Buying Used Tbolt

[dms76]

So I was thinking about buying another tbolt of craigslist. I assume it should work if I just swap the sim card and can place phone calls or should I call Verizon and give them the IMEI #?

 

[project.in.process]

BEFORE any money swaps hands or you verbally agree to purchase the Bolt,
just in case you may have overlooked it:
1) meet at a VZW corporate store
2) have a sales rep confirm the ESN is clean (no bills owed on the account presently owning the phone) (this will negate the phone call to provide the IMEI)
3) confirm the SIM card works in the slot (it might work in your phone, but their SIM tray might be jacked up & need repair)
4) confirm the water damage indicator is not removed & there is no evidence of tampering
i believe you must confirm the phone isn't tied to another person's account before you swap the SIM to enable your account on the device.
for all you know, this other person hasn't deactivated the phone from his/her account--you buy it--never see the person again and you aren't able to use the phone.
could be wrong--please feel free to correct if so.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

Sounds like good advice and yes make sure the phone was deactivated from the persons account otherwise you will be stuck with a phone you can't use or never will until its removed. One reason Verizon does this is in case the phone is stolen. It will never be able to be activated until the owner of the phone clears it from their account.

 

[dms76]

I was going to call verizon while I had the phone and ask them to check the ESN. I figured since I already own a bolt I could swap the sim and do a test call and data check. Sim's are interchangeable so this should be one way to tell. I hadn't even thought about water damage thanks for the reminder! It is probably safer to call or go to a corporate store just to verify the phone.