Sprint Phone off ebay

I know this subject has been beaten to a bloody pulp but I have to
ask. If I buy a phone off e-bay and the seller has second thoughts or
there are other problems (shipping delays) can he deactivate the
phone before I have a chance to activate it.

If I activate the phone first will he have any recourse? Can he go
back and try to deactivate the phone once it's been activated on a
different account.

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› See More: Sprint Phone off ebay

"Rance" <Rancehood@no._spam._hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I know this subject has been beaten to a bloody pulp but I have to
> ask. If I buy a phone off e-bay and the seller has second thoughts or
> there are other problems (shipping delays) can he deactivate the
> phone before I have a chance to activate it.
>
> If I activate the phone first will he have any recourse? Can he go
> back and try to deactivate the phone once it's been activated on a
> different account.

What you don't say is whether the seller is selling a new unactivated phone,
or a used one. It really doesn't matter really whether it is new or used
though, as it should be *unactivated* by the time you receive it. It's up to
the buyer to activate the phone in their name, and be responsible for the
monthly charges.

Where your concern should be with a phone purchased through eBay is that
there are no encumbrances on it. When I say encumbrances, I mean that there
aren't any monies due on a previously activated account. Or, that it was a
lost phone, or stolen and reported to SPCS. In these last two examples, that
phone will be on a black list. In the former case, the phone can be
activated, but only when the prior monies due are paid off.

You should be asking the seller if there are any encumbrances on the phone.
Ask the seller for the ESN of the phone, where you can call SPCS and ask
whether there are any problems associated with that particular phone. If
there aren't, then buy it, and activate it when you receive it.

Bob

Bob Smith wrote:
> "Rance" <Rancehood@no._spam._hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I know this subject has been beaten to a bloody pulp but I have to
>> ask. If I buy a phone off e-bay and the seller has second thoughts or
>> there are other problems (shipping delays) can he deactivate the
>> phone before I have a chance to activate it.
>>
>> If I activate the phone first will he have any recourse? Can he go
>> back and try to deactivate the phone once it's been activated on a
>> different account.
>
> What you don't say is whether the seller is selling a new unactivated
> phone, or a used one. It really doesn't matter really whether it is
> new or used though, as it should be *unactivated* by the time you
> receive it. It's up to the buyer to activate the phone in their name,
> and be responsible for the monthly charges.
>
> Where your concern should be with a phone purchased through eBay is
> that there are no encumbrances on it. When I say encumbrances, I mean
> that there aren't any monies due on a previously activated account.
> Or, that it was a lost phone, or stolen and reported to SPCS.

I know of someone who bought a used SPCS phone that had been locked by a
("Found Me") SMS message. The former owner used this "method" to clear
out the phone's memory before activating his new phone. I would imagine
this is a very rare [1] occurrence, but the new owner was not happy
nonetheless.


[1] I didn't even think Found Me was explained in the manuals that ship
with the phones. I only see it in the PDF manuals I've DL'd myself. I
can only assume the old owner did a quick Google search and stumbled
upon it. A little information in the wrong hands...


--
Mike