I had a phone that i was trying to flash over from sprint to cricket and they told me that it needed the same thing. then i called again and they told me that it had a bad ESN then i called a few more times and they kept telling me that it was clear...the answer would change each time...so finally i just go tired of it and took it in to the cricket store and they said it was clean and they flashed it. maybe the people you are talking to are wrong or dont know what they are talking about?