Buying old contract phone.

[Rachelle87]

I’m considering buying an old o2 contract phone for my son. But putting a payasyougo o2 sim in it. I am wondering if they still IMEI block. My worry is I buy it from this person. That they may still have a contract going, however that they could stop paying it once I’ve bought it and then o2 nah IMEI block the phone.

[madasaf1sh]

@Rachelle87

o2 used to block IMEI's if a contract is taken out by fraud, or if the first months bill isnt taken.
You can check if the phone is blocked by getting the IMEI and checking on https://www.checkmend.com/uk/consumer/report it does cost £1.99 but it is worth it for piece of mind. If you buy from CEX etc this should have already been done...

[Bambino]

@Rachelle87 If you don't know the person, i.e. like it's an eBay purchase, it's probably not the best of ideas. There are lots of inexpensive sim free phones to be had on Amazon, or if you wanted, a used phone from CEX, that you'd be sure of them not having blocking issues. You can put an O2 PAYG sim in any of them without the worry. 

[bigdavie88]

Thats always a risk when buying a 2nd hand phone as you dont know for sure where the phone originated from. It could already be IMEI blocked as may be a reported lost/stolen device etc.

There is nothing stopping them reporting the phone as lost once they sell it to you at a later date but this wouldnt be any benefit to them unless they are trying to do an insurance claim which would then be fraud. The o2 fraud team would probably catch that though but depends on where they have insurance.

I would buy from a trusted source just to be sure but its up to you.

[Rachelle87]

It’s someone I know.

But I’m more concerned about them not continuing to pay their bill.

[Bambino]

@Rachelle87 If you buy from a reputable source you eliminate the worry and anxiety, but in the end the decision is ultimately yours.

[bigdavie88]

O2 dont bar a handset for unpaid bills. IMEI bars are for lost/stolen phones.

They bar the sim when the bills unpaid.

[Rachelle87]

Well that was going to be another question.
I know on my account that I pay a device plan and airtime plan separately. If I’ve paid off half of my device plan, but suddenly stop, and they blocked my IMEI because of that, they’ve ruined the phone and therefor what have I paid for?

But on the other hand I have heard stories of people buying phones that have been IMEI blocked because the owner hasn’t paid the bill. Which is what was worrying me.

[bigdavie88]

As I said before o2 dont bar a handset if the device plan is not paid or goes behind in payments.

They restrict only the ability to use the sim not the handset.

Buying a 2nd hand phone on either ebay or gumtree etc comes with a risk obviously as network barred/IMEI bars are rife due to the amount of mobile phones that are stolen/lost.