Bad ESN

**jonathanm1978** · 09-20-2011, 01:51 PM

I have an Optimus that I bought from Ebay that has an ESN that's "tied to an account" according to rep..they wont tell me if there's a bill or not..but say they can't put it on my account until it's released...

I have a katana, and an LG Lotus that have clear ESN's..is there a way to get one of those and put on this Optimus?

**bbsadaj** · 09-20-2011, 02:02 PM

no the esn is tied to a specific phone. you have to get ahold of the seller, if it's not stolen of course.

**jonathanm1978** · 09-20-2011, 02:08 PM

It's not stolen...I'm out 130 bones because of this phone, and I get it in to find out that it's tied to an account. The ebay listing said the phone was Brand NEW...but the ESN shows that it's been activated on an account..whether used or not. At least it has ZVD on it..make it muich easier to get root and custom roms...once I DO get a response from my eBay email I sent the seller..and they call sprint.

**jstntp** · 09-20-2011, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by jonathanm1978

It's not stolen...I'm out 130 bones because of this phone, and I get it in to find out that it's tied to an account. The ebay listing said the phone was Brand NEW...but the ESN shows that it's been activated on an account..whether used or not. At least it has ZVD on it..make it muich easier to get root and custom roms...once I DO get a response from my eBay email I sent the seller..and they call sprint.

Good luck to you my friend, cell phones from ebay are notorious for having this issue. You might get a refund if the seller is cooperative.

**bbsadaj** · 09-20-2011, 02:13 PM

well there are two reasons a phone has a bad esn, stolen or nonpayment of account, and this is done by the manufacturer. i'd get ahold of ebay also.

**sfhub** · 09-20-2011, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by jonathanm1978

It's not stolen...I'm out 130 bones because of this phone, and I get it in to find out that it's tied to an account. The ebay listing said the phone was Brand NEW...but the ESN shows that it's been activated on an account..whether used or not. At least it has ZVD on it..make it muich easier to get root and custom roms...once I DO get a response from my eBay email I sent the seller..and they call sprint.

Are you sure it's been activated?

The reason I ask is because when new phones ship from Sprint online, most of the time they are tied to an account (but not activated) to prevent fraud or prevent the phone from being activated in case of mis-shipment. The seller usually needs to activate the phone once on their account (not even needing to turn on the phone) before it can be activated on a different account. Instead, they could also call in and ask for the association with their account to be removed because they are giving the phone to a friend. It may take a couple of calls to find someone who knows what to do.

That is my guess as to what is happening, but it could also be as you suspect and something is not quite right.

I would get more information before jumping to conclusions though.

**Jessicalt1** · 09-20-2011, 03:43 PM

File a dispute with Paypal and your bank. You can't swap the ESNs. Good luck.

**jonathanm1978** · 09-20-2011, 05:27 PM

the guy I bought the phone from received my email that I sent, and he immediately called my house phone..

VERY apologetic, said he hadn't done that before (sold a phone) and he would call Sprint as soon as he got off from work at 6pm (Miami time)..so I should have a clean ESN in the next few minutes and have my working phone back.

There are some good people still left in the world...thankfully.

**jonathanm1978** · 09-20-2011, 06:48 PM

I was given the instructions by Sprint to edit my MDN and phone number..but that doesn't work in custom rom.

What are my options??? I need ot activate my phone..and cant do it with the menu and using dialer to ##234348# .....

**basketthis** · 09-20-2011, 08:01 PM

IIRC, you can use a froyo based rom and it will work....

Also, ATTN: DEV

**jonathanm1978** · 09-21-2011, 04:51 AM

I was running Cm7 and it's kernel..but when I tried to edit the MDN and phone number using the master subsidy lock code, hitting the last # key would do nothing. I returned to Reborn with it, and tried the code.worked fine.

Also, the ATTN: DEV thread has nothing to do with this one, two separate phones, two separate questions regarding devices that are different. In fact, after Sprint said they wouldn't swap the phone from Ebay seller to me, they actually DID swap it once we both spoke to Sprint via webchat and I gave them the account PIN for the guy I got the Optimus from. Pretty trusting that the guy gives me his account pin, but what can I do with it..not that I would want to anyway..he really helped me out.

**Jessicalt1** · 09-21-2011, 08:10 AM

You never know. I had someone just try to hack my Sprint account... for what reason, I don't know...

**blackops1125** · 09-21-2011, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by Jessicalt1

You never know. I had someone just try to hack my Sprint account... for what reason, I don't know...

How you fine that out? Just wondering so I can watch for that too.

sent from my CM7/Reborn w/ 1 Gb internal storage Optimus S

Always happy to help, hit that thanks button if I did