I found a guy today who has a 5s for ATT for $400. he needs money so this makes me think he probably will not be paying his bill. I asked if he was canceling his account and said no but you cant trust anyone. Will ATT blacklist a phone for a bill issue?
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Will ATT blacklist a phone over a bill?
- Thread starter mclld
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SomeGuyDude
macrumors 6502a
SomeGuyDude
macrumors 6502a
There's also the possibility that he got the upgrade JUST to sell it. Happens a lot. People have an older phone and don't care about upgrading so they get the new phone and flip it. I almost snagged a 5s for $300 from someone doing the same thing.
Carlanga
macrumors 604
scaredpoet
macrumors 604
I'd believe that if it was sealed in box, unactivated, and he was willing to give you the IMEI to verify as clean with AT&T.
The problem with a scammer giving you an imei they will wait until after they sell it to report it stolen
jamezr
macrumors P6
True….but how long does it take for a iPhone bought and financed and under contract to be blacklisted? How many months of non payment does it take? Not sure but eventually it will be blacklisted for non payment and breach of contract…..so the IMEI check might be good for now….
jav6454
macrumors Core
This. That is the problem with phones being blacklisted. Many of them come from T-Mobile's Jump, or AT&T's Next programs. Those program will blacklist you 3 months after last defaulted payment.
Buying one of those phones will give you a nice 3 months, but eventually it'll come back to bite you.
Looon
macrumors 6502a
i don't trust people, especially those "needing money." Don't take the risk for $250 of savings.
Run away from this.
side note, if you want to see if the seller is genuine, tell him/her that you want to meet at a police station. And ask for their ID (get a picture of it), and get a signed bill of sale stating that it has a clean IMEI, not stolen, etc. If they don't want to do any of this, move along.
side note, if you want to see if the seller is genuine, tell him/her that you want to meet at a police station. And ask for their ID (get a picture of it), and get a signed bill of sale stating that it has a clean IMEI, not stolen, etc. If they don't want to do any of this, move along.
powerstrokin
macrumors 6502a
Would you like a DNA swab with that? Jesus..
Just ask to meet at the cell phone store that it's for (AT&T, Verizon, what have you) or an Apple store. Pretty easy.
No need for a full pat down, cops, cavity search, lawyers or any of that other crap.
That doesn't help with anything. They can still go home and claim insurance on their account.
There is no 100% sure fire way for this. At least, with my method, you know who the scammer is and have a basis for legal recourse.
powerstrokin
macrumors 6502a
I've sold phones before and probably will again in the future. If a potential buyer wanted me to meet them at a police station, I would probably tell them no thank you. It's a personal choice, and I don't personally support police as an institution. Not for this reason- but too many people instinctively "call the cops" for any and every little problem, which boosts the ego of the police as a whole.
Sorry to sound like a jerk, you should know I was simply suggesting a different approach. 🙂
Neverbepeace
macrumors 6502a
I just bought a 32gig sealed 5S for $500. So far so good but your right...that's for now. Strangely, We were meeting up by a Starbucks....I got there first to scope out the area and actually see where he comes from because he said he works near by. I seen him walk out the att store that was next door. Appeared to be dressed like he work there too lol. Nonetheless, did all the safety precautions...called att....checked the imei....added it all while he was there. Maybe I'm reaching, but once deal was done...he didn't want to go back into the att store right away. I stayed there until he decided to go back in.
I usually say I'm buying this as a gift. Couple hours later I sent him a text saying "thanks, she loves the phone" simply to see if it's a real or fake number. If fake....no response. If real....have a shot. He replied back saying "nice nice, no problem"
All I can say is:
1) seems like his number he's using to make the deal
2) told me he works near Starbucks (which is att)
3) screen shot the whole convo with his number
You have no protection when buying phones on CL. Your at the sellers mercy. I think these phone companies should set up a way for who ever is selling there phone, give that carrier a call, tell them your selling xyz phone along with the imei number and call it a day. That way, the seller cannot claim the phone is lost or stolen. If the seller is unwilling to call in to the carrier, keep it moving. But na....there's no money in it so they wouldn't implement that kind of system🙄
I usually say I'm buying this as a gift. Couple hours later I sent him a text saying "thanks, she loves the phone" simply to see if it's a real or fake number. If fake....no response. If real....have a shot. He replied back saying "nice nice, no problem"
All I can say is:
1) seems like his number he's using to make the deal
2) told me he works near Starbucks (which is att)
3) screen shot the whole convo with his number
You have no protection when buying phones on CL. Your at the sellers mercy. I think these phone companies should set up a way for who ever is selling there phone, give that carrier a call, tell them your selling xyz phone along with the imei number and call it a day. That way, the seller cannot claim the phone is lost or stolen. If the seller is unwilling to call in to the carrier, keep it moving. But na....there's no money in it so they wouldn't implement that kind of system🙄
jav6454
macrumors Core
So many things are wrong here.
1. He comes out of the AT&T store. Red flag right there. Did he use AT&T Next on his account? Does he work for AT&T and just did a mini grab n' run?
2. You called AT&T; sure the IMEI checks out fine right now. However, will it check out fine in 2-3 months from now?
3. You texted the guy. Sure, you got a text back stating (or giving thought of) "it's cool". However, what if the other person got the text, isn't the guy. You just got a response as a "Hey, you, congrats"
I would definitely tread lightly with this picture.
Neverbepeace
macrumors 6502a
You could be right....could be wrong. I know he works for att. Grab and run? Could be...maybe not. It's the chance we all take to save that $200+
jav6454
macrumors Core
True, I can be either wrong or right. However, in that positions, I wouldn't have taken the risk.
I would weigh it in terms of money earning:
If wrong, I loose $500... tough break there.
If I win, I save $200... nice gain.
Therefore, the margins of loosing outweigh terribly the margins of winning; hence, I would have walked away.