lost phone re-activation

p lane wrote:
> Thanks for looking-here's the story-at a flea mkt type sale, found a
> 5300(pretty fair shape) phone appeared dead, but got it for virtually
> nothing, hoped the battery would work, really it was just a dead
> battery, good phone, etc.-then called sprint(maybe a mistake) inquired
> about status of the phone thru the esn--said was reported lost, that I
> could not activate. Since the old owners phone number was in the
> phone, called him to offer phone back, for what I had given, but he
> had
> replaced it a couple o fmonths ago with insurance--not want it
> back--said he would check, but haven't heard from him-
>
> thanks for help

OK, then lost phones *do* get treated pretty much like stolen ones. The
original owner has to report it found. And that *may* even require a trip
to a store with identification to confirm it. If he's not motivated to do
that, then you may simply be stuck.

--
-+-
RØß
O/Siris
I work for Sprint
I *don't* speak for them

---

› See More: lost phone re-activation

"O/Siris" <robjvargas@sprîntpcs.com> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> p lane wrote:
>> Thanks for info--would appreciate any followup info also.
>>
>> "O/Siris" <robjvargas@sprîntpcs.com> wrote in article
>> <[email protected]>:
>>> p lane wrote:
>>>> Does anyone have experience about what happens if a lost sprint
>>>> phone
>>>> is found--probably had replaement insurance or what ever, can they
>>>> ever be activated, by anyone??
>>>>
>>>> [posted via phonescoop.com - free web access to the alt.cellular
>>>> groups]
>>>
>>> The short answer is yes, it can be activated again. I'll have to
>>> look this up to be sure, but I think it's like this:
>>>
>>> A lost/stolen phone gets reported to us, we deactivate the ESN and
>>> it cannot be activated. If it's later found/recovered, it must be
>>> taken to a SprintPCS store by the original owner, who confirms
>>> identity with us, and we then release the ESN for use.
>>>
>>> I'll try to verify that next chance I get.
>>>
>>> --
>>> -+-
>>> RØß
>>> O/Siris
>>> I work for Sprint
>>> I *don't* speak for them
>>>
>>>
>
> There's actually no information in our system on what to do once a
> lost phone is replaced. Thus, if you lose it, and then get a
> replacement phone activated on the account, I *think* that frees the
> original phone up for use. But I'll try to dig a little deeper on
> that one.

When I dropped my phone in a NYC cab on the way to the airport SPCS
disabled the ESN. I managed to get the cab driver on my wife's phone
before he got too far and spoke to his dispatcher which heard him
confirm the phone was in the back seat -- so once I recieved it in the
mail I went through several identity verification steps with SPCS before
they would reactivate it.

YMMV

"Steph" <[email protected]_CUT> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> When I dropped my phone in a NYC cab on the way to the airport SPCS
> disabled the ESN. I managed to get the cab driver on my wife's phone
> before he got too far and spoke to his dispatcher which heard him
> confirm the phone was in the back seat -- so once I recieved it in the
> mail I went through several identity verification steps with SPCS before
> they would reactivate it.
>

My case went a little differently. I (thought I) lost my Sanyo 4900, and
bought a new 8100. I reported the 4900 as lost before I bought the 8100. I
activated the 8100 and then discovered/found my 4900 under the back seat of
my car. I was able to successfully activate the 4900 for my wife (who was
using an older 2G phone). I never had to go through the identity thing:
apparently they merely deactivated my 4900, without any kind of fraud/stolen
flag.

As usual, YMMV.


--
Mike

What happens if someone reports their phone lost and they use the
equipment replacement plan to get a new phone for $35....then like 2
months later, they find their old phone and want to reactivate it. I
ask because this happened to me and I never tried to reactivate the old
phone as I thought that was that when you reported it lost. I mean if
you could just report your phone lost and get a new one for $35 and
then reactivate your old one again if you wanted, there would be tons
of fraud on that setup.

What do you guys think?

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

iammike wrote:
> What happens if someone reports their phone lost and they use the
> equipment replacement plan to get a new phone for $35....then like 2
> months later, they find their old phone and want to reactivate it. I
> ask because this happened to me and I never tried to reactivate the
> old phone as I thought that was that when you reported it lost. I
> mean if you could just report your phone lost and get a new one for
> $35 and then reactivate your old one again if you wanted, there would
> be tons of fraud on that setup.
>
> What do you guys think?

If you find the phone, and it was properly recorded in our system, then you
have to go into one of our stores with 2 forms of I.D., and the phone's
yours to use. You don't even have to return the ERP replacement phone. The
catch is that you can only use it twice within a year (any twelve month
stretch, not just calendar year, as I understand it).

So if you avail yourself of ERP too regularly, you *will* get noticed.
--
-+-
RØß
O/Siris
I work for Sprint
I *don't* speak for them

my son lost a phone in a campus building. i reported it lost to sprint.
they said it would be put on their "lost/stolen" list.

nine months later, a custodian found the phone wedged behind one of the
classroom seats. they charged the battery and saw my son's number
displayed and called it. so we got the phone back.
since it was a newer model than what i was using, i called sprint to
activated it. i inquired about the lost status of the phone and they
said there wasn't any. they said after a certain time limit, the phone
gets dropped off the list. activation went without any problems.

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