new to me inreach

There is a KB article on this subject: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=3GVwiLyW4SA3ngsk48yg6A

The previous owner needs to cancel service. The device needs a hard reset. You need to create a NEW account, select a plan, enter billing information, and activate.

all that was done but it still tells me the device is already activated. I'll reach out to the previous owner and confirm that the activation was cancelled. thx

If that does not work, open a support ticket.

But be aware that ONY the previous owner can cancel the service. Garmin will not do it  (because it's a safety device, and so forth). The point of the support ticket would be to find out whether or not the previous owner HAS done everything necessary. (I'm not even sure they'll tell you that much, but it's worth a try.)