Been offered a phone by a neighbour who's just gone bust. Likely hood is his contract has not been paid. I no he does have insurance so not worried about him doing a claim. But can airtime providers block a handset for unpaid bills ? Bit concerned that could happen ?
buying a second hand...
- Thread starter _Jimlad_
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Orange didn't.
They still charged me even though I cancelled my contract after the 18 months finished. They sent debt collectors after me for the 'unpaid' amounts and blocked my sim from receiving calls etc. The phone was fine however. It was a bb 9700 but it could be the same for all phones.
They still charged me even though I cancelled my contract after the 18 months finished. They sent debt collectors after me for the 'unpaid' amounts and blocked my sim from receiving calls etc. The phone was fine however. It was a bb 9700 but it could be the same for all phones.
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Caporegime
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if he has terminated the contract unlawfully then yes they will block the phone.
otherwise immigrants from the EU would be coming over here, taking out 10 different contracts and then when receiving them canceling the contract, to take back home to use.
this does work if you are from a country where a universal barring agreement has not been reached, like china, india, pakistan, africa, etc.
this is why a lot of stolen phones are never recovered because they are usually shipped to the other side of the planet as that is the only place they will work.
otherwise immigrants from the EU would be coming over here, taking out 10 different contracts and then when receiving them canceling the contract, to take back home to use.
this does work if you are from a country where a universal barring agreement has not been reached, like china, india, pakistan, africa, etc.
this is why a lot of stolen phones are never recovered because they are usually shipped to the other side of the planet as that is the only place they will work.
Caporegime
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it's his phone so long as he adheres to the contract, which he has not.
otherwise what is to stop someone who comes over here to study from poland and before going back taking out 100 contracts and then cancelling the direct debits once he has received them all? then taking them all to poland to sell on?
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As said he has broken the contract so they could claim the phone belongs to them. I would probably depend on how long the contract had to run as by 18 months the phone is paid off.
That's not the case at all. The phone is free! so it's yours. Your only paying for the line rental
I've done it in the past with phones4u not paid the bill because they were adding on loads of extras and i never paid the bill, never asked for my free phone back.
Who's to say people don't come over and rip off phone company's?
I'm pretty sure the above post is correct, the phone is either paid for or given free, it is not part of the contract, if you stop paying a contract they will not block the phone.
However you seem to be talking about them making a claim on insurance, if they claim the phone is stolen or lost then yes it can be barred.
However you seem to be talking about them making a claim on insurance, if they claim the phone is stolen or lost then yes it can be barred.
If they make a claim then yes your screwed. But if you have the box and some sort of receipt then I'm sure you could get it sorted out if you spoke to the police/phone company
People who steel phones don't normally have a box so i would have thought its pretty good proof you paid for it in good faith, plus you know his name and address
People who steel phones don't normally have a box so i would have thought its pretty good proof you paid for it in good faith, plus you know his name and address
Caporegime
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unless they stole the box
once a phone is barred, it's pretty much fubar, they would rather keep it barred and give the "original" owner a new one than unbar it.
basically i am being offered a Iphone5 with a broken screen for £100, which to me is a good deal, box and all included, i know he does not have insurance so not worried on that front, he's been quite honest. He has got into money problems, and not paid any line rental which is quite high considering the phone in question. he currently has no service due to unpaid bills. a PAYGO sim works fine, but my fear is and question, can the airtime provider vodafone at some point say enough is enough and bar the phone
Nopes airtime provider will not and cannot block the phone (unless requested by the owner/user for reporting it stolen/lost) -- I work in the trade and the phone is 'free' or has an upfront cost (yes it is made up in the contract cost etc but the credit check basically enables the provider to 'give' the phone to the user and charge for an airtime contract)
Turbo Edit : Did the seller get the phone from vodafone direct or a third party like cpw/p4u ?
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i do not know the answer to that as yet, but would not surprise me if he used P4U
does that make a difference ?
AFAIK it does not make a difference whether it is CPW or an operator.
You have paid for or been given for free a phone, anything else regarding payment of the bill is purely a debt collection procedure regarding the money owed for the contract.
You have paid for or been given for free a phone, anything else regarding payment of the bill is purely a debt collection procedure regarding the money owed for the contract.
The phone is not part of the contract. It is your (or in this case his) "free gift" as an incentive to take one of their airtime contracts.
Or at least that's the line they always use if you try and argue why they wont repair a phone out of warranty but still in contract.
Or at least that's the line they always use if you try and argue why they wont repair a phone out of warranty but still in contract.
It does make a difference looking online on Vodafone forums mods have suggested that Vodafone may eventually block the phone, I don't know how much truth is in that but that's from Vodafone's website.
http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-...lock-an-IMEI-for-bill-non-payment/td-p/852329
As far as CPW/P4U are concerned they won't have any interest in blocking that (as the phone is owned by the third party and the third party takes the hit)
My friend is currently with me who works for Orange and in the past has worked for Vodaphone and carphone warehouse. He says that no phone company will block the phone for any unpaid bills. It will only be blocked if the phone is reported lost or stolen. Even if you took out a new contract and didn't pay a single payment, all that would happen is the sim will be blocked from making outgoing calls and eventually incoming calls. You would also end up with a bad credit rating but at no point will the phone be barred/blocked.
I'd say go for the phone if you are happy with it
I'd say go for the phone if you are happy with it