Selling a contract phone on ebay

iceburn

In theory geothermal you are correct, but in practical term what the other person is saying is correct. Esp with Orange. If you do not pay the bill / report lost or stolen they feel they have to bar the handset as well. Now is this wrong it techically is, but who got the legal money to goto court. If they had the money they would pay the bill. Likewise on ebay the fact that the "phone" is reported lost/stolen after the feedback cause problems as well. but saying that there are a lot of ppl selling mobile phones on ebay and there is no problems.

DjSwift

Steve_xx wrote:

DJ - In the event of non-payment of the bill, then it would be the SIM that was barred, not the handset, wouldn't it? Or, are you saying both are barred?

Sim card + HANDSET would get barred. Remember when you take a contract out these days, your sim card gets tied in with IMEI number of the handset. So yes. Both would definitely get barred.
I don't know why people are saying other things. FOr pay and go its different, these are not connected to a network, and therefore yours to do as you wish too.

GeoThermal wrote:

Everything I have read about this says the phone is yours to do with as you please and as stated previously is a sweetener to get you to sign up. Your monthly fee is for access to the network and whatever tariff you signed up to.

Once again, I shall quote. THIS IS NOT TRUE. What is the meaning contract to you ? Why do you think networks can give free phones ? ITS BECAUSE WE PAY LINE RENTAL.

The phone is yours, but if you fail to keep your payments up, the phone WILL 110% get barred!. Its not a difficult concept to understand. Your misleading people by stating what you said mate.

iceburn wrote:

In theory geothermal you are correct, but in practical term what the other person is saying is correct. Esp with Orange. If you do not pay the bill / report lost or stolen they feel they have to bar the handset as well. Now is this wrong it techically is, but who got the legal money to goto court. If they had the money they would pay the bill. Likewise on ebay the fact that the "phone" is reported lost/stolen after the feedback cause problems as well. but saying that there are a lot of ppl selling mobile phones on ebay and there is no problems.

As stated by yourself, It stil won't prevent the person who sold the phone on eBAY from reporting it lost/stolen a couple months down the line even after good feedback has been exchanged.. It could happen, and i bet it happens all the time. eBAY im sad to say is one dodgy place .

Remember until you pay the contract OFF, the phone is 100% yours. If not, networks can bar/restrict and sometimes ask for it to be returned!. Its also their property.

Think off a contract as paying off the value of the phone.. +access to their network plan.

Steve_xx

Djswift - I'm not entirely convinced about the legality of what you are suggesting. Though I appreciate that you may be in the industry and that it could well be the practise that some networks will bar both handset and SIM for non-payment of the bill.

These handsets are offered free of charge. I have not seen any clauses relating to the original purchaser having to retain the handset for the contractual period. But on the other hand the provision of the handset is subject to you buying into the 12/18 month contract, so that in itself may make the handset inclusive within the terms of the contract. Therefore it could be said that the network service provider does own the handset until the final contractual payment has been discharged.

kai666

Steve_xx wrote:

These handsets are offered free of charge. QUOTE]


Handsets aren't free of charge, it depends on how much the line rental is. The more you pay the cheaper the phone (apart from the basic phones). They recoup the money for the phones through line rental and call charges. Why do you think text messages and cross netork mins are so expensive for example. I was told I couldn't have a free N70 as Vodafone would never recoup the money from me.

Also with the new 18 month contracts, it gives them an extra 6 months to claw back the cost of the headset

blinko

if the handset is free then it cant be under a contract as there is no such this as a contract without an exachange of money, but i have haerd of people that have got the phone then said they lost it and called up etc and then found the phone and the phone has been barred so yes they do and will bar your phone but i guess it depends on how the situation is played out !!

DjSwift

@Steve_Xx
Remember NOT everyone can get a contract. Its subject to status, and a credit check is run through. They just don't hand out free phones to members of the public. As mentioned before, we pay line rental for a fixed amount of time until the contract ends. 12/18 and now even 24 months coming soon!!!.
Paying line rental pays for the phone:) Hope I painted a clearer picture.

@Kai666
Thats true
A lot of income come through text messages on phones.

@Blinko.
I honestly do not knowwhat your saying. Paying line rental is the exchange of money if that argues your point.
A phone can be given free under a contract. Its like paying off in instalments, + network access to an agreed priceplan.

Steve_xx

kai666 wrote:

Steve_xx wrote:

These handsets are offered free of charge. QUOTE]


Handsets aren't free of charge, it depends on how much the line rental is. The more you pay the cheaper the phone (apart from the basic phones). They recoup the money for the phones through line rental and call charges. Why do you think text messages and cross netork mins are so expensive for example. I was told I couldn't have a free N70 as Vodafone would never recoup the money from me.

Also with the new 18 month contracts, it gives them an extra 6 months to claw back the cost of the headset

I disagree. I have a 3 handset which I bought 12 months ago on contract. It is £30 per month, inclusive of 500 mins anytime any network, plus 100 texts. per month. The line rental was reduced to £15 by the network for months 1 to 3 and I have reclaimed the FULL amount of the remainder from e2save. Therefore the actual cost to me is zero.In fact I have gained the residual value of the handset as well as enjoying free telephone service for 12 months.

Really, it depends on how savvy you are at getting the right contract at the right time.

Steve_xx

@Steve_Xx
Remember NOT everyone can get a contract. Its subject to status, and a credit check is run through. They just don't hand out free phones to members of the public. As mentioned before, we pay line rental for a fixed amount of time until the contract ends. 12/18 and now even 24 months coming soon!!!.
Paying line rental pays for the phone Hope I painted a clearer picture.


Yes I know, but here we are talking about contract handsets.

iceburn

Steve that confusing the situation that is part of the comission the dealer get for connecting you to that particular tariff but is seperate. Hence why some ppl get into problems when the company goes bust and can't goto the network and say "give me the £200 cashback". That contract is with the dealer and yourself. Now what DJswift is saying I think he is trying to KISS (keep it simple and sweet.) But maybe a way to loo at it is the phone is a "GIFT". so from day one the phone is yours but on the contract they have in it that say if you cancel within 12 months you have to pay x amount.

Deaf_Leopard

So essentially, as I understand it, if I didn't pay the bill then the SIM and the phone would/could potentially be cancelled.

I fully intend, of course, to pay my bill so there won't be any problems on that front. :-)

Even if I didn't pay the bill would the person buying the phone off me have any comeback on me? Without meaning to sound selfish, surely it is a case of buyer beware.

What would happen if the person I sold the phone to didn't pay their bill on their contract or reported the phone stolen? Would my SIM be cancelled, as this is connected to the IMEI of the phone of the non-payer or can I inform the mobile company (02 in this case) that I am no longer using that phone but another one instead?