vB Easy Archive - Phone registered as lost?

Pages: 1

Phone registered as lost?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: wolfgang17

I bought a Motorola V3c razr from some crook on E-Bay. I tried to get it activated with my service provider and they said the phone is registered as lost. The guy who sold it to me removed the sticker with the serial number from behind the battery. My service provider was able to get the serial number from the phone itself.
My question is what are my options in trying to get this phone activated? Is there away to get a new serial number, or some other way to get this phone activated?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Posted by: neb1211

Chances of getting a phone that was reported as lost/stolen are pretty slim. Have you tried getting a refund from the eBay seller at all? If not, you may be able to work with your carrier and they may be willing to work something out with you.

Posted by: wolfgang17

I just initiated a claim through e-bay. I'll see how that works out.

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

For the most part, the only people who are able to do a serial number re-write are the manufacturer and people who work for them, so you're kind of SOL.

Posted by: jetd

Actually someone with a SmartClip can reset the IMEI and produce a "new" phone. At least that is what my friend with a SmartClip has shown me.

Posted by: SimpleKindaMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetd

Actually someone with a SmartClip can reset the IMEI and produce a "new" phone. At least that is what my friend with a SmartClip has shown me.

CDMA phones have no IMEI.

Posted by: jetd

My bad; I did not see the "c"...

Posted by: sneakyws6

CDMA phones has ESN Hex and ESN Dex numbers.

I would go the ebay route, if you paid with any type of credit card start a claim with them as well.

Posted by: Tyler Durden

Being rported lost and or stolen puts any CDMA phone in the "black-list". Find out from the guy whom you bought it from on eBay if it really was his. If so, then he can call Verizon and tell them that he has found the phone and need to get it off the "black-list". If that doesn't work or isn't the case, I hope you paid via pay-pal so you can get your money back.

Posted by: wolfgang17

Thanks for the input. The guy finally started responding to my E-mail once I started a claim on him through Paypal.
Get this, he says he will refund my money if I cancel the Paypal claim on him. He was afraid if he refunds me the money now and then loses the claim also he'll have refunded me twice. I explained to him that once you cancel a Paypal claim you can never reopen it. I told him refund the money and I will cancel the claim. Paypal will have a record of those transactions if i fail to cancel the claim. Now he says he can't refund me because Paypal has a hold on his paypal account.
Anyway, thats were it sits for now.

Once again thanks for the input.

Posted by: neb1211

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyler Durden

I hope you paid via pay-pal so you can get your money back.

That isn't always the case. Both my friends and I have run into cases where we paid with something via PayPal, had to file a claim, won the claim, and only received a partial refund because "Unfortunately, the seller's account does not contain the funds necessary to cover this refund."