Lost phone woes (RANT)

[Jesus_marley]

So I lost my cell phone on the way home from work Saturday night. The clip that it was on slipped off my belt when I was walking home and unfortunately I didn't notice until the next day when I was getting ready to go to work.
At this point I was still holding on to the slim hope that although it had now been missing for a total of 14 hours, it was still sitting somewhere on the ground between home and work. I walked to work following the same route I took home but unfortunately it was nowhere to be found.... at least by me.

It turns out that the phone was found. It was found by some cracked-out druggie loser who decided that it was now theirs. Instead of doing the honourable thing and attempting to locate the owner (which would be easy by simply scrolling through the contact list and dialing "home"), she started making calls to her pimp/dealer. (this last part is speculation but it makes me feel better to call her down)

Once I discovered it missing, I immediately called the lost phone emergency line. Of course, being Sunday, the office was closed. I got put into a rotating queue that kept telling me that the office was closed and to call back later. GRRRR!!!

After I got home from work on Sunday night, I decided to call my phone to see if maybe I could reach the person who found it. At this point I still had hope that I could maybe get it back. My hopes were soon dashed. The conversation was something like this:

Call #1
Strange girl - "Hello?"
Me- "Hello. My name is..." *click*

Call #2
Strange girl - "Hello?"
Me - "Hello. I believe you have my..." *click*

The next 27 calls went unanswered going to voicemail after 4 rings.

Call #30
Strange girl - "Hello?"
Me - "You have my..." *click*

At this point all of my subsequent calls went unanswered. I however did not care as my goal was to now cause one of two things to happen. Either I would wear down the battery with all of the ringing or I would annoy this person to the point that they shut off the phone. Either way they would not be making calls and the process was surprisingly cathartic. It took 2 hours until the phone would simply go straight to voicemail without ringing (which meant that the phone was now off). I continued with periodic "test dials" until the customer service centre opened at 8am EST (5am my time). I then spoke with the best CSR in the world. She suspended the phone and gave me a list of all the numbers that that were called in the last 27 hours. Fortunately, they were all local numbers. No Long distance, and no 1-976-SPANKME numbers. That list was forwarded to the RCMP. Hopefully the cracked-out druggie B**** will get her comeuppance.

I hold no hope that I will get the phone back. More than likely, it got tossed once it stopped working. I had to go out and buy a new phone. Where I am already on a contract, I had to pay full retail price for a new one. Needless to say it was expensive. But they say the expensive lessons are the ones you remember best. The first thing I did was buy an industrial strength belt clip that snaps on and can't fall off. I will not lose this one.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Damn, that stinks. And I know what you mean by expensive lessons. I once lost my primo-discman and had to replace it. $200. Yeah. Nothing like that has ever happened since.

 

[Arnwyn]

Either way they would not be making calls and the process was surprisingly cathartic.

That list was forwarded to the RCMP. Hopefully the cracked-out druggie B**** will get her comeuppance.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[Tewligan]

Heh - several years back, I lost my cell phone to an actual crack whore - no, I'm not speculating. The full story is too long for me to want to spend the remains of my lunch break on, so I'll summarize. Driving through a bad part of Cincinnati (Over The Rhine, for any Cincy folks here). While stopped at a stop light, a strung out looking woman knocks on my window, asking for a ride to the top of the road. Being a naive, helpful soul who has no common sense, I say sure and let her in. While driving, she asks my name, then if I "date". This is quickly followed by her leaning over and working at undoing my pants. Yikes! I quickly rebuff her attentions, and say there was a misunderstanding and she should get out. She doesn't get out, asking if I can still at least take her to the top of Vine. I say yes, my flustered mind reasoning that if I just take her there, she'll leave. On the drive, she continues to push for the deal, reducing the price to $10 and buying her something to eat which is apparently the price to get her to, and I quote the phrase burned into my brain, "come back to your apartment and do you in your easy chair." Oh, and she also at one point pulled down her biker shorts, apparently to show off the goods. Moments later, after she gave that up, I look over and she's heating a vial of crack. In my car. Visions of being pulled over by a cop while a hooker smokes crack in my car dances through my head. I begin shouting and swearing at her, roll to the top of Vine, and tell her to get the hell out. As she gets out, I look down and notice that my cell phone that was in the cup holder between the front seats is now gone. I tell her to give me back my phone, she denies having it - a denial which she amends a second later by saying "But if I had it, I'd probably try to sell it to you for $20 or something." Haha! I curse some more, telling her I don't have any money (which is very true - at the time, I was so broke that my home phone had been turned off, so she was stealing my only phone.) Finally she accuses me of being crazy and takes off around the corner. I pause to close and lock my car doors, and when I run around the corner, she's gone. I then drive home planning to call to cancel my phone. I walk into the apartment, then remember again that my home phone is shut off. I jump back into my car, arrive at a friend's apartment (right before she's about to go to sleep), and ask to use her phone because a crack whore stole mine. Turns out there was no customer service at that hour, so I had to call back from work the next day to cancel it. There were a couple of local calls, but that's it.

Hm - I didn't summarize that very much after all, actually, except for leaving out a couple of stops to beg the woman to get out. Oh, and the details of the profanity on my part and the vulgar offers on her part, both of which would upset Eric's grandmother mightily. I guess the lesson in this thread is don't trust crack whores.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I jump back into my car, arrive at a friend's apartment (right before she's about to go to sleep), and ask to use her phone because a crack whore stole mine.

Heh, that must have made for a very good story for a few weeks, maybe even years. I bet you're still living that one down. Not even knowing how your friend looks, I can just picture her eyebrows rising at the phrase "a crack whore stole mine." Let's hope you never have to utter them again.

 

[Jesus_marley]

Hey Tewligan - You aren't related to Eddie Murphy by any chance are you?

 

[Ranger REG]

I hold no hope that I will get the phone back. More than likely, it got tossed once it stopped working. I had to go out and buy a new phone. Where I am already on a contract, I had to pay full retail price for a new one. Needless to say it was expensive. But they say the expensive lessons are the ones you remember best. The first thing I did was buy an industrial strength belt clip that snaps on and can't fall off. I will not lose this one.

Or start a habit of storing your phone in your pocket or handbag.

And demand a 24/7 hotline service to report lost or stolen cell phones, especially one that stays open on holidays.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Tewligan, that is the funniest story that I have heard in a while. I'm sure it wasn't too funny at the time though.

I have only ever lost my phone once. I was on the bus going into university to drop of an assignment and the phone slipped out of my sweatpants pocket. I didn't hold out much hope for it and I rang up and got all call barred. I rang the bus company up to report it. A couple of days later they rang me to say that someone had found it and handed it in. I got lucky I guess.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jesus_marley]

Or start a habit of storing your phone in your pocket or handbag.

And demand a 24/7 hotline service to report lost or stolen cell phones, especially one that stays open on holidays.

the new belt clip I have actually locks onto the belt as well as locking the phone onto it. As for the hotline, it turns out that the automated queue logs the time of the reported loss/theft. Any calls made to the lost/stolen phone after that are credited since the company has been "notified". Not a perfect system but one that protects me. Fortunately it was moot in my case since I have unlimited evenings and weekends and no Long distance or sex numbers were called.

 

[Dioltach]

My phone was stolen about 6 months ago. My wife and I had called our homeowners' association to send someone round to check our window frames, which had warped. A few days later a carpenter shows up with his teenage apprentice. They got to work, and while they checked the window in the study I worked in the living room (I work from home). Being a trusting soul, and in my own house, I never even thought of locking away any valuables.

But when they left, I couldn't find my phone anywhere. I tried phoning it, but it had been switched off. So I phoned the homeowners' association to get the carpenter's number, which they wouldn't give me. But I told them the story (actually, I said my phone was missing, and was it possible that it had got mixed up with their tools when they were tidying up), and 15 minutes later the carpenter (who looked pretty reliable, an experienced professional in his mid-50s) called me to say that he'd checked their toolboxes, and made his apprentice turn out his pockets, but nothing had turned up. But he said he really know the kid, who'd only been with his firm for a few weeks.

So there was nothing more I could do. I had no proof that the phone had been stolen. I'd only had it for a week, as well. But what was really irritating was that it was my business phone, and until I replaced it (with the same number) my clients could only contact me by E-mail.

Needless to say, anytime anyone comes by who I don't know, I keep gadgets like that locked away or on my person. Experience: what you get right after you needed it.