Telus no longer Blacklists Stole Phone IMEI numbers

[Willpoz]

So kids phone got stolen today at knifepoint and multiple attempts to contact Telus to report the phone as stolen has resulted in nothing but them tying to sell me an Avanti service for $8 to protect the account. This is completely unacceptable at this point and I'm beyond mad that nobody in customer support or at a local store was willing to help. One agent even said I had to go to Apple to report it and hope that they can help.

I have since tried to report the IMEI on a separate website for blacklisting phones worldwide but I don't have any hopes that will actually work as it was stupidly easy to do so. I am so disappointed in Telus right now that it has me wondering what value I get from them for the hundreds of dollars that I am paying in charges a month for services.

[xray]

Did you at least get the SIM deactivated for the account?

[Willpoz]

I sure hope so....but when I log into the MyTelus app either on my phone or from a webpage it no longer shows the device/plan under my account. Again asking Telus why that is I get a big fat I don't know from them. I went into a store and they said it is still under my account but honestly at this point I don't trust them considering suspending the service should not have hidden or removed it from my account......so your guess is as good as mine as to whether or not the plan is actually suspended.

At best all I could do at this time is log into the AppleID and issue an erase for the device next time it is online. At the time of writing this that hasn't happened.

[xray]

Did you try calling the number to see if it rings?

[WestCoasterBC]

Did you follow the steps located here  to start the process. At the very least suspend the service. You can use *611 to speak with someone to blacklist the IMEI or chat  or X @TELUSSupport

[Willpoz]

Yes, I contacted *611 3 times with no help. As my initial post stated one agent would do nothing, the next agent told me to go to apple and the 3rd agent wanted to sell me the Avanti monthly service.

Since I couldn't get Telus to blacklist the IMEI number and can't find information on their site to do so I am cancelling that account/subsription with them to move him to a cheaper service. At least there I can expect to get no help but from a company like Telus at their premium rates I expect way more. I will slowly start transitioning out accounts/subscriptions as they come due.

As for the comment of using social media to try and get help does that not just show how bad their customer service is if I can contact them 3 times directly (*611) plus go into a local store and not have anyone willing to help. I'm sorry but resorting to social media to get technical support for a paid for service is completely unacceptable.

[El-Eric]

Hi @Willpoz - I do find it strange that the agent you spoke to would not mark the device as lost/stolen. I'll send you a message to get more details

[zulu53]

You mean cancelling the sim?  There is no "mark" on the device - the "mark" is on the Sim or e-sim portion of the device but even this "mark" is actually done on the service provider server not the device.

[Syaoran]

You should be able to disable the device in the Apple Account associated with the device. Telus should also blacklist the device, which will apply to all North American carriers, some South American carriers, and a few in Europe as well. Most stolen devices end up on Asia though, where blacklists from North American carriers are not shared.

[zulu53]

Blacklisting doesn't work and I would be surprised is any carrier actually provides it as a solution anymore.  It is more of a placebo solution to make the customer "feel good" - like those pedestrian buttons to control traffic lights that are not actually connected to anything.  There is also no "disabling" by vendors - too many phones and too many arguments about who the current legitimate owner is.  The most that Apple will do is "cause the phone to wipe/reset itself" if the thief is that dumb as to start the phone and open the OS without first going to flight mode (hiding it from cellular and wifi signals).  Of course if he can't boot the OS (no apple id) then they have to use other tricks to install a new OS version; but as you say if they go to countries that do not support international intellectual property rights then it is game over and the phone will be reborn as a "renewed" phone on some online seller.

[zulu53]

I don't think that blacklisting has worked (really forever in my opinion) - its too easy to subvert and is too much of a penalty on legitimate phone buying/selling transactions) and as far as I know it is no longer used by an major provider.  Bottom line is that the phone vendor has to brick it to be an effective deterrent to theft.  They are not going to really do that given the number of phones that they sell every year and how difficult it is to determine the "true" current owner.  Even with AppleID think what trouble Apple would get into if they bricked your phone if your Apple ID was "stolen" and the phone was reported as stolen using this ID but actually you still were in possession of you phone.  All that can be done is suspension of the SIM and have a SECURE password.  Wiping of the phone is based on the thief being dumb enough to start up the phone in anything but flight mode.

[Syaoran]

Personally, I think blacklisting works for the most part. The main drawback is trying to rove a device from the blacklist when it is put on there wrongfully or a rep taking the stolen device report mistypes the IMEI.

When a device is blacklisted by a Canadian carrier, that device is also blacklisted across all US carriers, some South American carriers, and some EU carriers. Stolen devices are usually either sold to overseas buys in countries that do not share blacklist information or are used for parts in repair shops.

Anything that helpsncombat the massive amounts of cellphone thefts each year, is a step in the right direction. These devices can be very expensive! Rewarding criminals by making it easier for them to use stolen devices does not benefit anyone but the criminals.

[zulu53]

Yea, I don't think that the concept of "blacklisting" works anymore (or has for some time: years?) - it was too easy to subvert.  You are down to using "find my phone" to find out its present location (but be aware that if it is on private property the police will generally NOT go and retrieve it but it will go into their record and be used of evidence of an illegal business), disable the sim (to avoid charges against your account though most providers will waive these costs if you inform them withing a reasonable period.  And hope that your password to open the phone is unbreakable - I presume that it was not a thumbprint since you don't mention that your kid had their thumb used to open it at the time of the robbery or had their thumb cutoff so that the thieves could open it later (this is a technique used by thieves in Africa).  Bottom line, if stolen by real phone thieves, you phone is history to you, and you need to move on and contain the damage both financial and to your life.  There is literally nothing that Telus or any other legal authority can do for you regardless of how much you paid or plan to pay for them.  If you were in Africa and tracked your phone you could always use the "law of the jungle solution" and hire a "security service" to go to the thieves and get your phone from them and physically punish them - but this is Canada so you will just have to move on an stop blaming Telus.

[Willpoz]

Just to follow up and close this out. I was finally able to get the phone blacklisted after visiting another local store and getting a manager involved. He confirmed the IMEI number that Telus had on record for the stolen phone and submitted the request. The biological father also decided to take over paying for thone/plan and set the kid up with a plan on another provider. When I called in to cancel his subscription under my plan the retentions rep was also very helpful and confirmed the blacklist request had been submitted and also confirmed that the call center should have been able to do this easily. Both of these people were very helpful which is what I should expect from a service provider. Sadly though the priority of the call center staffs sole focus now is on selling new services and I can do is blame Telus for that as they are the ones setting these poor soles KPIs just to keep a job. I completely blame Telus for not allowing these people to do their job especially when they force customers down the one and only path which is to contact the Call Centers. This is should have been a basic function of their services and should have been a quick call to complete, but because of the push to sell more services and increase revenue it completely failed because of "other priorities".