Could I end up with a blocked S4?

montymud

I was going to purchase an 'unwanted upgrade' samsung galaxy s4 on ebay however I have heard that if the person who I purchased it from falls on hard times and does not keep up the repayments then the phone can get blocked - is this true? I don't want to part with my cash - rather a lot of it too - and end up with a dud!

Herongull

If you buy a ex-contract phone from someone you don't know, there are two risks:

1/ That the seller subsequently (perhaps 6 months later) reports the phone lost or stolen in order to claim on the insurance. The phone will then be blocked and unusable (in the UK).

2/ There have been anecdotes on this forum and others of phones being blocked when the contract owner fails to meet payments on the contract. It doesn't always happen and I am not sure under what circumstances this might happen, but it seems that it has happened on some occasions.

ZhugeEX

Herongull wrote: »

If you buy a ex-contract phone from someone you don't know, there are two risks:

1/ That the seller subsequently (perhaps 6 months later) reports the phone lost or stolen in order to claim on the insurance. The phone will then be blocked and unusable (in the UK).

2/ There have been anecdotes on this forum and others of phones being blocked when the contract owner fails to meet payments on the contract. It doesn't always happen and I am not sure under what circumstances this might happen, but it seems that it has happened on some occasions.

If one payment is missed then the Sim is blocked.

If multiple payments are missed or it's clear the owner has done a runner or whatever, then the phone is blocked as well.

bengalknights

No it's not it will only be blocked if seller reports stolen or lost, just ensure you get there upgrade receipt with purchase

montymud

Hi there, thank you very much - it would seem that my biggest worry would be the first point that you raised which I had not thought of. Thank you for the response - in that case I think I am going to buy a sim free s3 rather then the an s4 from ebay with all the risks!

montymud

Thank you to bengalknights - thats certainly something worth considering!

grumbler

ZhugeEX wrote: »

If multiple payments are missed or it's clear the owner has done a runner or whatever, then the phone is blocked as well.

As Herongull said above, usually it isn't the case. Possibly because the networks vigorously deny any link between the handset and the contract and they don't benefit in any way from blocking it.

ZhugeEX

grumbler wrote: »

As Herongull said above, usually it isn't the case. Possibly because the networks vigorously deny any link between the handset and the contract and they don't benefit in any way from blocking it.

But it's been done plenty of times so....

grumbler

How do you know the real reason of blocking?