I have a One S as a paperweight (IMEI number blocked)

[Ryandroid86]

just curious... have you tried to unlock the phone using the forums in XDA? i know this changes some stuff around possibly allowing you to use the phone. its worth a try. all the steps you need is on there website

 

[ryandt220]

Hopefully you've figured out something with your problem, but I thought I'd clarify a few things. The IMEI blocking has always been a very common thing for years with Verizon and Sprint, and very commonly related to unpaid bills. T-Mobile and At&t have always had the capability as well, but have only recently been enforcing it more.

The HTC One S (specifically for T-Mobile) is compatible with At&t 3G, as well as all GSM carriers in Canada, as this is one of the few T-Mobile phones that has the 850mhz and 1900mhz bands that are compatible with them. The phone also has the standard 1700/2100mzh bands that T-Mobile has always used. This version of the phone does not have the 900mhz, which is commonly used in Europe and Asia.

You can get the phone unlocked from the T-Mobile network for $5-10 by searching on places like eBay.

I don't know what T-Mobile's policy is on IMEI blocking, but it would seem like they would be more lenient on unblocking the phone once they have sold off the unpaid balance to a creditor.

While I do understand your frustration on this, you have to realize that the carriers do this because they take a loss on phones by selling them to the customer at a cost that is way below what the carrier paid for them, with the intentions of recouping the loss over the course of the contract. If I had my phone stolen, I would definitely want them to block the IMEI, which they can do. If I thought I could still use something that I hadn't fully paid for, I would expect to be blocked for that too.

 

[joe check]

Hi all
Just to let everyone how hard it was for me I felt so sick that I had to go to the hospital.
I am disabled in an electric wheelchair and it took me two years to save this money because I live on 750.00 a month
plus I had went to a so called T-Mobile store it was a third party T-Mobile as I found out later in tamps Florida and bought two Samsung galaxy s5.
In Less than a month, they started not connecting to metro pcs both phones.
Therefore, I call metro pcs and finally the metro pcs employee said that T-Mobile put a block on the imei numbers and I would have to call T-Mobile and to ask T-Mobile to take the block off.
Therefore, I called T-Mobile and that said that I was out of luck and that I should have bought it from a T-Mobile store I said it had your T-Mobile sign on the window.
Then T-Mobile said that the store was a third party store and they were not going to help me with this matter of the blocked imei numbers.
In addition, T-Mobile told me the phones had reported lost or stolen at T-Mobile on 11/14/2014 and that the block was put on 03/25/2015 and I bought these phones on 03/08/2015 what jerks.
Therefore, the 900.00 plus taxes dollars I spent plus taxes was for nothing but paperweights because that is what I have thanks to T-Mobile.
Because I heard of this happing and before I paid the store, I checked each imei number with swappa.com/esn and T-Mobile ant the time of sale on 03/08/2015 and they all said that the imei numbers were all good bull****.
I did everything right and I still got screwed up the **** by T-Mobile because they did not do their job when it happen the lost or stolen report and should have block the imei number back on 11/14/2014 and I would have not been this mess.
I tell you these phones were brand new I looked over them real good so who ever said that they lost or got them stolen would have used them first you would think that's what I would when I get a phone I use it.
these phone were never used at all no marks on them or a scratch and you know something happens when you first buy one we all have done it drop it once or twice.
I think who ever report the phones lost or stolen had to be in on it or the store that I bought them from with the owner.
the store I went to buy these phones at will not return my calls or answer the phone when I call them I want to burn there store down and hope there in the store at the time.
I am disabled in an electric wheelchair and it took me two years to save this money because I live on 750.00 a month so I had to rob peter to pay Paul to save all that money they stole from me that is actually, what they did to me.
I know someone is going to say that we you should have done this or that but I think we did pretty well I guess.
looking up everything even though it was a so called T-Mobile store I felt I should go the extra mile because of how hard it was to save the money and if best buy had the same price I would have ran the imei number also.
because Best Buy sell used stuff and open boxes as new and for the new prices I have seen it and have bought stuff and had to bring it back because of that same reason.
If anybody can tell me how to get my imei number fixed so I can use these phones with metro pcs I would appreciate it very much
I hope this will help someone out there.
Thank you very much for hearing me out Joe

 

[dpham00]

I am truly very sorry about your situation. Unfortunately, you can not legally fix the imei. I am sure that you don't want to end up in jail,and pay for legal expenses, which would probably cost more than the cost of the phones.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4

 

[dpham00]

Also, consider entering the zen phone 2 competition. If you explain your situation, there's a chance you will win.

Reminder: 15 of you are going to win an ASUS ZenFone 2, and there's still time to enter! http://www.androidcentral.com/remin...in-asus-zenfone-2-and-theres-still-time-enter

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4