I am considering the purchase of a non-contract cell phone (e.g., on
eBay) and buy the minutes separately (e.g., from eCallsPlus). The big
hurdle here seems to make sure that the ESN # is not blacklisted or
billing encumbered in any way. Although I can understand that carriers
may be hesitant, for commercial reasons, to be extremely forthcoming
with providing ESN # status, my query is:

1) Is there an electronic means (WWW, e-mail) with any carrier that
allow a user to check on ESN # status?
2) Failing that, are any carriers forthcoming at all with queries per
telephone?

TIA.

Best regards,
Sigurd
N 32° 48'
W 117° 15'