Is iPhone blacklisted

jarvis

I bought a 4s on Facebook that was locked to o2. Any o2 sim I enter displays the carrier logo o2.ie and the 3G symbol but has no signal bars. I cannot make or receive any calls or texts. The sims work in other iPhones.
I've reset all settings, fully restored via iTunes etc but still no joy.
The girl seemed really genuine. I collected it from her workplace too so I can reach her there if need be but I just want the iPhone to work.
She has been messaging me on Facebook saying she rang o2 and the phone isn't blacklisted according to them. I rang o2 myself and they said they can't discuss any account info with 3rd parties.

I rang apple and they discussed the issue over the phone and are currently sending a box to take the iPhone back for repair or replacement.

So I have a dilemma. Do I let apple take it and hope its a hardware issue so I get a replacement?
Or do I chase down the seller?

Has anyone seen this issue before? Will apple exchange it anyway?

O2's only advice was to call the original owner as they can't discuss account info with me.

fox007

jarvis wrote: »

I bought a 4s on Facebook that was locked to o2. Any o2 sim I enter displays the carrier logo o2.ie and the 3G symbol but has no signal bars. I cannot make or receive any calls or texts. The sims work in other iPhones.
I've reset all settings, fully restored via iTunes etc but still no joy.
The girl seemed really genuine. I collected it from her workplace too so I can reach her there if need be but I just want the iPhone to work.
She has been messaging me on Facebook saying she rang o2 and the phone isn't blacklisted according to them. I rang o2 myself and they said they can't discuss any account info with 3rd parties.

I rang apple and they discussed the issue over the phone and are currently sending a box to take the iPhone back for repair or replacement.

So I have a dilemma. Do I let apple take it and hope its a hardware issue so I get a replacement?
Or do I chase down the seller?

Has anyone seen this issue before? Will apple exchange it anyway?

O2's only advice was to call the original owner as they can't discuss account info with me.

Can you not check the imei number with O2 to see if it blacklisted? Honestly it sounds as tho it is blacklisted. Get your money back if you can but try give the imei to O2 your not asking for anything impossible you have it.

jarvis

fox007 wrote: »

Can you not check the imei number with O2 to see if it blacklisted? Honestly it sounds as tho it is blacklisted. Get your money back if you can but try give the imei to O2 your not asking for anything impossible you have it.

I did ring then. They took the imei and left me
On hold while they checked. When they came back they said they can't discuss account information with a 3rd party. She said she was sorry she couldn't tell me anything and she advised that I call the person that sold me the phone.

wilford

Carrier symbol and no signal bars means it's blacklisted afaik,I'd take my chances with apple if the seller is playing the it was working perfectly when I took your money card.(until I reported it stolen)02 will not tell you anything about an iphone's status unless your the registered owner

whiterebel

Problem is, Apple will know if its blacklisted too, and won't replace it.

coylemj

jarvis wrote: »

I did ring then. They took the imei and left me
On hold while they checked. When they came back they said they can't discuss account information with a 3rd party. She said she was sorry she couldn't tell me anything and she advised that I call the person that sold me the phone.

Reading between the lines.....

The fact that they put you on hold indicates that they were prepared to give you some information but of one flavour only i.e. if it was clean they probably would have said so, the fact that they refused to give you any information probably means it's blacklisted.

If they weren't prepared to discuss 'account information', why didn't they tell you that as soon as you explained the purpose of the call rather than wait to see the result of the search?

It's similar to what happens when a cheque bounces, they don't tell you the guy has no money in his account, they just tell you to go back and talk to him - hence 'refer to drawer'.

jarvis

coylemj wrote: »

Reading between the lines.....

The fact that they put you on hold indicates that they were prepared to give you some information but of one flavour only i.e. if it was clean they probably would have said so, the fact that they refused to give you any information probably means it's blacklisted.

If they weren't prepared to discuss 'account information', why didn't they tell you that as soon as you explained the purpose of the call rather than wait to see the result of the search?

It's similar to what happens when a cheque bounces, they don't tell you the guy has no money in his account, they just tell you to go back and talk to him - hence 'refer to drawer'.

I was thinking this too. It must be unpaid bills or something. She said she was selling it because she got an iPhone 5 so I had presumed if was an upgrade but the warranty is valid till may 2014 whicheans she only took out her contract in may jut gone so wouldn't be entitled to an upgrade. I'm also just realising when I asked her to try get O2 to unlock the iPhone she said she rang them and they requested the unlock code bug if wi take 5 weeks. 5 working days is the norm but 5 weeks and I'm not sure they'd unlock it 5 months into a contract.

jarvis

It doesn't make sense though that she would do this. She added me as a friend in Facebook so she could message me. I met her at her job. I have her name, phone number and area she lives in as we'll as everything else on her Facebook page. And it's not a fake page. Why would she intentionally do this knowing I have all that info and she said a number of times that O2 informed her the phone wasn't blocked when she called them on my request. I even told her that I was sending it back to apple and if its found to be blacklisted then they'd keep it on me and she replied saying she's 100% sure it's not blacklisted and to do it.

guil

Just on the unlocking thing. O2 used to unlock straight away. I'm not sure if they still do but I'd ask for the money back. She's just going to keep telling you that it's ok blah blah blah.

Also have a look at imei.info it seems to be fairly reliable and only costs about 2 euro to check an imei. You could also try a few of the insurance companies and ask is it reported stolen because you were thinking of buying it. Ring O2 and play dumb and tell them you want to register the phone to your account and see what they say.

biko

Did you see phone working when she sold it to you? Did you check?
Go back to the seller and see if their sim work now?
If not, they take phone back and worry about it themselves.