[pa-c]

So I purchased my Pearl from an EBay dealer. When I got it I called Sprint and turned on the phone and the BB plan. Seemed to have a problem with the BB pin. I called tech support the next day. We were on the phone for 20 minutes with BB and me on a three way call. They said there was a problem with the pin and they can not elaborate any more. The Sprint rep told BB that she had a list of 200 more with the same problem. He took my e-mail and said they would contact me. I called the seller and she said she sold 190 units and there were 8 others with the same problem. She was gong to replace it for me but the new ones from her vendor had the same problem. She offered to refund my money. I just got an e-mail from BB that said the pin is stolen and they will "never" turn the unit on. The woman who sold me the phone had the same question as I do, how can the BB pin be stolen but not the phone? Sprint said the phone ESN is fine and not stolen.

[anon(153966)]

Obviously they have only registered the PIN as stolen and not the IMEI. Pin numbers are specific to a device, so in essence, if the PIN is stolen, so is the same said IMEI...

Sorry you went / are going through that. I say just get a new BlackBerry from your carrier...

[orle8050]

Wow, what a story.

I would agree. Always get a Blackberry from the carrier, even if it is a little more expensive.

[rbwaters]

I have a somewhat unique perspective on this issue.
I've worked for Sprint/Nextel for over a year now doing troubleshooting for Nextel blackberries in the beginning and, more recently, the Sprint phones, Blackberries and Treos.
This specific issue is a RIM issue. Even if you bought a Pearl from Sprint there is a chance that it would've been labeled lost/stolen when you bought it.
Most commonly people experience that the voice works just fine but the data doesn't work and they call in and we discover this issue.
It's being worked on, though, and we have a person who's designated to deal with the issue (we send him an email and he deals with RIM on the issue is what I understand to be the case).
The good news is it's known about and being dealt with.

[orle8050]

I have a somewhat unique perspective on this issue.
I've worked for Sprint/Nextel for over a year now doing troubleshooting for Nextel blackberries in the beginning and, more recently, the Sprint phones, Blackberries and Treos.

I guess an off topic interesting question is that you work for Sprint and have a Verizon phone?

[DJDynasty239]

I guess an off topic interesting question is that you work for Sprint and have a Verizon phone?

Everybody in our mall down here (I work for a Verizon Retailer) has Verizon, T-Mobile sales people, AT&T, Alltel, and Sprint...they all use Verizon, it's funny especially when customers ask to see what phones they are carrying

[The SPCS Guy]

That's some crazy mess. As I said on the other forum, when you originally posted this, get your money back ASAP! Why stick with something that you'll never be able to fully use?

JE

[anon(153966)]

I guess the reason I said to get devices from the carrier is because in a case like this, they would replace it INSTANTLY, no questions asked...

[Hydrogen]

Just and FYI on how this usually happens, having dealt with this type issue many times.

I worked for a large company, that would replace BlackBerrys every 1-2 years for all employee's, our office had 1,250 employee's.

So instead of everyone going to the local Verizon store, BB sent us a "wholesale" shipment on behalf of Verizon. Well twice, we had shipments have missing BB's and would notify BB. Verizon did not seem to care, but BB made us fill out all sorts of "Missing Item" crap. On one occasion, we got a call almost 6 months later stating that they found some of our lost BB's being sold online, and we had to re-verify we did not receive them, and file a police report.

We later found it was common practice for crooks to just skim a few off the top of wholesale shipments, and try to sell them before the "missing" reports were filled. The BB rep told me that they have a really hard time with BB's that are sent to govt. facilities, because they are usually stored for a few months before the govt. upgraded users devices, and lost of them go missing in those months of waiting.

[Wargear]

Very sorry to hear about your troubles with your new BB. This is a perfect example of why I never buy used phones or buy from a third-party. Get your money back asap. That is the first step.

ALLOT of foreign and US companies out there and running all kinds of mobile scams. A perfect example is Flycell. Never never never use anything they offer. Simple downloading a free ringtone from them triggers $9.00 charges on your next bill. You never get your free ringtone. No refund, you get nothing but new charge to your bill each month. Yep That's right, each and every month until you catch it.

I find it amazing that companies are getting away with such scams. It's very hard to explain how it works without educating another possible scammer. Do a search on Flycell scam and you will be amazed at what you read. Someone is scamming you simply by knowing your phone number, Not a name, address, nothing. No idea as to where you live or who you are.

Don't say to yourself, that's ok. You can just call your carrier and have them fix it. It doesn't happen that way and there is a 100% chance of never getting a refund in an form. Getting a refund isn't even a possibility. If you want to take your chance on luck, get a lotto ticket, you have a better chance at winning then getting a refund.

This brings me to my final suggestion. Find a BB community site such as Crackberry. bplay and handango and avoid other sites for your downloads. I know there are many legitimate companies out there but why take a chance? Everything related to my 8130 is right here on one trusted site.

Its disappointing to here how people are getting scammed. The only thing we can do is what we are doing here, and that is warning and educating people on how to avoid such things. So for that, I thank you for your post.

[jsanders]

Lesson learned, stay away from eBay for BlackBerry purchases unless you have asked all the proper questions and have complete faith in the seller.
Buying a BlackBerry off eBay - BlackBerryFAQ

[pa-c]

You know I change my phones like every 6 months. Yes, I do have a problem and am looking for a 12 step electronic toy program but until then, I am trying to deal with it on my own. Needless to say I buy most of my phones on EBay or from a third party dealer for about 1/2 the price that Sprint charges. I paid $306 for the Pearl including Priority shipping. I have never had an issue before. I guess there is always a first time for everything.

You know something interesting with my last phones (Motorola Q). I wanted two of them for me and my wife. I went to Sprint and they said I had a contract and they would not give me a deal. They wanted like $800 or $900 for two. I told them I would just drop their service and buy two new phones and then put the service in my wife's name. They didn't care. So I paid the early termination fee of $400 ($200 x 2) and then got two new phones form a third party dealer for 99 cents with a two year new customer sign on. They're not too smart at Sprint when it comes to common business sense are they?