Unknowingly bought a blacklisted iphone 4

Tinkerbell4484

Have tried to contact seller but having no joy,its locked to 3,so they have said to contact gardai and they will make it useable,gardai didnt really want to know.
Anything else i can do or any suggestions?? The sellers phone is turned off

naasrd

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Have tried to contact seller but having no joy,its locked to 3,so they have said to contact gardai and they will make it useable,gardai didnt really want to know.
Anything else i can do or any suggestions?? The sellers phone is turned off

The gardai can't make phones useable, what shows up when you turn it on?

Tinkerbell4484

We know its blacklisted,3 have just told us.
I know the gardai cant make it useable,i was hoping they could contact the seller,im in cavan,hes in galway,i have his name and adress but the phone number isnt working.

TheZohanS

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Have tried to contact seller but having no joy,its locked to 3,so they have said to contact gardai and they will make it useable,gardai didnt really want to know.
Anything else i can do or any suggestions?? The sellers phone is turned off

What exactly did the Gardai say to you?

Bigcheeze

No point contacting the seller as he has sold you a stolen phone.

Tinkerbell4484

Bigcheeze wrote: »

No point contacting the seller as he has sold you a stolen phone.

yeah he knew it was blacklisted im trying to get my money back




gardai said we should of checked it before we did the deal (but we had no 3 sim to do it)
and its going to take too long to do a report

wush06

You took the phone before checking it sorry but not a good move.

Bigcheeze

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

yeah he knew it was blacklisted im trying to get my money back




gardai said we should of checked it before we did the deal (but we had no 3 sim to do it)
and its going to take too long to do a report

You will never contact him. You've been conned.

Tinkerbell4484

It looked fine,all the apps were on it, i just had no sim to try...thanks for the advice though.

Tinkerbell4484

What makes you think i cant contact him? ive his name and address, he has plenty of other adds for sale.ive met him,so its not like it was done by post and id never see him again.
Im just basically looking for sound advice that until i can get to galway,what can i do?is their anyone else i can contact?

wush06

Where did you get it from and for how much. If he has other ads there might be just a mix up. Did he know you were going to show up with no sim.

Tinkerbell4484

Swapped it for a limited edition xbox 360 with games, he was looking 375 for iphone i was looking 320,he said hed do a straight swap if i drove to him. I contacted him first on the site,
i dont know if he knew id be coming with no sim

wush06

So what happens when you stick a sim in. Did he say it was locked to 3 just trying to put a picture to it.
Have you a link to the sale

Tinkerbell4484

He said it was locked to 3,
gave 3 the imei and they said yes its locked to 3,and its blacklisted,have asked 3 to either contact the owner or give us details but all they keep saying is the account is still active?
When we put 3sim in it says no service all the time.same with anyother sim.
But 3 have said it is locked to them.have contacted apple ant they have reregistered the phone in my husbands name but 3 wont
do anything to help at all.

Im on my mobile so cant give a link but can give site

wush06

Can he be that silly to give you all his details if he was going to scam you. Keep trying his number. It just seems a bit strange not saying that it did not happen.

The fact you know we're he lives and what he looks like should go along way in you getting this sorted. Unless he's the mafia

Tinkerbell4484

I know what you mean,ive text and rang it loads,found him on facebook and sent him a msg on it. Just really want to get it sorted

Janedoe10

Sounds he was duped as well ? Or the worlds dumbest criminal if u have all his details . I would think the guards are expected to have a policy on people with or bought stolen goods . Did 3 tell u it was locked to another address I hope they didn't fine any more of original owner details ... Imag not only my phone robbed but my address details given to the "new" owner of my phone without my consent .

naasrd

At least you have his address. Let your husband round up a few boys and sort it out old school.

dingding

If the phone is stolen, the Gardai should make you return it to the original owner. Unfortunately you are handling stolen goods.

Can't see why they are not interested, you have a confirmed stolen phone, and you have good details for the person that you purchased off.

The more they clamp down on this sort of thing, the harder it will be to sell a stole phone and this leads to less phones stolen.

Bigcheeze

You say the account is still active. Has it been blacklisted due to an unpaid bill while it's still under contract? Apparently Three do this.

mcauto

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

He said it was locked to 3,
gave 3 the imei and they said yes its locked to 3,and its blacklisted,have asked 3 to either contact the owner or give us details but all they keep saying is the account is still active?
When we put 3sim in it says no service all the time.same with anyother sim.
But 3 have said it is locked to them.have contacted apple ant they have reregistered the phone in my husbands name but 3 wont
do anything to help at all.

Im on my mobile so cant give a link but can give site

my iphone 4 was stolen 2 months ago and is locked to "3" network, could u send me the imei number? thanks

MyKeyG

dingding wrote: »

If the phone is stolen, the Gardai should make you return it to the original owner. Unfortunately you are handling stolen goods.

Can't see why they are not interested, you have a confirmed stolen phone, and you have good details for the person that you purchased off.

The more they clamp down on this sort of thing, the harder it will be to sell a stole phone and this leads to less phones stolen.

Unfortunately you can't clamp down on gullible buyers.

Tinkerbell4484

Yeah thats what im thinking,that their is an outstanding bill and that it was sold on.that is why they are saying its still active

long_b

Don't think the OP is as gullible as people are saying.
It could happen to anyone really - you buy a phone (say an unwanted upgrade) in good faith.It's working fine for a couple of months, then the seller can't or doesn't pay his bill and all of a sudden the phone gets blacklisted ?

fox007

long_b wrote: »

Don't think the OP is as gullible as people are saying.
It could happen to anyone really - you buy a phone (say an unwanted upgrade) in good faith.It's working fine for a couple of months, then the seller can't or doesn't pay his bill and all of a sudden the phone gets blacklisted ?

Exactly there should be a system in place to stop this. Get something in writing off the seller it Might help.

Eire Go Brach

He is ignoring you. It's time to take this to the next level.

Go down to his address and talk to him.
If that does not work. Print a sign up and stand outside his house or place of work. With his name on it saying "joe bloggs stole my money"

Or go down with a few lads. Ask for your money back. If he says no. Get your money's worth from him physically

culabula

Two references to violence so far in this thread; one more and it will be terminated with extreme prejudice. Share some useful knowledge.

the whole year inn

is it blocked on all the other networks,i bet theres one where it ll work.Each phone company has to block it on there network so there bound to be one.

dodzy

the whole year inn wrote: »

is it blocked on all the other networks,i bet theres one where it ll work.Each phone company has to block it on there network so there bound to be one.

I think that once its blacklisted on one network, its gone from them all ( in ireland anyway ).

TIPS: for anyone buying a smartphone:
1. Get the IMEI from the seller.
2. Contact the provider.
3. Tell them you are purchasing the phone and want to check if its blacklisted. (
ive got this information several times before without issue ).
4. If its not barred, tell them you are now the owner of the handset and give
them your details ( they should record this info ) even though they will not
give you any information in relation to the current account.
5. Tell them your concerns about scams following sales and that you are just
being proactive.
6. Better still, let the registered owner speak to them to verify the sale after
your conversation.

ALWAYS TAKE THE NAME OF THE AGENT YOU ARE DEALING WITH.

You will then be in a stronger position should the seller try to pull a fast one following the sale.

Mr. Loverman

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

gardai said we should of checked it before we did the deal (but we had no 3 sim to do it)
and its going to take too long to do a report

Aren't the gardai great?

Reminds me of when three lads hoped on me on O'Connell Street and split open my face. Gardai told me I shouldn't have been on O'Connell Street after midnight! Muppets.

digitaldr

Great advice dodzy. OP you should also contact the site where this guy still has stuff for sale. I would suggest you try a different Garda station/different Garda as in my experience some of them just couldn't be bothered. I lost the keys for my motorbike recently - it was locked to a lamp post opposite a Garda station. The Guard there said they hadn't been handed in but just after talking to her I had another look on the bike and noticed a note tucked into a little nook - it said the keys had been handed in. Went back talked to the same guard who this time bothered to ask her colleagues - one of them had my keys which had been handed in hours earlier. New key for my bike would have cost around €150 - its got an immobiliser.