The last time I checked an ESN, they told me that the ESN was clear. However, when I tried to activate it, they told me that the ESN was bad. Why is that? I asked a friend and they told me that when Sprint customer service and reps do an ESN check, they don't really go through with a "trial activation" where they try to activate it to see if it's clear, instead they act on a list that isn't as up to date.
I once sold a phone to someone on ebay and they claimed the ESN was bad (even though it wasn't). They said they tried to activate it through customer service and got rejected. So I called in to see what the problem was. They told me there was no problem. So I told her to try again. She did and it worked fine the 2nd time. So I am not sure why the system rejects ESN sometimes even though they can be good. Your case might be something different though.
There are differet reasons why an ESN# would get rejected at the switch: It could be that you have a phone model that is no longer approved by the carrier, It could be that the ESN# has bee reported Lost/Stolen, therefore it's "tied". If an MVNO is trying to activate a SPRINT direct ESN#, it will also get rejected. The PRL on the phone maybe incorrect also causing rejection. For the most part these are some of the major reasons. Telscape.
Never heard of that one before. You mean the system is smart enough to know which PRL version is in a particular handset? Interesting.
Yeah, the whole bad esn thing was a pain. It's actually making me consider paying extra when I buy a new used cell such as or whetever site that gives me a history on the phone like PhoneHistory. Sounds a little silly, but a third party might help with my investment. I would rather do that then deal with another goddamn paperweight.
Hi Larry (Super Moderator), I appreciated you sending a "Thank You" note, especially form someone of your stature. Telscape
**update** I actually did a little more research and called a few friends who work in the industry. In Sprint's case, the most common reason for my situation is that there are two different databases for ESN checks. One database, which is commonly used by service reps, checks to see the account is cleared based on bills and payment status. However, the one people should be concerned about is the activation database, which is the database they use when they are doing a sort of "trial run" on the ESN to see if it can be activated. Basically, it's like a dry run. And unfortunately, there is a certain time delay between the two databases. The source I got this from is reliable, but I really wish he would give me more concrete proof like a flyer or a webpage or something. Damn, release forms...
Whatever did happen to PhoneHistory? I used to use that back when I was paranoid. Isn't it basically the same thing as CheckESN?
I called Sprint customer service twice today to check to see if an ESN was clear on their system. Both times they refused to do so unless you have an active line with them. They also made me wait 5 f\'n minutes before they told me that. What brought on that policy change and what is the thinking behind that? A few months back it was no problem for them to pop the numbers in and check to make sure a phone was clear on their system. I know of no other carrier that uses blacklists that had a problem checking that information out.
I think the key here is that you are not a customer or have an active line with them, since they would be researching this for someone that won't be activating the phone on their account. To me it frees up the Reps to handle the paying customers.
Hey, I was checking the ESN on a used phone which I intended to activate on the Sprint Network. And since they gave me (a potential customer) crap about it and spent more time trying to pressure me into setting up a phone, regardless of whether or not I had a phone, rather than actually helping me.
