bad ESN?

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 05:44 AM

WHAT does Bad ESN mean? how do I get my iPhone 4S to work on Sprint?

**dmilleville90** · 11-07-2011, 05:50 AM

A bad ESN is a bad electronic serial number. This means the phone has been marked as lost/stolen by the carrier and cannot be activated.

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 05:54 AM

and why won't they activate it?

**Gixxer07** · 11-07-2011, 06:34 AM

Umm. Did you read the full reply? Because it has been lost or reported stolen.

**sj-performance** · 11-07-2011, 08:11 AM

bad ESN you will never get it activated on Sprint. best bet is wait for jailbreak and full unlock to come out for iphone 4s and sell it so it may run att or tmo and international GSM

**cardfan** · 11-07-2011, 09:12 AM

I think it also means unpaid account. It's one of the headaches of dealing with Sprint. With GSM, you just pop in a SIM and go.

**verwon** · 11-07-2011, 10:52 AM

How on earth is there a 4S with a bad ESN, already? Wow!

And yes, it can also happen from an unpaid account.

Sent from my iOS ecosystem!

**sj-performance** · 11-07-2011, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by verwon

How on earth is there a 4S with a bad ESN, already? Wow!

And yes, it can also happen from an unpaid account.

Sent from my iOS ecosystem!

very popular tactic that sometimes works and not..order 2-3 lines...them have someone working for sprint to cancel lines for you. then you pay that person like 50 bucks p/line. he cancels line and puts in some special codes showing you returned phone when you didnt. then you sell a phone for 600+ when you got it for 200+. this has been going on for years. happens all the time on att sprint tmobile verizon. sometimes verizon sprint flags it and blacklists the ESN..which is why you have bad ESN's less than 1 month of phone being out

**GingerSnapsBack** · 11-07-2011, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by verwon

How on earth is there a 4S with a bad ESN, already? Wow!

And yes, it can also happen from an unpaid account.

Sent from my iOS ecosystem!

Someone stole your phone. You reported it. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would jump at the chance to list your stolen iPhone4S on eBay or Craigslist and make some fast cash.

**ame** · 11-07-2011, 11:58 AM

Or it was stolen or lost by someone who just bought it and the thief/person who found it sells on Ebay.

**kch50428** · 11-07-2011, 12:28 PM

Bad ESN can also happen when someone mail-orders a phone with an intent to sell at a profit and they don't bother to accept terms & conditions on their contract that allowed them to buy the phone at the subsidy price... if one mail-orders, they have to activate the phone in order to accept T&Cs... ESNs are "blacklisted" until T&Cs are accepted by the original purchaser.

**noaim** · 11-07-2011, 01:30 PM

No matter which way it happened the end result is the phone can't be activated

Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 02:40 PM

that is lame, why do people buy bad ESN phones or sell them?

**sj-performance** · 11-07-2011, 02:49 PM

because when unlocked...those phones are worth $$$$ for international GSM. take a 9930 for sprint brand new..it has a bad ESN...a tmo and att user can buy it and use it. or someone in international GSM can use it as all they do is pop a SIM in there. even though the ESN is blacklisted..the BB pin is not and therefore it works.

**Irish Rose** · 11-07-2011, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by ariellemerperle

WHAT does Bad ESN mean? how do I get my iPhone 4S to work on Sprint?

Originally Posted by ariellemerperle

and why won't they activate it?

I am not trying to be smart here, but if I had a phone that wouldn't activate due to a bad ESN I would be calling my wireless carrier and asking them why...... Just saying....

**sj-performance** · 11-07-2011, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Irish Rose

I am not trying to be smart here, but if I had a phone that wouldn't activate due to a bad ESN I would be calling my wireless carrier and asking them why...... Just saying....

why would you that? he bought the phone from someone on craiglist. the wireless carrier isnt liable for this..even if you call the carrier and ask why they will tell you lost or stolen and good luck getting it avtivated

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 03:15 PM

first of all I am not a dude, I am a chick, why people keep thinking I am a man? clearly Arielle is a woman's name. also I never said I bought it I saw a lot of bad ESN iPhone 4S' on eBay

**Irish Rose** · 11-07-2011, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by sjperformance

why would you that? he bought the phone from someone on craiglist. the wireless carrier isnt liable for this..even if you call the carrier and ask why they will tell you lost or stolen and good luck getting it avtivated

First I must have missed the part about her buying it on Craiglist, and that the phone was reported stolen and that is why it has a blocked ESN. Secondly, even if she did get it off of Craiglist, the fact that Sprint is blocking the ESN does not necessarily mean that the phone was stolen. I know Verizon blocks the ESN in cases where a bill hasn't been paid in a certain amount of time. They also unblocked the phone when the final bill was paid. I purchased a Verizon smartphone on eBay a few years ago with this being the case. I called customer care and was told that th e reason it was blocked was the original owner still owed $70.00 on their bill. I could have paid the amount to them, and they would have unblocked the phone so I could use it, however, I choose to dispute the purchase via PayPal instead for a full refund.

**Irish Rose** · 11-07-2011, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by ariellemerperle

first of all I am not a dude, I am a chick, why people keep thinking I am a man? clearly Arielle is a woman's name. also I never said I bought it I saw a lot of bad ESN iPhone 4S' on eBay

I thought I read your post correctly and didn't read anything about Craigslist. Just try to avoid bad ESN purchases and you'll be fine. They are nothing but a headache and aren't worth the few dollars that you'll be saving. As far as being called a dude goes, I get that a lot even with the name of Rose, so I would just let it roll....

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 03:26 PM

sorry I hate being called a dude and I would never buy a bad ESN iPhone

**cardfan** · 11-07-2011, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by ariellemerperle

sorry I hate being called a dude and I would never buy a bad ESN iPhone

Though i could see you selling one

**ariellemerperle** · 11-07-2011, 05:42 PM

well my friend found a Samsung android 4G we might sell it

**Lesawags** · 11-07-2011, 05:56 PM

Why would he sale it if it was found?? That's the reason a lot of people never get their phone back. That's making money from someone's lost property. That's not cool. How would you feel if someone found your iPhone?? You'd hope to get it back. Tell your friend to do the right thing, and the good karma comes to you.

**ame** · 11-07-2011, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Lesawags

Why would he sale it if it was found?? That's the reason a lot of people never get their phone back. That's making money from someone's lost property. That's not cool. How would you feel if someone found your iPhone?? You'd hope to get it back. Tell your friend to do the right thing, and the good karma comes to you.

You answered your own question. There are TONS of people who could care less about "good karma" and are more concerned with making a buck on someone's misfortune.

**noaim** · 11-07-2011, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by ariellemerperle

first of all I am not a dude, I am a chick, why people keep thinking I am a man? clearly Arielle is a woman's name. also I never said I bought it I saw a lot of bad ESN iPhone 4S' on eBay

keep in mind user names often mean nothing... we dont know if thats your name or something you made up. I personally try not to assume someones sex but you have to remember we wont know by a user name alone most the time..