iPhone 5 IMEI blocked.

[namezox]

My cousin recently brought an iphone 5 off craigslist for 400$. Stupid enough, He didnt test the phone before buying. Now, he is stuck with the phone.

Is there any way to fix this? or unblock a blocked IMEI?

 

[JohnLT13]

My cousin recently brought an iphone 5 off craigslist for 400$. Stupid enough, He didnt test the phone before buying. Now, he is stuck with the phone.

Is there any way to fix this? or unblock a blocked IMEI?

Bring it to an Apple store.

 

[namezox]

Bring it to an Apple store.

Will they replace the phone?

 

[JohnLT13]

Will they replace the phone?

Im not sure what they will do, but its a good start.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Bring it to an Apple store.

What are they going to do? It's a carrier issue. The seller needs to pay the bill. I would call the carrier and see if you can't figure out why it's blocked. Contact the seller and advise him/her of the issue.

 

[JohnLT13]

What are they going to do? It's a carrier issue. The seller needs to pay the bill. I would call the carrier and see if you can't figure out why it's blocked. Contact the seller and advise him/her of the issue.

Im not sure what they will do, but its a good start.

I did not know its a billing problem. Figured stolen phone.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I did not know its a billing problem. Figured stolen phone.

Could be stolen but the IMEI being blocked was done so by the carrier.

 

[Ann P]

You're gonna have to contact the original carrier. I'm not sure what the Apple store can do for you. It's probably a blocked IMEI due to an unpaid balance, on the seller's end. Craigslist is the place where people dump those phone.

Good luck. Worst scenario; you might be able to flash it to another carrier.

 

[Applejuiced]

Take it as a lesson learned.

 

[AFDoc]

$400 paper weight!

Soz to hear of your issues.

 

[shazza1]

john reset your iphone to factory setting settings in general once you have done this connect to itune and update/restore this will give you access again good luck it worked for me

cheers

 

[C DM]

john reset your iphone to factory setting settings in general once you have done this connect to itune and update/restore this will give you access again good luck it worked for me

cheers

Who is John? Nothing done on the phone side (short of illegally changing the IMEI or something) would get around a carrier block, which is on the carrier side. And somehow after 2 years it's likely the issue has either been figured out by now or already forgotten about.