How do I transfer ownership of phone?

Anon

I have been considering buying an iPhone off ebay - those with faults go through cheapest (obviously!) and there seems to be a pattern with many iPhones having "No Service" errors - some claim that the phone would work outside the UK (so assume they have been blocked as reported lost or stolen?) but the "No Service" error seems to be a common problem? Is there another cause of the No Service? I was wondering how easy it is to solve a No Service error yourself? Other problems like replacing a button also looks relatively straightforward from searching online and could work out much cheaper.


There seem to be other services offered that claim to be able to resolve the No Service and other issues by replacing faulty iPhones (I assume, as they ask for the serial number, that they check the Apple website to see if it is covered by warranty then send it off for you?) However, some claim not to need a warranty and can still replace it with a new one, so not sure how that would work?

If a phone has been blocked/blacklisted, would it say something on the iPhone or does this appear as No Service?

Many thanks

Anon

esuhl

Oh my goodness! I've bought phones off eBay before and never even considered the possibility of them being subsequently blocked.

Assuming that you haven't been inadvertently handling stolen goods (in which case it's right that the phone is blocked and your recourse would be with the seller), and that the phone has not been stolen and was legally the property of the seller when he/she sold it to you, what hope is there for getting the phone unblocked?

I mean, surely a phone company can't just bar your phone which you legally own and operate...? Would you be able to sue a mobile operator for doing this...? Or would you have to sue the seller (and if so... what could you sue them for)?

Nostromo

Anon wrote: »

If a phone has been blocked/blacklisted, would it say something on the iPhone or does this appear as No Service?

Many thanks

Anon

You will still get a signal on a blocked phone but when you try to make a call you just get 3 beeps and it ends the call.
I bought an iphone4 that been bought on ebay i wasnt aware of this when i bought it.1 month later is was blocked.Had a hell of a time getting my money back and the phone returned.
The person i bought it from had bought it of ebay and it looks like it was one these phones that had been sent off to Apple for replacement.I can only think that Apple themselves eventually get the phone blocked when they realise the original phone was blocked and not faulty signal.

Jon_01

esuhl wrote: »

Oh my goodness! I've bought phones off eBay before and never even considered the possibility of them being subsequently blocked.

Assuming that you haven't been inadvertently handling stolen goods (in which case it's right that the phone is blocked and your recourse would be with the seller), and that the phone has not been stolen and was legally the property of the seller when he/she sold it to you, what hope is there for getting the phone unblocked?

I mean, surely a phone company can't just bar your phone which you legally own and operate...? Would you be able to sue a mobile operator for doing this...? Or would you have to sue the seller (and if so... what could you sue them for)?

As discussed above, there is no way the network officially take a transfer of ownership (mainly, I feel, because this is a fairly new type of crime).

If it's just someone that has a contract phone, sells it and then later claims it lost stolen a quick look at the systems at the network end will reveal what's happened. It's then a matter of the insurance team taking action against the original owner.

What's becoming more evident is organised groups targeting dealers and fraudulently getting account and handsets (using ID theft).
They then sell the handsets on Ebay or Gumtree.
The network catches the fraud and blacklists the handset and the new owner calls to find out why their phones stopped working. In this case you've no chance of the phone being unblocked.