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I found an unopened iPhone on the Metro North today....

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Well, since I do not live in the USA I may be wrong, but:

Are iPhones only sold through Apple STores? Couldn't this person have bought it at an AT&T shop?

Surely that is another possibility and AT&T may be able to trace it.
 
It had to have been purchased with a credit card, and presumably the receipt is in the bag...so why not take it back to the store? They can certainly find its rightful owner.

Karma is a bitch.
 
scenario

customer could have asked to have receipt (with serial # on it) emailed to them.

i did that with my iphone. imagine woman/man get off subway, drop phone from laptop bag, purse, not noticed, and they get the email when they check later with their iphone receipt and serial #, check their bag for the iphone

oh no! phone is lost, so they report it with serial # to apple store.

or....

take a look here:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/laf/

we posted and pointed them here. hopefully someone will contact you!
 
Karma is a bitch.[/QUOTE]

I just checked my reciept and it has my iPhone serial number. So, if your're planning to register the iPhone (you have no choice), it's possible to trace it. Just be aware.
 
It's not often that a thread reaches so many posts in such a comparatively short time (especially if it has nothing to do with a product launch). Clearly this is indicative of the strength of feeling and the divergence of opinion that exists here.

I am disappointed by the sheer number of people prepared to congratulate the OP on his "good fortune". I am no moralist but I do have morals and I find it helpful to spare a thought for the unfortunate person who lost the iPhone. To call him or her stupid is outrageous. Careless, yes, but who can say that they have never been careless?

It is disheartening to read the sheer contempt that the OP readily dispenses in relation to the person who lost the iPhone and the staff at the Lost and Found office. He seeks to justify his dishonest appropriation of another person's property (the essence of theft) with the childish principle of "Finders Keepers" and his half-hearted attempts to trace the owner. His readiness to give up without at least leaving contact details with Apple, AT&T, the Lost and Found Office, and the police, might suggest to some that he is merely a slightly more sophisticated thief than those he arrogantly assumes would behave in the same way (Lost and Found staff).

Shame on him! Whatever happened to the principle of decency. Sadly, greed, personal gain, and delusional self-justification seem to be the order of the day now.
 
how we can help?

can we possibly have apple or the apple store manhattan email receipts to all iphones sold within the day?

considering how the inventory site works, and checking available stock, i'd imagine they do a count and reset each morning. obviously this couldn't have lasted since last night, so say, since 5am?

any apple store empoyees to confirm/help with this?

i'd love to help whoever lost this iphone get it back.....
 
A good friend of mine is a London black cab driver and to date has found 5 iPhones left by forgetful/unlucky customers. To date my friend has returned all 5 to their respective owners. All were surprised to receive it back and all gave my friend a reward for his honesty/inconvenience.
 
notice how the jerk isn't responding anymore. I hope he tries to activate it and AT&T shuts it off and traces the most called #'s and the computer IP address to locate the phone.
 
UPDATE:

So, while going to work this morning, I had some extra time and decided to take a swing down to the 5th Avenue Store.

I explained again in person to a different manager this time the situation, and he told me they can't give out any personal information to me. But since there is no real policy in place for this type of situation, the best he can do is take my phone number and if they get a call about it and the person can confirm the name, serial number etc, they will provide that person with my phone number to get the phone back.

I have gone above and beyond what most people would have done in this situation. Provided I don't get a call in the next two days, I am keeping the phone and giving it to my sister.

We will see what happens. :apple:
 
nevesis said:
UPDATE:

So, while going to work this morning, I had some extra time and decided to take a swing down to the 5th Avenue Store.

I explained again in person to a different manager this time the situation, and he told me they can't give out any personal information to me. But since there is no real policy in place for this type of situation, the best he can do is take my phone number and if they get a call about it and the person can confirm the name, serial number etc, they will provide that person with my phone number to get the phone back.

I have gone above and beyond what most people would have done in this situation. Provided I don't get a call in the next two days, I am keeping the phone and giving it to my sister.

We will see what happens. :apple:
Click to expand...

Why didn't the manager just take the phone back and take care of it himself?

He doesnt' have to give you any information at all to do that. And that way you don't have to expend any additional effort or expense.
 
i just talked to my apple store.

they said they'd be able to track it if the person brought the phone in. they'd search the database for the serial # and email or call the owner, and they'd take care of getting it back to the owner.

pwned.
 
nevesis said:
UPDATE:

So, while going to work this morning, I had some extra time and decided to take a swing down to the 5th Avenue Store.

I explained again in person to a different manager this time the situation, and he told me they can't give out any personal information to me. But since there is no real policy in place for this type of situation, the best he can do is take my phone number and if they get a call about it and the person can confirm the name, serial number etc, they will provide that person with my phone number to get the phone back.

I have gone above and beyond what most people would have done in this situation. Provided I don't get a call in the next two days, I am keeping the phone and giving it to my sister.

We will see what happens. :apple:
Click to expand...

I think you've done all you can. If you don't hear from them in two days, finders keepers. End of story.
 
Still lying... what a real winner. Don't worry as i'm sure the owner has contacted the place he purchased it and has had the phone reported stolen or lost. Just wait til you try and activate it and your IP address is captured. You know your only trying to find a way to justify in your mind that the phone is yours. If you really wanted this person to have it you would have left it with an authorized Apple iphone dealer.

I hate Liars.
 
Seems to me you are just trying to justify keeping this “find” by posting all that you have done. Sometimes you have to work a little bit in order to set things right. Given the fact that this phone is NBO, Apple should have no issues finding the owner as they always ask me for email and confirm my physical address & phone number when I make a purchase.

They just don’t give this info out to other people. Which is probably what you asked for so that you could try to get a “reward” out of the people who lost the phone.

Furthermore, Gifting something that is lost/stolen is just super lame. Ramifications of your inability to do what’s right will be felt by whoever you give this phone to as well. What if you are gifting someone else’s gift?

To say they deserve it for leaving it there in the first place tells me that you didn’t ask enough questions about the situation to start. What if they were having a really bad day, and the phone was the last thing on their mind? No one intentionally leaves a high ticket item like that behind because they can afford to. To insinuate it is just another attempt to justify your temptations to keep it.

To the person who had the story about the credit cards. There is a difference between loosing something and mail fraud. It’s a shame that no one did anything (I am not surprised at all about the cops… typical) But at least you did everything in your power. This person has not. They need to personally return to the apple store and deal directly with the manager. I would only keep this phone if all avenues of trying to return it fail. Only then can you consider this a small gift that your Karma has brought you. Otherwise it will turn into a curse.
 
SIUGRAD99 said:
Still lying... what a real winner. Don't worry as i'm sure the owner has contacted the place he purchased it and has had the phone reported stolen or lost. Just wait til you try and activate it and your IP address is captured. You know your only trying to find a way to justify in your mind that the phone is yours. If you really wanted this person to have it you would have left it with an authorized Apple iphone dealer.

I hate Liars.
Click to expand...

I found it, not the Apple Store. Any person with half a brain knows if they lost the iPhone they just bought they would contact the store and let them know.

They have not done that yet, but if they do in the next few days and can prove their name and serial number on the product, he will give them my phone number to contact me.

It is not my responsibility to even get this phone back to the original person, but I am trying.

It is not Apple's responsibility nor do they have time to waste in trying to track someone down. That is not their job and is why there is no policy set in place for when this happens.

Thanks to all in this thread who have replied with positive, realistic comments opposed to the ridiculous negative ones.
 
In the end, it doesn't matter much if the item is returned to the owner or the apple store.

1) apple requires purchase of iPhone with a credit card. Perhaps very likely that it was purchased with a real credit card

2) even very basic credit cards provide protections for consumers. Lost/stolen items bought on the card are covered and replaced, given that a police report is filed, etc. You get at least 30-90 days of this protection.

3) debit cards makes this a little more difficult, but you are still protected by visa/mc/etc on the transaction if you are quick about it

Given the many avenues available, the purchaser is well protected for the loss.

The receipt was likely emailed, so its not in the bag....but also makes you wonder if it was stolen and the person had second thoughts about it.

Overall, it sounds like the finder made good effort. Nobody cared. Might as well keep it...
 
Nevesis, try this: (1) Go back to the store. (2) Put the phone on a counter or table. (3) Say "I found this on the metro. It was purchased here. I hope you can find a way to get it back to the owner."

And then (4) turn around and walk away.

No need to be a detective or walk the streets looking for the owner. No breach of privacy. No policy needed. No expense on your part.

Simple, easy, and the right thing to do.
 
lying again

apple store says they'd locate the person.... you're lying.

maybe you should have left the phone at the store, which is the right thing to do.

nevesis said:
I found it, not the Apple Store. Any person with half a brain knows if they lost the iPhone they just bought they would contact the store and let them know.

They have not done that yet, but if they do in the next few days and can prove their name and serial number on the product, he will give them my phone number to contact me.

It is not my responsibility to even get this phone back to the original person, but I am trying.

It is not Apple's responsibility nor do they have time to waste in trying to track someone down. That is not their job and is why there is no policy set in place for when this happens.

Thanks to all in this thread who have replied with positive, realistic comments opposed to the ridiculous negative ones.
Click to expand...
 
nevesis said:
It is not Apple's responsibility nor do they have time to waste in trying to track someone down. That is not their job and is why there is no policy set in place for when this happens.
Click to expand...

Was there a receipt in the bag? Did it have a customer name on it?

Even if they have no policy in place, the manager can use the serial number or receipt to find and contact the purchaser in a matter of minutes. Any store manager I've ever known would be happy to make the effort.
 
diabolic said:
Was there a receipt in the bag? Did it have a customer name on it?

Even if they have no policy in place, the manager can use the serial number or receipt to find and contact the purchaser in a matter of minutes. Any store manager I've ever known would be happy to make the effort.
Click to expand...

There was no receipt in the bag, it was most likely e-mailed.
 
i can see it now...new identity theft scam.

Leave new iPhone on metro, wait for someone to put in all their personal info into it.

Activate trojan.
 
Maybe it was left there on purpose and there were secret cameras all around.

On Dateline NBC they did a show called To Catch an iJacker (to play off To Catch a Predator) or something like that where they would leave iPods around and see if they would steal it. The iPod has software that requires registration so that's how would trace back to the thief. They would go to the thief house and tell them they won a prize for registrating their ipod Thief comes to a trailer..

Then you see Chris Hanson saying "Why don't you take a seat over there..."
 
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