How to know if phone is bill pay or not, when buying second hand

spongebob89

Can the imei or anything check if a phone is on bill pay to check before I buy second hand?

Captain Chaos

It's the sim card that holds the price plan not the phone. The phone can be locked to a network or not though, you won't know that until you try different sims.

spongebob89

Captain Chaos wrote: »

It's the sim card that holds the price plan not the phone. The phone can be locked to a network or not though, you won't know that until you try different sims.

The phone is listed as.. Replacement from apple and unlocked. Would this rule it out being on bikl pay?

drunkmonkey

You've no way of knowing so there is a possibility the phone is blacklisted after you buy it, the newer the phone the higher the possibility, no network will tell you because of data protection laws. The only way you know if your getting the real thing is if it comes with the original receipt and you can cross check with the shop.
Also make sure it's not icloud locked.
If the phone is 9mts old plus I wouldn't worry about it being blacklisted after you buy it.
A blacklisted phone might show signal for a few hours before it stops working so a simple sim check when your buying it might not be 100% proof it's safe.

drunkmonkey

spongebob89 wrote: »

The phone is listed as.. Replacement from apple and unlocked. Would this rule it out being on bikl pay?

Should have receipts to prove that it's a replacement.

magentis

Weather or not a phone was purchased bill pay or pay as you go can be important,as if a bill pay customer reports the phone stolen or doesn't pay his bill it could be blacklisted.Is this your concern op?
I dont think there is any way of finding out by imei.

spongebob89

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You've no way of knowing so there is a possibility the phone is blacklisted after you buy it, the newer the phone the higher the possibility, no network will tell you because of data protection laws. The only way you know if your getting the real thing is if it comes with the original receipt and you can cross check with the shop.
Also make sure it's not icloud locked.
If the phone is 9mts old plus I wouldn't worry about it being blacklisted after you buy it.
A blacklisted phone might show signal for a few hours before it stops working so a simple sim check when your buying it might not be 100% proof it's safe.

I see, he says he has the letter from apple to show it was a replacement...

shanec1928

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Should have receipts to prove that it's a replacement.

No you won't.

beauf

spongebob89 wrote: »

Can the imei or anything check if a phone is on bill pay to check before I buy second hand?

You mean sim locked.

You try your sim in it and make a call before buying. If you don't know the basics should you be buying 2nd hand?

spongebob89

beauf wrote: »

You mean sim locked.

You try your sim in it and make a call before buying. If you don't know the basics should you be buying 2nd hand?

Well thats why im on here asking for advice

drunkmonkey

spongebob89 wrote: »

I see, he says he has the letter from apple to show it was a replacement... What reasons would a phone be blacklisted for?

Reported stolen by the owner, most mobile phone insurance companies require that as part of the claim the phone is blacklisted with the network.

Customer does not pay their bill, this is why it's dangerous to buy a new or nearly new phone second hand. There's literally gangs driving around the country as well as the ordinary chancers signing up for phones and never paying their bills.

Is that phone on adverts, have they a few sales and their registered a while and can provide the receipt, then it could be safe enough bet. The age of the phone is the one red flag, how old is it?

drunkmonkey

shanec1928 wrote: »

No you won't.

It comes with a packing slip.

njs030

You can do an imei check to see all the info. It usually is finished the contract contract for the company to have unlocked it to any network.

Google Apple imei check and put in the number. It tells you when it was bought/activated too.

drunkmonkey

notjustsweet wrote: »

You can do an imei check to see all the info. It usually is finished the contract contract for the company to have unlocked it to any network.

Google Apple imei check and put in the number. It tells you when it was bought/activated too.

None of that information you find online is reliable, it's only estimates.

njs030

drunkmonkey wrote: »

None of that information you find online is reliable, it's only estimates.

Well I checked the 3 iPhones in my house recently (older ones) and it was 100% spot on. Even the one bought in England was correct in the date and company it was registered with first. It was able to say which ones were unlocked and which were bought as Bill pay.

Really its better then nothing for the op isn't it?

naasrd

spongebob89 wrote: »

Can the imei or anything check if a phone is on bill pay to check before I buy second hand?

Depends on where and who you're buying it off. If it's on adverts check the sellers feedback. Anywhere else and you're out on a limb unless you do the deal at their home address.

drunkmonkey

notjustsweet wrote: »

Well I checked the 3 iPhones in my house recently (older ones) and it was 100% spot on. Really its better then nothing for the op isn't it?

It couldn't have been, you may have thought it was correct but it wasn't. It should give you the current carrier, wildly inaccurate purchase date, icloud lock active and support coverage status.

Blacklist and Sim lock are not reliable enough to take as gospel from a free online service.

beauf

spongebob89 wrote: »

Well thats why im on here asking for advice

I just think its very easy to get a damaged, locked or black listed phones. Something that's no apparent till after you get it home.

guil

notjustsweet wrote: »

Well I checked the 3 iPhones in my house recently (older ones) and it was 100% spot on. Even the one bought in England was correct in the date and company it was registered with first. It was able to say which ones were unlocked and which were bought as Bill pay.

Really its better then nothing for the op isn't it?

Have you a link?

spongebob89

I just asked him was it on bill pay and he said yeah he has two accounts with Vodafone... I think ill stay away

drunkmonkey

spongebob89 wrote: »

I just asked him was it on bill pay and he said yeah he has two accounts with Vodafone... I think ill stay away

That wouldn't really mean anything, what is it and how old, have you a link?

njs030

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It couldn't have been, you may have thought it was correct but it wasn't. It should give you the current carrier, wildly inaccurate purchase date, icloud lock active and support coverage status.

Blacklist and Sim lock are not reliable enough to take as gospel from a free online service.

It gave me the purchase date that was within a few days, the original carrier, the most recent carrier, if it was unlocked or not and if the contract had expired as well as the last two you mentioned.

I acrtually have a screenshot of one of them, I'll see if I can hide the imei and attach it.

drunkmonkey

Just post a link to the site where you checked.

njs030

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Just post a link to the site where you checked.

I can't remember the name of the site and its not on the screenshot unfortunately. I was curious and googled it and used the first one that appeared. I was as suprised as you are tbh.

drunkmonkey

notjustsweet wrote: »

I can't remember the name of the site and its not on the screenshot unfortunately. I was curious and googled it and used the first one that appeared. I was as suprised as you are tbh.

I'm not surprised, I know they exist what i'm saying is they are some way accurate just not gospel enough to make a purchase decision on.

flyguy

If an iPhone is a (refurbished) replacement Apple send you an email with the old and new IMEI -always- so there should be proof (not the packinging slip).
You can't prevent buying a blacklisted phone even by checking, a smart scammer will report the phone stolen after he sells it.
I've read before (most) phone providers won't blacklist a phone for unpaid bills -the insurance company does, if it's reported lost/stolen- as most people get their insurance through the networks one (network) is often confused with the other (insurance company).
Only advice in not getting scammed is check feedback (adverts) and buy at someone's home address.
Note: an original receipt is worthless if the original buyer reports it lost/stolen.

guil

Regarding the email for proof of replacement, I have had 3 iPhones replaced by Apple and only got an email for proof of replacement once after a few months. I needed it to get the phone unlocked because the network said it wasn't on their system so they couldn't request the unlock.

flyguy

Strange, it would be unlike Apple not to let you know your replacement product has shipped.
I've had 2 phones replaced so far and both times the shipping notification email with the title "your replacement product had shipped" states the old and new IMEI and states; "Please keep this email. It shows that your product's identification numbers have changed with this repair."
Since it a shipping notification I guess a lot of people just delete it....

doloYolo

so i bought a iphone on donedeal.. da guy show me the three receipt(my friend said it mite not b genuine receipt).. the fone is locked to three..it has been a week since i bought the fone..should I b worry about the phone getting blacklist after week? shud I go and unlock the iphone(every expansive to unlock three).. Or do u think after a week it cant be blocklist anymore?

guil

doloYolo wrote: »

so i bought a iphone on donedeal.. da guy show me the three receipt(my friend said it mite not b genuine receipt).. the fone is locked to three..it has been a week since i bought the fone..should I b worry about the phone getting blacklist after week? shud I go and unlock the iphone(every expansive to unlock three).. Or do u think after a week it cant be blocklist anymore?

It can be blacklisted tomorrow or in a year. There's no time limit on getting it blacklisted.

flyguy

guil wrote: »

It can be blacklisted tomorrow or in a year. There's no time limit on getting it blacklisted.

<- this and unlocking a phone does not stop it from getting blacklisted, the 2 have nothing to do with eachother.
As I wrote before the first buyer of the phone can get the phone blacklisted at any time, that's why insurance companies like gadgetinsurance do not insure 2nd hand phones.

naasrd

Chances are an unlocked iPhone will not be in contract as all networks lock them until terms have been met.

flyguy

naasrd wrote: »

Chances are an unlocked iPhone will not be in contract as all networks lock them until terms have been met.

I don't think that's true, Vodafone unlock them after a few months. Also afaik networks do not blacklist phones for unpaid bills. Most phone scams are insurance scams. Person buys phone with insurance, sells it then claims its stolen, gets new phone and buyer of the "stolen phone" has a useless phone.
There's no original receipt/phone call to your network when buying or anything else that can stop that from happening. The only thing you need is to know who the seller is/where he lives so you can pay him a friendly visit if your phone stops working (and adverts feedback is a good indication of a thrust worthy seller as well).

culabula

doloYolo wrote: »

so i bought a iphone on donedeal.. da guy show me the three receipt(my friend said it mite not b genuine receipt).. the fone is locked to three..it has been a week since i bought the fone..should I b worry about the phone getting blacklist after week? shud I go and unlock the iphone(every expansive to unlock three).. Or do u think after a week it cant be blocklist anymore?

Welcome to the forums.

When contributing here, please avoid the use of "txtspk" so that there is no room for confusion.

Thank you.

guil

naasrd wrote: »

Chances are an unlocked iPhone will not be in contract as all networks lock them until terms have been met.

As fly guy said, Vodafone will unlock a phone after three bills are paid. There used to block phones when the bill wasn't paid but don't anymore. I personally know 3 people who got a 5c on three about a year ago and stopped paying the bill and the phones were never blacklisted.

doloYolo

i forget to say the iphone receipt show that the phone is prepaid and not bill pay.let us assume the receipt is real. I think for a prepaid phone to be blacklist it has to be report stolen. and it has to be report stolen within 48hours i think. so after a week that i have bought the iphone it has not be blacklist..can it still be blacklist?

guil

doloYolo wrote: »

i forget to say the iphone receipt show that the phone is prepaid and not bill pay.let us assume the receipt is real. I think for a prepaid phone to be blacklist it has to be report stolen. and it has to be report stolen within 48hours i think. so after a week that i have bought the iphone it has not be blacklist..can it still be blacklist?

Your thinking is wrong, there's no more or less chance of a phone been blacklisted if it's bill or prepay. There's no time limit to get it blacklisted either.

Flaccus

guil wrote: »

As fly guy said, Vodafone will unlock a phone after three bills are paid. There used to block phones when the bill wasn't paid but don't anymore. I personally know 3 people who got a 5c on three about a year ago and stopped paying the bill and the phones were never blacklisted.

Sites like Sim-unlock.net unlock iPhones too, regardless if it's a bill pay or payg and as long as it's not blacklisted. I recently unlocked a brand new bill pay iPhone 6s plus with them. And it was a permanent unlock and not a hack. All I had to do was synch with iTunes once the shop emailed me back. Not sure how they do it as it's generally only the carrier who has permission to ask Apple to remove the carrier lock from their database. I suspect these sites 'know' people working inside the carrier who make the request. I chanced my arm anyway as it was only around 15 euro which is cheap for an iPhone unlock. It's always an option for those that are having difficulty getting their carrier to do the unlock for free. I suppose they could always find out about it being unlocked and get it relocked. Not heard of that happening though.

guil

Flaccus wrote: »

Sites like Sim-unlock.net unlock iPhones too, regardless if it's a bill pay or payg and as long as it's not blacklisted. I recently unlocked a brand new bill pay iPhone 6s plus with them. And it was a permanent unlock and not a hack. All I had to do was synch with iTunes once the shop emailed me back. Not sure how they do it as it's generally only the carrier who has permission to ask Apple to remove the carrier lock from their database. I suspect these sites 'know' people working inside the carrier who make the request. I chanced my arm anyway as it was only around 15 euro which is cheap for an iPhone unlock. It's always an option for those that are having difficulty getting their carrier to do the unlock for free. I suppose they could always find out about it being unlocked and get it relocked. Not heard of that happening though.

Afaik no carriers in Ireland charge a fee to unlock a phone. Three won't do it though unless you're contract is up or you pay it in full. Just out of curiosity, what network was yours on?

whiterebel

guil wrote: »

Afaik no carriers in Ireland charge a fee to unlock a phone. Three won't do it though unless you're contract is up or you pay it in full. Just out of curiosity, what network was yours on?

€19.99 on VF anyway

peteb2

whiterebel wrote: »

€19.99 on VF anyway

Not on bill pay it's not. You're entitled to one a year or something

guil

whiterebel wrote: »

€19.99 on VF anyway

I get 3 unlocks per year on each number I have with them.

whiterebel

peteb2 wrote: »

Not on bill pay it's not. You're entitled to one a year or something

I didn't say prepaid, bill pay or anything else. It costs €19.99 from the unlocking crowd mentioned above...,