Anyway to get SPCS to activate a blacklisted phone?

My dad lost his phone so I got him a nice Sanyo 4700 from eBay. Called
Sprint to activate it but they wouldn't because it was somehow tied to
'fraudulent activity' from a prior user.

I begged and pleaded but they won't budge. This is silly. I have a
perfectly good phone here and they'll never allow it to be activated on
their system??? I talked to two or three reps thinking one of them
would use a little common sense.

What do they gain by doing this? It's absurd.

Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?

--
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---

› See More: Anyway to get SPCS to activate a blacklisted phone?

There's not much you can do. If the phone is linked to an account where
the person simply didn't pay the bill you have the option of paying off
their balance.

If it is stolen, then the best thing you can do is take it to a Sprint
Store so that the original owner of the phone can get it back.

I would suggest you file an insurance claim with eBay (if it's worth it
- probably not).

Morale of the story: Get the ESN from the seller (or a guarantee on
more expensive phones - I don't like giving it out on new phones) and
call Sprint. Usually the rep will reccomend you not buy the phone if
the ESN is blacklisted.

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

In article <[email protected]>,
rjsommer <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> My dad lost his phone so I got him a nice Sanyo 4700 from eBay. Called
> Sprint to activate it but they wouldn't because it was somehow tied to
> 'fraudulent activity' from a prior user.
>
> I begged and pleaded but they won't budge. This is silly. I have a
> perfectly good phone here and they'll never allow it to be activated on
> their system??? I talked to two or three reps thinking one of them
> would use a little common sense.
>
> What do they gain by doing this? It's absurd.
>
> Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?

Sounds like another good reason to use Executive Services.

Phillipe <[email protected]> wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> rjsommer <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?
>
> Sounds like another good reason to use Executive Services.

So, you think executive services is the solution to everything?

The phone is in a fraud status. This means someone activated it
illegaly, and didn't pay the bill. Why won't SPrint turn it back on?
Because most of these people will try again, and then not pay their
bill, thus Sprint is losing money on this.

--or--

The phone was stolen. Someone stole the phone, and tried to activate
it, the phone is in stolen status, so therefore it cannot be activated
until the original owner releases it. I'm sure you'd be just as happy
knowing that if someone stole your phone, they could not activate it.

I am sorry to see what RJ is going though, but this is in no way
SprintPCS's fault. Someone had a phone they were illegaly using, Sprint
killed the ESN. BEst thing RJ can do is file a complaint with EBay, and
if he paid with a credit card, dispute the charge, and give the seller a
bad rating (the seller probably has no rating anyway).

[posted via phonescoop.com - free web access to the alt.cellular groups]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (SprintPCS Tech) wrote:

>
>
> Phillipe <[email protected]> wrote in article
> <[email protected]>:
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > rjsommer <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?
> >
> > Sounds like another good reason to use Executive Services.
>
> So, you think executive services is the solution to everything?

You already agreed there needs to be something between *2 CSRs with zero
authority, and a 5 minute time limit that refuse to escalate, and A
State Attorney General.

So a short answer, regretably is: YES

It sounds to me like the reps are using common sense.....I would not
want to lose my job for activating a phone like this either....that is
why I always buy from reputable dealers and not take my chances with
eBay......live and learn.....as for Phillipe......if he can't go to the
bathroom in the morning he wants to call Executive Services and
complain.......

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

"SprintPCS Tech" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> The phone is in a fraud status. This means someone activated it
> illegaly, and didn't pay the bill. Why won't SPrint turn it back on?
> Because most of these people will try again, and then not pay their
> bill, thus Sprint is losing money on this.
>
> --or--
>
> The phone was stolen. Someone stole the phone, and tried to activate
> it, the phone is in stolen status, so therefore it cannot be activated
> until the original owner releases it. I'm sure you'd be just as happy
> knowing that if someone stole your phone, they could not activate it.
>
> I am sorry to see what RJ is going though, but this is in no way
> SprintPCS's fault. Someone had a phone they were illegaly using, Sprint
> killed the ESN. BEst thing RJ can do is file a complaint with EBay, and
> if he paid with a credit card, dispute the charge, and give the seller a
> bad rating (the seller probably has no rating anyway).
>

Yes, you are absolutely correct. Without such measures, more phones would
be stolen and there would be even more trouble for all innocents involved.

And ... Phillip, although perhaps wronged at one time, is now getting to be
annoying and out of hand with his executive services litany over and over
again.

Tom Veldhouse

In article <[email protected]>,
DUFUS <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> It sounds to me like the reps are using common sense.....I would not
> want to lose my job for activating a phone like this either....that is
> why I always buy from reputable dealers and not take my chances with
> eBay......live and learn.....as for Phillipe......if he can't go to the
> bathroom in the morning he wants to call Executive Services and
> complain.......

If you have a cell phone stolen, do you not report it? No one
offered to find out if the phone was stolen, just wanted
protect Sprints revenue, whether they help a customer or not is
immaterial to Sprint apparently.

Dude if you are that unhappy with Sprint why don't pay the early term fee
and quit being a customer? I have seen a million post on how to get out of
your contract without paying a term fee so it shouldn't be a problem. IF I
was that pissed at something I sure as hell wouldn't continue to give them
money.

I have been having a Sprint account for almost 5 years on my personal cell
phone and have had countless different carriers from Cingular to Nextel and
all of those in between for my work cell phone and to be blunt, they all
drop calls, they all have dead spots, and they all have little glitches with
the way they run their business.

But it is a cell phone not a land line so I take it for what its worth. None
of them may be perfect but it sure as hell beats pulling over off the
highway to try to find a pay phone so I can go sweat my ass, get drenched in
the rain, or freeze in the snow off while trying to make a phone call.

Last comment on CS. I have called these people on several occasions for
different issues over the years and while I have run across an idiot or two
at times (have you ever run across a company who hired 100% Harvard
graduates?), I have found that if I was polite to them and not jump on the
phone with the attitude of "I am a customer and I pay you salary" bull****,
I usually get damn good service. I have also been offered and accepted a
pretty sweet plan and a substantial discount on my phone for paying my bill
over the last few years on time so I am happy but this is just me.


Don't take this the wrong way. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. This
is just mine.





"Phillipe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> DUFUS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> > It sounds to me like the reps are using common sense.....I would not
> > want to lose my job for activating a phone like this either....that is
> > why I always buy from reputable dealers and not take my chances with
> > eBay......live and learn.....as for Phillipe......if he can't go to the
> > bathroom in the morning he wants to call Executive Services and
> > complain.......
>
> If you have a cell phone stolen, do you not report it? No one
> offered to find out if the phone was stolen, just wanted
> protect Sprints revenue, whether they help a customer or not is
> immaterial to Sprint apparently.


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The phone isn't stolen. I already asked that. All they know is that it
was activated with a bogus credit card or something like that.
Blacklisting the ESN in such a case makes perfect sense to me. What I
don't understand is why they can't activate a blacklisted phone for a
customer in good standing by way of a case by case review of the
situation. If they were to activate it for a long term customer in good
standing what's the harm? Are the afraid they'll make someone happy?
I just think it's a waste of a perfectly good phone. It's a shame.

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

rjsommer wrote:

> My dad lost his phone so I got him a nice Sanyo 4700 from eBay. Called
> Sprint to activate it but they wouldn't because it was somehow tied to
> 'fraudulent activity' from a prior user.

> I begged and pleaded but they won't budge. This is silly. I have a
> perfectly good phone here and they'll never allow it to be activated on
> their system??? I talked to two or three reps thinking one of them
> would use a little common sense.

> What do they gain by doing this? It's absurd.

No, it's not absurd. What they gain is less risk. Sprint doesn't know
how you got that phone, or how it ended up in your hands. But clearly,
the person on eBay who sold it knew it was hot property, probably
engaged in the fraud themselves and when service was cut off, they
decided to use the highest bidder (you) to get that useless equipment
off their hands.

There's no cell carrier I know of out there who will activate a phone
they know has been stolen or been somehow related to fraud. Why?
because it's a deterrent. Most would-be thieves know that a cell phone
becomes worthless once it is reported stolen. And most savvy shoppers
of cell phones on eBay know that you should always ask the seller for
the ESN number of the phone, and check this number with the cell carrier
before they place a bid to make sure it's a "clean" phone. If the
seller refuses to give you the ESN, then the phone should not be bid on.


> Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?


The only way to do it is to track down the original owner of the phone.
They must take the phone to a Sprint store, present ID, and get the
ESN removed from the blacklist so taht you can activate it. If the
phone was blacklisted because the owner was a deadbeat and didn't pay
their bill, then the balance of that deadbeat's account must be paid.
If there was some other fraud that came into play (tampering, cloning
for fraudulent calls while analog roaming, etc.), then you're probably SOL.

What I would do at this point is leave negative feedback with the eBay
seller, explaining that you were sold a blacklisted phone. Also,
complain to eBay: while they don't like to meddle in buyer-seller
disputes, they also don't like it when one of their sellers committs
fraud, and if that seller knew the phone was blacklisted when he sold it
to you as a working phone (and s/he probably did know), then eBay will
most likely intervene.

That's sound advice. I've been buying and selling for years so problems
are bound to come up. This one just seems so easy to rectify on
Sprint's end. Just activate the damn phone and my dad will pay the bill
same as he's done for the last two years

By the way, the phone is not stolen. I'm not suggesting that someone
didn't try to steal SPCS service at some point along the line but the
handset itself is legit according to Sprint.



hatoncat wrote:
> *There's not much you can do. If the phone is linked to an account
> where the person simply didn't pay the bill you have the option of
> paying off their balance.
>
> If it is stolen, then the best thing you can do is take it to a
> Sprint Store so that the original owner of the phone can get it
> back.
>
> I would suggest you file an insurance claim with eBay (if it's worth
> it - probably not).
>
> Morale of the story: Get the ESN from the seller (or a guarantee on
> more expensive phones - I don't like giving it out on new phones) and
> call Sprint. Usually the rep will reccomend you not buy the phone if
> the ESN is blacklisted. *

--
Posted at SprintUsers.com - Your place for everything Sprint PCS
Free wireless access @ www.SprintUsers.com/wap

Phillipe wrote:

>>>>Has anyone ever gotten them to remove a phone from their blacklist?
>>>
>>>Sounds like another good reason to use Executive Services.
>>
>>So, you think executive services is the solution to everything?
>
>
> You already agreed there needs to be something between *2 CSRs with zero
> authority, and a 5 minute time limit that refuse to escalate, and A
> State Attorney General.
>
> So a short answer, regretably is: YES


You completely sidestepped the rest of the argument, Phillipe. Can you
name a single carrier who will knowingly re-activated a stolen or
fraud-linked phone?

And if you can, would you do business with such a company?

Phillipe wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> DUFUS <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>It sounds to me like the reps are using common sense.....I would not
>>want to lose my job for activating a phone like this either....that is
>>why I always buy from reputable dealers and not take my chances with
>>eBay......live and learn.....as for Phillipe......if he can't go to the
>>bathroom in the morning he wants to call Executive Services and
>>complain.......
>
>
> If you have a cell phone stolen, do you not report it?

Yes, it appears that this is exactly what happened here. the phone was
stolen, it was reported as such, and when it was blacklisted, the thief
decided he needed to dump the evidence. If he could eBay it to someone
gullible enough not to check the status of the ESN before buying and
mkae a little money off the transaction, all the better for him.

The fault here lies with the thief, not Sprint.


> No one
> offered to find out if the phone was stolen, just wanted
> protect Sprints revenue, whether they help a customer or not is
> immaterial to Sprint apparently.

Uhm, if Sprint DIDN'T care about whether the phone was stolen, he
would've been able to activate it. The only reason the phone is
blacklisted is because someone DID report it stolen. Just because
someone then bought the phone from the thief on eBay doesn't make the
phone UN-stolen. The original owner is still out the money he spent on
that phone and hasn't been compensated.

If my phone was lost or stolen, I like the idea of SprintPCS not activating
it for the finder.

If the phone cannot be activated, ask the seller for a refund. If not, sell
it for parts on Ebay. The battery and case retail for just about what you
paid for it.

Get that ESN before buying.

What was the transaction number on Ebay? I'd like the seller's side of the
story.



"rjsommer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> My dad lost his phone so I got him a nice Sanyo 4700 from eBay. Called
> Sprint to activate it but they wouldn't because it was somehow tied to
> 'fraudulent activity' from a prior user.
>
> I begged and pleaded but they won't budge. This is silly. I have a
> perfectly good phone here and they'll never allow it to be activated on
> their system??? I talked to two or three reps thinking one of them
> would use a little common sense.