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Main site > Forums > Household & Travel > Phones & TV > Mobiles > Phone blacklisting nightmare - legally mine from ...
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      PNEfan
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    • PNEfan
    • By PNEfan 16th Dec 11, 11:57 AM
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      What's this?

    PNEfan
    Phone blacklisting nightmare - legally mine from new!
    • #1
    • 16th Dec 11, 11:57 AM
    Phone blacklisting nightmare - legally mine from new! 16th Dec 11 at 11:57 AM
    My Orange San Francisco handset stopped working 4 days ago. Can't make/receive calls/texts, although internet still works.

    I bought the phone new from Orange online at launch (1.10.10) and immediately unlocked it to use on my O2 contract. Since then I have installed a Custom ROM used it on GiffGaff and now T-Mobile.

    T-Mobile after umpteen attempts to refresh my account and reboot the phone now say that the handset has been blacklisted, but not by them (they don't know who). They have tried to lift the bar, but as it wasn't set by them this has not worked. Orange also say they did not blacklist the phone. Incidentally a GiffGaff sim does work in the phone. I have emailed O2 to ask if it was them, but presumably if it was this would mean that the GiffGaff sim would not work.

    I have done a CheckMend search on the IMEI which is not showing up any problems whatsoever.

    I have never reported the phone as stolen, or given out the IMEI in the public arena. The Custom ROM installation has not corrupted the IMEI.

    From Googling the issue I am wondering whether someone has entered my IMEI in error when trying to blacklist another stolen phone. The difficulty is in finding out who has instituted the blacklisting. Without knowing this I cannot get it revoked even though I can provide evidence that shows I am the bone fide owner from new.

    Can anyone shed any light please, or advise me about how to proceed? Any help appreciated - I'm tearing my hair out!
    Last edited by PNEfan; 16-12-2011 at 12:21 PM.

    Sorry!

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Page 1
    • User avatar
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      cgk1
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    • cgk1
    • By cgk1 16th Dec 11, 12:09 PM
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      What's this?

    cgk1
    • #2
    • 16th Dec 11, 12:09 PM
    • #2
    • 16th Dec 11, 12:09 PM
    Are you sure it's not the custom ROM - I had an OSF and remember there was an issue with the SF that in fact a few of the custom roms are actually corrupting the IMEI?

    Sorry!

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    • User avatar
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      PNEfan
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    • By PNEfan 16th Dec 11, 12:15 PM
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      What's this?

    PNEfan
    • #3
    • 16th Dec 11, 12:15 PM
    • #3
    • 16th Dec 11, 12:15 PM
    Yes - I have checked and it still matches the IMEI as listed on the box.

    Sorry!

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      JJ Egan
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    • JJ Egan
    • By JJ Egan 16th Dec 11, 1:30 PM
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      What's this?

    JJ Egan
    • #4
    • 16th Dec 11, 1:30 PM
    • #4
    • 16th Dec 11, 1:30 PM
    It may be solved via a service centre however custom rom has voided warranty and would need restoring to original .

    It would be worth factory reset on the phone .

    Installing custom roms can damage the IMEI .

    jje

    Sorry!

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  • Jolsa
    • #5
    • 17th Dec 11, 11:22 AM
    • #5
    • 17th Dec 11, 11:22 AM
    Same thing happened to my OSF yesterday. Tweeted T-Mobile help who told me that phone was blacklisted.

    Phoned Orange who have said that they need to speak to original owner (friend gave me their phone) and then they can lift blacklist. So now waiting on friend to call Orange and give whatever details they need...

    Sorry!

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    • User avatar
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      PNEfan
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    • By PNEfan 17th Dec 11, 2:26 PM
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      What's this?

    PNEfan
    • #6
    • 17th Dec 11, 2:26 PM
    • #6
    • 17th Dec 11, 2:26 PM
    I'm starting to get more hopeful that we can get this sorted out. Someone else has posted on my thread in the Modaco forum that they have also had the same problem.

    Jolsa - have Orange said they blacklisted your phone? I'm assuming if they're saying they can lift the bar with the correct information that this is the case.

    On Modaco someone has suggested it is to do with recent updates on T-Mobile / Orange to allow customers to use both networks.

    Sorry!

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    • User avatar
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      PNEfan
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    • By PNEfan 17th Dec 11, 2:51 PM
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      What's this?

    PNEfan
    • #7
    • 17th Dec 11, 2:51 PM
    • #7
    • 17th Dec 11, 2:51 PM
    Just found another poster on Modaco who has reported the same problem (in a separate thread). So now there are at least 4 of us experiencing T-Mobile sims suddenly not working in unlocked OSFs.

    Sorry!

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  • Radsteral
    • #8
    • 17th Dec 11, 8:32 PM
    • #8
    • 17th Dec 11, 8:32 PM
    i have a 3 phone sent by three, as part of replacement, a blacberry 9700.
    4 weeks now i have been acused first of blacklisting it myself, then told, it wasnt me then told some other owner did(this suposed to be a brand new phone)
    today i called and asked for phone to be picked up (special delivery envelope sent to my house)
    sick of it !

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    • User avatar
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      PNEfan
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    • By PNEfan 18th Dec 11, 9:31 AM
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      What's this?

    PNEfan
    • #9
    • 18th Dec 11, 9:31 AM
    • #9
    • 18th Dec 11, 9:31 AM
    Now 6 users on Modaco (inc me) reporting same problem.

    Please could everyone with this problem keep us posted with updates - still need to know who made the blacklisting and when / how it is resolved. Thanks

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  • Jolsa
    Ok, to confirm, I've spoken to Orange CS and they have said that the phone is on their blacklist. Strangely there's no reason attributed to why it's on the blacklist (reported lost or stolen) but the chap did say that it's likely because the Sim doesn't match up with the details of the original phone purchaser.

    This I said sounds ridiculous as there are thousands of people buying phones as gifts or buying second hand off eBay.

    It seems that Orange are realising that the original Sims sold with the OSF handsets aren't being used (people have moved to a better deal) and rather than simply cancelling the Sim for reuse, are also blacklisting the handset that was sold with it at the time. Unbelievable.

    Orange have said to me that they can lift the blacklist but need to speak to the original purchaser before they do. Luckily for me that person is a friend and so as soon as he talks to Orange it will be sorted. Not sure what people are meant to do if they bought second hand though.

    Seems quite a vindictive approach from Orange, but I'm told by their CS that all networks work the same way?

    Sorry!

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  • Jolsa
    Oh and I assume the timing is due to T-Mobile and Orange now sharing their blacklists as well as networks. Would explain why I could never use the T-Mobile Orange network and always had to stick with the T-Mobile network??

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  • Jolsa
    Update:
    Orange CS tried to list blacklist after obtaining required info from friend, but it didn't let them. CS said that this is likely to be because another network has blacklisted the phone.

    I asked Orange CS to speak to T-Mobile as situation is getting beyond a joke. Orange CS have now come back to me saying that they've sent all details to Orange blacklist UK team (think that was who he said) who will, on Monday, be able to cross ref all networks to find out who has applied the blacklist, and more importantly remove it.

    I am to hear back from someone late Mon/Tues for an update, but was assured that it would be sorted.

    Said I want to know who applied the blacklisting as I will be pursuing compensation. Also think that Watchdog, Ofcom(?) etc. should be made aware of situation as such a mistake is causing big problems.

    Sorry!

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  • Martha1
    I was interested to see this post as i'm also having the same problem. I'm PAYG with Orange, ordered a San Fransisco II on Friday, arrived yesterday and couldn't get it to work. Customer Services registered my old SIM with it and said it would take 24 hours to work, phoned again this morning and was told that my handset has been blacklisted, although not by Orange! I should get a phone call tomorrow to tell me what's going on, although i'm not holding out much help for a speedy resolution.

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  • Jolsa
    It's a poor system when people are finding their phones blacklisted, and their own networks who you have a contract with are washing their hands of the situation. You'd think they'd be on the case to help you get back up and running rather than shifting things to another network.

    T-Mobile who my contract is with are saying it's Orange's fault as it's their handset... Orange have decided that it wasn't them who blacklisted the phone... If it wasn't for Orange CS escalating things to a group who can do a network wide search for who blacklisted, and also why it was blacklisted, I'd have no idea how to go about getting my phone off the list other than ringing around every single network.

    Martin Lewis, Ofcom, BBC Watchdog - please get on the case as there needs to be transparency for the consumer when things like this happen...

    Sorry!

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      movilogo
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    • By movilogo 19th Dec 11, 11:14 AM
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      What's this?

    movilogo
    It seems Orange doesn't like people buying their handset and then using other networks' SIMs after unlocking the phones
    Happiness is buying an item and then not checking its price after a month to discover it was reduced further.

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  • F0rester
    Me too
    I also bought an Orange San Francisco back in September last year. In the afternoon on 14th Dec 2011 I suddenly stopped being able to send / receive texts or calls but 3G does still work. I use Virgin Mobile but have also tried an Orange SIM in it. With Orange it doesn't even establish a connection. I have called Orange multiple times to be told it's blocked by another network and they'll send an e-mail via their supervisor to get the block removed in 48hrs. What a surprise... it doesn't get unblocked. I unlocked the handset using nckcodes last year and have been running Cyanogenmod without problems until now.

    Sorry!

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      redux
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    • redux
    • By redux 19th Dec 11, 12:22 PM
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      What's this?

    redux
    Usually, if a phone is barred by a network, then it won't work at all with any SIM card

    This sounds a bit more complicated than that.

    Sorry!

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  • Martha1
    I spoke to CS again tonight, apparantly it is quite a big problem with people who have bought PAYG phones recently. They said they would phone me back in 48 - 72 hours to update me!!! If it wasn't rated as a good phone for the money I would have sent it back by now as speaking to CS is so fustrating and I feel like i'm not getting anywhere. Think I might contact watchdog!

    Sorry!

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  • Brian The Lion
    I'm not sure if any industry procedures have changed, but I used to work for T-Mobile CS 3 years ago and whenever I came across situations like this we were allowed to unblackist the handset aslong as we received proof of purchase. It was irrelevant which network performed the blacklisting.

    Im not sure why youre having the issues you are if the handset was purchased originally via the correct channels?

    There are a couple of feasible possibilities to why youre phone has been blacklisted.

    1. Human error - when we blacklisted handsets, we manually typed the number. Might not have been input correctly.

    2. Stolen batch - IMEI's may have been reported in bulk, which may be taken from incorrect store records?

    either way if you can provide proof that you're the owner of the handset then it should be straight forward to resolve.

    For the record. Unblacklisting took literally seconds back then so Id be very surprised if any new systems were in place that made the process take any longer than that!

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  • Jolsa
    “
    For the record. Unblacklisting took literally seconds back then so Id be very surprised if any new systems were in place that made the process take any longer than that!
    Originally posted by Brian The Lion ”
    I'm sure it would take seconds if they could actually do it - Orange CS told me on the phone that they had all the information they needed but when he went to unblacklist the phone it wouldn't let him.

    He's had to send all details to a senior Orange blacklist UK team, who he said would be able to find out who has blacklisted and the reason for doing so. This was on Sunday, and I'm awaiting a call (to another phone!) to let me know what's happened, although I'm starting to lose hope.

    Sorry!

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