Shadow Wolf Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hey folks. I have a question, and since everyone here is wildly intelligent and tech savvy , I figured this would be the place to ask. I'm on Verizon Wireless for cell phone service. Love the service, but I want a new phone, specifically a Palm Treo 700wx. I do NOT want the price tag Verizon is charging to buy it from them, a pretty 400 dollars. So the question is this: I can buy a Verizon Wireless Palm Treo 700wx off eBay for a little over 100 dollars. As long as I buy it from a business and confirm that it has coverage in my area, and the ESN number is clear, will Verizon give me any crap if I try to call and activate it? I already asked a Verizon rep this, and he gave me the expected answer, I should buy the phone from Verizon to ensure compatibility. That's not what I asked, I asked if it was possible. So have any of you bought cell phones off eBay, specifically Verizon, and do they give you any shit when you try to activate them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeCrusher Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 According to a search I did, it says: Log into your acct on verizonwireless.com (set one up if you don't have one), go to Equipment and Phones, hit Activate Phone and follow the simple instructions(enter the ESN, ya' know). Wait 5-10 minutes then do *228, option 1 from your phone to reprogram. You're done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po! Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 you might be able to find a phone shop that will activate it for you? or there might be ways to hack it yourself i've bought a phone off ebay.. but i'm not using verizon and with GSM you can just buy any unlocked phone and stick in your SIM card. i don't know how verizon's thing would work, but it's probably just punching in certain codes into the phone, which you might be able to find online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katsurugi Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 As far as I know, it's definitely possible. You just might have to pay an activation fee to Verizon. Just look out for shady cell phone dealers on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCT Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I used to work for Verizon Wireless, if that gives any credibility....make sure the ESN is clear, and you're good. Try to activate via the instructions EdgeCrusher posted, and if for whatever reason it doesn't work, a rep can do it. -DCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Just look out for shady cell phone dealers on eBay. QFE. Definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Yep, I checked the VZW site, and there's a field to enter an ESN and activate a phone, there's even an option to say you got it from another source besides VZW. So I bought one. Yay! I hope it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StandingInMotion Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Just make sure this doesn't happen to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWvOMEsFZH0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Legally, the defendant was in the right. Is she a fucking scammer? Yes. Is what she did illegal? No. And Judge bitchy-pants had no legal or even moral right to threaten her with a Social Services investigation. That would be grounds for a lawsuit against the judge and the court. (arm-chair lawyers telling me how wrong I am in 3, 2, 1...) Besides, the plaintiff should have thought about buying anything off of eBay to begin with. Even my mom knows about the old "photo of what you buy" trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Besides, the plaintiff should have thought about buying anything off of eBay to begin with. Even my mom knows about the old "photo of what you buy" trick. Don't remind me.... *shakes fist towards the heavens* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenobio Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Yep, I checked the VZW site, and there's a field to enter an ESN and activate a phone, there's even an option to say you got it from another source besides VZW. So I bought one. Yay! I hope it works. Very cool. I'm actually interested in doing exactly what you just did (I have Verizon as well) so I'd be interested in hearing how things turn out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 I'll post and let you know when it shows up and if it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Author Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Legally, the defendant was in the right. Is she a fucking scammer? Yes. Is what she did illegal? No. And Judge bitchy-pants had no legal or even moral right to threaten her with a Social Services investigation. That would be grounds for a lawsuit against the judge and the court.(arm-chair lawyers telling me how wrong I am in 3, 2, 1...) Besides, the plaintiff should have thought about buying anything off of eBay to begin with. Even my mom knows about the old "photo of what you buy" trick. Judge Judy and similar shows, they kinda don,t respect the laws they wanna enforce... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calpis Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Legally, the defendant was in the right. Is she a fucking scammer? Yes. Is what she did illegal? No. And Judge bitchy-pants had no legal or even moral right to threaten her with a Social Services investigation. That would be grounds for a lawsuit against the judge and the court.(arm-chair lawyers telling me how wrong I am in 3, 2, 1...) Besides, the plaintiff should have thought about buying anything off of eBay to begin with. Even my mom knows about the old "photo of what you buy" trick. I'm not claiming to be a lawyer but I was wondering if the fact that she posted false information about the product (Weight and dimensions of the phone rather than the weight and dimensions of the photo of the phone) hold any ground at all in this case? I enjoyed that clip because whether it was technically illegal or not, I felt justice was served. If you want to become an eBay scam artist then you gotta know that you're taking the risk of being caught, especially when you're that arrogant and you tell your victims on the phone the shit that her husband said (I know...assuming that the plaintiff's allegations were true) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Author Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Actually, she gave the specs of the product in the picture she was selling. If you buy a painting of a café in Paris, and you are told that this café is located at 123 French Street, you ain't gonna own the café. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calpis Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I'd argue that the difference is in what kind of specifics it gives. I'd think if the description included details like "1,000 sq ft, 3 stories, 2 bathrooms, granite tiling..." such as those were the kind of specifics shown in the cell phone auction, I'd assume (though I understand that I need to make sure for myself) that this auction would be for the cafe rather than a photo or even a painting of the cafe. I'm not saying it really matters in this case because it's done and over with now but the defendant was obviously a scam artist and that I'd rather have a scam artist get fucked in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Author Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 True, it was a scam, however, it was a legal one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 *sighs* Yes, it was a scam. Yes, it was an illegal one. Why? Because of the terminology the defendent used in the description of the item did not fully match the items sent. Even if it is true that the item description did say that the items being sent were photographs, the items themselves did not not meet the full physical description of the items (photographs) sent to the plaintiffs. What the defendent did was illegal, even if only on a technicality. Also, sure Judge Judy was derisive in her commentary. So was the defendent. Insulting and talking back to a judge is a pretty stupid thing to do as well. Even if she did sue Judge Judy for defamatory commentary, Judy would have equal grounds to sue her. However, Judy was definitely wrong about one this - scamming is a job. It just isn't an honorable one. I also find myself mystified by the verdict - $5,000 USD to be paid in damages (the maximum allowable in small court cases). That's in excess of $4,500+ USD to be paid for defamatory comments and the personal time required to seek compensation / due process. That seems a little excessive to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calpis Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 From what I hear, when you go on one of those Judge programs, the actual TV company pays for any damages at the sacrifice of having yourself be humiliated on public TV. My Mom was seeking to get money back from some girl that stayed with them and didn't pay rent for about 8 months and looked into going on Judge Judy, but decided not to when she found out that the girl didn't have to pay a cent back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 That's just plain sad. I always understood that there was that little "paid for their appearance" line, but didn't know it was to that extent. I just figured it was for having the guts to show up and get humiliated for their stupidity, but I didn't realize that there was no real justice there. I've always panned court TV as being a mockery of the justice system, but had no idea that it was that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 OK, I said I'd let you all know what happened when my phone got here, so here we go. First things first, Verizon activated the phone without even twitching, no problems whatsoever. I did have to modify my phone plan a tiny bit however. For one thing, I had to change my texting plan, because the one I had was specifically for non-smartphones. Don't ask me how, but ok. At any rate, the one I was on was 250 text messages a month for $5, I had to bump it up to 500 messages a month for $10, which I don't mind since I get Facebook updates from a lot of friends on my phone and I was coming close to 250 messages a month anyhow. The big question: do I have to have a data plan? Yes and no. Verizon offers two data plans as you click through the activation pages. One is unlimited data usage for $39.95 a month, which honestly isn't bad if you're gonna use internet on your phone a lot. The other plan, which I chose, is pay as you go data, for an initial cost of $0. Then I simply went into my phone's connection settings and deleted the connection for Verizon's BroadbandAccess, so my phone will never connect that way to download data. In other words, I have a data plan, but it's completely dormant and won't cost me a penny. So there you have it, I bought a 400 dllar phone off eBay for 147, and it's costing me 5 dollars more per month to use all the features I want on it. In other news, if you want a beautifully functional Smartphone/Pocket PC, I recommend the Treo. I could go on for hours about the awesomeness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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