HTC

[APashley]

Hi everyone. First post on here so I'll try to be as detailed as I can.

Only recently, I went on my HTC sensation (bought on ebay a few months ago, manufacturer unlocked) and there was no network coverage displayed on the device - pretty odd. So I got in touch with Vodafone customer support. After much waiting it turned out that the IMEI had been blocked on the phone. Which was even more odd - especially given that the phone hasn't been stolen or lost. I was told to try and find the details of the original reseller so I could get the original proof of purchase to unblock it. A pretty tall order.

Anyway, I rang up again today. I checked the status of my IMEI the other night after speaking to Vodafone using CheckMend, and sure enough, it was listed as currently IMEI blocked (not stolen / lost however) - and demanded to know why my IMEI was blocked in the first place. It was clear that I wasn't going to get anywhere trying to jump through hoops attempting to contact somebody on eBay about a phone they bought ages ago, and given that there was no legitimate reason for the IMEI to be blocked, it seemed reasonable that I could at least find out why.

The advisor then told me that although there was a record of the IMEI being blocked previously (when I did ring), it no longer was blocked. VERY odd. But I was more than happy to accept this news, given that I no longer had a very expensive paperweight to deal with. I popped my SIM back into the phone, but - it still couldn't connect to Vodafone. Even stranger, however, was the fact that it COULD connect to data - so put short, I now have a data connection, but no way of making or receiving calls or texts.

Could anybody shed any light on this issue? I've tried my SIM in another phone and it worked fine (albeit a very old Sony Ericsson K810).

Thanks in advance!

[bertyb]

I think you are going to probably have a struggle with the IMEI blacklisted or not thing, if you bought it from a 3rd party.  Your best bet would be (I think) to get proof of ownership from the seller, and an invoice or whatever to yourself, and take that perhaps to a Vodafone store, who could speak to their teams to note that you have attempted to buy the handset legitamately, and to clarify if it is blacklisted or not, if it is, then you would need to go back to the seller, at the moment, with it not showing as a handset you have got via Vodafone they will probably give you limited information

Good luck

[APashley]

Hi bertyb,

Thanks for your reply.

Well, the IMEI block was rescinded, according to the advisor (possibly an error; somebody I know with a bit of knowledge seems to reckon it isn't uncommon) - and she confirmed that.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but surely if data is working (i'm not talking about Wifi here - mobile data) - there isn't an IMEI block on the phone?

[APashley]

Ok, so I rang Vodafone again this morning. Got through to an advisor to reconfirm if my IMEI was indeed unblacklisted (so I could narrow my problem down to either my phone being blocked or just broken, so I could send it off for repair).

Interestingly, whilst the advisor confirmed that the IMEI had indeed been removed yesterday, I was also told (which yesterday's advisor failed to tell me) that the unblocking process could take up to 48 hours to be completely removed and restore full functionality to my handset.

Could anybody confirm this new tidbit of information?

Thanks.

[James]

Hi APashley,

When it comes to requested for an IMEI number to be removed from the blacklist, it can sometimes take up to 48 hours for the request to be processed however once removed you should have full functionality of the phone.

If you are still having issues after this time has passed then I would recommend sending the phone away for a warranty repair to see if the phone can be repaired.

James

[APashley]

Hi James,

Thanks for the reply. I'm still waiting this morning, I tried it earlier on, but still no joy - getting the dreaded 'Your SIM card does not allow connection to this network' message when trying to select Vodafone. Hmm. That said, the advisor wouldn't divulge the exact timeframe on when it had been blocked and subsequently unblocked for some reason, but she did say give it 48-72 hours, and that a note had been left on my account 'for the security team' in case it still hadn't been unblocked in that timeframe for when I rang back.

Is it possible that the fact that it's Easter bank holiday will delay its resolution somewhat? I'll be honest, the turnaround is a little frustrating as I got the impression from the Vodafone website that it could be all resolved within an hour - especially given that the block was clearly an error!

Thanks.

[James]

Hi APashley,

Unfortunately it is possible that the Easter bank holiday weekend could delay the resolution for you as not all departments are open and those that are open will sometimes be running on reduced staff numbers.

However I’m sure that you will have the IMEI restriction lifted as soon as possible.

James

[APashley]

Okay, another update to my ongoing issue.

I got in touch with Vodafone again today, following the promise that my handset would be working again after 10am. Predictably, not the case. I got in touch with the support team several times asking them what the problem was, and as far as they are concerned, the IMEI is unblacklisted from the system. But my phone is still exhibiting the same behaviour - so naturally, the handset is blamed for the problem, and told to try and get it sent off and repaired under warranty.

But here is another interesting twist - I checked the IMEI again on the CheckMend database, out of curiousity (paid another £2 to do so) - and as it turns out - the IMEI is not unblacklisted and is still being blocked on the global database. So clearly, something is very wrong here.

I've got in touch with Vodafone via the 'Contact Us' section to send me written confirmation via email that the IMEI has been unblacklisted by them so I can take the issue higher - I'm not losing my phone for a week and possibly forking out for a repair if I'm still going to have a paperweight after all of it.

If anybody has any advice or wants to offer any pointers then go ahead. I'm fast losing my mind over this.

[APashley]

Another update for whoever may still be reading this topic or use it as a reference in the future.

CheckMend, the company I used to check the IMEI blacklisting, are telling me that the phone was blocked by T-Mobile, and not Vodafone. Never had any sort of affiliation with T-Mobile, so all is still very odd. Interestingly, it was blocked on the Saturday and I didn't get cut of until the Monday. Curious.

Anyway, looks like I'm going to be battling with another set of Customer Services, although not being a customer of T-Mobile's, I don't think I'm going to get far. I think Vodafone have done everything they can.

Honestly, although I'm hoping that the blocking was an error and it'll get rescinded, I don't think it's going to be as easy as that. Actually, to be brutally honest, I don't think I'm ever going to get a reason for the blacklisting, or get it unblacklisted, and I'm going to be left with a phone that can't act as a phone! At least I can still use it as a small tablet / iPod, I guess....

[cjm1979]

Id take it as a lesson learnt with buying second hand mobile phones from Ebay. Hope you manage to get it unbarred.