iPhone got stolen, what is my recourse?

[BMNEUR]

Well, I'm really sad to say that my iPhone 5s 64GB got stolen last Friday and it has been an extremely upsetting moment for me. Long story short, a police report was filed but the officer handling my case basically said I was out of luck and it was long gone. The IMEI is blacklisted and the phone is marked as lost on iCloud, I have erased all my data.

I call up AT&T and they have explicitly told me they will not be of any help to me as it is too soon to purchase a new device with a subsidy. I am living with a silly GoPhone for the time being as I need a phone desperately for work but it is absurd for me to shell out almost $1000 for a new iPhone because AT&T will not give me any assistance. They actually insisted that I contact Apple, which I found rather bizarre.

I contacted Apple numerous times regarding my stolen phone and I have received the same canned response that there is nothing they can do other than instructing me to mark it as stolen in iCloud, which has already been done. Then, one agent promised to go above and beyond to see what he can work out for me, gave me a case number to get my AppleCare+ refunded, and also offered to call AT&T for me to see if they can work something out. That would be great, however, I didn't have a phone at the time of the live chat session to have them work things out for me. Has anyone had this happen for them, and if so, what can I expect?

Other than that, is there any other suggestions or steps/things that I missed in reporting my phone?

I guess I'll have to live with this extremely slow GoPhone for the time being. Hope is on the horizon.

 

[wordoflife]

Has anyone had this happen for them, and if so, what can I expect?

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do or they can do. You've already marked the device as lost and listed the IEMI. Unless someone returns the phone, you'll most likely have to pay full price for it.

Maybe you had insurance (via credit card?) and could use that. Or maybe AT&T will be able to give you an "early" upgrade price, which is still expensive but cheaper than a full price phone. I wouldn't count on it though because AT&T would lose money on that subsidy.

Personally, I'd rebuy the phone on T-Mobile and have them pay the ETF for AT&T. You could trade in a different device on their list (find a cheap android online or something), it doesn't have to be the phone tied to your AT&T contract. Hopefully T-Mobile coverage is good in your area. This would allow you to finance the phone so you don't have to pay $1000 at once. After you pay off the device, you could switch back to AT&T (or maybe you will decide you like T-Mobile and stick with them!)

Either way, I hope this works out for you.

 

[old-wiz]

The phone is pretty much gone; it's almost certainly out of the country by now where people can get around IMEI blacklisting.

Your only choices are to live with cheap phone or buy a new iPhone at full retail.

You might check your homeowners insurance, but it's unlikely they will do anything.

Why would you expect AT&T or Apple to replace a stolen phone for free?

 

[cnotes2019]

Have you checked find my iphone to see if it's still on and able to be located? This is why insurance that covers loss or stolen can be vital.

 

[BMNEUR]

The phone is pretty much gone; it's almost certainly out of the country by now where people can get around IMEI blacklisting.

Your only choices are to live with cheap phone or buy a new iPhone at full retail.

You might check your homeowners insurance, but it's unlikely they will do anything.

Why would you expect AT&T or Apple to replace a stolen phone for free?

I don't, however, I feel that there should be more consumer protection when it comes to cellphone theft instead of getting left out in the cold.

 

[wordoflife]

I don't, however, I feel that there should be more consumer protection when it comes to cellphone theft instead of getting left out in the cold.

They offer insurance for your phone in case this happens. But surely, you can't expect them to do anything for you especially considering how new your contract is.

Don't know how much a fully loaded 5S costs, but AT&T is taking a loss on whatever that price is minus the $399 you paid.

They literally have no incentive to give you a new contract price or contract extension price.

 

[BMNEUR]

Have you checked find my iphone to see if it's still on and able to be located? This is why insurance that covers loss or stolen can be vital.

Yes, but the reason I didn't opt for insurance through AT&T is the fact that they scalp you for over $10 a month, plus the accidental/theft replacement fee is almost the same price as getting a new phone on a two year contract. With AppleCare+, the fee is significantly less over a period of time.

As far as checking Find my iPhone, AT&T insisted upon suspending the line and disabling service to it (still on my bill). It is quite difficult to track the phone when my service is off. The last time it was seen was the 17th, the date of the theft. Since then, it is MIA.

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They offer insurance for your phone in case this happens. But surely, you can't expect them to do anything for you especially considering how new your contract is.

Don't know how much a fully loaded 5S costs, but AT&T is taking a loss on whatever that price is minus the $399 you paid.

They literally have no incentive to give you a new contract price or contract extension price.

The only thing I was offered is to take up a promotion next month, the 22nd. I believe they said it put me on AT&T next as well as voiding my existing contract. It can be done with any phone as far as I know and the offer is available to anyone who has had an existing two year service agreement for over 6 months.

 

[Dontazemebro]

Should have bought the protection plan. What is it like $5/$6 a month with AT&T?

 

[wordoflife]

The only thing I was offered is to take up a promotion next month, the 22nd. I believe they said it put me on AT&T next as well as voiding my existing contract. It can be done with any phone as far as I know and the offer is available to anyone who has had an existing two year service agreement for over 6 months.

I see. That's good then.
I'd still suggest checking out whether T-Mobile is a viable option or not.

 

[BMNEUR]

Should have bought the protection plan. What is it like $5/$6 a month with AT&T?

$6.99 a month. I purchased through the Apple Store and it seemed more economical to purchase my warranty through Apple as I didn't feel like being scalped by AT&T for unused months.

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I see. That's good then.
I'd still suggest checking out whether T-Mobile is a viable option or not.

I will. I live out on the eastern end of Louisville. We intended to switch from T-Mobile to AT&T because of scattershot service around the area. I will certainly research them and will talk to some friends and relatives to see how their service improved.

 

[Dontazemebro]

$6.99 a month. I purchased through the Apple Store and it seemed more economical to purchase my warranty through Apple as I didn't feel like being scalped by AT&T for unused months.

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I will. I live out on the eastern end of Louisville. We intended to switch from T-Mobile to AT&T because of scattershot service around the area. I will certainly research them and will talk to some friends and relatives to see how their service improved.

Yeah I know what you mean but you never know when it will come in handy. Same thing happened with me when I was with AT&T. I had my One X stolen but because of the protection plan I was able to upgrade to a One X+ for only a fraction of the cost. It sucks that you have to be without a phone, wish you the best.

 

[a-m-k]

Please tell me you set it up on iCloud before this happened.

 

[BMNEUR]

Please tell me you set it up on iCloud before this happened.

From OP: "The IMEI is blacklisted and the phone is marked as lost on iCloud, I have erased all my data."

 

[Charadis]

$6.99 a month. I purchased through the Apple Store and it seemed more economical to purchase my warranty through Apple as I didn't feel like being scalped by AT&T for unused months.

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I will. I live out on the eastern end of Louisville. We intended to switch from T-Mobile to AT&T because of scattershot service around the area. I will certainly research them and will talk to some friends and relatives to see how their service improved.

OP, try speaking with retentions. Seems to be working favorably for a lot of Slickdealers, and most of em don't even need brand new phones but got an early full upgrade and/or a lot of credit anyways. Check out the feedback from this thread:



Slickdealers getting AT&T credit and early upgrade



You're thinking about switching to tmobile anyway, so it doesn't hurt to try and see what they can do for you. Sent from my iPad.

 

[thehustleman]

Unfortunately you're screwed.

Next time be sure to get insurance, then you'd only be out a couple hundred bucks instead of so much to get a replacement

 

[IFRIT]

Why the feeling of entitlement, you had your phone stolen you had opportunity to buy insurance but were too cheap to do so and you somehow expect someone else to go out of pocket... pls

Your recourse is to live with the cheap phone or stump up the cash out of your own pocket for something better.

 

[cyks]

Another option would be to spend a couple hundred and buy a used 4S of 5.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I'm sorry to hear about your phone being stolen OP. I had my iPhone 4 stolen in 2012. It really sucks. I used to get insurance on all my phones and never used it after paying for insurance for 1 year on the iPhone 4 I decided to cancel it as I thought it wasn't worth it. Big mistake. The 2 things Iearnt from that is to always insure your phone and to have a lock sceen password.

 

[T5BRICK]

$399 32GB Nexus 5.

 

[Robster3]

Why the feeling of entitlement, you had your phone stolen you had opportunity to buy insurance but were too cheap to do so and you somehow expect someone else to go out of pocket... pls

Your recourse is to live with the cheap phone or stump up the cash out of your own pocket for something better.

I agree. It's just a phone. Get over it.

 

[AndrewR23]

I agree. It's just a phone. Get over it.

Obviously you have never had a "phone" stolen.



?? Don't understand how people say the iPhone is just a phone. It sends emails/pictures/internet/gaming/etc. It's not JUST a phone.

 

[SchuettS]

I agree. It's just a phone. Get over it.

Hmm yah just a thousand dollar phone. No biggie....

 

[cjmillsnun]

Obviously you have never had a "phone" stolen.



?? Don't understand how people say the iPhone is just a phone. It sends emails/pictures/internet/gaming/etc. It's not JUST a phone.

99.99% of todays phones do the same. It IS just a phone, a very nice and expensive phone, but a phone nonetheless.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I don't, however, I feel that there should be more consumer protection when it comes to cellphone theft instead of getting left out in the cold.

There's no such thing as customer protection when it comes to theft. That's why we have insurance. Your car gets stolen and you don't have insurance, nobody will replace it for you.

Buy insurance if you can't afford to pay full price for a replacement.

 

[Brian Y]

You keep mentioning that you don't want to be "scalped" for $10 a month.

Do you have home insurance? or if someone breaks in do you just bitch at whoever you bought stuff from because you did't want to be scalped for insurance premiums.

I hate to be blunt, but you had the option to buy insurance at several points - though AT&T, a third party company etc, yet you chose not to. The result of that - which you knew at the time, is that if you lose it, or it gets stolen, you pay full price for a new one. The excess is roughly the cost of a new contract phone, yes, however that is a heavily subsidised price, and far less than the cost of a standalone phone.