Blacklisting my IMEI number - Vodafone refusing to blacklist it!

[vic_pet]

I am beyond frustrating and banging my head against a brick wall. I have contact Vodafone 10 times, my insurance company More Than 4 times and Apple 3 times. 

My phone was stolen on June 2nd and I requested my network provider block the phone. I provided proof that the SIM was blocked to my insurance company but they require evidence that the IMEI number was also blacklisted. Despite repeated requests, Vodafone are refusing because I purchased the phone direct from Apple - they say its Apple that have to do this. But Apple insist they do not have these capabilities and my insurance company advice me that ONLY my network provider can do this And research on the internet suggests the same thing. Interestingly the insurance company said they get this problem all the time from network providers, with Vodafone being the worst! And that I will just have to keep asking them until someone does it for me. 

If it was over a small amount of money I'd have given up - this just isn't worth the stress. But we are talking about £500!

Does anyone know how the hell I can make Vodafone blacklist my IMEI number? I have run out of options. I might go into an Apple shop (where they are always so helpful) and ask them to get on the phone to Vodafone with me and force them to undestand that only they have the capabilty to block the IMEI.....

Nothing will make me happier at this point than to leave Vodafone, but sadly I am locked down in a contract until October I hate them. 

[buzzbadwolf]

Fortunately I still had the box which had the imei number on a sticker. You might be able to retreive the number from the contract provider, but if it is Vodafone - good luck with that!

[Tamejoca]

Hi - I have my imei number but been told only way to register that is to put the SIM card (which is stolen) in it - it’s a pay as you go number so can’t get a new one -   

Did is you get a new sim on contract which would automatically be registered to that phone? If not I am baffled as to how you can connect a new imei to a sim without using the sim in that phone - is it possible? 

Thanks 

[buzzbadwolf]

I got myself a PAYG SIM card from Virgin, then when I activated the sim with Virgin I also registered my stolen handset and imei number, but I didn’t state that the handset was stolen. A day or so later I phoned Virgin and reported it stolen, they were then able to block it.  Also, if you’re struggling with the insurance company, have a look at this website

https://www.immobilise.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Easter-%20Going%20away&utm_content=Easter-...  

they will accept proof of ownership if you register your device and print out a certificate.

[Tamejoca]

Thank you - I’m struggling to get the imei on the stolen database to get insurance payout 🤦🏽‍♀️

[Tamejoca]

 This sounds promising. But I thought you could only register an IMEI number by inserting the Sim card into the phone. How can you register the IMEI and handset against the number, if you can’t put the Sim into the phone?  Do you do it online, or call virgin? 🤔Thanks for your help. 

[buzzbadwolf]

Get a PAYG sim from Virgin and activate it, then phone Virgin and register your stolen handset with them - don’t mention that it has been stolen, they will ask for the imei number along with the make and model - that’s it! A few days later contact Virgin again and report the phone as stolen, they will then blacklist the phone, this will satisfy the insurance company. If this doesn’t suffice, go to the immobilise website I posted in the previous message and get the certificate 

[Tamejoca]

Got one 🙂 but won’t virgin just tell me to insert sim in the phone to register it automatically?

how do I get round that one? 

[TJ]

I'm really sorry to hear that your phones been stolen @Tamejoca 😞

How long did you have the Pay as you go SIM in the handset? Once the phones been used on our network for longer than 30 days, it should register that phone to your account so we can look into getting in blacklisted for you.

[Tamejoca]

Less than 30 days 🤔

[Tash]

Thanks for getting back to us @Tamejoca.

So we can take a closer look into your options, I've sent you a private message with details to contact our team. We can then raise this with the dedicated team for further assistance.