Phone suddenly Blacklisted for Nonpayment on Previous Account

[Shadow523]

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.

 

[Shadez]

I would call VZW again, explain the situation, and ask them to activate the phone or you will switch carriers. If need be ask for a supervisor, offer to send a copy of the ebay receipt. And I'm sure they will say there are a lot of scams. Say you bought this phone in good faith, and if the ESN is not reported stolen, say, would you rather have a paying customor or should I switch to (Another carrier that has your phone) who said they can activate it.

EDIT: I just saw you had a D3 .. won't be able to switch carriers. all's you can do is threaten to leave VZW .. if nothing else, email the guy back and be like, you owe "such and such money" for the phone to work.

Try that first.. if it doesn't work, we will take it from there.

 

[FoxKat]

Shades is right. Unfortunately the previous owner either stopped paying and defaulted on his monthly service, or cancelled the contract - either way doing so before the 2 year period was up. The carrier, since having subsidized the phone has the right to blacklist it since in effect, it's their property until which time all back-due reimbursement for the price subsidy is recovered. I don't know if Verizon can even remove a phone from the blacklist once it's on it - even if the outstanding balance were remitted.

This brings to light an unfortunate situation with purchasing a phone over the internet. Just because the ESN is "clean" at the time of purchase (verified by Verizon either in person or via phone), doesn't mean it will remain clean. Only ESNs that are both "clean" and no longer under contract (as apparently this one was), are suitable for purchase. I am not sure if Verizon will release the account information or verify that it is no longer under contract, but the safest way is to purchase local and meet at a Verizon Phone Center Store where the entire transaction can be verified and any contracts if cancelled will be the burden of the seller and not put the buyer of the phone at risk.

 

[Lolee71]

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.

I have a droid x2 that I bought on a two year contact. Due to unfortunate circumstances my phone was disconnected after 2 months and remained off for about 5 months. I had to do a hard factory reset on the phone and ended up having to call verizon for a temporary phone number in order to activate my phone again. I was advised at that time that I could use my phone on the 80.00 a month prepaid plan. I have been using it as a prepaid phone for a over a month now and it works just a well as it did on contact. I still owe a bill and technically my phone esn should still be under contract for another year and a half. I hope mine don't end up on a black list.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Droid Forums

 

[summertime_lovin]

Sorry to hear that, that sucks. I had a similar issue- I had bought a fresh, brand-new phone. It had an accident, but was under warranty, so they said they would FedEx me a replacement within a few days. When I got it, and tried to activate it, I couldn't, so, called up VZW. Apparently, the phone was refurbished, and had been previously owned. And the ESN had been blacklisted. The woman on the phone was very nice; she reset the ESN, or something...or just removed the blacklisting, so I could activate it. I forget, it was a while ago.

The point is, getting a pre-owned, or even a refurb replacement, sent to you by VZW themselves, can be sketchy. I'm guessing the reason VZW fixed this issue for me right away is because my replacement phone came from them directly. I'm always a bit sketched out about buying phones from ebay... I'd say, try going into a VZW store, and see if you can report your phone as damaged- hopefully, it still is under warranty- so that they send you a replacement. Hope this helps!

 

[Dalvik_Cache]

Ive seen this happen a lot of times. Heres basically what happens. The previous owner likely had a non-paid account, they stopped paying service, disconnected early, and refused to pay the early disconnect fee's etc. Anyhow, it typically takes 90 days for an account to go to collections. At the time the account goes to collections it's last ESN's get black listed. The logic is that those phones were paid for by VZW at full retail price, and the last person that owned the phones didn't fulfill their obligation.

The bad news is that Customer Service or their supervisors likely can't help you. Once an account goes into that status the system locks the ESN to ensure the do-gooder CSR's don't remove them out of the kindness of their hearts. I would get a hold of financial services, they are a much better option for helping with this.