I bought a titan dirt cheap off of someone but when i try activate it to my alltel account they tell me it is locked in the system due to someone oweing on a bill the account came from, does anyone know a way around this?
goonygugle said:
I bought a titan dirt cheap off of someone but when i try activate it to my alltel account they tell me it is locked in the system due to someone oweing on a bill the account came from, does anyone know a way around this?
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There is no legal way of getting it activated. sorry.
He is right, sorry
The account lock is tied to the ESN of the unit and that is not legal to change. It is possible, but not legal and should not be done as the trouble you could get into would cost you a lot more to get out of then just getting another.
pay their bill? haha
1) Pay the bill
2) Switch to another carrier if they will register the ESN
3) Keep asking for supervisors to unlock it and explain to them that if they don't unlock it they get nothing. If they do at least they will get your monthly bill.
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
Impossible. No such thing as a $37 activation fee.
Impossible. If you buy at BestBuy they have to activate it for you.
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
I believe they have to activate it in the store. Not certain, but I'm pretty sure that's a requirement. Also, I ordered min thru telesales and i was informed it came with a free activation! Maybe they can do something for you
Sent from my BadAzzEvo using Forum Runner!
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
would that work though? Because your account may have been flagged once the phone is shipped/picked up that there is an upgrade pending. When you call in to sprint for 'swapping' they might see that its a new model and charge regardless.
Your plan might work though. That's what I was planning to do just pick it up from BB and call when I'm home. I didnt know you have to activate it there.
njspank said:
I believe they have to activate it in the store. Not certain, but I'm pretty sure that's a requirement. Also, I ordered min thru telesales and i was informed it came with a free activation! Maybe they can do something for you
Sent from my BadAzzEvo using Forum Runner!
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lilbitz_1018 said:
would that work though? Because your account may have been flagged once the phone is shipped/picked up that there is an upgrade pending. When you call in to sprint for 'swapping' they might see that its a new model and charge regardless.
Your plan might work though. That's what I was planning to do just pick it up from BB and call when I'm home. I didnt know you have to activate it there.
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I'm 100% certain you don't have to activate in the store because last time I used 2 upgrades to get the Evo 3D and the Galaxy SII (Epic Touch or whatever), and I never got the Galaxy activated. I just sold it on Craigslist immediately.
Unless of course.. they changed it in the last half a year or so.
arozer said:
I'm 100% certain you don't have to activate in the store because last time I used 2 upgrades to get the Evo 3D and the Galaxy SII (Epic Touch or whatever), and I never got the Galaxy activated. I just sold it on Craigslist immediately.
Unless of course.. they changed it in the last half a year or so.
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Best Buy won't sell you a $550 phone for $200 just because they are so nice. They get commissions from Sprint that cover the difference and few bucks for the store. In order to get commissions, they need to extend contract and activate the phone with their dealer code. So, activating the equipment is a requirement. If someone lets you walk away without activating a phone, they just made $400 mistake.
I think I may be able to clear this up. Anytime you upgrade with Sprint at a third party retailer (Radio Shack, Best Buy, Sprint Indirect Retailer, etc) they will use a system called SNAP.
In SNAP, when an upgrade is processed a $36 upgrade fee is automatically triggered on the account, or at time of purchase if it is ordered. This cannot be waived manually by any rep. The system just forces it. Whether the phone is activated or not, your still going to get charged the fee.
For example, if you ever order a device from a Sprint Indirect dealer and have the phone shipped to your house and never activate, you will still get that upgrade fee. Even if you were to throw that phone in the river as soon as UPS hands it over to you and never active it, ever.
So: the actual activation of the device does not warrant the upgrade fee, the fact of you using your upgrade and resigning the 2 year agreement does. Thats why it is officially called an "upgrade" fee. An activation fee is when you initially sign up with Sprint.
Hope that helps.
I called Sprint retention department recently before I preordered from Amazon and asked them specifically about the activation fee and she was willing to waive it for me. What she did tell me though was they could not pre-emptively waive it. It needs to go through and to charged to my account first, then I can call in again and have them take it off.
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
Hate to break it to you, but this will NOT work. The reason you can swap other phones w/o charge is that they have been active on atleast one other account prior to yours. I can tell you this from exp I fought them on 3 fees for a week due to this. The phone had been on a friends account prior. now if you were to buy it from CL or Ebay, after it has been active on another acct first then you would not be charged.
Will
Azralag said:
I think I may be able to clear this up. Anytime you upgrade with Sprint at a third party retailer (Radio Shack, Best Buy, Sprint Indirect Retailer, etc) they will use a system called SNAP.
In SNAP, when an upgrade is processed a $36 upgrade fee is automatically triggered on the account, or at time of purchase if it is ordered. This cannot be waived manually by any rep. The system just forces it. Whether the phone is activated or not, your still going to get charged the fee.
For example, if you ever order a device from a Sprint Indirect dealer and have the phone shipped to your house and never activate, you will still get that upgrade fee. Even if you were to throw that phone in the river as soon as UPS hands it over to you and never active it, ever.
So: the actual activation of the device does not warrant the upgrade fee, the fact of you using your upgrade and resigning the 2 year agreement does. Thats why it is officially called an "upgrade" fee. An activation fee is when you initially sign up with Sprint.
Hope that helps.
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Click to collapse
this is spot on and worded perfectly. Also, Bestbuy now uses BEAST only for processing new activations and upgrades instead of SNAP (i believe to track margin) but still has access to SNAP for other changes.
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
You want to avoid the activation fee here is how. Buy the phone at full price, or ebay price from a reseller. Once you get the phone go on your Sprint account and do the online activation.
If you want that $199 price you are going to pay the activation fee, it'll get charged to your bill.
Open a credit union account, credit union discount waives activation fee.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
I called and asked them to waive it due to the delay in shipping, and they did
I called in account services as recommended else where in this thread.
What they offered me was a credit equal to the base rate - my employee discount if I extended the contract for another year. This extension is for the contract only and does not affect my equipment upgrade dates. Once I do upgrade the equipment, the date then gets pushed back another year from the time of activation (so the usual 24 months after activation). I only have one line with them with a MRC of $69.99+10 (no discount on the $10 though). I still have ~6 months on my current contract too.
I decided to go ahead with the offer since they're still the cheapest around here, and hopefully once lte roll out is completed, data will improve too. This credit cancels out the activation fee and a little more.
ymmv, but at this point I think they'll be making concessions to most customers, even those who in the past may not have qualified.
phillymade said:
I called and asked them to waive it due to the delay in shipping, and they did
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That was my plan after I got my phone. Ask for a refund due to the hassle. Shouldn't be too difficult to get someone to credit it.
i dont pay activation fees. its part of my corp. discount w/ accenture.
it doesnt matter where i buy the phone. i got an evo3d via amazon 1 cent sale and a second one at radio shack for 49.99. they didnt even attempt to add it to my bill. the guy at radio shack mentioned it, but when i got the bill, there was no fee.
some others offer this too. aaa for example.
www.aaa.com/sprint
arozer said:
I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sick of paying the $37 activation phone every time you upgrade your phone.
Well I just had an idea, to maybe, perhaps, get the fee waived.
What if we just go to Sprint/Bestbuy, use the upgrade to buy the phone.. and then tell them NOT to activate it?
THEN.. once you're home, call Spring from your device and say "hey, I just bought a new phone that I'd like to use on my account please" (like how you would do with a phone bought from Craigslist.)
Since they don't charge you anything for swapping phones, maybe they won't charge you here either?
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good idea but if you have worked for Sprint you know that just placing the phone on the account will generate that $36. It's just labeled an activation fee. It literally takes nothing to activate a phone. Just a simple "hey let me use your connection" from your phone to the Sprint Network and then Sprint replies with a "well let me make sure your on an account via your dec number" then boom! the phone is connected.
that though sadly is not what generates the fee its the simple act of placing the phone on an account. Seriously go buy a phone via upgrade then dont activate it till after you recieve your bill. you will still see that fee on there even though your phone is still in the box. (not that anyone will do this) haha
Whenever you purchase a new phone that has never been activated before, you ALWAYS pay a one time activation fee. After that you can swap it from phone number to number and you will no pay it again. Is a one time thing.(I called Sprint twice and both reps said the same thing)
I just got my fee waived via a "promotional" discount the CS rep said they had. Not sure if that's true. I also used some info found in Ramit Sethi's scripts. Worth a call or two to get it waived.
I ordered my phone online, activated it online, and was still hit with the activation fee. Their bullsh!t excuse when I emailed them wad that they have to do such things to keep the subsidized prices on the phones low... to which I replied that I paid full MSRP and if I had bought it second hand, there'd be no activation fee. I concluded saying that I may never buy a phone through Sprint again. It has been escalated and I've been playing phone tag with someone higher up. I'll post back with how it turns out.
Sent from my EVO LTE using Tapatalk 2
Hello, I followed all the rules for my carrier (t-mobile), paid phone in full, bill in full, had service for 40+ days of active service and I have all the paperwork to prove it. After going in circles they finally sent me a email saying they are "unsuccessful in obtaining an unlock code for the given IMEI” after taking picture to prove that the IMEI is the correct one for the phone.
I contacted my bank (USAA) and told them what happened and they said if I could prove it, I had a valid claim. I sent them all the phone records, and emails. Email was where most of the clear proof was because of messages from t-mobile verifying I had done my part.
The bank tried to contact t-mobile and gave them 60 days to respond and they refused to respond to my bank. So the bank reversed the charges for the phone. Then t-mobile without hesitation sent a letter to Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian saying I didn’t pay my bill and creating a bill for the phone and sent it to collections. I’m still working on how to get legal help.
But in the meantime, I have a company taking advantage of their power and unjustifiably ruing my credit while I have a phone I can’t use for anything but a paper weight.
So can someone help me unlock this my phone?
I can provide all the proof I provided the bank for verification that I did everything I was suppose to do: purchased phone/paid if full, paid all phone bill and had uninterupted service for over 40 days, and made multiple attempts with t-mobile to get the phone unlocked just to have them tell me in the end....sorry we can’t find your unlock code.
Side note: Before it got to this point, I actually tried to cancel the service and return the phone 28 days after signing up for service. They said they would only refund the phone after I think 15 or 20 days. But I had been working with their tech support troubleshooting the phone and swapping sim cards to figure out why I didn’t have service anywhere in my neighborhood during that time. It had been less than 2 weeks since the last sim swap while trying to work with them. All they were doing was buying time so I could not return a phone I paid $500+ for at the time.
I got another piece of information from another forum that was a little late. Some customers of t-mobile that were aware of the problem t-mobile and other carriers were giving customers with unlocking their phone found the easiest way to get the unlock code was to tell the carrier they were going to use the phone overseas. Then the carrier wouldn’t think they were trying to switch to another service. Once they verified the customer met all the other requirements, they gave them the code and then they switched carriers.
But that information came to me too late. Plus, since I did everything I was supposed to do, why should I have to lie? Especially when people who know how to unlock phones are hesitant to do it. But carriers are still taking advantage of customers.
additional information brought up by another forum
jtl001 said:
Hello, I followed all the rules for my carrier (t-mobile), paid phone in full, bill in full, had service for 40+ days of active service and I have all the paperwork to prove it. After going in circles they finally sent me a email saying they are "unsuccessful in obtaining an unlock code for the given IMEI” after taking picture to prove that the IMEI is the correct one for the phone.
I contacted my bank (USAA) and told them what happened and they said if I could prove it, I had a valid claim. I sent them all the phone records, and emails. Email was where most of the clear proof was because of messages from t-mobile verifying I had done my part.
The bank tried to contact t-mobile and gave them 60 days to respond and they refused to respond to my bank. So the bank reversed the charges for the phone. Then t-mobile without hesitation sent a letter to Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian saying I didn’t pay my bill and creating a bill for the phone and sent it to collections. I’m still working on how to get legal help.
But in the meantime, I have a company taking advantage of their power and unjustifiably ruing my credit while I have a phone I can’t use for anything but a paper weight.
So can someone help me unlock this my phone?
I can provide all the proof I provided the bank for verification that I did everything I was suppose to do: purchased phone/paid if full, paid all phone bill and had uninterupted service for over 40 days, and made multiple attempts with t-mobile to get the phone unlocked just to have them tell me in the end....sorry we can’t find your unlock code.
Side note: Before it got to this point, I actually tried to cancel the service and return the phone 28 days after signing up for service. They said they would only refund the phone after I think 15 or 20 days. But I had been working with their tech support troubleshooting the phone and swapping sim cards to figure out why I didn’t have service anywhere in my neighborhood during that time. It had been less than 2 weeks since the last sim swap while trying to work with them. All they were doing was buying time so I could not return a phone I paid $500+ for at the time.
I got another piece of information from another forum that was a little late. Some customers of t-mobile that were aware of the problem t-mobile and other carriers were giving customers with unlocking their phone found the easiest way to get the unlock code was to tell the carrier they were going to use the phone overseas. Then the carrier wouldn’t think they were trying to switch to another service. Once they verified the customer met all the other requirements, they gave them the code and then they switched carriers.
But that information came to me too late. Plus, since I did everything I was supposed to do, why should I have to lie? Especially when people who know how to unlock phones are hesitant to do it. But carriers are still taking advantage of customers.
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The Reason for the post
[quotemsg=14275745,0,312531]Sorry! It is against the rules to offer code or password help.[/quotemsg]
The board rules also state the reason why, and I have proof that I legally purchased the phone, I have a copy of the t-mobile agreement which states that I need uninterrupted service for 40 or more days before eligible for unlock, and as far as the rights agreement between the user and the carrier, the carrier indirectly violated their own agreement by pretending they could not find the unlock code after I followed all the rules requested to receive the unlock code. That is why USAA reversed the charges after getting all the verification and giving t-mobile a opportunity to respond.
So t-mobile took the path of least resistance. Instead of battling it out legally over the "terms of service" with my bank, they just defrauded my credit and left me to fight to get it fixed which has become a bigger financial problem than the cost of the phone.
So the request was with the "rules" in mind. Which is why I included in the post that I can provide all legal evidence that the phone was legally purchased, the carrier breached their own agreement, and I've done everything I know possible to correct the problem.
Another reference to the rules: you can verify ownership along with email communication's with t-mobile through full header/footer copies of emails which is what the bank did. And the bank statements from the bank as well as t-mobile in store purchase receipt verify purchase.
I don't see why you post as if you cannot understand why I am even reaching out to online communities after reading my original post.
[quotemsg=14275745,0,312531] Please contact the carrier.[/quotemsg]
Pretty obvious from my first post that has been done by myself and USAA Federal Saving Bank with no progress
Sorry, I cannot help with your unlocking query,
However, if you're ultimately unable to unlock the handset (or just want a change), the 1st gen Moto G might be a good option for a replacement for an i9100 (or any other S2). Buy it unlocked and sim-free not from a carrier or one of their partners/resellers.
Stock rom or custom rom. It is an affordable handset with very decent specs.
I apologize if i found the wrong forum to ask this in, if so please forgive and excuse me.
So for the "TL/DR" version, the question i have is...
From what i understand the SM-G965U Samsung Verizon S9+ that i have, which i today flashed to G965u1 global variant was already, by default sold from verizon as Unlocked. A IMEI check on various MVNO's ting.com, straighttalk, Walmart Fam Mobile, as well as a few IMEI checker sites have show this IMEI for this phone thats still under payments as clear and ready to activate with their sim. Also after successfully flashing the global bloat free variant to the phone, i was able to make a successful test call and confirm mobile data worked great with a borrowed Walmart Family Mobile Sim in it.
If i bounce out of this relashonsip, and take my phone as it is, still under her plan, and just go get a Sim Kit with the Unlimited plan from (Probably AT&T) will verizon or can verizon, or her block the phone once the sim from another carrier is working in it? Either by financle lock or her reporting it lost or anything like that? Or am I in the clear?
This isnt going to base my decison to leave this situation or not, (im going to peroid my childs welbeing is most important of all, my tolance for anger, abuse and BS comes a much later 2nd or 3rd) I just want to make plans as to what i should do about my phone, i want to keep it, im not going to fall into her games, and im going to change the number and would like to just pop the sim and be done with it, but i want to know if they can do anything if its reported lost, or she just stops paying her bill and they shut the account down due to non payment.
And for the details, and the morally inclined the situation is..
I have a week and a half new S9+ activated on an account from Verizon. The situation with myself and the account holder (Ex-Gf, or soon to be) has turned very sour so much that Im at a empass where I feel myself and my daughter are in a unhealthy enviroment and Im legitamatly concerned for her mental health, and the enviroment being to agressive, controlling and abusive. So basicly im leavin her. Im a single dad and this is my kid, not her so no im not running off with "our" child, unfortuatley the biological mother doesnt care to be in her life. But enough about the moral dilemma, emplications and personal life. This person is very unhealthy and we need to leave.
I became a authorized user on her account, allowed to make any decisons/purchases ect and she was with me when we bought it. Or rather signed up the payment agreement, with 0 down and just paid taxes and turned her plan and mine into a family with Go unlimited. With my S9+ having 24 payments of like $36 a month with the insurance ect. Phone case and screen protector added to the next bill, bill date the 27th.
Night before i handed her $400 in cash to add to the bill to get this about half paid off, only to find out she choose to blow it on something else, and giving her friend $150 because he was down on his luck.
The enviroment and some things she has said, has frightened me to the point where i belive she may try to either falsely accuse me of something to hold me hostage in the relashonship as she wont seek counsiling, or just continue to scream and agrue and yell either in front of or directly at my child, and after many attempts to try to get some 3rd party help counsilling ect ive decided its not going to work, and shes not going to try. She addtionaly has around $2k of my silver bars locked in her safe deposit box she wont allow access to for reasons I spend to much on things i dont need which isnt true. I think she is just trying to limit my resources to leave and or make me more dependant on her.
Which isnt going to work.
Thank you, and I apologize for the personal details of the post, and the lenght.
Thanks again.
She will likely report the phone stolen. It will be blacklisted at that point for all American carriers, but would still work internationally.
You should just be able to return it if you've had it a week and a half. It's network locked and won't work with another carrier's SIM unless you pay it off and get the code from Verizon or use one of the pay services you can find around the net.
No, it's not network locked. As I said I just tested it with a At&t sim and worked fine. It seems all Verizon phones are now unlock from the network as per an agreement with the FCC during the purchase of the 700 megahertz Spectrum that they would allow their phones to be unlocked what's your now done at the point of sale and activation. When I'm wondering is as if after I've Place another Sim in it and have continued use if she decides to be the way that she is and report it stolen or lost or whatever which I'm guessing is it can't be reported stolen unless there's a police report lost Maybe. If the new carrier it's working on will the activate or block it. I've already given her money to make up for the cost of the device whether or not she can apply it to the bill is up to her or if she even can but I'm not getting that money back so it's in my best interest to keep the device and keep it working on a different network via prepaid.
Bottom line, if you're using a device that isn't yours (and honestly, it really isn't), it's not safe. It seems unlikely that she will just continue to make payments on a device used by someone that just left her life. Maybe she's honest and will do the right thing, since you paid her money. But you'll never really know. You could wake up one day with no service and have very little you can do about it.
The better thing to do, rather than handing her $400, would have been to walk out of the relationship, leaving the phone in the home. Go take the $400 and buy a midrange device of your own.
Given she already took your money and blew it on something other than the bill you intended it for, you're pretty much screwed. She could easily blacklist the phone and there wouldn't really be any recourse for you (not even small claims court, as I'm guessing it was a verbal "agreement" when you gave her the $400 to put towards the bill. It would literally be your word against hers, and that wouldn't go far.)
Not saying you would have considered that route, but just putting it out there it wouldn't work
Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
T-Mobile employee here. If she decides to report it lost or stolen (if she still has the insurance on it she can pay the deductible and receive another of the same model) your IMEI will be put on a national blacklist. Doesn't matter which carrier you use or the firmware you flash on the device, the IMEI will be the same and will not register with any network in the US if she uses her insurance or just reports it but doesn't claim it. Once the IMEI is on this list it's nearly impossible to get it unblocked. Your best option is to try and return it and get your money back from your ex. You could try to sell it to someone overseas but that comes with it's own risks.
Thread closed by OP request!