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craigslist skyrocket

ive come here because this is the most knowledgable place about android phones and need some advice from the experts
i recently broke my atrix and could not afford a new phone from at&t. i knew it wasnt a good idea but bought a galaxy s2 off craigslist for 200$. tested it with my sim card and all worked so i paid the guy. next day no data working, called at&t and gave them the imei # and they registered it and all was good for about two days. then went to make a call after 2 days of use and get a recording the device is blocked by at&t. call them and they tell me the phone was reported lost or stolen. after explaining all of this to them they gave me contact email for the owner to return it to him and a discount on a new phone. this was over a week ago and the person has not responded. is this phone garbage at this point? what can i do with this phone? i have done some unlocking, rooting and custom roms with my atrix and evo and i would like to know my options to get the phone usable .....

Won't work until you contact owner
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Illnevertell said:
Won't work until you contact owner
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
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so basically i can save it for spare parts if this guy never contacts me, excluding the mainboard...
resetting the imei to a generic wont help either?

Did you try telling at&t you can't contact the owner? Or maybe tell them you contacted him and he told you that there must have been a mistake and it wasn't stolen just sold.

Im missing something? Why would at&t ask for/why give them the imei number? Unlike cdma, imei is not used by gsm in authentication/connection to network. But since youve given it to them i can only assume they checked it, found it dtolen and blocked it.
Im assuming as soon as u put the sim in another phone it works?
I know the imei is held within the efs, and that it can be changed on the original galaxy s2, u may want to look into that

kishke said:
Did you try telling at&t you can't contact the owner? Or maybe tell them you contacted him and he told you that there must have been a mistake and it wasn't stolen just sold.
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i did, in my initial conversation with a supervisor explain that i had bought this skyrocket legitimately (or what i thought was a legitimate buy) and being that i was willing to return the phone i still feel possesion was 9/10ths of the law. she explained to me that these devices are shut down via imei# via fcc database and only the owner could in fact, turn the device back on. good side to this is they actually are sending me the exact phone brand new. also what i found odd was that his contact email is a hotmail, i would have expected a gmail account. im taking a guess that maybe he was in on this 200$ scam and him and the guy i bought it from split the money. i called the seller back and he asked me "which phone was this", telling me hes sold more then one phone. at&t is making me whole at the end of the day but the skyrocket i got in this scam is brand new and would hate to just throw it out

icenight89 said:
Im missing something? Why would at&t ask for/why give them the imei number? Unlike cdma, imei is not used by gsm in authentication/connection to network. But since youve given it to them i can only assume they checked it, found it dtolen and blocked it.
Im assuming as soon as u put the sim in another phone it works?
I know the imei is held within the efs, and that it can be changed on the original galaxy s2, u may want to look into that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea i was reading this efs folder holds that. is there a procedure that you know of for this specific phone in a post you can point me to? thanks..

You could just put it on Craigslist and sell it again.. pass along the good karma.

aycockonxion said:
You could just put it on Craigslist and sell it again.. pass along the good karma.
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no i wont do that. stuff like this at the wrong time could end badly for the seller and i wouldnt want to outright rob anyone

icenight89 said:
Im missing something? Why would at&t ask for/why give them the imei number? Unlike cdma, imei is not used by gsm in authentication/connection to network. But since youve given it to them i can only assume they checked it, found it dtolen and blocked it.
Im assuming as soon as u put the sim in another phone it works?
I know the imei is held within the efs, and that it can be changed on the original galaxy s2, u may want to look into that
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Click to collapse
I could be wrong, but wasn't legislation passed that forces them to do this now?
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app

00mred00 said:
I could be wrong, but wasn't legislation passed that forces them to do this now?
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
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yes i read that sometime earlier this year or ending 2011 they are required by law to do this now. which if i had known i would have never took a 200$ chance. im still left with a 200$ paperweight. ill take all suggestions at this point and thanks for all the responses...

You could sell it to someone looking to go to straight talk, different sim so it should work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Its a long shot but try flashing my efs fix, it may change ur imei:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1611796
I should also note that its been found several times that people have accidentally wiped there imei's with the skyrocket, so i know that it can be done.
Have hope, ur phone is NOT yet reclused to a paperweight

Like someone said before the block should be only on at&t, you could probably sell it to someone who uses another carrier and clarify that in will probably won't work for at&t.

kishke said:
Like someone said before the block should be only on at&t, you could probably sell it to someone who uses another carrier and clarify that in will probably won't work for at&t.
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Click to collapse
Just go to a mobile store and ask them to force another IMEI number

ok thanks everyone, i will look into which option i decide to go with and post here my results...thank you all for the great input:cyclops:

Samsung google Nexus 9250

I have samsung google nexus 9250.When i inserted the sim card i was unable to select any network.When i checked imei by *06# i received "imei:blank" and nothing was displayed and when i went in settings i found baseband is unknown.
I gave it to mobile repair shop he flashed the cell but still getting the same error
One of them asked more money and said i will replace whole board
Plz help me i dont have that much too spend and i dont know what to do
At home i have only data cable and phone and is there any way to repair it at home.And the big question is can it be repaired.
If not at home what devicei need to buy to repair it.I am a complete beginner
If not at home what i need to tell to shop to repair it plz help me

Bad IMEI question

If you have an att phone with a bad imei, would if work on lets say tmobile if its unlocked?
i see imei repair services but nothing for s6 active
my phone is fine for now but im running into money problems and i dont want it to be black listed and not work... thanks

1nsomnium said:
If you have an att phone with a bad imei, would if work on lets say tmobile if its unlocked?
i see imei repair services but nothing for s6 active
my phone is fine for now but im running into money problems and i dont want it to be black listed and not work... thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you purchase the phone brand new or second hand? Is the imei there or just missing? If it's missing it doesn't matter if it's sim unlocked or not it won't work on any GSM carrier if your imei is missing or has been black listed (reported stolen or for none payment)

purchased brand new but subsidized through ATT Next
I have 3 months to get it back on
I screwed up but found another job so ill be back on track
But yeah I was thinking of doing the imei repair method
its a service where it spoofs your phone with another imei to unblacklist it

1nsomnium said:
purchased brand new but subsidized through ATT Next
I have 3 months to get it back on
I screwed up but found another job so ill be back on track
But yeah I was thinking of doing the imei repair method
its a service where it spoofs your phone with another imei to unblacklist it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before changing your imei which is illegal I would contact AT&T and see if there is an arrangement you guys can come to. I suggest exhausting all legitimate means before paying someone to change your imei

Sent my Galaxy S6 off to repair...please help

Hello I recently ran into a problem with my Samsung Galaxy S6 32gb black Canadian model. Whenever I launched an app that requires the REAR-FACING camera, the phone would make a vibrating noise...obviously there is something wrong. People would tell me it's the OIS...but my friend's phone doesn't do that. So I looked for the nearest Samsung Authorized center. Acura Computers and Electronics Ltd. in Surrey BC Canada. They told me they didn't have the part in stock and would have to send it to "Samsung". I left my phone there and took my sim card home. Then the guy phoned me saying they needed my password, and I asked why and he said he would try a factory reset. I then told him I already tried a reset to fix the camera issue and no luck. The man then said " okay we will ship it out to Samsung, will take about 7 days. You can check tracking information at ATNE.CA" And I knew something was wrong because ATNE was not Samsung. I looked through the website and some reviews, it looked bad, I was panicking and called Samsung support and they told me that the original service center I went to is authorized and trusted by Samsung and that I should have no issues with them and what they do. Okay, so now I'm just worrying about what if they use cheap Chinese parts for the camera? Or screw something up in the process? ATNE is located in Ontario do I shouldn't worry about the time its going to take.Please help me, should I be worrying this much? Thanks.
(PS. I did not do the shipping label method directly from Samsung because I didn't want to wait nearly 20 days.)
(PPS. My phone is covered under Samsung's warranty)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

TheOneNoob! said:
Hello I recently ran into a problem with my Samsung Galaxy S6 32gb black Canadian model. Whenever I launched an app that requires the REAR-FACING camera, the phone would make a vibrating noise...obviously there is something wrong. People would tell me it's the OIS...but my friend's phone doesn't do that. So I looked for the nearest Samsung Authorized center. Acura Computers and Electronics Ltd. in Surrey BC Canada. They told me they didn't have the part in stock and would have to send it to "Samsung". I left my phone there and took my sim card home. Then the guy phoned me saying they needed my password, and I asked why and he said he would try a factory reset. I then told him I already tried a reset to fix the camera issue and no luck. The man then said " okay we will ship it out to Samsung, will take about 7 days. You can check tracking information at ATNE.CA" And I knew something was wrong because ATNE was not Samsung. I looked through the website and some reviews, it looked bad, I was panicking and called Samsung support and they told me that the original service center I went to is authorized and trusted by Samsung and that I should have no issues with them and what they do. Okay, so now I'm just worrying about what if they use cheap Chinese parts for the camera? Or screw something up in the process? ATNE is located in Ontario do I shouldn't worry about the time its going to take.Please help me, should I be worrying this much? Thanks.
(PS. I did not do the shipping label method directly from Samsung because I didn't want to wait nearly 20 days.)
(PPS. My phone is covered under Samsung's warranty)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
when i had similar problem i took a screenshot of my camera firmware to compare it after the fix...this way i can check wheather they lied or faked something.....but there is another concern...sometimes they exchange other parts of the phone without telling you anything and put there cheap ones, and i mean they can exchange anything even not related to the problem....you can't trust them at all....but i guess you have no other choice

abdelha said:
when i had similar problem i took a screenshot of my camera firmware to compare it after the fix...this way i can check wheather they lied or faked something.....but there is another concern...sometimes they exchange other parts of the phone without telling you anything and put there cheap ones, and i mean they can exchange anything even not related to the problem....you can't trust them at all....but i guess you have no other choice
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Click to collapse
The other thing is, why would they repair my phone under Samsung's warranty, free of charge? That's the only part I don't get. But the original place I went to is trusted, Acura Computers. It's an authorized Service center for Samsung
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

TheOneNoob! said:
The other thing is, why would they repair my phone under Samsung's warranty, free of charge? That's the only part I don't get. But the original place I went to is trusted, Acura Computers. It's an authorized Service center for Samsung
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
It will be repaired under warranty because the camera issue is a known and reported manufacturing problem on some Samsung phones and Samsung is obligated to have it fixed at their cost.
The place you went to maybe an authorized center for Samsung but they may deal only with computers and do not have the expertise or equipment to handle mobile phones, therefore they have shipped to the nearest center that does work on mobile phones.
As long as it was taken to an authorized dealer and Samsung has acknowledge this fact you should not worry as Samsung has accepted responsibility for the phone.

Cosmic Blue said:
It will be repaired under warranty because the camera issue is a known and reported manufacturing problem on some Samsung phones and Samsung is obligated to have it fixed at their cost.
The place you went to maybe an authorized center for Samsung but they may deal only with computers and do not have the expertise or equipment to handle mobile phones, therefore they have shipped to the nearest center that does work on mobile phones.
As long as it was taken to an authorized dealer and Samsung has acknowledge this fact you should not worry as Samsung has accepted responsibility for the phone.
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Click to collapse
This is exactly what I needed. But the reviews are horrible...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Broke S6
I just threw my phone on the charger and now all of a sudden the phone will not power on and will not charge. It was working just fine before this, now I run the issue of getting it fixed. I bought it carrier unlocked last year thru B&H. Come to find out it is an Australian model and I cant take it to any of the U.S. service centers. Any ideas on what the issue may be and how I can get fixed? Ive never dropped the phone, do not let it go anywhere near water, bathrooms etc. so I know it is not water damaged.

Imei help needed please

I bought a samsung galaxy s5 off ebay 3 months ago. It would not update and i found it would not update due to the phone being rooted. I installed a stock rom and all worked fine. After using the phone for 3 months now the phone will not make or receive calls or texts. I called orange and they informed me the imei is blacklisted due to the phone being reported stolen. I paid checkmend for an imei report and the report has a red warning next to currently blocked but but under lost and stolen it says clear. I have also noticed that the imei on the back of the phone is not the same imei that the phones board has. I have opened a claim for a refund via Paypal on the matter.
My questions are as follows:
Do you think someone has changed the imei of the phone before I purchased phone?
When I flashed the phone back to a stock rom would this have changed the imei ?
My concern is that if I get refunded by the ebay seller or paypal and I return the phone would the buyer blame the phones imei problem on me as I changed back to a stock rom which has a different brand (virgin)
Thanks in advance for any help/advice

One post removed.
Talk of changing or altering imei numbers is not allowed on XDA, as it's illegal in most areas.
Members are free to offer ideas, but not tampering with the imei manually.
Thanks!

bolzy79 said:
Do you think someone has changed the imei of the phone before I purchased phone?
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Click to collapse
Probably not, since it is illegal and the seller wouldn't risk doing a crime just to sell a phone. I can't give you a definite answer though.
bolzy79 said:
When I flashed the phone back to a stock rom would this have changed the imei ?
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Click to collapse
It is possible., but unlikely.
bolzy79 said:
My concern is that if I get refunded by the ebay seller or paypal and I return the phone would the buyer blame the phones imei problem on me as I changed back to a stock rom which has a different brand (virgin)
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Click to collapse
You won't get a refund if that's the case. If the seller admits to have changed the IMEI before selling it to you, or if he didn't pay off the phone or etc., then you get a refund. This is very common, people would buy the phone and sell it right away, making profit and eventually leaving a blacklisted phone to the buyer. If his reason was that you changed the ROM, then he will probably win the dispute. You should ask for a return though, if you get a refund, then you can get another phone, if not, then you're just at the same place you're at right now.