My galaxy s3 has an unpaid balance on it.

[tmabrey]

I purchased a samsung galaxy s3 on Ebay a couple of months ago. I am new to android also. I originally wanted to buy the phone and try to unlock it to use with a prepaid phone card. However, I finally found help with that and it can't be done I was told because it is a SPRINT phone. After finding this out and to avoid losing the money I spent for the phone. I took the phone to sprint and asked them if I could use it on their no-contract plan. Sprint told me I had to purchase the phone from them in order to do that! Then they asked me where I got the phone. I told them I bought it on ebay. They said they would check the #'s on the phone to see if it could be activated at all. The answer was NO, it has an unpaid balance on it. They told me I can't use it at all until that balance is paid in full. So I filed a complaint on the guy that sold me the phone on ebay because he refused to refund my money. I lost the case and am stuck with a $350.00 phone that can only be used as maybe wall art. Does anyone know of anything else I can do to use this phone??
I am very, very angry at ebay and can't believe they decided in this guys favor because as they said his description was accurate and I didn't know enough about the phone to ask about the ESN........HELLLLLP???

 

[jntdroid]

Keep fighting Ebay over that if at all possible. Also, assuming you paid via Paypal, contact them as well.

You could ask Sprint what the unpaid balance is and offer to pay it off yourself, but it's likely not a small amount.

If it's a Sprint Galaxy S3, then it's CDMA, which means, I think, it can be flashed to some of the CDMA prepaid networks, but you would have to find someone that knows how to do it. You won't be able to get $350 for it, even if you find someone that can do that. But at least it's possible to recoup some of your $$ back. You would have to go to Craigslist for something like that most likely. Though if you live in a large metro area, you could find a cell shop that will do it as well.

Welcome to the forum... sorry it's under crappy circumstances!

 

[feralchick]

If you used a credit card or if you used PayPal that links to your credit card you should contact your credit card company and dispute the charge. This will get the sellers PayPal (and possibly eBay) account locked until the dispute is resolved.

Keep fighting eBay/PayPal until you get this resolved to your satisfaction. If you can find the email address of a CEO send them your complaint. I've gotten a few issues with other companies resolved well beyond my expectations.

 

[tmabrey]

Thank you very much for your reply and advice. I am new to this type of thing and I could not believe E-BAY is allowing this to happen to innocent people! I had been buying and selling on E-BAY for many years. I thought there was no hope but after reading your reply I see I do have some other options! Thank you so much!! :icon_ lala: