emei number

[Broux22]

I purchased a used cell phone and checked the emei number when I purchased it and was fine. It worked for almost a year before it was blacklisted and now it is useless. I saved up in order to purchase this phone. It is my only link to the world I live out in the bush. What can I do? Can anyone give me suggestions. It was a bell phone and I used it through public mobile. I can not contact the person I purchased it from. It feels unfair that a year later it was blacklisted.

[computergeek541]

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@Dunkman wrote:

Sorry to hear about your situation. 

Unfortunately, that is the risk of purchasing an used phone.  It is a story that we hear from time to time.  Scammers.  

There is no point contacting Public mobile customer service since PM does not sell phone vendor and can't help the situation.  Maybe Bell customer service, if you can prove that you purchased it used.  Name of person, id, proof of purchase, or receipts might help your case.  Otherwise, you are likely out of luck. 

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The only way that Bell would help might be if they are the ones who initiated the blocking of this device and if they did it for account payment issue. While they aren't supposed to use the national blacklist for that purpose, they actually have done that.  I read about one case where a customer filed a CCTS complaint and Bell ended up replacing the device for the customer.  The national blacklist is intended to be used by customers to report lost or stolen devices, and occasionally by carriers for situatiosn of devices stolen from warehouse or retail store, and not for billing disputes between the customer and carrier.

[softech]

@Sansan ?? I  tagged the OP wrong but now I fixed that.  thanks

[Sansan]

@softech  see original poster.

[softech]

sorry @fixin , PM won't be able to help at all if it was not blacklisted by them

Also, only the person who reported Lost/Stolen can reverse it.   Bell won't take the request from anyone else to remove it

And usually, the carrier could be the one putting it on the blacklist because the of unpaid bill (yes, some people argue carriers should not have the right to do it, but this is what they are doing)

So @Broux22  unless the original seller willing to help, look like you need to buy a new phone.  Remember to buy from a trusted source. Marketplaces (including places like Bestbuy marketplace, Walmart marketplaces) could be dangerous.  

[KCL10]

Sounds like your phone was possibly reported stolen and Bell or phone company locked up the IMEI. Like other said, not much you can do. 

[Dunkman · Accepted solution]

@Broux22 

Sorry to hear about your situation. 

Unfortunately, that is the risk of purchasing an used phone.  It is a story that we hear from time to time.  Scammers.  

There is no point contacting Public mobile customer service since PM does not sell phone vendor and can't help the situation.  Maybe Bell customer service, if you can prove that you purchased it used.  Name of person, id, proof of purchase, or receipts might help your case.  Otherwise, you are likely out of luck. 

[Sansan]

I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately,  it is one of the risk you take when purchasing used items from a third party. 

Try saging agin and purchase one from a reputable or trusted establishment. 

Not much anyone can do if you can't reach the seller.

[fixin]

@Broux22 - It can be an issue, probably the person selling you the phone contacted a person who locks up IMEI's and it became incompatible on all networks. Contact Bell to unlock it, and if it doesn't work, ask ChatBot here: 

⬇️Click the link for Public Mobile’s NEW ChatBot * ⬇️

https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html

If the ChatBot doesn’t help with it, contact CS_Agent here ** : https://urlshortner.tiia.ai/xYpc_I

* - This ChatBot may help you. If not, it’ll ask you to contact CS_Agent. ** - CS_Agent will typically get back to you within 48 hours.  You will be required to login to your Public Mobile Community Account to contact CS_Agent. Once you are finished making the ticket with CS_Agent, please ensure that you monitor for an agent because they may notify you asking for some information via Private Message, in your mailbox by clicking this link here: Messages