Found an iPhone in a taxi.... owner will not reply?

[coolwater]

Update...

I finally got hold of the owner... or he got hold of me by replying to the emails i sent him....

He has already got a new iPhone and wasnt bothered about me returning the phone!!!!!

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

 

[marksman]

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

While I feel the OP did not put in an earnest effort to find the owner, if what he said there is true and the guy did respond to him and did not care, then that is that.

Saying he should be obliged to explain to the guy that the phone is worth money, is over the line, I believe. It is not his obligation to do that, and would not be a reasonable expectation.

 

[MBHockey]

Update...

I finally got hold of the owner... or he got hold of me by replying to the emails i sent him....

He has already got a new iPhone and wasnt bothered about me returning the phone!!!!!

I was flabbergasted when i read this.... i have loads of friends who would want an iphone, even one so bashed and bruised as this one.

So now all that can happen is that i have a nice iPhone shaped brick sitting on my desk, doing nothing!

I looked the IMEI online and the phone is registered as lost/stolen so there goes any chance of selling it or even passing it on due to the whole 'handling stolen goods' situation that could arise, so I guess all i can do now is chuck it away or keep it locked away in a drawer or something....

...If only Find My iPhone was available to this guys a month or so earlier then this mess would not have occured.... but it seems like everything has worked out for the best anyway.

Would have loved some reward for my efforts to be honest but at least no one loses.

Thanks for all your input on this thread!

PS this thread is a prime example of how people do nt read the first few posts and then the game of chinese whispers begins.... to all those who have insulted me or accused me of stealing, or complaining or anything but asking advice on how to del with the situation then have a read back over the thread and enjoy the laughter that ensues.....!

Haha, I find the conclusion to this story is ridiculously implausible. First, he doesn't respond to any of your alleged emails and then only does once he has already had his iPhone replaced. What's more, he doesn't even care to have his old $400 device back? Gimme a break man.

Anyone would want their iPhone back. I don't care how nonchalant the UK is.

Couldn't have scripted a better scenario to make yourself look like the good guy while justifying keeping the phone, could you?

 

[aristotle]

Hand it in to the police, then if the owner isn't found they will give you it back - then it is officially yours and you can do as you please with it.

How will handing it into the police help? Would the police be able to track down the owner? Would they contact o2? If it is still on a contract, shouldn't the device be turned into o2?

 

[anim8or]

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

Haha, I find the conclusion to this story is ridiculously implausible. First, he doesn't respond to any of your alleged emails and then only does once he has already had his iPhone replaced. What's more, he doesn't even care to have his old $400 device back? Gimme a break man.

Anyone would want their iPhone back. I don't care how nonchalant the UK is.

Couldn't have scripted a better scenario to make yourself look like the good guy while justifying keeping the phone, could you?

I love how people seem to always think they are better than the OP in these situations.... and are in most cases barking up the wrong tree.

I have an iPhone 3G, a iPhone 1st Gen and my wife has her own iPhone, my parents have smartphones (1 iPhone, 1 Blackberry) my brother has a Blackberry.. none of my friends want the phone because of the horrendous condition its in.......!

I have no reason to keep it, the owner did not want to give me his details to send it back, YES he has replaced his phone and YES i did make an effort to contact him, albeit not the valiant effort that you are demanding but why should i waste my time and as some have suggested, my money trying to contact someone who doesnt give a monkeys about his lost iPhone, if you saw the state that this phone is in you would understand!

After receiving his response i checked the appropriate places to find out my options, not here of course... (all you get here is accusations and slander from slack jawed halfwits!) and then decided to update those who have followed the thread of the current situation.

This will be the last update to this thread because as of right now the phone is in the bin at the end of my street....

Case closed.

 

[TSX]

I have no reason to keep it, the owner did not want to give me his details to send it back, ...

Case closed.

Ill take it,

 

[milani]

This will be the last update to this thread because as of right now the phone is in the bin at the end of my street....

Case closed.

Haha. The guy who goes through your garbage is going to have a field day!

 

[t-oliveira]

Or you could have sent it to me

 

[TSX]

where do you live and which corner?

 

[coolwater]

none of my friends want the phone because of the horrendous condition its in.......!

I have no reason to keep it,

Just read your previous comments, you clearly wanted to keep it yourself. First, you never said it's in a horrendous condition. If the iPhone's condition is that bad, you wouldn't call it 'new one' like it's good enough for a replacement. Second, you wanted to keep it as a vacation phone in US and you sounded more worried about getting caught.

We all have iphones already so not really in need of a new one...

If he doesnt respond then do i get to keep it? I wouldnt mind using it as a holiday iphone when i go to the States in a month.... but if i attach it to my mac will it send some sorta message back to Apple or something?

would i get into trouble for doing this?

You said you will be happy to keep it. But, now, you're saying it's just a garbage and worthless. Look what you said before.

but to be honest i have tried to return it and have taken time to do so..... if he doesn't want it then i am happy to keep it... its not a bad spare to have (lol).....

This will be my last update as well. Yeah, case closed.

 

[julianna1973]

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

Leave the guy alone. If he had wanted to keep the phone he wouldnt have posted ANY message!

 

[jav6454]

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

Um, I think the previous owner did know, I just think the previous owner could care less. I may be wrong, but I read the whole thread (long read). Yes, there are things I could have done to make the contacting phase go quicker.

Do I have too? No. However, my way of being raised taught me to return things. OP did that, even if he just sent emails.

Now the owner cares not for this phone. (I am taking OP's word) So, I say best if the OP keeps the phone. I know many of us would want an extra iPhone, just in case.

I'd like to give OP the benefit of doubt. So, there my $0.02

 

[Jayden0606]

I didn't read all the responses, but how about having o2 contact the owner while you're on the phone and seeing if he wants it back?

You can also still see the number attached, whether the sim is blocked or not.

General --> Phone


Since he has a new phone, I'm sure the number will work.

 

[SFStateStudent]

OP should have just kept it, after all that was done. The SIM card is the owner's and once he gets that SIM card replaced and another phone, the SIM card in the iPhone is deactivated, basically it's useless. Throw in another SIM card and carry-on with your business. AT&T, O2 or anyone else for that matter doesn't even bother blocking the IMEI or reporting the iPhone as stolen or lost. A lost iPhone is just that, LOST. When's the last time you heard of someone offering a reward for finding a phone? Whether it's AT&T or O2 or some private owner; they could basically care less about finding it anytime soon.....

 

[Phil A.]

isn't possession 9/10's of the law????

Er, no!
In the UK we have an offence known as "Theft By Finding": If you find something that isn't yours and you keep it, you are committing theft and can (and probably will) be prosecuted and sent to jail

 

[iphoneftw]

well you have a very nice looking expensive paper weight which is awesome

 

[BennyJet]

I bought a 2G iPhone off of Ebay sometime back. The original owner lost it and bought a 3G, then had her 2G returned to her - and obviously put it up for auction.

She forgot to report it 'found' - the IMEI was blacklisted. Took me a good few days to find this out after running checks on it and calling her. She simply rang O2 and they unblocked the device for her. It worked almost instantly with my SIM.

Surely you can just do the same, and then sell it on/pass it on to someone? Or even Ebay it for parts?

You seem to be taking a lot of guff of these swine for being a good person - most people wouldn't have even got in touch with the original owner. Bitter, bitter people.

 

[jayenh]

I am guessing you didn't even bother to inform the owner that his old iPhone can bring in a good amount of cash, am I wrong? How convenient! There are many iPhone users who have no idea how much a used iPhone is worth.

OP, just say that you really wanted to keep his iPhone yourself. You did what you had to do and it's yours now. Congratulations... yeah, right.

lol, this makes no sense what so ever.

1) why should he tell the owner what it is worth? how is that his responsibility?

2) why should he waste his call allowence/money calling the guy when email is just as affective, even if it is a little slower?

3) why would he contact the guy in the first place if his intention was to keep it?

4) why would he post any of this on a public forum if his intention was to keep it?

what an idiot.

 

[charltonx]

I didn't read all the responses, but how about having o2 contact the owner while you're on the phone and seeing if he wants it back?

Further back in the thread I believe he said he contacted O2 and they weren't very helpful.

I'm with the OP on this one, he made more than enough effort and if his intentions weren't admirable then why bother posting on here about it.

Get off his back some of you.

 

[Snookie19]

Blacklisted iPhone 4

Hi I work for a charity and we were donated an iphone 4 suprisinly it works fine so we thought we could sell it to raise money for the charity but after finding out it was locked to vodafone and going to them to get it unlocked to be able to use on orange etc... we later found out that the phone was blacklisted and i have got in contact with the previous owner and explained the situation they have not wanted it back, they have no questioned why we have it, i have explained to them why we would like it unblacklisted but nothing so far and had no reply from then on so as they have still not done anything is there anything i can do to unblacklist this IMEI number 012749002003281 myself on my computer is there any software i could use to do this i have been to vodafone and they say they need the old owner to unblacklist it, but by the looks of things there not going to...... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ckc]

is there anything i can do to unblacklist this IMEI number 012749002003281 myself on my computer is there any software i could use to do this i have been to vodafone and they say they need the old owner to unblacklist it, but by the looks of things there not going to...... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

You will find that Vodafone and I assume all other networks here in the UK will only unlist a blacklisted phone if the person to who the phone is registered makes the application.

There are obvious reasons for this so unless you can get the original owner to cooperate then you are stuck with a blacklisted phone.

 

[saberahul]

Way to bring alive a 3 yr old thread...

 

[Ent]

Hi I work for a charity and we were donated an iphone 4 suprisinly it works fine so we thought we could sell it to raise money for the charity but after finding out it was locked to vodafone and going to them to get it unlocked to be able to use on orange etc... we later found out that the phone was blacklisted and i have got in contact with the previous owner and explained the situation they have not wanted it back, they have no questioned why we have it, i have explained to them why we would like it unblacklisted but nothing so far and had no reply from then on so as they have still not done anything is there anything i can do to unblacklist this IMEI number 012749002003281 myself on my computer is there any software i could use to do this i have been to vodafone and they say they need the old owner to unblacklist it, but by the looks of things there not going to...... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rofl, someone by the name of 'Snookie19' (and talks like that) actually works for a charity?