Thanks again Satnam, your advice is gratefully received.
NP
I'm not sure if we would go with a used iPhone 5, just because TMO will offer them at a reduced price once the new model hits. In this way, we can also ensure that it is compatible with their network, as it is purchased directly from them.
You do bring up an excellent point about scammers, however. All of our current iPhones were purchased off of Craigslist, and while all of them were locked, thankfully, none of them were blacklisted. I even had one buyer assure me the iPhone he was selling was unlocked, only to find out that he was lying. Fortunately, the phone was out of contract, so I simply called AT&T and had them submit the unlock request without issue.
Times have changed, I have seen people sell off phones and then call in "Stolen" or "lost" afterwards leading to blacklisting and also becuase they get free phones from insurance, another thing I have seen was that not all phones blacklist is on the spot, many many customers I see that tell me their smartphone stopped working "after 2 weeks", "after 1 month" and some even "after 3 months" and first thing I advise is to call AT&T and see if the phone is blacklisted and 100% of the cases it is so far, I would like to remind you that the blacklist service started sometimes early this year so lots of people aren't aware of it. I only starting doing my unlocking this year, I too always have bought used phones on craigslist because buying new for me was never feasible and have had great success always with no issues but now I would never go to craigslist to buy a smartphone because of the fear of it one day being blacklisted.
Another thing to avoid with scammers is the selling of non-functioning phones. I bought one iPhone from someone on Craigslist, and it was unlocked on TMO's network, but the phone quit working a week later, and I discovered it had a bad logic board. So it can be a roll of the dice with Craigslist purchases, and it's always a good idea to call in the phone's IMEI to check its carrier status, as you suggested. In this way, you can avoid buying a bricked or blacklisted phone.
As fate would have it, I do have a family member who will go with an iPhone 5 from TMO, but not until October when she is off contract, so I won't be able to borrow it for testing. As a result, I'm wondering if I could get an iPhone 5 with a down payment from a TMO store around town, and try it for a couple of days. Once I see how good the service is, I can always return it with the original packaging. I might have to pay a restocking fee, but at least I would know whether or not the iPhone 5 would work better than our current models.
You can check T-mobile store, I dont know if they will allow you for "few days" but they might give you 24hr grace period...try it, wont know until you try
