Where did you get the phone from if you dont mind me asking ? I assume a shop that sells used goods ?
Well in all my wisdom that vodafone provided me with, I've heard all the bullshit excuses about IMEI Barring and that women stating "OH IT WORKED FINE THEN JUST STOPPED WORKING" was bout no 2 on the list.
Sometimes i heard that if a phone isn't used for a while and isn't on the network, then someone starts using it it will work for a few days no worries. Dont know why, people just say it worked. Then all of a sudden, just magically stopped! Thats cause obviously the IMEI bar had picked up.
I spose the point im trying to make is, If someone sells you something at a price which is "too good to be true" then chances are it is! From what i can understand from what i have read, sounds like you've bought this phone from a shop that has sold you an item which they claim is legit and obviously want to get a sale from you. You have assumed its a fantastic buy, which is fair enough considering you most likely didn't know the phone was barred or perhaps even what the barring was.
So they sell you a "stolen" or phone which is unoperational. It doesn't work for you, you get it checked out, someone else tells you its barred and you now have a brick.
The fact that a business is whiling to "rebirth" the phone also, i just wouldn't go there. Its highly illegal, basically on par with buying a car or bike thats had new engine NO and VIN etc. I would take the phone back, get a refund and try again.
I know this sounds a bit crazy as its just a mobile phone, but the police always used to check in with us about stolen phones as its very easy to trace. Basically as soon as you put a sim card in and get coverage it will show all the sim card details, which can come up as you and which tower the phone is on. Plus each phone company has a fraud squad and if a phone with a new IMEI is added without there being a Legit IMEI placed on the network, then things dont match up and they start to get suss.
So im just saying try not ot get yourself into trouble! Just looking out for ya
