So I have an opportunity to buy a phone, but the seller claims that it has a bad ESN due to unpaid bills on the verizon network. Does this mean that it falls into the blacklisting and cricket wont accept it on their network?
Also does this go for all phones with similar bad ESN reasoning.
Thanks
Yes, Cricket will accept those phones. Cricket doesn't have access to Verizon, Sprint's US Cellular, Alltel, etc. "bad esn" database.
Actually, this is the whole idea of flashing a phone. You can't stand your current carrier, go get it flashed to Cricket and bingo, you have a phone again with an unlimited plan.
The only drawbacks Cricket MAY have is if the phone was previously on a Cricket account that was suspended due to non payment. That only means the phone can't be activated for 30 days.
Hope this helps.
Roaming will not work in most cases............
Thats great thanks so much. I read the FAQ at the top and got a little confused, and misguided by someone else.
Thanks for the clarification.
Why would roaming not work? I have tons of bad ESN phones and travel all over and have no problem :)
Because when a phone is reported lost/stolen, or has a bill owed, the esn is blacklisted on the original carrier. So in this area, Verizon is the roaming partner. I have experienced first hand getting forwarded to the billing department, on a flashed phone, while roaming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drunk
You can flash it and activate it with Cricket. Whatever is going on with the phone on another carrier really doesn't matter. I'd say in most cases you are better off just getting a new phone through Cricket. Then your roaming, premium extended coverage and everything else is absolutely guaranteed to work. With a flashed phone it can be iffy depending on who you have flash it for you and whether the phone can be fully flashed or not. In my area a partial flash (Talk and Text) is $35. A full flash would be in the $50 to $80 dollar range. (Talk, Text, Data, MMS etc..)
Getting a new phone you get the first month of service FREE, activating your flashed phone you are paying the first month up front, you also have to pay to get it flashed and then you have the chance of having to deal with the phone not being flashed correctly. In my opinion its more hassle than its worth. Get a new phone, take advantage of all the features Cricket has to offer, save yourself some trouble too.
Sounds like a phone I saw in the buy/trade/sell area on this forum. The guy bought the phone with a bad ESN from somebody else and sounds like he is trying to pass it on to u. Just be careful.Quote:
Originally Posted by chewdog316
Verizon is my roaming partner also and I used a blacklisted ENV in LA prior to the MetroPCS agreement all the time. I wouldn't be too concerned anyway, people who use cricket don't really roam much.
I have had several issues with phones coming from Sprint, I would just get the ESN and call 611 and ask if it is an eligible handset.
Nothing personal against Cricket as a whole. They have great phone service and plans. But their phones aren't the greatest. That is the first argument I have for a flashed phone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Snailed
The second argument is the fact that if flashing isn't a very good deal, then why am I flashing close to 100 phones a week? Are all of those people horrible bargain hunters??
Ok, so we've clarified that phones with past due balances don't pose a problem for flashing....what about stolen phones? The only reason I ask is because I just started working for CricKet about a month ago as an Indirect Services Specialist and after visiting our territory, I'm concerned this could be a huge issue.
you can flash any phone to cricket and use it, EXCEPT in the case of AWS markets, and cricket phones with balances.
Good point...and yes, we are in an AWS market so it won't matter much.
Regarding PCS markets though, this could be an issue and a half....well, not for CricKet...but the carrier who's phones were ripped off
its not. i've been flashing phones to cricket for years. no one cares.