Mobile phone blocked

Paul74

I bought a mobile phone (iphone 14) from Music Magpie 13 months ago.The phone stopped getting a connection last week. After investigating why, it appears EE have placed a block on the Phone - note I'm on O2. I have spoken to both Music Magpie & EE this morning & got absolutely no help from the pair of them. Music Magpie told me that they have sold me a phone not reported stolen, they don't sell currently contracted phones & to contact EE.

EE, wouldn't give me any help whatsoever because I'm not an EE customer. They confirmed the phone is blocked, but wouldn't tell me why. Therefore I'm stuck in the middle with a phone that doesn't work.

I'm guessing that the phone was probably sold to Music Magpie under contract. They have sold to me & now the contract hasn't been paid EE have blocked it.

Any guidance on my next steps?

DE_612183

Have you tried Ofcom?

Paul74

Not yet. I have gone back to Music Magpie, they have backed down a little, now telling me to send the phone back & they will send me a like for like phone if it cannot be repaired (despite me telling them seventeen times that there's nothing wrong with the phone). I'm not happy accepting anything in replacement from them. At the end of the day it looks like they have sold me a dodgy phone. What are my rights?

Jon_01

Paul74 said:

I bought a mobile phone (iphone 14) from Music Magpie 13 months ago.The phone stopped getting a connection last week. After investigating why, it appears EE have placed a block on the Phone - note I'm on O2. I have spoken to both Music Magpie & EE this morning & got absolutely no help from the pair of them. Music Magpie told me that they have sold me a phone not reported stolen, they don't sell currently contracted phones & to contact EE.

EE, wouldn't give me any help whatsoever because I'm not an EE customer. They confirmed the phone is blocked, but wouldn't tell me why. Therefore I'm stuck in the middle with a phone that doesn't work.

I'm guessing that the phone was probably sold to Music Magpie under contract. They have sold to me & now the contract hasn't been paid EE have blocked it.

Any guidance on my next steps?

EE won't have blacklisted for none payment after this amount of time.  The odds are it's been reported lost/stolen. Maybe so the old owner can get an insurance replacement...

Paul74

Seems like a really specific scam that makes buying a 2nd half phone extremely risky. Surely Music Magpie and others are aware of this? Shouldn't they explain this when selling mobile phones??

flaneurs_lobster

Paul74 said:

Seems like a really specific scam that makes buying a 2nd half phone extremely risky. Surely Music Magpie and others are aware of this? Shouldn't they explain this when selling mobile phones??

Explain what exactly? That at any time after you purchase a phone from them a previous owner can claim that the phone has been stolen from them thus causing the phone to be bricked?

Kind of destroys their entire business model.

Paul74

Ermm,,

flaneurs_lobster said:

Paul74 said:

Seems like a really specific scam that makes buying a 2nd half phone extremely risky. Surely Music Magpie and others are aware of this? Shouldn't they explain this when selling mobile phones??

Explain what exactly? That at any time after you purchase a phone from them a previous owner can claim that the phone has been stolen from them thus causing the phone to be bricked?

Kind of destroys their entire business model.

Errmm, exactly. This practice shouldn't be allowed. Thanks for your extremely helpful input anyway.

flaneurs_lobster

Paul74 said:

Ermm,,

flaneurs_lobster said:

Paul74 said:

Seems like a really specific scam that makes buying a 2nd half phone extremely risky. Surely Music Magpie and others are aware of this? Shouldn't they explain this when selling mobile phones??

Explain what exactly? That at any time after you purchase a phone from them a previous owner can claim that the phone has been stolen from them thus causing the phone to be bricked?

Kind of destroys their entire business model.

Errmm, exactly. This practice shouldn't be allowed. Thanks for your extremely helpful input anyway.

Not in any way meant as a criticism of your genuine complaint, rather a real concern at the way phones can be made non-operational by fraudulent and/or malicious actions by previous owners.

Paul74

flaneurs_lobster said:

Paul74 said:

Ermm,,

flaneurs_lobster said:

Paul74 said:

Seems like a really specific scam that makes buying a 2nd half phone extremely risky. Surely Music Magpie and others are aware of this? Shouldn't they explain this when selling mobile phones??

Explain what exactly? That at any time after you purchase a phone from them a previous owner can claim that the phone has been stolen from them thus causing the phone to be bricked?

Kind of destroys their entire business model.

Errmm, exactly. This practice shouldn't be allowed. Thanks for your extremely helpful input anyway.

Not in any way meant as a criticism of your genuine complaint, rather a real concern at the way phones can be made non-operational by fraudulent and/or malicious actions by previous owners.

Apologies for the misunderstanding! Yes, this practice should not be allowed. Maybe Music Magpie did act faithfully, but there's a major technical glitch as you say. I'd be suprised if this scenario doesn't happen quite often. So I fully expect Music Magpie & the other phone recycle companies to be fully aware of this situation. 

Surely I have grounds for a legal claim?

Emmia

The answer is to only buy brand new phones that cannot be reported as stolen by a previous owner. 

I know this isn't ideal given the cost of some phones.

Paul74

Emmia said:

The answer is to only buy brand new phones that cannot be reported as stolen by a previous owner. 

I know this isn't ideal given the cost of some phones.

Had I been aware of this practice, believe me I wouldn't!