Registering a phone, that has already been registered.

[J-Sauce]

I have seen a lot of people wondering if purchasing a used phone on ebay was a good idea, because they were unsure if the registration process would easily allow a pre-registered phone to be switched over to a new number. Below is my story dealing with this situation:

I purchased my iPhone the day after it was released through ebay. Apparently the previous owner could not get their email account running. When I received the device, I plugged it into my iTunes, and a message showed up showing the previous owner's device name, the serial number, software number, and the phone number the phone was previously registered under.

After talking to ATT, they transferred me to Apple.

Apple customer care reps are separated into tiers. Tier 1 only have access to so much information and data. I asked him if I could just switch out the sim cards with my treo and turn the iPhone service on through ATT. He told me that was not possible because the sim cards were different, but he couldn't be certain because this was his first ebay case. After talking with him for about 10 minutes, (during which time he indirectly accused me of stealing the phone. Later i heard him in the background saying something about how "I guess it all looks legit as far as I can tell".) He realized that he was not going to be able to change the required info himself.

He transferred me to Tier two, where the rep immediately told me to switch out the sim cards and plug my phone back into itunes.

I then went through the setup just as if the phone was brand new.

So to clear it all up, dont worry about buying a phone through ebay. Just pop it your own ATT card, or a blank card you can get from ATT for free, and youre ready to go.

Hope this clears up some confusion.

[jjvaldez]

wish that i knew this before... i would have just bought the phone from ATT and used my own sim card that i already had... i was on month to month then they got me for another 2 yrs.. damm them ....

[J-Sauce]

Originally Posted by jjvaldez

wish that i knew this before... i would have just bought the phone from ATT and used my own sim card that i already had... i was on month to month then they got me for another 2 yrs.. damm them ....

When you go through the activation process on iTunes, you still are required to add a 2-yr contract.

I was on a 2yr before and just ended up in april. I've been on month-to-month since then.

Until last week. :-/

[AngelJO008]

that's good to know if I ever want to buy another phone, I'll still be able to sell my iphone (which won't happen anytime soon!! )