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Blocked IMEI = Lost or Stolen!?


I am the sole owner of this device from day one and never had it on another carrier. I have been with Cricket wireless for several years.

Just yesterday my IMEI number got blocked for supposedly being reported as Lost or Stolen. Spent near an hour with Chat and was basically told that the only way for an IMEI number to get blocked is to either call my carrier (Cricket) and request that my IMEI number be blocked or log into my account and report it there.

So I did no such thing and I am somehow blocked. They it can take 3 t o 5 days to get my phone unblocked. Further into the conversation I was told that it most likely a system glitch on their end. They said  that they could submit to have the IMEI unblocked but there was no guarantee that it would stay unblocked until the unblocked request went through which can take 3 to 5 days.

So my IMEI was unblocked for most of the day and then I get a TXT message saying, "Cricket here! We couldn't remove the device with IMEI ending XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX from Block list, since some requirements were not fulfilled." I replied, "What requirement are needed?" No response. So I hope back on with Chat only to be told that same thing over again.

If this was a system glitch then they should be able to un-glitch it. However, I am being told that the IMEI block list is a National List they no one carrier controls. So they can only submit a request to have the IMEI removed then wait 3 to 5 days. Wonderful!

This completely unacceptable!

Has anyone else had this issue with Cricket?

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Best answer by Marlena_Cricket 24 January 2020, 00:23

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My friend had that issue so he went on a site and had to pay 40 dollars to unblock his through a 3rd party service
Yes not only did I pay to remove my phone from a account I no longer wanted to be on with another individual but they let that individual blacklist my phone after I paid to have it removed and activated in my own account. Totally absurd and unacceptable. This should be reported and cricket should be sued for my trouble and inconvenience

I'm going through the same thing right now, except they didn't tell me it was a system glitch. Supposedly their advanced service department will call me on an alternate line "within 24 hours". 

Did you ever get this solved? Because im going through the same issue right now. Brought my unlocked phone from sprint originally now cricket is saying its on the blacklist which i verified with sprint and even apple and they both say its not soo im kinda just wondering if its just a glitch or I’ll never be able to use my phone with them?
I am dealing with the same issue right now and it has been almost a month now. I am hurt and totally frustrated and have been in tears. I talk from Asurion to Kricket everyday with no results and am still paying my bill for a phone that I am not able to use

Exact problem I'm having. Anyone contacted a class action lawyer?

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@jferrier Class action? Lol. A few people having an issue with a blacklisted phone is not a case for class action. In my experience phones are put on the blocklist for a few different reasons:

Domestic issue: You're fighting with someone else on the account/former account and they blacklist your phone. Not Cirkcet's fault. Work it out with that person.

The phone was claimed as lost or stolen and now the phone that was claimed is trying to be used after it was already replaced. Again, not Cricket's problem, you can't use the phone that was claimed lost or stolen because it was replaced with a new one.

Wrong IMEI is entered. Some phones have IMEI numbers that are 1 digit off and some carriers manually enter them when blocklisting leading to errors. Not Cricket's fault.

System issue. There is some glitch that leads to the system thinking that the phone is blocklisted. Could be Cricket's fault, but they should be able to fix it. 

There are a few other scenarios but these are the main ones. Contact their customer support and create a case. This should get to the bottom of whatever your issue is. 

im going through the same issue right now

We are going thru the same issue right now. No help online, thru customer service in the phone or in store. We are the only owners of these phone purchased online thru cricket. We have 4 phones that have been blocked. We were told to buy new devices. They are 3 months old and purchased brand new thru cricket. Absolutely ridiculous.
We are going thru the same issue right now. No help online, thru customer service in the phone or in store. We are the only owners of these phone purchased online thru cricket. We have 4 phones that have been blocked. We were told to buy new devices. They are 3 months old and purchased brand new thru cricket. Absolutely ridiculous.
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Hi @bmevers & thanks for posting on the Community Forum! We'd be happy to look into this matter for you. Please reach out to our Support Team on Facebook (m.me/cricketwireless) or Twitter (@cricketsupport) with the details of your issue. We're here to help! Thank you for being a part of the #CricketNation.

This same exact thing is happening to me right now! It’s so frustrating did you find a solution
This same exact thing has happened to me and it’s very frustrating.
yes

I am having that issue as we speak. I have spoken with spring, asurion and cricket they always come up with something different. I am bouncing from place to place and cricket won’t do anything, the phone has never been  reported lost or stolen.

Hello everyone! Apparently this is an ONGOING issue with Cricket~! I purchased a new LG k92 5G on January 4th. Upon receiving the phone it came with a sim card which was already active and the phone has been working fine up till 2 days ago when the phone was deactivated. When I logged into my account it said the device was reported as lost/stolen. I purchased it NEW from the website, so when I go into chat the rep said they had no idea why it was suspended at first but then tried to say I did a chargeback on the $25 dollar activation fee which is untrue. So they reactivated the phone. The next day its off again, I go into the local store and they connect to Cricket through chat, the person online told the store clerk that the phone was added to a Cricket blocklist but could give no explanation why.  

Now I am stuck with a $250 dollar paperweight and no explanation why its on their block list. The Cricket location had the online person open a ticket and said it would get looked into, SO if I did not happen to have my old phone laying around I would be without service (which has been paid for) till they decide to do something.

 

SO CRICKET WIRELESS ARE CROOKS, People are buying phones and they are being put on this block list (which has nothing to do with the blacklist) so their phones are useless.  I would say this calls for a class action lawsuit! So anyone that is looking into starting one I AM IN! 

I am having that issue as we speak. I have spoken with spring, asurion and cricket they always come up with something different. I am bouncing from place to place and cricket won’t do anything, the phone has never been  reported lost or stolen.

Same exact thing is happening to me right now. They tried to say someone reported it lost/stolen. Theres no reason to contact Asurion only Cricket

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Hello @godfella69 & @chiuitam and welcome to the Community Forum. Please contact our Support Team on Twitter @cricketsupport or on Facebook at m.me/cricketwireless for assistance. We’re here to help!:hugging:

Hello everyone! Apparently this is an ONGOING issue with Cricket~! I purchased a new LG k92 5G on January 4th. Upon receiving the phone it came with a sim card which was already active and the phone has been working fine up till 2 days ago when the phone was deactivated. When I logged into my account it said the device was reported as lost/stolen. I purchased it NEW from the website, so when I go into chat the rep said they had no idea why it was suspended at first but then tried to say I did a chargeback on the $25 dollar activation fee which is untrue. So they reactivated the phone. The next day its off again, I go into the local store and they connect to Cricket through chat, the person online told the store clerk that the phone was added to a Cricket blocklist but could give no explanation why.  

Now I am stuck with a $250 dollar paperweight and no explanation why its on their block list. The Cricket location had the online person open a ticket and said it would get looked into, SO if I did not happen to have my old phone laying around I would be without service (which has been paid for) till they decide to do something.

 

SO CRICKET WIRELESS ARE CROOKS, People are buying phones and they are being put on this block list (which has nothing to do with the blacklist) so their phones are useless.  I would say this calls for a class action lawsuit! 
 

I am in exactly your situation.  My sons phone was bought 2 months ago got on the national block list as reported stolen or lost.   But Cricket will not do anything about it and have given me the run around after calling customer care for three days!   I got so so sick of this I transferred my four lines to Verizon.  I’m going to report Cricket to the BBB.   They are truly crooks and need to be shut down!!!

 

I’m so disappointed in Cricket been having my service for the longest time one phone I had it over 2years now it’s blocked lost or stolen manually inputted three other phones I have had for 6months also blocked lost or stolen manually inputted all purchased from Cricket stores and activated in store and no answers as to why

Tell me about, and the craziest thing is that I could take the same IPhone that is reported lost or stolen with cricket and activate it with any other phone company with issues whatsoever. Cricket is the only phone company that I can’t activate my phone because in their system it appears as lost or stolen isn’t that bizarre and crazy that only cricket has my iPhone as lost or stolen.

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I have a unlocked phone purchased in Canada and been using it with Cricket for over a year now. Recently I have been receiving messages from Cricket that my phone will no longer be compatible with their network due to network upgrades. They want me to upgrade my phone before February for I will lose network connection by then. I can't afford to upgrade my phone. I am not rich and I refuse to buy a new phone when I have a perfectly good Samsung Note 10+. I need to shop for a new network and apparently, everywhere I go, they keep advising me that my phone is blocked and I need to contact my wireless carrier because my phone is blocked/locked and I won't be able to use it with them. Everywhere I check, i get the same answer, my phone's IMEI is either blocked or blacklisted. And I am stuck with using cricket sim card. Would you believe that previously Cricket representative advised me not to remove my sim card on my phone because they will no longer be able to register the IMEI of my phone in their system if I remove the SIM card. 3 years!!!! 3 effing years with you guys and with everything that's going on YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO CONSIDERATION AND STEAL FROM PEOPLE LIKE US TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET AND NOT WASTING MONEY ON SOMETHING LIKE A NEW PHONE!!!!!!!!! YOU DON'T OWN MY PHONE BUT YOU BLOCKED IT TO BE USED ANYWHERE ELSE!!!! AND YOU WANT ME TO GO BACK TO SAMSUNG TO CHECK WHY MY IMEI IS BLOCKED????? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT!!!! YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CAN'T SAY ANYTHING HOW YOUR SYSTEM FUCKS UP AND YOU ARE SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY. I HOPE PEOPLE BECOMES AWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING! 

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Oct 18, 2021 my husband spent over 2 grand total in cricket store 
my phone being over $1100

his like $200 or less 

Plus activation fees ,cases ,speakers, and the phone plan (under ,what we thought was a friend , name) the 100 friends and family plan Where each member pay $25 a month. 
but what cricket doesn’t tell you is that that the person who has the control over the accounts 

while your phone is in your possession and even though you paid for it, the head of your account can report your phone missing And have it blacklisted And (this happened to my Husband and The head of the account refuses to talk with us or cricket and cricket refuses to help us  without the head of the account information, so now we’re out 1200 bucks and stuck with phones that only works with WiFi 🤬🤬🤬 

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Are you ever happy chicken wingz :)

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Moral of the story is DO NOT purchase anything from cricket! 

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