Found an iPhone, what to do...

[sushi]

I found a brand new, unopened iPhone at the PHL airport today.

Kudos on trying to find the owner!

 

[aethelbert]

It's unopened. AT&T doesn't know it exists yet unless they bought it at an at&t store.

It is also likely from Europe as it was in the international arrivals hall, where the vast majority of flights are westbound transatlantics.

Call AppleCare. They will contact the owner if he/she registered the product or if they somehow can get any info from the serial number or IMEI. Trust me, it works. My sister got her week-old iPod back after leaving it in Boston Logan Airport and a nice couple knew to call Apple to return it.

I called and they couldn't help me. It was probably never registered with them. Apparently nobody had called to report one as being lost, either.

 

[powerdave]

I'm not so sure about it being from Europe. Maybe someone waiting for someone arriving from somewhere in Europe?

As I'm in Europe now, with the strength of the Euro against the weak dollar, it seems crazy to buy an iPhone here, on my way to the US.

I'd say checking with Apple to see if you can get info about the purchaser (although they're probably not even allowed to give out these details) or else simply at the airport... when you lose something, you always track down the place you think you left the item

 

[aethelbert]

I'm not so sure about it being from Europe. Maybe someone waiting for someone arriving from somewhere in Europe?

As I'm in Europe now, with the strength of the Euro against the weak dollar, it seems crazy to buy an iPhone here, on my way to the US.

I'd say checking with Apple to see if you can get info about the purchaser (although they're probably not even allowed to give out these details) or else simply at the airport... when you lose something, you always track down the place you think you left the item

The problem is that it was left between immigration and customs, in a secure area that cannot be entered unless arriving on an international flight. I was informed by the chief customs agent on duty that it would be impossible for one to come back for it as that person had already entered the US without declaring the iPhone. I do find it strange about the euro vs dollar and I have thought about that, but nobody can get in that area unless arriving from abroad...

Oh, and hello to you in Hamburg. I was just coming back from Lufthansa's facility up there.

 

[juanm]

If you don't find the owner (which is likely), and still want to do something "right", sell it, and give the money to some charity.

 

[aethelbert]

If you don't find the owner (which is likely), and still want to do something "right", sell it, and give the money to some charity.

That's the plan.

 

[LinuXtreme]

Hopefully whoever lost their iPhone at PHL is Googling for it (I Googled "phl iPhone" and your two posts are the top two results).

Out of curiosity, how long are you waiting until you donate it (or the money from its sale) to charity?

I've gotta reiterate what others are saying: Its great that you're doing the right thing and trying to locate the owner, even though the odds are slim that you'll ever connect.

 

[aethelbert]

Hopefully whoever lost their iPhone at PHL is Googling for it (I Googled "phl iPhone" and your two posts are the top two results).

Out of curiosity, how long are you waiting until you donate it (or the money from its sale) to charity?

I've gotta reiterate what others are saying: Its great that you're doing the right thing and trying to locate the owner, even though the odds are slim that you'll ever connect.

I'm just gonna wait a month. I know that the odds are slim, but I figure that the longest that it could possibly take for someone to want to find it is one month, so that's the plan.