Device software for BlackBerry®

[fsyed21]

Hi there all

Hope your well

Ive come to this forum in great desperation int rying to get my BB sorted.

My current network provider is Orange, and I recieved my first BB off them. Recently Ive had to buy a new BB as the old one had to be taken abroad by a relative. I assumed that my services would be the same all I had to do was pop in the sim card and update all my applications.

Now unfortunately it wasnt so simple. I bought the phone off ebay.co.uk and the phone was registered on a previous contract with Vodafone.

I rang up orange and asked them to send my services to the new BB but unfortunately they told me I had to ring up Vodafone and get them to release the services so that they can access my new BB and I can get my emails, internet and BB Messenger on there once again.

SO!

I rang up Vodafone only to be told that they cant do anything and that I have to contact the owners of Blackberry themselves. I rushed on to the internet to find a contact number, rang them up and they told me there was nothing they can do because Vodafone have locked the phone with all their codes or whatever it is that they do to make the phone exclusively theirs!

So then I rang up Vodafone again and the **bleep** wouldnt understand that I didnt need the Sim unlocked so I was put through to technical support. The guy at technical support told me that I needed to get in contact with the previous owner and find out the email address that was previously registered on the phone because for some reason their system was not telling them (How useless can they get?)

I was also told that if I cant get the previous details that was used on the BB then they would not be able to do anything about it and that would mean that my BB is practically useless to me if it hasn't got the normal BB features

I am oh so upset!

I emailed the previous owner of the BB but she doesnt seem to want to help me out

I refuse to believe that the system controls at vodafone are so rubbish that they cant trace the previous registered email address on this phone.. even after giving them the BB Pin and IMEI number...

Can someone please help me out as to how I can go about getting vodafone to trace the previous registered details on this blackberry or to just go ahead and delete them so when I speak to the next useless employee I can suggest which steps he takes.

Thanks in advance

[sdgardne]

Hi and Welcome to the Forums!

Well, you certainly do have some issues with this situation. But, from your post, it indeed sounds as if what you've been told is correct. BBs are all locked to their original carrier. The original carrier (not RIM, btw) holds the responsibility to provide unlock codes so that the BB can be used on a different carrier. Most will provide those to their current customers who are in good standing. Most will not release them to the next owner -- this is typically a fraud prevention technique I believe. Witness this situation...someone steals a BB from someone else, they want to use it on a different carrier...if the original carrier takes the word of the theif, then they are enabling fraud to be committed. So they tend to not do that. They require that original owner to authorize the release of the BB from their systems. I'm not calling you a theif -- I am merely pointing out that the carriers tend to err on the safe side.

So, all in all, it is the seller of the BB with which you should be upset...here are some references:

• http://www.blackberryfaq.com/index.php/How_do_I_unlock_my_BlackBerry%3F
• http://www.blackberryfaq.com/index.php/Buying_a_BlackBerry_off_eBay
• Steps to take before selling, or after buying, a previously owned BlackBerry smartphone

Good luck and let us know!