Hello,
So I recently bought a BB 7290 off of eBay (in hindsight not sure if that was a good idea). The phone was T-Mobile branded so I was certain that it would work (as I have T-Mobile service). When the phone arrived I pulled it out of the box, plugged in my SIM card from my old phone and powered it up. The first thing I noticed was that it had full battery, so I fired up the wireless. It sat for several minutes "Searching for Wireless Networks" and finally stopped at "No Service". I was a little upset, but since the coverage at my house is a little spotty from time to time I drove towards the nearest mall, a place where my old phone (a crappy Samsung) always got full bars. Still nothing on the BB. So I spent hours reasearching the problem to no avail so I ended up re-installing the latest software on the BB. This did nothing. Giving up I took the phone to my local T-mobile store, the sales rep said he thought the phone was "broken". So I went home and contacted the seller on eBay who said that the phone worked fine when he tested it. Later I tested the phone again and found that it would connect to the network perhaps every 10-20 minutes but only for several seconds at a time.
Basically, I want to know if there is any solution to the problem or will I just have to use PayPal to force the guy to give me my money back.
Thanks in advance,
Stephen

Do you have a BlackBerry data plan on your T-Mobile account? No BlackBerry data plan = no email or web. The phone should work with your existing SIM card and voice plan.

Try registering the BlackBerry on the wireless network. Go to Options > Host Routing Table > Register Now. If that doesn't work, wipe the device back to factory defaults. Go to Options > Security > press wheel > Wipe Handheld. And double check with T-Mobile that your account is properly provisioned for use of a BlackBerry.

Either it is broken or it may be stolen so T-Mobile has blacklisted the IMEI.

Are u sure u have T-Mobile service??? perherps any try this "Options > Security > press wheel > Wipe Handhe"