samsung galaxy s4 help please

[KellyKnell]

Hi I brought my phone off of eBay couple of months ago on vodafone (although I use t-mobile pay an go). It stopped working couple of days ago I've since taken it to a shop and they said it's blocked. Do I call vodafone or t-mobile? Also if anything what can be done so i get my phone back? Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance

[redpages]

Hi. It can be a bit of a grey area when buying off of eBay as you're often buying from a third party seller and the phone hasn't been purchased directly from Vodafone. It depends what is blocked - the phone or the SIM.

First off I'd try T-Mobile (EE) and ask about their SIM card. Here you need to find out if the SIM has been blocked (e.g. if the PIN code has been entered incorrectly on a number of occasions in which case you'd need something called a PUK (Phone Unlock Key) from them to unblock it. Your best bet is to take it into one of their shops where they can also test the SIM in another handset (narrowing down the odds of it being a SIM or device problem). 

If the SIM is fine and the phone has stopped working (having previously worked normally) then one possibility is that it may have been blacklisted. This can happen if a phone has been reported missing or stolen (I'm not saying this is the case but it is one possibility). In situations like this I'd report it to a Vodafone store and if it's the case then take up with the seller. 

[KellyKnell]

Thank you ill call them an see what I can do. If it's imei blocked can there be anything I can do about it like get it taken off the blacklist? 

[redpages]

If it's classed as stolen then it would need to be reported and investigated. Vodafone wouldn't be able to unblock it there and then (more on stolen phones here)

Again, this is just one of just several possibilities and all might be fine if it's a SIM problem. I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions just yet