Advice on second hand iphone

AndyGarcia

Hi all,

I am sorry if this has been covered before. My friend bought a second hand iphone yesterday from someone on Gumtree ( I know he's a tit)

He said the guy had the phone working perfect so he bought it. When he got home and stuck his Vodafone sim into it it asks him to do all the set up ie date,time,language ect. But it then says that the phone is locked and he needs to contact support.

He is starting to get itchy feet that he bought a stolen phone. Is it possibly that this is the norm? and what should he do?

Any advice would be great

Cheers

drunkmonkey

From what you describe it sounds like it's not an iphone maybe a fake as an iphone doesn't ask to set up language, date, time etc when you turn it on.

If he calls support in vodafone and gives them the serial number they'll know if it's one of their phones and if it's down as stolen but from what your describing it does not match with being a stolen phone, there's something else up.

AndyGarcia

drunkmonkey wrote: »

From what you describe it sounds like it's not an iphone maybe a fake as an iphone doesn't ask to set up language, date, time etc when you turn it on.

If he calls support in vodafone and gives them the serial number they'll know if it's one of their phones and if it's down as stolen but from what your describing it does not match with being a stolen phone, there's something else up.

Sorry thats my mistake, i have a HTC and presumed it was like mine that when you first start it up it gets you to configure stuff, He was going to ring Vodafone but is worried that if it is stolen that he'll loose the phone.

If he was to bring it to one of the phone shops could they sort it out?

drunkmonkey

Just get him to call vodafone with the serial number, they won't give him any details as to who owns the phone but they will confirm if it's down as blacklisted or not. He won't get in any trouble, he should also contact who he got it from and see will they sort it out for him.

AndyGarcia

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Just get him to call vodafone with the serial number, they won't give him any details as to who owns the phone but they will confirm if it's down as blacklisted or not. He won't get in any trouble, he should also contact who he got it from and see will they sort it out for him.

Just got off the phone to him and he finally got in contact with the guy he bought it from who said he was no help at all and just said he bought the phone and its his problem now and he wont give me a refund, ill get him to bell vodafone in the morn. if it was stolen will he have to hand the phone back?

fox007

Your friend is not a tit for buying anything from gum tree millions of people buyand sell genuine goods from there everyday.

Now more info is need here! What model iphone did he think he bought? when he connects the iPhone to iTunes on a pc what message pops up or does the iPhone load on to the desk top screen?

If iTunes opens up can he see the iPhone in the description bar on the left?

When he puts the sim card into the phone what message appears on the iPhone?
It could be just locked to a different network and will not activate with his sim.

jeckle

You may be worrying a bit prematurely as regards it being stolen - if it turns out that it is you can always report the matter to the Gardaí who could possibly trace him via his mobile number or through Gumtree.

It's (hopefully) probably just the case that the phone is locked to a network other than Vodafone, though in fairness if the seller was half way decent he should have informed your friend of this in advance & maybe reduced the price by €15 or so to cover the cost of unlocking it, or at least told you when you spoke to him.

If you could find out from the seller what network it's locked to it would possibly help as regards getting it unlocked, but other posters could probably advise as to whether it matters. You could always try putting in a few SIMS from different networks if you know people on o2, Three etc to find out.

DubDJ

It just sounds like the phone is locked to a network. E.g. if he bought it from O2 only an O2 sim will work in it. It sounds like you haven't got a factory unlocked model, in which case his Vodafone sim won't work in it.

AndyGarcia

Update folks,

Sorry im only getting on now i was away on business.

I brought it to a phone shop on Camden Street in Dublin this morning and they guy tried all the irish sim cards and it turns out it was locked to 3 so he said get a 3 sim and transfer her number over, so i went up the road and got one and they guy said within 4 hours it will be running perfectly. 5 hours later no joy so i put the sim into my sim free phone and it worked perfect, then arranged to meet a mate with an iphone on 3 and it worked perfect.

I took it back to the shop and the guy told me it was obviously stolen and basically it was useless apart from using it as an ipod.

It's a bitch and there's nothing we can do but lessons have been learnt. I know its a very long shot but is there anything i can do to unlock it, i really dont wana have to start dealing with the Guards and 3 to try catch the guy i just wana get the phone working

kjl

contact the guards and report the guy who sold the phone to your friend.

iggy

Ring 3 network and give them the imei number.
They will then tell u if it has been claimed for lost/stolen.

AndyGarcia

kjl wrote: »

contact the guards and report the guy who sold the phone to your friend.

iggy wrote: »

Ring 3 network and give them the imei number.
They will then tell u if it has been claimed for lost/stolen.

Cheers guys, ill do that but if it has been stolen i presume that they will want that phone back?

massy086

AndyGarcia wrote: »

Cheers guys, ill do that but if it has been stolen i presume that they will want that phone back?

no i had it happen to me and was never asked to hand back the phone (and anyway i needed the phone to hit the guy who sold it to me) funny but a hurl ended up working better true story