Procedure For Resolving Bad ESN Transaction

[Diana Prince]

You've already heard the story a million times. I purchased a phone from ebay and once received learned the phone has a bad esn. I have read several "bad esn" posts but I have a few questions. How should I begin to resolve this issue?

I paid for the item through Paypal. The item cost less than $200. I have confirmed the ESN is bad. I have contacted the seller. The seller kept in contact with me throughout the beginning of the transaction i.e. returning emails, giving shipping receipt estimations. He has however, not responded to my questions concerning the ESN. (It has not been 24hrs since I contacted him regarding the bad ESN.) I want to do things by the book to help boost my opportunity for restitution or resolution so I have some questions:

I'm sure it's probably a scam but is it customary to give the seller time to respond to this issue, if so how much time?

Do I send the phone back to the seller? Do I contact both ebay and paypal? If so, will they ask whether I've attempted to resolve this issue?

I've read several posts that infer Bad ESN's are not necessarily unable to be cleared. Some suggest going into a Sprint store. There is one near me that I plan to visit. Has anyone else had success in getting a Sprint store to clear the esn?

I am prepared to chalk this up as a loss and a learning experience, but I want to be sure I've exhausted all possibilities. Thanks for your suggestions, criticisms, advice and support in advance.

[Romeo8Juliet]

Did you pay with Paypal? If so, file a dispute with them regarding the transaction - This will somewhat force them to respond. If not, perhaps you will just get your money back.

[BrettW]

firstly did the ebay ad promise a clean esn, if not then you may be SOL. if it did promise a clean esn file a claim through ebay and / or paypal

[knytphal]

However you go about attempting to get it resolve, I wish you luck.

Do you still have a link to the auction - I'm curious as to what it said.

[Diana Prince]

However you go about attempting to get it resolve, I wish you luck.

Do you still have a link to the auction - I'm curious as to what it said.

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts. The issue has been resolved. The seller cleared the ESN and the phone may be successfully swapped. Although the listing did not promise a clean ESN, communications with the seller prior to purchase did. At any rate I think threads like this are invaluable because they describe a procedure for resolving phone purchase/bad ESN issues. One of these threads should be a sticky since this a common issue. Thanks all for the support!

[PrincessPixie]

Congrats on getting it resolved!

[missdiva]

if it doesn't say it's bad, it is assumed to be usable - basically any 'flaws' have to be specified. I think most people don't realize the various things that block esn's exists - they are honest mistakes. (Doesn't mean they will all get fixed but I don't think every case is a scamming buyer)

Had one a few years ago where the seller owed like 2k...had no idea it would affect the new buyer... refunded me and told me to keep it b/c he felt so bad!