BlackBerry® Curve™

[canUhelpME]

i made the mistake of purchasing a used 8330 that i planned on using with a prepaid carrier - metro PCS - and i did so without any thought about it not working. it is a previously owned SPRINT phone, and of course, the sprint reps are firm in telling me i am out the cash and out of luck, and not much else. all they would tell me is its not lost or stolen, just whoever initially activated it still owes a balance.

metro pcs would love to sell me a NEW 8330, but have no means to reprogram this thing for their system..

*they do so for several other carriers equipment, as i watched a metro customer get a used SAMSUNG Instinct from sprint activated on their system, and the metro rep laughed and told me "resell it and get one of THESE" as he made a test call on the SPRINT instinct*

ok, i made a dumb mistake, and can accept that. however, i am not going to do what was done to me, nor do i wish to just give up, so my question to this company and their dedicated staff and community: canUhelpME? is there a solution, or a way to have this serviced so it can be used and loved and adored, as so many of you folks do? i'm hopeful, but not afraid to be told "NO" as i am married, and understand that concept fully.

ESN number: 07602128886

Pin:[removed personal information]

 thanks, in advance.

Message Edited by dany_s on 07-24-2009 06:13 PM

[kijanasmart]

Unfortunately with CDMA technology the phone cannot be unlocked to another carrier. The phone has an ESN that is registered to a particular carrier and they probably won't release this ESN to another carrier, especially when there is money owing on the phone's account. It is not like with GSM phones where you just can unlock it to run on any GSM network, insert a SIM card and you're good to go. Sorry you had to learn this the hard way! Also, I'm not sure if any carrier would give you a blackberry data plan on a prepaid plan. If you don't plan to use the phone's web browsing and email features then you are better off with a regular cell phone anyway. If you still plan to get a full blackberry data plan then most carriers will offer a blackberry at a reasonable discount for signing onto a contract.