Serial Number Check?

[cwalton]

Hi,

Does anyone know of a way to check a serial number for an apple product in the UK to find out if the unit(s) have been stolen?

I have been offered a number of Macs, apparently from an office clearout, so would be good to know if there is a way of verifying this.

Thanks,

C.

[stoid]

If it's not too different from the US, check the System Profiler and it should have it listed in there.

If the serial isn't listed there, it depends on the kind of Mac.

Towers - on the back
G4 iMacs and eMacs - inside the plastic cover over the CD drive
iBooks/PowerBooks - under the battery
older iMacs - on the side by the ports, or underneath towrds the back


Hope this helps walton!

[tomf87]

Originally posted by stoid
If it's not too different from the US, check the System Profiler and it should have it listed in there.

If the serial isn't listed there, it depends on the kind of Mac.

Towers - on the back
G4 iMacs and eMacs - inside the plastic cover over the CD drive
iBooks/PowerBooks - under the battery
older iMacs - on the side by the ports, or underneath towrds the back


Hope this helps walton!

I think he was referring to a service to check a SN to see if was reported stolen, not where the SN's are located on a product. But I could be wrong... :) Another way to get the SN is to click the Apple logo and About this Mac... Then click on the version number until the SN appears (usually twice).

You may just talk to the local police department and see if they'd run the numbers for you. I'm sure they would do it.

[cwalton]

Don't think I explained myself very well...

I have the serials for all the Macs, however, I was wondering if there is any kind of database in the UK which will allow me to check the serials?

[stoid]

Like tom said your best bet would be to check and see if the police deptartment would run the SNs for you.

[jxyama]

call applecare... when you register your applecare, you have to provide the serial number of the machine you purchased the applecare for.

i know you didn't buy applecare, but someone over there must know how to get you in touch with someone who can do a SN lookup.

[Eniregnat]

Authorized Apple resellers and repair technicians are the only ones that have access to an online database. You best bet is to get friendly with a Mac repair center and see if they would be willing to tell you about the computers. From what I understand, authorized repair technicians must check the S/Ns before doing any repair work- warranted or not.

[Mblazened]

An Apple service provider can only tell you if the machine is under warranty, and any previous repairs the machine has undergone. It does not list previous owners.

Apple does keep track of who owns a computer, but the damn things are constantly being resold (ebay, etc.) so even that isn't accurate.

I don't see any way to find out if they were stolen.

-m