Beware used phones ...

[noah way]

I bought a used Incredible over a year ago, clean ESN, activated and transferred it to my account.

After using it it for over a year, I temporarily activated a different phone on my account.

Afterward, the Incredible would not activate. Repeated calls to VZ supplied no information other than I had to make a 40 miles round trip to the VZ corporate store.

Suffice to say, the previous owner's account went delinquent last week, and since this phone was once on his account it has been shut down by VZ and is now useless to me.

So ... if you but a used VZ phone with a clean ESN, and transfer it to your own account, even a year later you are at the mercy of the previous owner staying current on their account.

I'm currently shopping for another carrier ... unfortunately they all suck.

 

[AntimonyER]

I bought a used Incredible over a year ago, clean ESN, activated and transferred it to my account.

After using it it for over a year, I temporarily activated a different phone on my account.

Afterward, the Incredible would not activate. Repeated calls to VZ supplied no information other than I had to make a 40 miles round trip to the VZ corporate store.

Suffice to say, the previous owner's account went delinquent last week, and since this phone was once on his account it has been shut down by VZ and is now useless to me.

So ... if you but a used VZ phone with a clean ESN, and transfer it to your own account, even a year later you are at the mercy of the previous owner staying current on their account.

I'm currently shopping for another carrier ... unfortunately they all suck.

Wow, I would be furious, once it was activated on your account what happened on his should be irrelevant. I would suggest emailing the VZW office of the CEO and explaining the situation. They CAN reactivate it, its just a pain, but get someone high enough and it will be done. If not that, a new phone. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

[timelord65]

Not so. If you successfully activate a phone on Verizon, then it has a clean ESN. Once activated the phone is now tied to your account. The previous owner can't claim its stolen since its not his anymore.

If you buy a phone with a clean ESN, your good to go with no worries about something like this happening. That's why you always make sure the phone has a clean ESN before buying a used phone.

 

[Thechidz]

I guess make sure once youve activated to not remove it from your line? This makes me nervous cuz i bought my tbolt used and am switching to gs3

 

[timelord65]

There is nothing to worry about. As long as any phone you bought had a clean ESN and it was successfully activated on your line. The original owner can't then claim its stolen since the phone is no longer tied to his account.

You are free to activate the s3 and resell the thunderbolt if you wish.

 

[GandalfTehGray]

TC this ever get cleared up?

 

[noah way]

UPDATE: After multiple go-arounds with VZ, they will not reactivate the phone.

Timelord is misinformed. The phone had a clean ESN and I used it for a year.

VZ advised me that I was eligible for an an upgrade (that I was already eligible for) in exchange for a 2 year contract extension. The best they could do was "sorry".

I'm tempted to take them to small claims court.

In the meantime I'm trying to find a different carrier.

 

[rehpyc]

I'm surprised people haven't gone to court about this type of issue yet. If a phone activated on an account is reported stolen within a week of activation, Verizon should contact the person and have them resolve it with the old owner within X days. Any reports after a week should be turned down. A phone sold to another person should NOT be affected by the previous owner's delinquency or attempting to screw over their buyer.

 

[timelord65]

Again if you buy a phone with a clean ESN, and it successfully activates on Verizon. That's it, the phone is now tied to your account, not the former owner. Verizon wouldn't allow a phone that was tied to a delinquent account to be activated. That's what is known a bad ESN.

I recall a similar thread on the forum about this subject that pretty much debunked this issue.

 

[euph_22]

I'm surprised people haven't gone to court about this type of issue yet. If a phone activated on an account is reported stolen within a week of activation, Verizon should contact the person and have them resolve it with the old owner within X days. Any reports after a week should be turned down. A phone sold to another person should NOT be affected by the previous owner's delinquency or attempting to screw over their buyer.

So receiving stolen property shouldn't be illegal if the original owner doesn't report it in a week? Aside from the fact that this has no bearing to actual law if that was your phone would you be happy that the thief could sell it or use it themselves with Verizon's blessing?

The same goes for phones from delinquent account. The phone subsidy is essential a loan that is paid out over the life of the contract. If you stop paying your monthly payment the phone legally reverts back to Verizon. If somebody buys a phone on subsidy, sells it for a profit and stops paying Verizon, that is effectively stealing the phone (or atleast the subsidized portion of it).

The OP's situation is obviously ridiculous. But a blanket statement like yours is equally ridiculous.

 

[noah way]

Again if you buy a phone with a clean ESN, and it successfully activates on Verizon. That's it, the phone is now tied to your account, not the former owner. Verizon wouldn't allow a phone that was tied to a delinquent account to be activated. That's what is known a bad ESN.

I recall a similar thread on the forum about this subject that pretty much debunked this issue.

The fact remains that the phone activated on my account and I used it for a year before it was shut down.