Bought iphone through craigslist, question.

[paulvee]

I purchased an iphone 4 through craigslist, probably not a good idea I know, but I had no upgrade available. Anyway, so I bought it, when it came to me, it was semi-activated, meaning there was a phone number listed but no service. I took it to a sprint store and they told me its been previously activated and they can't activate it under my plan. So my question is, what are my options? I know you can unlock ATT phones, but can you unactivate sprint iphones? Thanks in advance.

edit: and if it's against the rules to discuss the jailbreaking aspect of it, then scratch that, and just answer if its generally possible to activate it or is it locked forever? Thanks

 

[chillenandy321]

I purchased an iphone 4 through craigslist, probably not a good idea I know, but I had no upgrade available. Anyway, so I bought it, when it came to me, it was semi-activated, meaning there was a phone number listed but no service. I took it to a sprint store and they told me its been previously activated and they can't activate it under my plan. So my question is, what are my options? I know you can unlock ATT phones, but can you unactivate sprint iphones? Thanks in advance.

edit: and if it's against the rules to discuss the jailbreaking aspect of it, then scratch that, and just answer if its generally possible to activate it or is it locked forever? Thanks

I had that same problem.. You need to get with the previous owner and he needs to call to get it fully off the account. I hooked it all up then payed the guy just to be sure.

 

[tlbaker]

I purchased an iphone 4 through craigslist, probably not a good idea I know, but I had no upgrade available. Anyway, so I bought it, when it came to me, it was semi-activated, meaning there was a phone number listed but no service. I took it to a sprint store and they told me its been previously activated and they can't activate it under my plan. So my question is, what are my options? I know you can unlock ATT phones, but can you unactivate sprint iphones? Thanks in advance.

edit: and if it's against the rules to discuss the jailbreaking aspect of it, then scratch that, and just answer if its generally possible to activate it or is it locked forever? Thanks

Was it worth taking the risk?? Good price?? In good condition?? I never purchased anything
Through craigslist or eBay.

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[Thomasjtsi]

I had that same problem.. You need to get with the previous owner and he needs to call to get it fully off the account.

+1... for it to be added to your accout it needs to be fully wiped from the previous users.

 

[Zalypkin]

I bought my wife's iPhone from Craigslist but I had the guy meet me at a sprint store and do the swap there. This way I was 100% sure the phone was good, and I was able to walk out of there with an activated phone without any problems.

 

[tlbaker]

I bought my wife's iPhone from Craigslist but I had the guy meet me at a sprint store and do the swap there. This way I was 100% sure the phone was good, and I was able to walk out of there with an activated phone without any problems.

That's smart ...

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[iCrank]

That's smart ...

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Super smart

إيكرانك...المسطرة

 

[jennie23]

We are facing lots of technical problems with iPhone and other Gadgets. This is due to lack of knowledge about Gadgets which we purchase. When i purchased iphone, read lots of reviews and discussed with iPhone users. Now its very easy to activate services in iPhone and also download applications from reliable resources. You should contact to store manager for your issue.

 

[seneca18]

You need to contact the person you bought it from. I'm guessing he just factory reset the thing on iTunes but did not deactivate it from sprint. Once that is done you should be ok. If he is flakey and doesn't get back to you there are ways to get around it. However you need to be very tech savey and MUST use a pc with Linux operating system (will not work on Mac to my knowledge). My brother in law did this to an iPhone 4 he wanted to use in Europe. You essentially can delete everything off your iPhone and reload it via certain downloads. Not too sure on the legality of this but if you have access to these thing you might give it a shot.

 

[mikej798]

Bought my 2nd 4s from Craigslist got a really good deal and guy was very helpful by making sure he waited at sprint store while i activated it and like said before you need previous owner to take it off of his account before you can use it. Just friendly advice if buying any phone off Craigslist make sure to meet at your carriers store to make sure phone can be activated and make sure ESN is clean.

 

[chino]

Get an old phone to replace the iPhone on the old acct then u can transfer ur iPhone into your acct


Sent from my stupid iPhone not your HTC smartphone

 

[themonkeyman]

Replace the sim card from your old phone and put it in your iPhone.

 

[Zalypkin]

You can also go on this website: checkesnfree.com and enter the EMID#, then it will tell you if the esn# is clean or not.

 

[maka]

Why are people talking about sim cards on here??!?! Most likely it has a bad ESN and cannot be activated. The most you can do is sell the phone on eBay which you Gould get close to what you paid if you didn't over pay, or on eBay their is a service for iPhones. For about $80 you send them your bad ESN phone and they will send you a clean one back. There are so many people getting screwed on Craigslist it's not funny. Sorry to hear you are one of them.

 

[tlbaker]

Why are people talking about sim cards on here??!?! Most likely it has a bad ESN and cannot be activated. The most you can do is sell the phone on eBay which you Gould get close to what you paid if you didn't over pay, or on eBay their is a service for iPhones. For about $80 you send them your bad ESN phone and they will send you a clean one back. There are so many people getting screwed on Craigslist it's not funny. Sorry to hear you are one of them.

I don't trust Craigslist. Not safe.

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