[Sherman Logan]

If anybody has suggestions on how to deal with this situation, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thanks, Sherman

[A_perfect_lady]

I wonder if this was a stolen phone you bought.

[Delta 21]

Isn’t that like trying to bypass the gubmnt mandated safeties on your new lawn mower?

[Gay State Conservative]

Although I'm with Verizon I've read that a good number of phones sold on ebay are stolen or have unpaid balances associated with them.It's my understanding that the carriers keep a master list of all such phones and if an attempt is made to reactivate,or “unlock”,them the request is denied.

[logi_cal869]

You don’t mention the model #, but there are videos on Youtube of performing the unlock.

Corollary to the other comment, I too wonder if your phone was stolen.

ATT: Another company, like GM, I wish would evaporate. Their customer service hasn’t changed...ever. I hear someone say ‘AT&T’, cringe, tell them why and EVERYONE just rolls their eyes in denial.

I’m telling you my story now as you asserted, sarcastically, a willingness to do business with them:

I had AT&T mobile phones years ago with my business. They came with a one-year contract. AT&T was the last of my research, as all others I was interested in at the time had 3-year contracts.

I year later I had already decided to go Nextel, awaited the 1-year date, waited a week and called to cancel the account. The ‘customer service people’ (including the supervisor I asked for/spoke to) asserted I still had another 2 years. They first claimed I acknowledged that in the purchase and that it was on my receipts. I’m a businessman: I save ALL receipts/paperwork. It was NOT on the receipt. Years later I still occasionally get another collection company letter that bought the debt (all over $62.00). It simply wasn’t worth the legal hassle to go to court as it never affected me credit-wise, business or personal. But having spoken to other former AT&T users that experienced the same, it seemed ‘standard business practice’ for AT&T.

Anything branded with AT&T is radioactive in my book.

Just fyi.

But, of course, some here at FR would assert that all radioactivity is not dangerous and critique my comment, but they can pound sand...

Good luck with the phone, but I wouldn’t bet any $$ it’ll work, but I found this forum

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2461288

If the unlock works, please post a thread under General/Chat about how you did it with pertinent keywords. I would LOVE it if more business ran away from the horrible company...

[TheCipher]

Now, if all else fails and you have nothing to lose, you can try flashing the ROM. The risk with that is if you don't do it correctly, you will brick the phone. Here is a forum on the procedure for your phone:

Procedure

[jimmyray]

Return the phone to the eBay seller, secure your refund, and buy an unlocked phone.

[willyd]

Look on craigslist for cell phone unlock... cell phone store owners that have accounts with ATT have unlock privileges if their accounts are old enough. They can get it done automatically. They charge anywhere from $5 to $50 for this service... you should be able to find it for $5.

[coon2000]

Who are you wanting to get service through?

[reg45]

caveat emptor

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Too bad you aren’t in my little part of Europe. You can take any phone to any pawn shop and they’ll crack it for you (or jailbreak it) for about $10.

I know in Sonnenalle in Berlin, there’s tons of electronic shops and internet cafes where they’ll do it as well.

Oh, and if you’re phone gets stolen in the Czech Republic? Wait about 20 minutes, and you’ll find it in a pawn shop for sale. If you can prove it’s yours - i.e., you have the IMEI written down - they’ll give it back to you.

[Jonty30]

There should be a business or two in your are that would be willing to unlock it for you for a small fee.

[Sherman Logan]

Thanks to All for your input.

[ConservativeMind]

You likely bought a stolen phone. I found that two I had bought were stolen, with one that still had the original owner's phone number in it. I called it and got a lady who told me it had been stolen almost a year earlier and she had reported that, making the ESN “bad.”

Both were returned under the Ebay/Paypal guarantee and I was only out the money for return shipping.