Help! verizon won't activate my new phone!

hello,
i recently joined this forum, and i'm in need of some help. i have been with verizon for two years now, and just recently bought an lg vx8300 off of ebay. i tried activating it online, but it wouldn't work, so i called verizon and they told me that the phone had been activated already and the previous owner did not deactivate it, and i would not be able to use the phone unless the previous owner calls verizon, and confirms the deactivation?! is this true? is the phone useless because it was slightly used? the phone still has the original packing and safety film on it! it's almost brand new! if there is anything i can do, please tell! i hope i didn't just spend $140 on a phone that cannot be used!
thanks,
joe

Thats a safety feature to protect against theft.

is there any way to get around that? i just bought the phone, unless it was stolen and then sold to me, i don't understand why they won't allow me to activate it.

Contact the seller and advise him that he is in violation of the purchase agreement and you will report him to eBay.

Unfortunately, there is no way around Verizon's policy for the very reason that camstuf stated. It prevents fraud and theft. Verizon is very serious about protecting it's customers from these things. My guess is that the seller you bought the phone from either stole the phone from someone or obtained the phone through less than legal channels and found out like you just did that it can't be activated.

Please let this be an example to all folks who would buy phones on eBay. BE SURE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH!!!!!! You may get screwed over in the end. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.

thanks for the advice, i'm already in a dispute with the seller. we'll see what happens...

Please keep us posted. I would be very interested to see what kind of resolution you come to in this unfortunate situation.

-GrandMasterB

i also bought a phone off ebay a few years ago....and it is STILL active to this day...They wont turn it off either. Its on a 53 line business account so i guess they dont look at the bill...either way its still on.
(btw...im not using it, I gave it to a friend)

One thing everybody needs to do when buying a phone off Ebay is to get the ESN number off the phone from the seller, and call Verizon to verify that the phone is not like posted above or lost or stolen.

If they won't give you the ESN, then chances are, they are trying to hide something, as this isn't like stealing the phone or anything....it's just preventing you the potential buyer from getting shafted.

As an avid E-bay fanatic - thank you for this advice. I'm always scanning for a phone. This tip I am sure will be put to great use.