[august]

i just bought a blackberry 8703e for sprint for 150 bucks and when i went to the sprint store to activate it they told me that the serial code or w/e is still in use? i emailed the guy but hes not responding, how can i go about makeing this phone work for me? any help would be great

[Thatzmister2u]

Originally Posted by august

i just bought a blackberry 8703e for sprint for 150 bucks and when i went to the sprint store to activate it they told me that the serial code or w/e is still in use? i emailed the guy but hes not responding, how can i go about makeing this phone work for me? any help would be great

Might be stolen....not sure where you bought it. I would try to find the guy. If not maybe you can track the owner down...might get a reward and get some of you money back...

[John Clark]

Likely the pin and esn are still in use on the old account. You need to get the original owner to remove that pin/esn from his account. Then that will free up the pin/imei for use.

[august]

ty ill try to get a hold of the guy but ive send him acouple emails and hes not responding

[Dubdub]

Looks like you have a paperweight. This is a major problem of buying a used cell phone, particularly a BB.

As someone else mentioned, the seller (1) has not canceled their BIS account with would release the ESN and PIN for you to use to start your service, (2) the seller's account is not in good standing, meaning he owes money and the carrier will not activate it until the account is paid in full, or (3) the device was reported as lost or stolen and if this is the case, the carrier will not activate it at all.

And since it is a Sprint branded device, you are limited to using it only on Sprint. Verizon won't touch it.

[august]

theres no way of unlocking it or something like that? or should i just cut my losses and get another phone, reason i got it of ebay is cause i lost my phone and the phones at retail price are redicolous amount of money but i gues it cant be helped if theres no way of getting this one to work

[JSanders]

If you ask your carrier nice enough, and explain you bought the phone used, they will normally release the PIN for your use, unless it has been reported lost or stolen.

[southwestcomm]

PIN - yes. ESN - no, not if the device was reported stolen or on an account with an outstanding balance.

[Dubdub]

Originally Posted by august

theres no way of unlocking it or something like that? or should i just cut my losses and get another phone, reason i got it of ebay is cause i lost my phone and the phones at retail price are redicolous amount of money but i gues it cant be helped if theres no way of getting this one to work

Can't unlock a CDMA (Sprint or Verizon) device. They can only be used with the carrier for which they are made/branded.

[august]

allright thx guys im just gonna get a new phone and cut my losses thx for all ur help