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taydui

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2016
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I just bought an AT&T iPhone 6 plus on Craiglist . The guy said the phone is paid off , when I bought an unlock service to use on Tmobile, they told me the request denied due to a balance on this phone (seller bailed & won't return my texts / calls) . I called At&T to find out how much the seller still owes on it , AT&T won't say because they can not access seller's account. Is there anything I can do at this point ?
 
I just bought an AT&T iPhone 6 plus on Craiglist . The guy said the phone is paid off , when I bought an unlock service to use on Tmobile, they told me the request denied due to a balance on this phone (seller bailed & won't return my texts / calls) . I called At&T to find out how much the seller still owes on it , AT&T won't say because they can not access seller's account. Is there anything I can do at this point ?
Not really. Check first before buying an used phone. Especially on Craigslist.
 
Did you ask the guy when it was paid off? There is nothing you can do really at this time. If I was to buy a phone that was financed and the seller claims it was paid off. I would definitely ask for the receipt or even ask to meet at the Carrier's Corporate store and have the seller confirm that it was paid off before buying the device. But that is just me.
 
I just bought an AT&T iPhone 6 plus on Craiglist . The guy said the phone is paid off , when I bought an unlock service to use on Tmobile, they told me the request denied due to a balance on this phone (seller bailed & won't return my texts / calls) . I called At&T to find out how much the seller still owes on it , AT&T won't say because they can not access seller's account. Is there anything I can do at this point ?

Big mistake. Your at a dead end in my opinion. If the seller wanted to on top of that, they could potentially report the iPhone as stolen, which would ultimately blacklist from Being enabled. AT&T cannot by law release any information to you due to privacy. Obviously this has been stated, but you should have verified with the Carrier first and the the seller at your local AT&T Store.
 
I just bought an AT&T iPhone 6 plus on Craiglist . The guy said the phone is paid off , when I bought an unlock service to use on Tmobile, they told me the request denied due to a balance on this phone (seller bailed & won't return my texts / calls) . I called At&T to find out how much the seller still owes on it , AT&T won't say because they can not access seller's account. Is there anything I can do at this point ?

Ever since the iphone 3G, I’ve been upgrading every year. In doing so, I always had another phone that was off cycle in that it was now eligible for a “free” upgrade. And I’ve always been on a 2 year contract.

For example, this year I upgraded from my iP5S. When it came, I trotted down to my ATT store where they swapped the sim card from the new phone which has my secondary number into my new IP7, thus changing the number of the new phone.

At the same time, I sold my previous IP6 S, ever though it still had another year to go on the contract. As I said, I’ve done this with the 3G, 3gS, iP4, iP4S, ip5, ip5S, ip6 and this year, the ip6S. Every one of these phones were sold with a year to go on the contract, using my alternating procedure.

I’ve alway put the phones back to factory setting before selling them with the sim card removed. My new phone is the first one that I’ve paid full price for upfront and thus, unlocked.

None of the previous phones I’ve sold were unlocked and technically had a year to go on the contract. I’ve never heard a peep about the phones I’ve sold so I don’t understand this thread and why the OP is having trouble using the phone he bought from craigslist. Don't know if it makes a difference, but all phones were ATT.
 
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Ever since the iphone 3G, I’ve been upgrading every year. In doing so, I always had another phone that was off cycle in that it was now eligible for a “free” upgrade. And I’ve always been on a 2 year contract.

For example, this year I upgraded from my iP5S. When it came, I trotted down to my ATT store where they swapped the sim card from the new phone which has my secondary number into my new IP7, thus changing the number of the new phone.

At the same time, I sold my previous IP6 S, ever though it still had another year to go on the contract. As I said, I’ve done this with the 3G, 3gS, iP4, iP4S, ip5, ip5S, ip6 and this year, the ip6S. Every one of these phones were sold with a year to go on the contract, using my alternating procedure.

I’ve alway put the phones back to factory setting before selling them with the sim card removed. My new phone is the first one that I’ve paid full price for upfront and thus, unlocked.

None of the previous phones I’ve sold were unlocked and technically had a year to go on the contract. I’ve never heard a peep about the phones I’ve sold so I don’t understand this thread and why the OP is having trouble using the phone he bought from craigslist. Don't know if it makes a difference, but all phones were ATT.

I think the problem is here is that a 2 year contract is different than financing the phone. In OP's case, he purchased a phone that was financed through AT&T Next from a previous seller, which the seller claimed that he finished paying off the device. 2 year contract and AT&T Next is not the same.
 
You should be able to run it on AT&T or Cricket which is AT&T. Also if you don't want to put it on AT&T there was a service on eBay that let's you pay about $40 and they send you a new iPhone for your bad IMEI one. Your IMEI should still be good but is just locked to AT&T.
 
The difference is you pay full price for your phone when you first acquire the phone it's bought and paid for as they say. The OP bought a phone from someone that had done ATT Next Financing on the phone. The seller of the phone did not pay off the original loan before selling his device to the OP.

It's similar to you selling a car with a loan still attached to it without paying off the car loan.

Ever since the iphone 3G, I’ve been upgrading every year. In doing so, I always had another phone that was off cycle in that it was now eligible for a “free” upgrade. And I’ve always been on a 2 year contract.

For example, this year I upgraded from my iP5S. When it came, I trotted down to my ATT store where they swapped the sim card from the new phone which has my secondary number into my new IP7, thus changing the number of the new phone.

At the same time, I sold my previous IP6 S, ever though it still had another year to go on the contract. As I said, I’ve done this with the 3G, 3gS, iP4, iP4S, ip5, ip5S, ip6 and this year, the ip6S. Every one of these phones were sold with a year to go on the contract, using my alternating procedure.

I’ve alway put the phones back to factory setting before selling them with the sim card removed. My new phone is the first one that I’ve paid full price for upfront and thus, unlocked.

None of the previous phones I’ve sold were unlocked and technically had a year to go on the contract. I’ve never heard a peep about the phones I’ve sold so I don’t understand this thread and why the OP is having trouble using the phone he bought from craigslist. Don't know if it makes a difference, but all phones were ATT.
 
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You should be able to run it on AT&T or Cricket which is AT&T. Also if you don't want to put it on AT&T there was a service on eBay that let's you pay about $40 and they send you a new iPhone for your bad IMEI one. Your IMEI should still be good but is just locked to AT&T.

I've just paid $95 for an unlock service on ebay even though if it's still financed. 100% refund if it fails or I have an option to trade with him for an unlocked iphone 6 plus
 
I just bought an AT&T iPhone 6 plus on Craiglist . The guy said the phone is paid off , when I bought an unlock service to use on Tmobile, they told me the request denied due to a balance on this phone (seller bailed & won't return my texts / calls) . I called At&T to find out how much the seller still owes on it , AT&T won't say because they can not access seller's account. Is there anything I can do at this point ?

I think that if it unlocked iPhone you can put any sim and the phone will work i use my iPhone unlocked my service is ATT but when i travel oversea I take the ATT sim and put a new sim with Orange and it works no one ask me if i paid or not for the iPhone
 
Did the unlock work out?I am facing the same thing and i used a seller from EBAY..I am based in India .Any solution for this

I'm still waiting for the result (1-7 days process) He only unlocks AT&T iphones though
 
Not really. Check first before buying an used phone. Especially on Craigslist.

Yep. I always go to AT&T and swap phones and you can have it checked right there with the owner of it.
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I've just paid $95 for an unlock service on ebay even though if it's still financed. 100% refund if it fails or I have an option to trade with him for an unlocked iphone 6 plus

If he doesn't pay for that phone any more it will stop working as AT&T will blacklist it.
 
a coworker ran into the same issue as well. Craigslist is full of scammers. my coworker used the battery replacement service for $79 and got a refurb replacement iphone that came unlocked. cost him more that way but better than the phone being a paperweight.
 
Say if the phone gets unlocked before being blacklisted by AT&T , can I still use it then ? or it can only be used outside of U.S. ?
Last I checked carriers weren't blacklisting based on non payment. This may have changed but I don't think so. I try to keep myself reasonably within the loop.
 
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