I have service through AT&T. I have a cousin who has had the 3GS for a couple months now. He is and has always been the type of person who avoids responsibility. He signed a two-year contract with AT&T when he got his phone but now he no longer wants to pay his bill (he says it's too expensive). He is going to get T-Mobile service under his girlfriend's name. The question I have is if I buy his 3GS off of him and he stops paying his bill is there anyway that AT&t can stop the phone from working if I'm using my sim card in the phone? I assumed they will stop his sim card from functioning but it shouldn't affect the phone. I've googled it and I just can't find the answer. I'm sure it's a dumb question but I do need to know if AT&T can lock the phone. Thanks ahead of time.
The phone should keep on working, but in order to use it with your service, you'll need to jailbreak and unlock it. I recommend blackra1n. Here's a great site with info that should help you: http://www.iclarified.com/
So, if I don't jailbreak and unlock the phone, then they can stop the phone from working even if I'm using my sim card?
can't you just try it without jailbreaking/unlocking...and if it fails, switch back to your old phone while you figure it out? Or are you gonna hafta buy it from your cousin first?
He said he has AT&T. He doesn't need to jailbreak. countingcrow, just stick your simcard in the phone and it will work (although you will probably have to get a data plan). Your cousin is going to have to pay an early termination fee if he stops his ATT service.
"They" don't stop the phone from working: the iPhone OS is locked into the AT&T service when purchased. If you want to use it with your account, or any other service provider, you must unlock it.
Sorry, I missed that. If you're on AT&T, you should just be able to plugin and go, though you may need to add the data plan to your AT&T service.
I already have AT&T service. I have the original 3G Iphone. All I'm going to do is buy the 3GS from my cousin and insert my sim card into the phone. My cousin is just going to stop paying his bill completely. He's not going to pay the early termination fee or anything. He is just going to leave them hanging (his credit already sucks so he really doesn't care much about that aspect of it). I am going to pay for the phone up front, hence my question as I don't want to buy a $200 paperweight. If AT&T can stop the phone from working then there's no point in me buying it.
Nothing will happen to the phone. He's already bought the phone. It would be cheaper for him and much less of a hassle if he goes ahead and pays the fee for breaching the contract. You still keep the phone, he avoids paying 1.5 years of service on it for nothing, and avoids debt collection and decrease in his credit. I'm not what the fee for that is, but if you have to buy the phone from him in the first place, offer to pay the fee and keep the phone. No need to jailbreak it unless you want to.
While this would be smartest course of action for him, he really doesn't care about his credit and the only phone number they have for him is the cell phone number that they issued to him so I don't think he's worried all that much about collection calls. He is simply looking for some quick cash and in the process is paying back a debt (he owes me a little cash). I was just a little worried that AT&T could stop the phone from working and then I'd be out the money I give him plus the money he owed me as I'd never be able to recoup it from him as he barely works and never has expendable income.
I decided to call AT&T anonymously and asked a rep and he said what you guys said above. His sim card would be interrupted, but the phone would stay fully operable as long as I'm using my own sim card. So, I guess I can make the purchase with no worries.
