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Lost iPhone - What are my Options?

pilotError

pilotError

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 12, 2006
2,237
4
Long Island
I lost my 2G iPhone while bouncing around the City on Friday night.

It's either traveling around in a Cab somewhere or on the Long Island Railroad.

Either way, I doubt it's coming back...

I wanted to wait until June (or whenever the next gen iPhone is coming out), but I can't be without a phone.

I have AT&T service and I don't really want to change that. I don't want to re-sign for another 2 years if I can avoid it. My plan was to buy either a used phone or an unlocked phone off of the Marketplace or Ebay.

If I buy an unlocked iPhone on ebay, is there a way to restore back to factory settings?

Can I just go to AT&T and have them pop a new sim card in it?

What have others done?
 
pilotError said:
I lost my 2G iPhone while bouncing around the City on Friday night.

It's either traveling around in a Cab somewhere or on the Long Island Railroad.

Either way, I doubt it's coming back...

I wanted to wait until June (or whenever the next gen iPhone is coming out), but I can't be without a phone.

I have AT&T service and I don't really want to change that. I don't want to re-sign for another 2 years if I can avoid it. My plan was to buy either a used phone or an unlocked phone off of the Marketplace or Ebay.

If I buy an unlocked iPhone on ebay, is there a way to restore back to factory settings?

Can I just go to AT&T and have them pop a new sim card in it?

What have others done?
Click to expand...

1. Report to the police. It doesn't start a search but at least it helps if some honest soul finds it and returns it.
2. If you feel all hope is lost, go to eBay and look for an iPhone. They're plenty there, but some can go up the price scales.
3. Once you get it, if its activated, use the Delete and Reset option to erased and restore everything. Then Use iTunes Restore function.
4. Go to AT&T and clearly explain to them what happened and that you have bought a new iPhone but intend to keep going with your current plan. They should be able to help out.

5. Anything else? just post...
 
When you buy the new iPhone, go get a new SIM from AT&T, then slip it into your new iPhone. Restore, then restore from Backup in iTunes, and your iPhone should be the way you had it.
 
I just spoke with someone at AT&T and they are telling me they are going to hit me with a new 2 year contract regardless of where I buy it.

But I can buy any other phone including a blackberry and they won't hold me to a commitment.

The Sim is also $20 according to this lady.

Is this lady wrong? I have an AT&T store down the block. I should go talk to someone over there.
 
pilotError said:
I just spoke with someone at AT&T and they are telling me they are going to hit me with a new 2 year contract regardless of where I buy it.

But I can buy any other phone including a blackberry and they won't hold me to a commitment.

The Sim is also $20 according to this lady.

Is this lady wrong? I have an AT&T store down the block. I should go talk to someone over there.
Click to expand...

How much are they charging you for a new iPhone?

If they are giving you the discounted price, then yes, you should have to also extend your contract.
 
iVeBeenDrinkin' said:
How much are they charging you for a new iPhone?

If they are giving you the discounted price, then yes, you should have to also extend your contract.
Click to expand...

I wanted to buy a phone off ebay so I didn't get stuck with a commitment.

I lost the 1st gen phone (bought it the first day) and wanted to skip the 3g version. My current 2 year contract is up in June, I wanted to wait for the next version before committing for another 2 years.

If I bought the 3g phone in AT&T or an Apple store, I could understand it, but if I bought the phone outright???
 
pilotError said:
I just spoke with someone at AT&T and they are telling me they are going to hit me with a new 2 year contract regardless of where I buy it.

But I can buy any other phone including a blackberry and they won't hold me to a commitment.

The Sim is also $20 according to this lady.

Is this lady wrong? I have an AT&T store down the block. I should go talk to someone over there.
Click to expand...

That is weird, try walking into an AT&T store. If you bought the iPhone from another place such as eBay or Craigslist, they shouldn't be able to hit you up with another contract, you should just be able to go get a new SIM card and be on your merry way.

However, I do not know what it would be like, if you called them to suspend service on your old phone.
 
pilotError said:
I wanted to buy a phone off ebay so I didn't get stuck with a commitment.

I lost the 1st gen phone (bought it the first day) and wanted to skip the 3g version. My current 2 year contract is up in June, I wanted to wait for the next version before committing for another 2 years.

If I bought the 3g phone in AT&T or an Apple store, I could understand it, but if I bought the phone outright???
Click to expand...

Why not just buy another phone from eBay, go to the AT&T store with it, and say you lost your old SIM card out of it and that you need a new one. I doubt they'd try to force you into an extended contract if you had the phone in hand.
 
I think saying you lost your SIM card is your best bet. I simply cannot believe that they would (or could?) sting you for another 2 year contract just because you lost your current one.
Surely you are still under a contract on the old phone so how would you go about stopping that if they made you sign for another 2 years?

Go speak to someone face to face and get some real info instead of someone programmed with responses on the phone.
 
OK,

Just got back from an AT&T store. Here's what they told me.

Even though I had an iPhone, the instant I activate it (whether it's 2g or 3g) it will automatically extend my plan another 2 years. Apparently they are tieing the plan to the IMEI? number.

It's the ONLY phone they do this with. WTF?

If I had a 3G phone, I could get a replacement. It's $299/$399 for 8GB/16GB. Because I'm a Gen 1 customer, F*** Me...

So being a long time customer of AT&T, it shouldn't really matter, but I'm pretty pissed about it. I ended up walking out with just a SIM card until I figure out what I want to do about it.
 
What's the cheapest phone they'll let you buy without a commitment? Why not buy that, then just stick the SIM in your iPhone? You also get a backup phone in case you loose your new iPhone that way.

Personally, though, I would just buy the 3G at the upgrade price. The only expected upgrade (if one comes either in January or next summer) is a storage bump anyway.
 
Demosthenes X said:
What's the cheapest phone they'll let you buy without a commitment? Why not buy that, then just stick the SIM in your iPhone? You also get a backup phone in case you loose your new iPhone that way.
Click to expand...

That was my intention, but how do I manage getting the data plan?

They gave me a Sim card. I have a old Razor at home that they want me to call and activate it with the IEMI? number.

Once I do that, I have a valid Sim, but if I get an iPhone (from whereever) will I be able to get the data plan?

At this point they have me backed into a corner. This is actually more frustrating than losing the phone in the first place.
 
I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for them to force you into a new two-year contract unless you are taking advantage of a new discounted (subsidized) phone from AT&T.

I think you need to nicely explain to the person feeding you this B.S. that you are not an idiot and know this is not the case. My guess is that one of two things is going on here: 1) the AT&T person you talked to doesn't really know what is going on and is probably repeating what he/she is being told by supervisors; or 2) This employee is making stuff up.

Either way, next time someone tells you this you should ask to speak to someone else (maybe their supervisor). Clearly you do not have to sign a new two-year contract to switch phones.
 
Demosthenes X said:
What's the cheapest phone they'll let you buy without a commitment? Why not buy that, then just stick the SIM in your iPhone? You also get a backup phone in case you loose your new iPhone that way.

Personally, though, I would just buy the 3G at the upgrade price. The only expected upgrade (if one comes either in January or next summer) is a storage bump anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they can figure it out, because people were putting their first gen iPhone's in their 3G's in order to stay on the cheaper plan and AT&T found out about it and automatically changed their plan to the 3G plan - so I think AT&T would figure this out pretty quick...
 
let me tell you something about cell phone stores. most of them are not "official" stores and are run by shady people who will manipulate anyone they come across and rip them off.

there is legally NO justification for them to extend your contract by two years unless they are subsidizing a phone. try calling the att 1-800 number instead of your local store. if they confirm that they will require an extension, demand to know why since they are not subsidizing anything. go up the chain of supervisors until you get a straight answer. many CSRs are not knowledgeable.

there is no way they can extend you without some actual reason such as a subsidy. if they still stick by it i would threaten to cancel and report them to the local news or a big name news site. bad publicity hurts them a lot.
 
They definitely aren't lying about extending the contract...

I lost mine and replaced it paying....499 for the 16gb and it still extended my contract from when I bought it...

The only thing I'm confused about is...if you had an original iPhone...your price should only be 199/299....even though you lost it you would be eligible for upgrading and that should be the pricing.....

You can't get away with just buying one on craigslist or something and not extending your contract...totally bogus, but haven't really heard a way around it...
 
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