Unregistering a phone

Hey so this is my first post so sorry in advance if I don't know much but...

Today I bought a used phone off of craigslist since my old one had a cracked screen. These are both Verizon phones. The new phone is a Samsung Glyde and the old one with the cracked screen is one of those generic basic clamshell phones from Verizon. So when I went to the Verizon store to have my account transferred to the Glyde, the Verizon Rep told me the Glyde is still registered under the name of the person who sold the phone to me. I had to call the person and tell them to unregister their phone with their Verizon account. However I haven't been able to reach this person yet, so I tried calling my own phone number using the Glyde and I got redirected to Verizon financial services for a financial review. I'm afraid I might have been scammed and that the person will never unregister herself with the Glyde. Is there any other way I can get the Glyde out of her name without the need for her to call Verizon? Would unlocking the phone work?

Any help is appreciated!
Thank you!

It sounds like the phone you purchased from Craigslist was put on the "Non-Pay list". This means that the person still has an unpaid balance with VZW.

Unfortunately, the only way to get the phone off the list is for the account holder (i.e. the seller) to pay the balance. Verizon phones are not "locked" so "unlocking" is not an option.

Ya I went to the Verizon Store again and they told me the same thing. This sucks, I got scammed.