Is it possible to disable a stolen Telecom mobile?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Is it possible to disable a stolen Telecom mobile?

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DarthKermit

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#787452 26-Mar-2013 20:16

wibble:
freitasm: You shoukld contact all three operators and ask to block the IMEI. They currently do not share this information.

And yes, 2degrees says they are now blocking stolen handsets.

Yes 2degrees do block handsets, however they won't block handsets from other networks.

I don't think VF or TC will block handsets that haven't been on their network either - but happy to be corrected on this.

My partner phoned Vodafone and was told by the CSR that it's impossible to block the phone because she isn't a VF mobile customer.

johnr told me via email (yestarday) that it would be easy to do. I've emailed johnr back to ask for some help. Stay tuned...

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old3eyes

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#787539 26-Mar-2013 20:31

johnr:
plambrechtsen: Yes

Ring up the police first, make a complaint there.. Take the complaint to Telecom. And we will bar the IMEI of the phone. Plus after a period of time Vodafone NZ will get the same list.

2Degrees don't have an EIR, so they can't bar phones.

No we won't not anymore, You learn something new everyday

What happened to the common database sharing of stolen fones?? Guess it's open season again..

Regards,

Old3eyes

DarthKermit

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#787551 26-Mar-2013 20:49

I have been told by johnr from Vodafone that:
"Vodafone customer service is for Vodafone customers not Telecom, We can't ID a telecom customer so no action can be taken or anyone could just ring up and block a IMEI number"

Oh well, it was worth trying to see if any action could be taken. Thanks to everyone who tried to help us.

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johnr

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#787565 26-Mar-2013 21:10

DarthKermit: I have been told by johnr from Vodafone that:
"Vodafone customer service is for Vodafone customers not Telecom, We can't ID a telecom customer so no action can be taken or anyone could just ring up and block a IMEI number"

Oh well, it was worth trying to see if any action could be taken. Thanks to everyone who tried to help us.

Yes this is correct what is stopping me from getting the IMEI off the back of a mates handset and getting it blocked for a joke or just to annoy someone?

At least with a Vodafone customer an account can be noted and a process followed and follow up can be done,

I think the best idea is a blacklist form online and fax it to our agency team with police report showing IMEI

I will see if I can track down form I'm sure it's on Vodafone NZ site somewhere

John

coffeebaron

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#787566 26-Mar-2013 21:11

Check out my new listings at trademe/coffeebaron. Plenty of phones to pick from, but only work on 2degrees + Telecom, or Telecom + Vodafone or Vodafone + 2degrees. Get them whilst they're not "hot"

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johnr

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#787568 26-Mar-2013 21:18

Next party joke get hold of mates IMEI off handset and call all 3 carriers and get it blocked

freitasm

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#787569 26-Mar-2013 21:19

johnr: Next party joke get hold of mates IMEI off handset and call all 3 carriers and get it blocked

I thought a police report would be needed even if you are a customer. Your "party joke" doesn't work that easily.

These links are referral codes

johnr

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#787572 26-Mar-2013 21:21

freitasm:
johnr: Next party joke get hold of mates IMEI off handset and call all 3 carriers and get it blocked

I thought a police report would be needed even if you are a customer. Your "party joke" doesn't work that easily.

A police report is not reqired to get a IMEI blocked a CSR on 777 can do it, ID the customer note the account and then they have a tool to block the IMEI

This is why the project is in place across across all 3 carriers

DarthKermit

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#787576 26-Mar-2013 21:50

Ok, case closed. It's going to prove too difficult to get this phone blocked on any other network than Telecoms'.

If the new owner of her phone wants to connect to one of the other two networks out there, it's not the end of the world and this won't cost my partner any money.

Thanks for the advice from everyone in this thread.

Maybe others can learn from this experience. And try not to lose your phones.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

newbellies

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#792858 4-Apr-2013 07:09

I've beat this one to death in 2 degrees board, so I'll try to be brief.

Telecom was happy to ban my phone with telecom Sim, but they were unwiling to ban phones that had SIMs from other providers. I also noticed that staff was misinformed about Telecom and Vodafone sharing information (as it seems that they no longer do).

When I rung up Vodafone, they were also willing+able to (and I confirmed that they did) ban phones with non-Vodafone sims. This conflicts with info mentioned in this thread. I confirmed this with two calls on different days, obviously getting different customer call agents each time.

2D was only willing to ban phones with 2D sims.

Respect to Vodafone for doing the right thing and banning stolen phones that aren't on their network. About arguments about 'prank banning your mate's phone', it would be absolutely trivial for any carrier to confirm that it's been reported stolen + banned on the original network before applying the block.

Until Telecom + 2D get their act together, the entire process is pointless. In the meantime, thieves slightly inconvenienced as they have to switch providers.

DarthKermit

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#793506 4-Apr-2013 21:26

newbellies: I've beat this one to death in 2 degrees board, so I'll try to be brief.

Telecom was happy to ban my phone with telecom Sim, but they were unwiling to ban phones that had SIMs from other providers. I also noticed that staff was misinformed about Telecom and Vodafone sharing information (as it seems that they no longer do).

When I rung up Vodafone, they were also willing+able to (and I confirmed that they did) ban phones with non-Vodafone sims. This conflicts with info mentioned in this thread. I confirmed this with two calls on different days, obviously getting different customer call agents each time.

2D was only willing to ban phones with 2D sims.

Respect to Vodafone for doing the right thing and banning stolen phones that aren't on their network. About arguments about 'prank banning your mate's phone', it would be absolutely trivial for any carrier to confirm that it's been reported stolen + banned on the original network before applying the block.

Until Telecom + 2D get their act together, the entire process is pointless. In the meantime, thieves slightly inconvenienced as they have to switch providers.

I'll admit that I know bugger-all about cellphones, as they don't interest me. I don't know if her particular lost Samsung cellphone would easily work on Vodafone and 2 degrees networks? Do all modern cellphones work on the three networks if they get the correct SIM card? Or just certain ones?

I'm glad that you had better experience with getting VF to block a cellphone from another network. As I said, the vodafone CSR told my partner that it was impossible for them to do so. Also the guy from vodafone who has posted in this thread didn't want to help me any further.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

newbellies

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#795181 8-Apr-2013 19:23

DarthKermit:
newbellies:

-snip-

When I rung up Vodafone, they were also willing+able to (and I confirmed that they did) ban phones with non-Vodafone sims. This conflicts with info mentioned in this thread. I confirmed this with two calls on different days, obviously getting different customer call agents each time.

2D was only willing to ban phones with 2D sims.

Respect to Vodafone for doing the right thing and banning stolen phones that aren't on their network. About arguments about 'prank banning your mate's phone', it would be absolutely trivial for any carrier to confirm that it's been reported stolen + banned on the original network before applying the block.

Until Telecom + 2D get their act together, the entire process is pointless. In the meantime, thieves slightly inconvenienced as they have to switch providers.

I'll admit that I know bugger-all about cellphones, as they don't interest me. I don't know if her particular lost Samsung cellphone would easily work on Vodafone and 2 degrees networks? Do all modern cellphones work on the three networks if they get the correct SIM card? Or just certain ones?

I'm glad that you had better experience with getting VF to block a cellphone from another network. As I said, the vodafone CSR told my partner that it was impossible for them to do so. Also the guy from vodafone who has posted in this thread didn't want to help me any further.

I'm not super knowledgeable about cellphones either, but I do know that at least my phone can easily be switched to any provider in the country.

Might be worth giving it another try with the Vodafone call centre if you have 10 minutes to burn. I had good luck both times. "Ah mate, we just try to do what we think is right," when i mentioned that I wasn't a vodafone customer.

The multi-carrier system to block phones can't come soon enough. Let's hope carriers make it simpler for the police to track phones that have been stolen at the same time. Carriers - might I suggest consulting the police at some point before you roll it out? Or why not call the police today and ask what you (carriers) can do to make it easier for them? As evidence to support that it's also too difficult for the police to work with the telecoms
-> police asked *me* to call the carriers to try and convince them to give me all the tracking info as it'd be too difficult for the police to obtain. I'm not sure if that's really true, but I tend to believe it as even I had difficulty in obtaining this info from telecom. (embarassingly, I resorted to yelling, to finally get past the first 'line of defense' at the call centre)

newbellies

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#797581 11-Apr-2013 09:37

Well, i have to eat my words.

Despite Vodafone telling me that they blocked my non-vodafone mobile, apparently they did not. It's on their network right now. They also told the police they have no ability to block a mobile from their network, but only the SIM. Seems like you get a different story everytime you call up.

In the meantime, thieves, hope you enjoy our phone on Vodafone network!

DarthKermit

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#797884 11-Apr-2013 16:52

Sorry to hear you've also had such a poor experience in dealing with Vodafone. It would be nice if someone with some technical knowledge here could provide a few answers.

Is it technically possible to block a phone from any network if you know its IMEI number? Can someone let me know?

I've given up on doing anything more about my partner's lost phone, but it would still be good to know the ins and outs of blocking phones and what can and can't be done. Regardless of any policies that Telecom, Vodafone and 2 degrees have in place. Thanks.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

newbellies

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#802642 20-Apr-2013 08:46

Quick update.

1) 2D - yes. only if stolen phone had a 2D SIM in
2) Telecom - yes. only if stolen phone had a telecom SIM in
3) Vodafone - yes*. I was able to black phones that didn't have Vodafone Sim in. Your mileage may vary in trying to convince them to block it if you didn't have a vodafon SIM in it.

* there was some confusion. they initially said yes, we'll block it. Confirmed it a couple days later that still blocked. But then the next week said they had no record of the block. I got confirmation from John that the phone had actually been blocked the whole time.

So, I have to give a fail to Telecom and 2D until such time that they block phones from other networks. In the meantime, you should be very suspicious of any phones on TradeMe that say "telecom only", or "2D only"

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