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iPhone stolen: Apple useless

N

nataliamck

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 22, 2010
264
0
Lisburn, Northern Ireland
My iPhone was stolen on Saturday night. I reported it to the police but we all know I'll never see it again.

I went to Apple store on Sunday morning to buy a new iPhone and asked if I could give them the serial number in case the thief ever brought it in to get fixed and the guy said "We don't do that. I'ts not our responsibility. If the thief brought it in we would have to service it as if it was there phone. We're not the police." ..............

He said all this as he was charging my card for another £600 for a new iPhone. I never expected any sort of compensation from Apple. I should have insured it but I didn't because I still wasnt sure if I was keeping it or not. But I am appalled that they can't even take down a serial number and report it to the police. Apple products are not cheap and the service does not match the price of the products. Unfortunately, I love the iPhone so I have no choice but to put up with it.
 
Do you really think Apple wants a police officer coming to each Apple Store in order to investigate each incident?

Or can you imagine how many people would sell there iPhones, then report them stolen and try to get them back?
 
Ryeno said:
Do you really think Apple wants a police officer coming to each Apple Store in order to investigate each incident?

Or can you imagine how many people would sell there iPhones, then report them stolen and try to get them back?
Click to expand...


this comment doesnt make sense. I think what the guy is saying is similar to say the CRIS for caravans, you register it and if its stolen you inform the CRIS, if anyone trys to purchase anything for it or register it online it comes up as stolen and registered to someone else. But there is a fee involved. If apple did this as part of its apple care it would be a money earner and very easy to implement.
 
I mean, it sucks that you lost your phone, but blaming Apple is ridiculous. Do you really think that HTC, Motorolla, Nokia or Google are going to do anything for you if you asked the same of them?

You may find that your home-owner's or renter's insurance covers your loss, FWIW. They'll likely just make it back in increased premiums, though.
 
Ryeno said:
Or can you imagine how many people would sell there iPhones, then report them stolen and try to get them back?
Click to expand...

True true. But I would agree with the OP of having a master blacklist for serial numbers so that something pops up on the screen when a reported stolen iPhone comes in for repair. It could even be something like a person has to shown a lost item police report before the serial number is added to the list, so as to discourage people from selling and reporting as stolen.
 
zhenya said:
I mean, it sucks that you lost your phone, but blaming Apple is ridiculous. Do you really think that HTC, Motorolla, Nokia or Google are going to do anything for you if you asked the same of them?

You may find that your home-owner's or renter's insurance covers your loss, FWIW. They'll likely just make it back in increased premiums, though.
Click to expand...

When exactly did I blame Apple?

In fact I took responsibility for not insuring it. Please read my post fully before vomitted fanboy-ism all over my post.

I came on here after it happened and read afew posts that said to give apple my serial number and I was shocked to find out they didn't do that. Personally, I think they should but that's my opinion and maybe I'm the fool for expecting more from them...

And also, I'm sure the genius's at apple could design a simple database that would flag a phone as stolen. No big deal.
 
nataliamck said:
When exactly did I blame Apple?

In fact I took responsibility for not insuring it. Please read my post fully before vomitted fanboy-ism all over my post.

I came on here after it happened and read afew posts that said to give apple my serial number and I was shocked to find out they didn't do that. Personally, I think they should but that's my opinion and maybe I'm the fool for expecting more from them...
Click to expand...

I presume you contacted your network as they're supposed to update the stolen IMEI database to block the handset although if it's a sim free phone so I'm not sure if this information would get checked?
 
Jesus Christ give the guy a break. I can't imagine how frustrated you are man and I feel your pain.

I had this happen to me before, not with a phone, but it all upsets you all the same. After being upset over it for a while, I realized that lessons in life are learned two ways: the easy way or the hard way. If you think about it, you paid 600 dollars essentially to learn to keep better track of your phone and/or pay for the insurance next time. I hope that doesn't come off to preachy, but if you try to think of the positives then it'll sting less when you think of it.

Good luck man, and future posters try and cut the guy some slack.

EDIT: Maybe I should of read the name closer... (it's 5:30 am here)

Didn't mean to call you a dude but hopefully you got my point.
 
nataliamck said:
My iPhone was stolen on Saturday night. I reported it to the police but we all know I'll never see it again.

I went to Apple store on Sunday morning to buy a new iPhone and asked if I could give them the serial number in case the thief ever brought it in to get fixed and the guy said "We don't do that. I'ts not our responsibility. If the thief brought it in we would have to service it as if it was there phone. We're not the police." ..............

He said all this as he was charging my card for another £600 for a new iPhone. I never expected any sort of compensation from Apple. I should have insured it but I didn't because I still wasnt sure if I was keeping it or not. But I am appalled that they can't even take down a serial number and report it to the police. Apple products are not cheap and the service does not match the price of the products. Unfortunately, I love the iPhone so I have no choice but to put up with it.
Click to expand...

Apple customer service is better than any other retail store out there so maybe the store in your area is one of the few exceptions but I doubt it. Keeping up with your phone is your responsibility and if it was stolen there is no one to blame except yourself. Anyway what good is a serial number going to do you? It's not like the cops are going to set up road blocks all around your city looking at iPhones for the one that matches your serial number. Sorry to hear about your loss. We all make stupid mistakes. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on.
 
nataliamck said:
I'm sure the genius's at apple could design a simple database that would flag a phone as stolen. No big deal.
Click to expand...



I agree. It would be easy for Apple to implement, especially as they even have a database like this to begin with. They can see previous repair reports, summaries of genius discussions, date purchased, activated, etc. etc. - all tied to the serial number. So why don't they put this, at the very least, into something like mobileme - flag it as lost or stolen. I mean they already have the tracking stuff in place, the remote wipe, the messaging system.
 
nataliamck said:
When exactly did I blame Apple?

In fact I took responsibility for not insuring it. Please read my post fully before vomitted fanboy-ism all over my post.

I came on here after it happened and read afew posts that said to give apple my serial number and I was shocked to find out they didn't do that. Personally, I think they should but that's my opinion and maybe I'm the fool for expecting more from them...

And also, I'm sure the genius's at apple could design a simple database that would flag a phone as stolen. No big deal.
Click to expand...

Calm down tough guy. By 'blaming Apple,' I merely meant that you were blaming them for not offering to help you. I also followed that up by offering you a suggestion that you perhaps hadn't considered. In the US you often don't have to insure an item specifically - it may be covered under one of the policies I listed.

If your attitude was even 1/4 of what it is here - to someone who was offering you help - I wouldn't have blamed the Apple employee for charging you for every cent they could. I'm about as far from a fan boy as you will find here, short of the trolls, so watch who you try to call out.
 
Did you save the box?? The serial number is on the sticker on the back of the box if you still have it.
 
Statusnone88 said:
I had this happen to me before, not with a phone, but it all upsets you all the same. After being upset over it for a while, I realized that lessons in life are learned two ways: the easy way or the hard way. If you think about it, you paid 600 dollars essentially to learn to keep better track of your phone and/or pay for the insurance next time. I hope that doesn't come off to preachy, but if you try to think of the positives then it'll sting less when you think of it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's exactly what I have done. It was an expensive lesson but my new phone is now insured and I have mobileme to help me track it down should this happen again. Although I really hope it doesn't.

My network took care of blocking the sim and the handset but these thieves are so well trained they probably no a way around it.

And anyone on here saying "It's your problem", I really hope you never have your phones stolen but if you do, the last thing you want to here is "It's your fault". It was stolen.... I didn't lose it. I wasn't careless. Sneaky ****ing thieves stole it from me.
 
I like how this forum is adamant about striking down other users after every recent iPhone release.

Great sense of community, guys.
 
nataliamck said:
And also, I'm sure the genius's at apple could design a simple database that would flag a phone as stolen. No big deal.
Click to expand...

Vengeful much?

So you want Apple to blacklist a device, remove a possible user from there ecosystem and then have that phone end up in a landfill all so you can feel better about yourself losing the device?
 
Ryeno said:
Vengeful much?

So you want Apple to blacklist a device, remove a possible user from there ecosystem and then have that phone end up in a landfill all so you can feel better about yourself losing the device?
Click to expand...

LOL! Vengeful? Hardly.

I'm not sure I really understand your post but anyway, all I said was have a system in place to flag an iphone as lost/stolen. Difficult? I think not.

God, you lot are just lovely.
 
nataliamck said:
LOL! Vengeful? Hardly.

I'm not sure I really understand your post but anyway, all I said was have a system in place to flag an iphone as lost/stolen. Difficult? I think not.
Click to expand...
I mean there is a perfectly good iPhone out there somewhere and you are not going to get it back, so you want Apple to make it e-waste just so you can feel better about yourself. Sounds vengeful to me

BTW, how can you prove it's stolen vs. you just selling it?
 
Ryeno said:
BTW, how can you prove it's stole and you didn't just sell the phone?
Click to expand...

How would that benefit me? I want to know if my stolen iPhone turns up. I'm sure the police report and the fact that they are using CCTV footage to try and track the thief would be evidence enough that I didn't just sell it.... Dear god! Are you kidding with this?
 
Ryeno said:
I mean there is a perfectly good iPhone out there somewhere and you are not going to get it back, so you want Apple to make it e-waste just so you can feel better about yourself. Sounds vengeful to me

BTW, how can you prove it's stolen vs. you just selling it?
Click to expand...

Why would flagging it as stolen then turn it into a waste? Couldn't Apple just contact the person tied to the phone? Maybe have an automated e-mail saying, "Your iPhone previously reported stolen has been found and is currently being held at [so-and-so] Apple Store. Please bring appropriate ID when collecting it". What is so vengeful about wanting something like that added to your existing mobileme tracking service for example?
 
twoism said:
Why would flagging it as stolen then turn it into a waste? Couldn't Apple just contact the person tied to the phone? Maybe have an automated e-mail saying, "Your iPhone previously reported stolen has been found and is currently being held at [so-and-so] Apple Store. Please bring appropriate ID when collecting it". What is so vengeful about wanting something like that added to your existing mobileme tracking service for example?
Click to expand...
How you do prove the phone was stolen vs. the original owner selling it and then trying to scam the system in getting a/the phone back?
 
twoism said:
Why would flagging it as stolen then turn it into a waste? Couldn't Apple just contact the person tied to the phone? Maybe have an automated e-mail saying, "Your iPhone previously reported stolen has been found and is currently being held at [so-and-so] Apple Store. Please bring appropriate ID when collecting it". What is so vengeful about wanting something like that added to your existing mobileme tracking service for example?
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I really didn't feel like I was asking too much until I came on here. Apparently most people are happy enough with what Apple provides instead... nothing.
 
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