Blocked IMEI fixed!

This isn't "fixing" a bad IMEI. The original IMEI is still blocked. The new motherboard has a different IMEI, and he one you got isn't blocked. This "fix" is years and years old. (About as old as blocking IMEIs or ESNs is.)

John Jason said:

I bought my Note 3 on Craigslist back in January. The IMEI was clean, and T-Mobile told me it was not being financed. On June 1 T-Mobile blocked the IMEI leaving me with a brick. Apparently T-Mobile lied, it was being financed and it later went into arrears.

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In other words, the phone was either stolen, or the previous owner stopped paying on a contract they had with T-Mobile for some other reason?

Evidently, johpjackson, that doesn't matter to some people.

John Jason said:

Of course the old motherboard still has a blocked IMEI. That's why Joe re-sells them outside the US where it doesn't matter.

"T-Mobile told me my only solution was to buy a new Note 3 from them because the phone could not be repaired. That was the second lie."

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To the OP, I'm glad you got your fix but I have to agree with Rug- what you got was a new phone. The original IMEI is still blocked.

They did not lie to you. You're using repair & fix out of context. The phone was not broken.

Stories like this are why I refuse to buy a phone second hand. There are too many people out there looking to make a quick buck and will scam you. I'm glad the issue got resolved, but this is a story that comes up way to frequently on these forums. Buyer beware indeed.

John Jason said:

There are many varieties of English. Meanings and usages are sometimes different. If you use 'fix' with a narrower meaning than I do, that is fine with me. But having said that, it is hard for me to imagine anything more trivial to argue about.

My purpose in posting here is to make three important points for people with a Note 3 to be aware of:

1) If your IEMI/ESN is blocked by your (U.S.) carrier, you do not have to throw the phone away or sell it for parts, as your carrier is likely to tell you (mine did). But, unlike most other phones, the Note 3 requires a motherboard swap.

2) Motherboard swaps for Note 3s are advertised by many, especially eBay, and I had good service from and can recommend Joe the Android Rooter.

3) If you are a T-Mobile customer, you cannot trust them if they tell you a phone is not being financed. In my case the lady on the phone from T-Mobile even had me read the IMEI of the Note 3 to her so she could "associate it with my account" (her exact words).

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The motherboard == the phone, essentially. So if you've got a phone that your carrier has banned from their network, what you're really saying is you need to swap the phone with someone else who's going to use it on a different network, because carriers might/probably don't swap notes on which user's devices they've banned. My take on the other replies that have been made here is that people are just trying to say that you make it sound like it's just an innocent technical problem, when actually, though it is that as well, there's the likelihood that the initial issue is someone did something unsavory to cause it, and the resolution you're supporting doesn't acknowledge that, it just ignores that - which could seem unsavory to some as well. Not that I'm saying T-Mobile or any of the other carriers don't do unsavory things either. Like, the rep telling you don't worry, when actually, somewhere on their end, they were either grossly incompetent or willfully blowing sunshine up your skirt. So, it's just a messy business all around

jhawkkw said:

Stories like this are why I refuse to buy a phone second hand. There are too many people out there looking to make a quick buck and will scam you. I'm glad the issue got resolved, but this is a story that comes up way to frequently on these forums. Buyer beware indeed.

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I was thinking the same thing which is why I never bought a used phone. If it didn't say brand new in box I wasn't interested.