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Droid 3 suddenly blacklisted for nonpayment

S

shadow523

Lurker
Hi guys. I'm new and I apologize if this is in the wrong place, but I have a strange situation. Sorry for the long post.

In August, I purchased a Droid 3 from eBay, got it, activated it on my account and everything was fine for about a month and a half. But then here's what happened:

Randomly one evening, I got a call from "Verizon Headquarters" stating that the phone on my number was "blacklisted" and that my account would now be deactivated. Only a couple minutes later, sure enough, I couldn't use my phone.
I immediately called Verizon with my mother's phone and explained the situation to them. They explained that the ESN in question was listed as being on a non-paid account and that it can't be used. I was so confused, didn't know how that happened, told them that I could switch back to my old smartphone and use it - at this point I was desperate to have a working phone and for my number to be working again. They agreed to do this and I was able to active my old phone.

I then got on eBay to see if I could get a refund, only to find that the time limit for the eBay buyer protection, 45 days, had conveniently just run out. Needless to say, I was furious, thinking that the seller had purposefully waited the 45 days and then reported my phone so it would be blacklisted. I contacted him, and he responded swearing that he hadn't done it, and issued me a partial refund and allowed me to keep the phone, which was now useless.

This was a couple months ago, and I've been begrudgingly using my old phone since then, but missing the Droid 3. More than anything, I don't see how the phone could have been blacklisted on its PREVIOUS account when I had, just a little over a month before, successfully activated its ESN on my account. I've tried to look this issue up online but I haven't seen a situation quite like mine and can't find answers, so I finally decided to post here. If anything, this can serve as further warning against buying phones with a "good ESN" from eBay - because, apparently, they can suddenly be blacklisted.
But do you guys have any idea how this could have happened? Any chance that Verizon will clear the Droid 3's ESN after awhile?
Thanks for reading.
 
First off welcome to the forums :) and I arm sorry that your phone got blacklisted. The posts that I have read about this in the past were not favorable fr the customer. Maybe someone on the forum is from Verizon and can give you better in site.
 
One possibility is that the person you purchased the phone from had been using it on his account when he sold it to you and then stoped paying when he sold it to you. After about a month or two Verizon determined he wasn't going to pay his ETF or wireless bill or both and blacklisted the ESN for non-payment. You just got caught in the crossfire. Bummer.

I don't know what to suggest, but then maybe I'm wrong cuz I'm just guessing.
 
sounds like you got a raw deal.....sorry bout that

seems to me like this would be illegal on VZW's part to blacklist the phone.......

they cant both blacklist the phone AND charge the original owner an ETF....... its one or the other

since the ETF is clearly recognized as an equipment fee they cannot charge a fee for equipment they have rendered useless

this would be like a bank intentionally burning down your house but still demanding payment for it

of course you have no avenue to pursue that....... since the original owner would have to bring suit against VZW to clear his credit of the ETF...... which is probably how they get away with doing it....... if the guy isnt paying his bills then he probably cant afford a lawsuit either
 
copestag said:
sounds like you got a raw deal.....sorry bout that

seems to me like this would be illegal on VZW's part to blacklist the phone.......

they cant both blacklist the phone AND charge the original owner an ETF....... its one or the other

since the ETF is clearly recognized as an equipment fee they cannot charge a fee for equipment they have rendered useless

this would be like a bank intentionally burning down your house but still demanding payment for it

of course you have no avenue to pursue that....... since the original owner would have to bring suit against VZW to clear his credit of the ETF...... which is probably how they get away with doing it....... if the guy isnt paying his bills then he probably cant afford a lawsuit either
Click to expand...

The ETF is for non-fullfilment of the 2 year contract. If the owner stops paying his monthly wireless bill, and hasn't paid the ETF to end his 2 year contract, then Verizons action is to stop the phone from being used on thier network. They do this by blacklisting the ESN. So of course they can do both. If the owner pays the ETF, they will un-blacklist the ESN.

But like I said in my earlier post, I'm just guessing that this may be what happened. Another possibility is the phone may be stolen, and the original owner didn't report it for a month or so.

But like you said it's a bummer for the new owner of the phone. He's acted in good faith at all times and now getting the shaft.

Hope he can work something out with Verizon.
 
Do you have the Ebay receipt showing the ESN? If so you might be able to talk with another Version CS and state your case that you are the new owner. I had this happen with a SAT phone I purchased off Ebay. The SAT company stated there was a bill owed and wouldn't release the ESN. I told them, I understood their position but they need to understand mine. I am now the new owner of the physical equipment. Any outstanding bills are between the previous owner and you (Sat Company). If you want to hold firm on your stance, I will physically destroy the phone so no one else will get defrauded and you (Sat Company) will still have to go after the previous owner. Or you can sign me up with a contract and make some money off this ESN.

I faxed the Ebay listing and my receipt of the winning bid that showed I was the new owner to the Sat Company and they eventually released the ESN and all was good. Sometimes you have to make the company aware its not in their best advantage to maintain a hardened stance.

Good luck.
FB
 
I don't believe this at all. If a phone is sold with a clean ESN and is successfully activated on another account. The phone is now yours and can't be blacklisted later on by a previous owner. You can't activate a phone that is still tied to another account.

I see these type of "scare" posts from time to time.
 
His post is true. I have seen esn's blacklisted and heard about it before for non payment. Can I verify the exact policy? no. I can think they have the setup like that for numerous reasons.

1. It stops people from cheating the system. I can go walk into a vzw store buy 5 Iphone 4 8gb models for free with a 2 year service agreement with zero intention of using the the service or the phones or ever paying my bill. I then sell the phones off brand new for a couple of hundred dollars a pop and make myself 1000 dollars. I let my account run into collection on the devices and vzw turns the account off and charges me the etf. I never paid them a nickel.

So there are 5 phones out there with vzw that was never paid for. They do not have any contract associated to them, vzw hasn't collected one cent from it. And someone else is going to activate the phones on their account for free without any contract extension or upgrade extension since they provided their own equipment. Sure VZW will be servicing the second customer but they still got screwed over big time by the first customer.


Does the story sound far fetched? Maybe, but it happens all the time and VZW is a big time company that isn't going to allow itself to get screwed over.


The clean esn is just for lost/stolen purposes.
 
dirkbonn said:
The ETF is for non-fullfilment of the 2 year contract. If the owner stops paying his monthly wireless bill, and hasn't paid the ETF to end his 2 year contract, then Verizons action is to stop the phone from being used on thier network. They do this by blacklisting the ESN. So of course they can do both. If the owner pays the ETF, they will un-blacklist the ESN.

But like I said in my earlier post, I'm just guessing that this may be what happened. Another possibility is the phone may be stolen, and the original owner didn't report it for a month or so.

But like you said it's a bummer for the new owner of the phone. He's acted in good faith at all times and now getting the shaft.

Hope he can work something out with Verizon.
Click to expand...

I would absolutely agree with you except for 1 small detail........ the ETF is undeniably tied to the hardware...... the value of the contract is the same regardless of hardware type.... however there are different ETF for different phone types..... thus placing the ETF a hardware fee

the exact same thing happened for years with satelite TV providers and their hardware until it was challenged in court
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. Is it true that Verizon might lift the blacklist on their own time? Somewhere I read that they'll lift it after 6 months?
 
timelord65 said:
I don't believe this at all. If a phone is sold with a clean ESN and is successfully activated on another account. The phone is now yours and can't be blacklisted later on by a previous owner. You can't activate a phone that is still tied to another account.

I see these type of "scare" posts from time to time.
Click to expand...

My story is true, unfortunately. I was disbelieving for these same reasons, thinking it must be a scam call from a fake Verizon... I'm sure this kind of thing is very rare but it did happen to me.
 
shadow523 said:
Thanks for the replies, guys. Is it true that Verizon might lift the blacklist on their own time? Somewhere I read that they'll lift it after 6 months?
Click to expand...

Possibly. I think you still have good chance of talking somebody into de-blacklisting if for you. Try going to a verizon store and talking with them. Their is an off chance they might be able/willing to help. Other then that keep calling Verizon, and escalating to higher "tiers".
 
hahahahahahahahahah. Yeah, it will get delisted after that etf is paid off or that original account is written off and sold to collections that originally had the phone. VZW policy isn't going to allow them to be possibly screwed or have customers commit fraud.
 
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