Second hand phone, blocked but not lost/stolen... advice?

CNash

I bought a second-hand phone on eBay, and upon receiving it, ran it through Checkmend to check to see whether it was blocked. The report came back as "blocked by one or more cell phone networks" - but it's not been reported as lost or stolen, or subject to an insurance claim.

So in practice, what does this mean? I thought that phones were only blocked like this if they were lost or stolen - is there any way of finding out which network issued the block, and do I have any chance at all of getting them to lift it, given that the phone doesn't appear to be "fenced"?

BTW, I haven't yet tested the phone to see if it makes or receives calls, as it's an iPhone 4 and I don't have a micro SIM for it - but if it's listed as blocked, then that's moot anyway.

Techhead_2

Who is saying that its not been reported lost or stolen or an insurance job?

CNash

Checkmend, in its report.

Jon_01

Phone's are only blocked if they're reported lost/stolen or have been obtained through fraud.

If Checkmend doesn't tell you which network registered the block you won't find out as you've no phone number to quote to them to check and I can't see them running a IMEI check as you're not the original customer.

As to getting the block lifted, there's a very, very slight chance. It would depend on why the block is there. If it's fraud then not a chance.
For other reasons, it would depend on which network the phone belongs to and why they blocked it.

CNash

Why would Checkmend "have no record that this item is currently reported as lost/stolen" if it's been reported lost or stolen?

I'm going to check to see whether it makes and receives calls... but to be honest I'd be uncomfortable with using it even if it did, so I'm going to contact the seller and request a refund, sending the phone back to them. In the long run I have to take into account that its resale value is going to be adversely affected, and I might not be able to sell it on at all once I'm done with it.

Jon_01

Checkmend may not track phone's that have been obtained through fraud (ID theft ect). Which is why it's not showing on their system (I've never used them).

The flag that the network set on the acc is different for each type of action and Checkmend may not be reading that as a meaningful and not showing a reason for the black listing (if that's even how they get their info?).

macman

CNash wrote: »

Why would Checkmend "have no record that this item is currently reported as lost/stolen" if it's been reported lost or stolen?

I'm going to check to see whether it makes and receives calls... but to be honest I'd be uncomfortable with using it even if it did, so I'm going to contact the seller and request a refund, sending the phone back to them. In the long run I have to take into account that its resale value is going to be adversely affected, and I might not be able to sell it on at all once I'm done with it.

How was the phone described in the auction? Did you ask if it was blocked or locked?

daleski75

I heard stories of ebay sellers selling expensive phones and then reporting them as stolen so they get both the money from the buyer and then money from their insurance leaving the poor guy with a useless phone.

If it was me I would contact the seller and ask for a refund back into my account and then send the phone back by recorded delivery with insurance.

CNash

daleski75 wrote: »

If it was me I would contact the seller and ask for a refund back into my account and then send the phone back by recorded delivery with insurance.

That's exactly what I'm going to do. The auction described it as "locked in Ireland but should work in UK", which I took to mean that it was network locked to an Irish carrier and that once unlocked it would work fine. But if it's IMEI blocked, that's a bit more serious...

daleski75

CNash wrote: »

That's exactly what I'm going to do. The auction described it as "locked in Ireland but should work in UK", which I took to mean that it was network locked to an Irish carrier and that once unlocked it would work fine. But if it's IMEI blocked, that's a bit more serious...

Good luck and fingers crossed you'll be able to send the phone back.

vax2002

They have added a new clause of obtained by fraud, this where someone uses fake ID to get a very expensive contract phone and does not pay the contract or someone sells the new phone and defaults on the contract at some point.
A phone on contract can now be blocked at any point if the contract is defaulted upon.
So basically if you see a nice shiny new latest phone only buy it if it was purchased pay and go or similar and they have a receipt to prove, otherwise the phone is not theirs to sell until they have completed the contract.