If you’re going to buy a phone from a reseller, it may be wise to consider the consequences of such purchases. 200 Pixel users are learning this lesson the hard way as it appears that Google has permanently banned some of the resold Pixels from being used.
According to reports by The Guardian, U.S. reseller site Dan’s Deals have been receive reports from customers that their Pixel phones have been locked by Google. These Pixel phones were all bought from Google’s Project Fi mobile carrier, and were shipped to New Hampshire, a U.S. state with no sales tax. This allows the reseller to split the profit with the buyers, resulting in discounted phones.
The act of reselling is against Google’s terms of service, as there is a line that states that customers “may only purchase Devices for your personal use [and] may not commercially resell any device.” Dan’s Deals founder Daniel Eleff has since gotten in contact with Google, and Google has mentioned that it will be “restoring access to genuine accounts for customers who are locked out of many Google services they rely on.” As of the time of writing, no accounts have been restored just yet.
Whatever the case, anyone looking to buy a resold device should be aware that your device could potentially be bricked by the company selling it at any time.
Source: The Guardian, Dan’s Deals