanks.

Just activate a dumb phone on the line...it's what I did for mine. Borrowed them from people's junk drawers...lol

I can confirm dumb phone lines work fine...
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Let your new service provider pay your ETF.

x_V.I.P.3.l2_x said:
Let your new service provider pay your ETF.
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This. T-Mobile pays your ETF when you switch to their service.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

If it's an unlimited data plan. Sell it.
Sent from my HTC M8, Verizon style.

orangekid said:
A bit of cleanup, FYI we do not allow discussion of IMEI changing etc because it is illegal. Let's stick to legal means of ETF avoidance if we can,
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Technically imei repair is legal because your repairing it to bring it back to its original carrier. This is legal also because their is no cloning that can be done like with esn's because with imei's its gsm and gsm activates your sim card and not the phone so their is no way to clone anyway as its not like esn's where the esn was linked to the exact phone make and model. Gsm imei numbers are not registered to any particular phone so they can actually be legally changed.
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------
If you have bad service at your residence many times you can get them to let you out of your contract without an etf. You have to document the problem and report it and verizon will give you a ticket number and will say to give them a week or so to check it out. Then after they confirm it you have to discuss it with them. They will try to offer you a network extender maybe even for free. Your only way out of that is either say you have no home internet to power it or you were going to get rid of it due to finances. As they cannot make you provide broadband internet for their network extender. Then you have to tell them you dont want to pay for a service you cant use you may have to ask for a supervisor. It can be done you just have to not take no for answer, and dont be afraid to say you will talk to the better business bureau as this type of stuff does hurt their reputation. Also you can mention getting all your friends and relatives to switch to at&t or tmobile. Verizon has been starting to feel the pressure from the competition mostly tmobile with price cuts and no contracts, and at&t has been cutting prices also and with their final buy out of alltel and cricket they are gaining ground on verizon so verizon is feeling it in their sales so they probably would give in and let you out. But you have to have bad service at home for this to work. If you already have a network extender for verizon turn it off when you call if they ask it took a dump and you threw it out, and dont accept another one from them say you got rid of your home broadband internet that you cant afford it.

Roefastford said:
Technically imei repair is legal because your repairing it to bring it back to its original carrier. This is legal also because their is no cloning that can be done like with esn's because with imei's its gsm and gsm activates your sim card and not the phone so their is no way to clone anyway as its not like esn's where the esn was linked to the exact phone make and model. Gsm imei numbers are not registered to any particular phone so they can actually be legally changed.
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That is not correct.
an IMEI is tied to the phone just like an ESN does. If I change the SIM card in my tmobile phone, my phone still retain the same IMEI as before.
This was not talking about "repairing" anything, but cloning the IMEI or ESN of another phone/tablet, which is illegal.
Regardless of any of that, discussion of IMEI or ESN changing on this forum is not allowed, period. If you have any more question or concern on that point please PM me, I won't bite (probably).
As to the no service aspect of the ETF avoidance, if you really are getting bad service then you have a legitimate claim, it's up to them to see what they'll do about it.

Doing something illegal to avoid an etf is just stupid. Plus it shouldn't be talked about here.
If your service is truly unusable where you live, the carrier will take care of the etf.
Otherwise, you got the phone at a discount. Pay what you owe instead of trying to weasel your way out by being dishonest.
As for the $10 switch, that works fine. I've done it many times.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

orangekid said:
That is not correct.
an IMEI is tied to the phone just like an ESN does. If I change the SIM card in my tmobile phone, my phone still retain the same IMEI as before.
This was not talking about "repairing" anything, but cloning the IMEI or ESN of another phone/tablet, which is illegal.
Regardless of any of that, discussion of IMEI or ESN changing on this forum is not allowed, period. If you have any more question or concern on that point please PM me, I won't bite (probably).
As to the no service aspect of the ETF avoidance, if you really are getting bad service then you have a legitimate claim, it's up to them to see what they'll do about it.
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No it is not the gsm imei numbers do not. If a gsm imei number is repaired to return to its original carrier the gsm carrier does not know what model of phone it is by the imei number. Such as gsm carriers like at&t & tmobile will activate a sprint imei number on their network because they do not even acknowledge it as being a sprint imei, all they do is make sure the imei number is not blacklisted. If the imei is not blacklisted then they do not care, as they activate your sim card and not your imei number of your phone.
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schwartz.matthew.e said:
Doing something illegal to avoid an etf is just stupid. Plus it shouldn't be talked about here.
If your service is truly unusable where you live, the carrier will take care of the etf.
Otherwise, you got the phone at a discount. Pay what you owe instead of trying to weasel your way out by being dishonest.
As for the $10 switch, that works fine. I've done it many times.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
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I only pointed out that bad service is a reason to end a contract, but as I listed bad service is required for that to apply. Many people just accept having bad service thinking they have no options when they actually do because bad service is a legitimate excuse to be let out of a contract without an etf. These cell carriers brag about how they cover 97% of americans when we all know that is a total lie maybe one day someone will sue them and make them stop advertising such lies.

Roefastford said:
No it is not the gsm imei numbers do not. If a gsm imei number is repaired to return to its original carrier the gsm carrier does not know what model of phone it is by the imei number. Such as gsm carriers like at&t & tmobile will activate a sprint imei number on their network because they do not even acknowledge it as being a sprint imei, all they do is make sure the imei number is not blacklisted. If the imei is not blacklisted then they do not care, as they activate your sim card and not your imei number of your phone.
---------- Post added at 03:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 AM ----------
I only pointed out that bad service is a reason to end a contract, but as I listed bad service is required for that to apply. Many people just accept having bad service thinking they have no options when they actually do because bad service is a legitimate excuse to be let out of a contract without an etf. These cell carriers brag about how they cover 97% of americans when we all know that is a total lie maybe one day someone will sue them and make them stop advertising such lies.
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Indeed. But, they don't say what coverage those people have. They get their statistics more or less very accurately. It just wouldn't be what anyone calls good service. Lol!

ETF
Verizon corporate store managers (the good managers) can suggest scenarios to avoid ETFs. Discuss in-person in the store.

schwartz.matthew.e said:
Indeed. But, they don't say what coverage those people have. They get their statistics more or less very accurately. It just wouldn't be what anyone calls good service. Lol!
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There is no way they actually cover 97% of americans I will tell you why. I live on an Ohio state route highway and I get 1 or 2 max out of 6 bars of signal usually only one and 1x yes 1g data that is total crap. They care more about this xlte crap than even making regular lte everywhere, heck we dont even have 3g data here and you verizon are going to brag about adding xlte coverage. I think verizon needs to rehire the guy that goes around calling saying can you hear me know, because clearly they fired him long ago and no longer care about actually covering populated areas. They should have that guy also say do we have lte now ? Or actually he should say do we have 3g now because I"am only only seeing 1x on my phone, arent we supposed to have finished the lte roll out ? Oh apparently not because if there is only 1x that sure aint lte now is it ?

Roefastford said:
There is no way they actually cover 97% of americans I will tell you why. I live on an Ohio state route highway and I get 1 or 2 max out of 6 bars of signal usually only one and 1x yes 1g data that is total crap. They care more about this xlte crap than even making regular lte everywhere, heck we dont even have 3g data here and you verizon are going to brag about adding xlte coverage. I think verizon needs to rehire the guy that goes around calling saying can you hear me know, because clearly they fired him long ago and no longer care about actually covering populated areas. They should have that guy also say do we have lte now ? Or actually he should say do we have 3g now because I"am only only seeing 1x on my phone, arent we supposed to have finished the lte roll out ? Oh apparently not because if there is only 1x that sure aint lte now is it ?
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Thus what I said about they don't specify what coverage everyone gets lol. I live in Ohio too actually. Overall, Verizon is the best though. I've worked with network engineers that do work for multiple carriers and they'll confirm vz is the best. Overall the best. Emphasis on overall. Lol.

schwartz.matthew.e said:
Thus what I said about they don't specify what coverage everyone gets lol. I live in Ohio too actually. Overall, Verizon is the best though. I've worked with network engineers that do work for multiple carriers and they'll confirm vz is the best. Overall the best. Emphasis on overall. Lol.
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I was only getting 1x data I had them investigate had been 2 weeks they said no plans to fix coverage and they admitted they have limited coverage for me here. They are letting me out of my contract with no etf otherwise I would have had to pay the $350 as I have only had the service a bit over a month, and I dont have to return my m8 either. But they did sell me service for my address which they clearly could not provide, and the crazy thing is I"am a regular length drive way away from an Ohio state route highway, right on the highway, as our address is the highway itself. That is pretty sad no coverage a driveway away from an Ohio state route.

moates4 said:
I have 5 months left on my Verizon contract and i am trying to find a way to not pay my $170 etf fee. If I change my phone line to a tablet, then I would only need to pay a monthly fee of $10 and have it mooch of my wife's data for the 5 months. Way cheaper... The only thing is I do not have nor do I want to buy a tablet with Verizon connectivity. So..... What if buy a tablet, activate it to my account then return it . or even better yet... Would you think it would work?
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Just have them activate a tablet on it...you don't need a tablet just the tablet Sim...or as others said get a dumb phone and swap it on there.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus running Liquid smooth 4.4.3

Roefastford said:
I only pointed out that bad service is a reason to end a contract, but as I listed bad service is required for that to apply. Many people just accept having bad service thinking they have no options when they actually do because bad service is a legitimate excuse to be let out of a contract without an etf. These cell carriers brag about how they cover 97% of americans when we all know that is a total lie maybe one day someone will sue them and make them stop advertising such lies.
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Why is is such a lie? Have you looked at the population distribution in the US? Did you know that you can cover 39% of the population by just installing cell towers in the counties that border the ocean? And that area is only 10% of the land area of the US.