Re: Sprint HTC Hero and ESN activation
 

Try and find out if the account is bad or if the guy just never took the phone off. If is possible that he added a line to a family plan and just never took the phone off the account and intends to replace it at a later date. If that is the case you would still have to get up with the guy and have him call Sprint and have the phone taken off his account before your buyer can activate. I hate to say it but you are likely going to have to refund your buyer. In all likelyhood the craigslist guy let his account go bad. Did you pay cash or use paypal? This is why I always buy phones on either ebay or forums and use payapl. You may not have a ton of leverage but more so than paying in cash.

Also from the sounds of things it's not really Sprint's fault either. When you called to check the ESN it likely was clean but just still attached to his account. Once deactivated he would activate just fine. The rep should have let you know that fact but the ESN was "clean", i.e. not blacklisted for a bill or being stolen.

Re: Sprint HTC Hero and ESN activation
 

I sold my TP on ebay after getting my Hero and the guy emailed me after he got it saying that Sprint wouldn't let him activate it, and that I had to call them to have it removed from my account. He emailed back about 5 hours later before I even got a chance to call and said that he called again and told them he bought the phone from me and they activated it without any problems.

Re: Sprint HTC Hero and ESN activation
 

I use Ebay and Craigslist a bit for many transactions. In the future and to many if you buy a unit weather you plan to sell it or not immediately activate it to your account so your able to gain control of it. Simply by purchasing the unit does posses ownership, as the seller could report it stolen etc. In the telecommunications world its not owned until its activated. I will agree with many that ebay and/or especially pay pal gives you leverage.

When dealing with craiglist or paying in Cash activate the unit prior to leaving. use a "dummy" phone or the current unit your on until later.

Re: Sprint HTC Hero and ESN activation
 

ill add to what everyone's saying. My hero that I'm using now couldnt be activated immediately because I bought it from someone and their account wouldnt be deactivated until a month after I bought it. Luckily enough, this stranger left to California with his phone being active and in my hands. He trusted me enough to not make international calls but still use his 900 minutes xD. So i still had my TP active and his phone.

Anyway, the sprint rep said he would have to be on the line with both of us to transfer liability and agree that the phone wasn't stolen and surely enough after the last bill date, the phone was free for activation.

by the way, if you're using craigslist, make it a meet up with cash. never do the shipping thing because that's the part where you have no coverage. with ebay & paypal you have proof of purchase and basically the buyer can ALWAYS get their money back with the right tools

Re: Sprint HTC Hero and ESN activation
 

Also lil_bitz if you run into with something like the account will be deactivated in a month , have them transfer there line to a different phone before the transaction.The unit becomes free to activate. I had a similar scenario I gave the seller a cheap phone and we transferred and activated the unit he was selling me on the spot.