Hi all. Just to share an experience with fellow 2nd-hand phone kakis.

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A few months ago I bought an S6 edge+ from a forumer here, fullset with Samsung ewarranty, etc, the usual checklist. Everything was fine, and I used the phone for a couple of months. Unused to the lack of SD card slot, I then sold it off. A few months later, the buyer informed me that the phone IMEI has been blocked, and that Maxis told him to pay up RM600+ due to unpaid bill to unblock it. Shocked, I contacted Maxis, and when they did a detailed check, they said the person who signed up for the Maxis Zerolution contract for the phone never paid his bills and the amount owed was RM2,000+. Under the T&C, they have the right to block the IMEI of the phone when bills are unpaid. They cannot disclose the information of the person, but the staff did ask me the race of the person who sold me the phone (not to be racist but just to see if it was the original owner)... and it was different. So the phone had changed hands at least twice when I bought it. Maxis suggested that I make a police report, and contact the original seller, but I had already deleted the Whatsapp conversation, so there's nothing to go on, and he was probably a 2nd-hand phone kaki like me anyway, not much I can do about it. So I paid a few hundred RM to my buyer as compensation for a unusable phone and moved on.

This Maxis Zerolution plan requires no upfront payment for the phone, people desperate for money may sign up and sell the phone without paying the bill. Worst case is he is blacklisted (which he probably won't care anyway), and the phone IMEI is blocked, which will be unfortunate for the current owner. So just be careful when you buy phones from Garage Sales. Even with receipt from telco, you won't know what may happen.

I'm not sure if other contracts have this kind of T&C.

https://www.maxis.com.my/en/maxis-zerolution.html
What if I did not make full payment to the bill?

You will need to ensure all payments are made with no outstanding amount, for three (3) consecutive months to avoid your IMEI being blocked. Device will be unblocked once total outstanding in account is settled.
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TLDR version:
- phones from Maxis Zerolution will be IMEI-blocked if bill is not settled
- be careful where the phone you wanna buy comes from
- keep history of your Whatsapp conversation after the deal

I think very few are aware. Basically Maxis cannot even get their cost back if the person doesn't pay, so they block IMEI to discourage this. Hopefully other bros here won't learn this lesson the hard way like I did.

Cannot use telephony with any telco SIM cards. Can use other phone functions, I think.

Agreed... but the risk is very real... just be careful as a buyer. I previously thought telco sets are safe bets... hrm...

Don't know how to check. Maybe can get IMEI from seller and check with Maxis. What if other telco contracts also got that clause? Need to call here and there

Wow.

No, Maxis will not do anything without a police report. I didn't lodge a police report as I have no records anymore of my conversation with the seller. It was months after I bought it.

Since you have the conversations and screenshots, there is no reason not to lodge a report. This is fraud. Report it, show the report to Maxis, and request them to unblock the IMEI. Involve MCMC in the picture if you can. The current owner of the phone should not be the one to suffer, but Maxis cannot do anything else with their flawed Zerolution contract, except to threaten to block IMEIs. This is affecting the 2nd-hand phone market.

Good luck bro.


To the ones who offer to buy the blocked IMEI phone, what do you plan to do with it? Change the IMEI? What are the recovery options and the cost? Just asking for information as I do not have the phone with me anymore. Thanks.

Agree so much with you, bro. Especially point #1 and #4. Must find out where the phone came from. Once bitten twice shy. I will now avoid the following sets:
- gifts (without receipt)
- lucky draw (without receipt)
- telco set (even with receipt)

I have changed S4 mobo at Samsung before (at least they claimed to have done it). IMEI remain the same, but the counters for earphone, charger, etc all reset to zero. Is it possible to change mobo then flash the old IMEI?

This post has been edited by Marcian: Nov 3 2016, 12:13 AM

Aha! So Maxis only blocks IMEI 1? At least you can still use IMEI 2. But please find back the seller and settle it.

Normal plans have upfront payment for the phone so less risk for telco.