Can blocked/barred mobiles actually be legit?

My understanding (I accept it could be wrong) was that a blocked/barred
mobile phone has almost certainly been reported lost or stolen or has
outstanding finance.

Are there other non-nefarious reasons why a phone would be
blocked/barred in the UK? The only one I can think of is market share
protection measures by manufacturers (similar to DVD region protection)

The reason I ask is that an idle Ebay search on "blocked,barred" in the
Mobile & Home Phones category category brought up more than 75 active
listings, most of which have bids. A similar search for completed items
brought up hundreds such listings again most with bids.

It certainly seems that a roaring Ebay trade is taking place with no
shortage of sellers or punters I would find this surprising if
"blocked/barred" definitely meant stolen!

--
Peter <X-Files Fan>

---

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In article
<<[email protected]>,> Trust
No One ([email protected]) says...
> My understanding (I accept it could be wrong) was that a blocked/barred
> mobile phone has almost certainly been reported lost or stolen or has
> outstanding finance.
>
> Are there other non-nefarious reasons why a phone would be
> blocked/barred in the UK? The only one I can think of is market share
> protection measures by manufacturers (similar to DVD region protection)
>
> The reason I ask is that an idle Ebay search on "blocked,barred" in the
> Mobile & Home Phones category category brought up more than 75 active
> listings, most of which have bids. A similar search for completed items
> brought up hundreds such listings again most with bids.
>
> It certainly seems that a roaring Ebay trade is taking place with no
> shortage of sellers or punters I would find this surprising if
> "blocked/barred" definitely meant stolen!

A couple of things I can think of (it's early, on a Sunday, so
there may be others )

1) The phones may simply be locked to a certain network, not
necessarily blocked in the sense of IMEI barred etc. but Joe
public may not appreciate the difference between the two.

2) People may just want spare parts, be they batteries, fascias,
keypads, etc..

Stephan
--
Stephan Bird MChem(Hons) AMRSC
Currently in Caernarfon, Wales

"Stephan Bird" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article
> <<[email protected]>,> Trust
> No One ([email protected]) says...
>> My understanding (I accept it could be wrong) was that a blocked/barred
>> mobile phone has almost certainly been reported lost or stolen or has
>> outstanding finance.
>>
>> Are there other non-nefarious reasons why a phone would be
>> blocked/barred in the UK? The only one I can think of is market share
>> protection measures by manufacturers (similar to DVD region protection)
>>
>> The reason I ask is that an idle Ebay search on "blocked,barred" in the
>> Mobile & Home Phones category category brought up more than 75 active
>> listings, most of which have bids. A similar search for completed items
>> brought up hundreds such listings again most with bids.
>>
>> It certainly seems that a roaring Ebay trade is taking place with no
>> shortage of sellers or punters I would find this surprising if
>> "blocked/barred" definitely meant stolen!
>
> A couple of things I can think of (it's early, on a Sunday, so
> there may be others )
>
> 1) The phones may simply be locked to a certain network, not
> necessarily blocked in the sense of IMEI barred etc. but Joe
> public may not appreciate the difference between the two.
>
> 2) People may just want spare parts, be they batteries, fascias,
> keypads, etc..
>
> Stephan

Also Mr J public will buy a mobile from somebody in good faith and working
at the time, then a few days, weeks or even months later the phone then
stops working, he then rings the mobile network to be told the phone has
been registered lost or stolen, at that point the network will tell you to
contact the person you bought it from.

he doesn't want to know as he took it from the bar in the local pub and
doesn't know who it belonged to in the first place/or has claimed for a new
phone from the network, the police haven't got time, unless some serious
crime has been committed to do with the phone and the bloke who lost it at
the pub proberly hasn't even reported it lost to the police as he can't be
bothered cause he only paid £30 for it from another bloke in the pub and
will only by another one anyway, and so it goes on, so your stuck outa
pocket with a useless phone. ( or is it )

Ding ( lightbulb glows ) Thank god for Ebay.
stacks of people want erm for spares, screens, batteries etc and also there
is a very big market for UK barred phones abroad, at present a phone barred
in the UK is quite useable in most countires abroad say in Spain, hungary,
USA ( triband ones) and even Russia and the amount of money they go for is
close to what a working one will go for in the UK.

Possible only one way to get some money back is if the phone was purchased
on ebay and paid with paypal, but then you only get a small amount of time
to claim back thru paypal's buyer pretection scheme, and Mr ebay seller will
wait until this time frame has elasped before reporting the phone lost to
his network, so you sh*t out there aswell..

I suppose you are actually handling and reselling stolen goods if the phones
been reported stolen and technically you could face what ever penalties
there are, but at the present time this doesn't seem to be at the front of
most peoples minds when dealing with barred phones and the Police/networks
don't seem to be that bothered if its a basic lose.

--
(º·.?(?*·.? ?.·*?)?.·º)
«.·°·. LISTER .·°·.»
(?.·º(?.·?* *?·.?)º·.?)
www.eastcoastpc.co.uk

I thought people just changed the IMEI, illegal in England but not
elsewhere. In any case I expect an English phone thief would just think am I
bothered.

On 26 Nov 2005 22:31:46 -0800, "Trust No One" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>My understanding (I accept it could be wrong) was that a blocked/barred
>mobile phone has almost certainly been reported lost or stolen or has
>outstanding finance.
>
>Are there other non-nefarious reasons why a phone would be
>blocked/barred in the UK?

If you lose your mobile phone, you report it. The insurance company
replaces it. The network blocks the old one.

Someone finds it and hands it in, but you don't claim it. It
eventually gets sold off at a lost property auction.

And in time it arrives at eBay.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

"Trust No One" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My understanding (I accept it could be wrong) was that a blocked/barred
> mobile phone has almost certainly been reported lost or stolen or has
> outstanding finance.
>
> Are there other non-nefarious reasons why a phone would be
> blocked/barred in the UK? The only one I can think of is market share
> protection measures by manufacturers (similar to DVD region protection)
>

Very simple: -

Punter bus phone on network, perhaps through a phone shop.

Part of the deal is dishonoured (read this group to see scores of examples)
or a gotcha' in the T&C's or sneaky text service results in a sky high phone
bill, and the customer refuses to pay. The network then blocks and
blacklists the phone and punter sells the now useless phone.

Blacklisting was only supposed to happen to stolen phones, but IIRC Orange
in particular have also been doing this following billing disputes - perhaps
someone knows better?