Help Emergency calls only -problem

[Shua]

Hello.

Recent owner of a second hand samsung J3 2016. It worked perfectly until 3 days ago ; it remains blocked on emergency calls only.
I cant call, send text, use data, except for wifi.

I tried many things : removing battery, sim, reset factory, 2G mode only, 3G mode only... Nothing, nothing, nothing worked.

The phone recognizes the SIM, knows i am at SFR (france network), but it wont connect at all.

Please do you have any ideas ? Is it software, hardware ? Do you need any screenshot ?

I dont want to buy a new one.

Thanks !

 

[Rico ANDROID]

That was happening in my area but it turned out that AT&T was upgrading to 5G and intermitted emergency call only services were experienced

Hmmm after looking at your screenshots, what country are you in? i am sure my prob may not be the same.

 

[mikedt]

Yeh, check with your carrier if any outages in your area. But given that it's a used phone, it could be IMEI blacklisted for various reasons, like reported stolen, delinquent contract, etc. Where did you buy it?

 

[Shua]

Oh waw you were right...

Blacklisted By: SFR - CEGETEL
Blacklisted Country: FRANCE
Blacklisted On: 2019-01-09 14:39:44

Why ? I bought it to someone.
What can I do ? I've no proof.

 

[Hadron]

The usual reasons for blacklisting are that either the phone has been reported stolen or because someone bought a subsidised phone on a contract then sold it and cancelled the contract (which the carrier regards as stealing from them). A much less common one is that somebody has "cloned" the phone, modifying a different phone to use the same IMEI - once this is discovered the IMEI will be blocked (disabling both phones).

I would start by talking to SFR and seeing whether they can tell you anything or do anything for you. To be honest the odds are not good: in my experience carriers will never unblock a phone that has been reported stolen, and tend to take a similar line with broken contracts. But you have nothing to lose by trying.

If they can do nothing you can try contacting the seller (or passing his/her details to the police if the phone has been reported stolen), but to be honest I think you will be lucky to get anything here - maybe, just maybe, if it's a broken contract and the seller was naive enough not to know what would happen they might also be honest enough to pay you back, but I wouldn't count on it.

A common trick used by people buying second hand phones is to complete the purchase in one of the carrier's shops, and ask the carrier to check the phone before exchanging money (e.g. confirm that it is no longer under contract).

 

[mikedt]

There's two reasons why a phone can be blacklisted by carriers:

1) It was reported stolen or missing by the original owner.
2) It's associated with a carrier contract, and the contract is now in default for non-payment.

Really the only thing you can do is try to get your money back from the seller. An IMEI, MEID and/or ESN can't easily be changed, and attempting to change them is unlawful in EU countries, and other countries as well.

 

[lunatic59]

A common trick used by people buying second hand phones is to complete the purchase in one of the carrier's shops, and ask the carrier to check the phone before exchanging money (e.g. confirm that it is no longer under contract).

While this is better than nothing, what it doesn't account for is someone who walks into a store and walks out with a "free phone" on a contract and then turns around and sells the phone to an unsuspecting buyer. It usually takes 3 months or so of nonpayment for the carrier or store to determine the account is in default. By that time the seller is long gone and the buyer has very little recourse.

If I were buying a second hand phone, or one listed as new from a third party, I'd ask for receipts proving ownership and statements showing the contract is satisfied (including the IMEI number of the device being purchased.)

 

[Hadron]

Absolutely correct - it's not a perfect protection. Though if the carrier store were to check whether the phone was under contract rather than just whether it's in default that would be better: if it is still under contract then you will face this problem unless they keep paying to the end, and so the sensible thing to do would be not to buy it.