Blacklisted 2nd hand mobile - Help to remove blacklisting

[shadowseed]

Hi,

I bought a 2nd hand mobile (Samsung S7 edge). I was told it was locked to Vodaphone, which was fine because i would just get a vodaphone sim for it. But it did not work and took it to a vodaphone shop. They told me it has been blacklisted by Vodaphone (but they could not tell me why). I took it to the police station and they confirmed that it has not been reported as lost or stolen.

Can someone at Vodophone help me get the phone un-blacklisted please.

Thanks,

Carlos

[AnnS]

Hi @shadowseed 

Phones are not blacklisted without a valid reason, usually because the phone has been reported lost or stolen by the rightful owner or where the phone is the subject of an insurance claim. 

The first thing to do is to contact the seller if it is possible and demand the return of your money.  If this is not possible there will be nothing Vodafone will be able to do to help, they didn't sell the phone and this is going to be between you and the seller who has taken your money in return for a blacklisted phone.

Unfortunately, this is a risk you take when purchasing a second hand phone. 

Try checking from the Checkmend site here : https://www.checkmend.com/uk/

[shadowseed]

Vodaphone did not sell me the phone, but they have blacklisted it and made it effectivly worthless. 

The phone is not lost or stolen and if it was subject to an insurance claim, it could only have been for damage. Any insurance company would want the damaged phone before processing the claim. And even if not, the it is insurance fraud between the owner and the insurer, and not something a phone should be blacklisted for. 

So why is it blacklisted ? No one seems to be able to answer this. If Vodaphone have blacklisted it, they should be able to either unblacklist it or tell me why it has been blacklisted, surley?

[BandOfBrothers]

Things are shrouded in privacy rules @shadowseed 

You would need to speak with the original owner and ask them to speak with Vodafone customer service to investigate the imei blacklisting. 

There is no other Avenue.

When a person reports a phone lost or stolen to the authorities one president is that it has to be reported as so to the network it's on before a claim can be processed or police incident number issued. 

The blacklisting is also imposed to stop any other person using the phone without the users permission. 

[AnnS]

Hi @shadowseed 

As far as why the phone is blacklisted is concerned, have you asked the seller this question?  Vodafone wouldn't be able to give you the reason, they have to abide by data protection regulations.

If the phone has been reported blacklisted the seller may not even be the original owner and you could well be holding someone else's stolen property in your hands.

[shadowseed]

I have tried to get hold of the person that sold this to me but they are ignoring me (for obvious reasons id imagine).

Ill re-iterate what i said earlier; the police have told me that the phone has NOT been reported as stolen. So the phone was sold to me and is now my property.

And if its not been blacklisted for this and we know the phone is not part of an insurance claim for damage, what else is there ?

I also dont understand how any company can effectivly destroy someone else's property and not only get away with it, but not have to even tell me why they have done it. I could understand if I had been sold stolen goods, and the phone was actually there property, but this is not the case.

Can i please get a reponse to this from a Vodaphone employee please ?

[shadowseed]

So i have just done a CheckMEND report on the phone.

Here is the result :

This is why i would like Vodaphone to un-blacklist it.

[Blair]

It appears that you've bought a phone which was reported as lost or stolen, which is unfortunate.
The only way this bar can be removed is for the person who owned the phone at the time the bar was added to get in touch with us.

If this has been done is error, then I'm sure we can sort it, but it does need to be the original owner that contacts us.

Blair

[shadowseed]

Thanks for getting back to me.

Checkmed & my local police station have both said the phone is NOT lost or stolen. Is there a way i can provide you with the IMEI number in a private chat so you can confirm if the phone has, indeed, been listed as lost/stolen, or if this is a mistake ?

I managed to get hold of the person who sold it to me on the phone, but he now claims he "sold it for a friend and had no idea it was blocked". He offered to "meet me in a pub" so we could both "go see his friend".... Needless to say, Im somewhat reluctant to do this. 

[BandOfBrothers]

I'm not sure why the person is asking you to visit them along with an unknown person @shadowseed 

Meeting someone in a pub wouldn't resolve this situation. It could also put you in a bad situation in regards to safety. 

The person contacting Vodafone UK and requesting the removal would be the remedy here. 

I appreciate what Checkmend is showing you but please take into account this is only basic info and not always 100% accurate. 

They give guidance only.

The important part of the info is that its blocked..

Vodafone UK wouldn't engage with you over this no matter how much info you try to pass to them.including the checkmend report or phones serial / imei number.

I truly appreciate you've paid good money for the phone but unless the original owner is going to phone Vodafone and remove the block that's where this will end I'm afraid.