Macbook Pro Stolen

[MovieCutter]

My Apple Store source seems to say that a flag should only be added if a valid police report is faxed from the police department.

Maybe that is the disconnect here, if there is a valid police report (presumably with accompanying information, like receipt, serial, etc) I don't see an issue with Apple putting it in the system.

I don't think any old Genius should be able to put it in on the customer's word.

I've never heard of an account of an Apple Store actively holding a computer because it was flagged as stolen, that oversteps their bounds as far as I know. I never said they should be the police, but for the handful of times all of my Geniuses and I verified the person making the flag had a police report, serial number, etc.

His suggestion was fine. It was his calling me a liar that I had a problem with.

I never called you a liar, I said you were incorrect, and you are, at least partially, since Apple's database DOES have notes of reportedly stolen devices as many here have attested to seeing, but that's beside the point. They may not have a database dedicated to stolen products nor will they pursue or interfere with the apprehending of stolen Apple products, but there are notations in their database.

 

[calderone]

I've never heard of an account of an Apple Store actively holding a computer because it was flagged as stolen, that oversteps their bounds as far as I know. I never said they should be the police, but for the handful of times all of my Geniuses and I verified the person making the flag had a police report, serial number, etc.

I can't comment on that, but it does raise the question: If nothing is going to be done what is the point in collecting and documenting the information?

 

[Mojo1]

A Little Late For The OP...

... but I highly recommend the excellent theft recovery service Undercover from Orbicule. It's installed on all my Macs.

Undercover has features that make recovery much more likely than Find My Mac.

 

[Queen of Spades]

All these supposed "Apple employees" coming out of the woodwork to support this kind of pseudo-legal law enforcement have no idea that this kind of practice is going to bite Apple in the long run.

Regardless of how the practice may affect Apple in the long run, the fact of the matter is that it did/does occur. The original intent was to let the OP that he might as well bring a copy of the receipt and police report, as there have been cases of that being beneficial. It's worth the effort as a longshot. It wasn't to get into a protracted debate about whether or not Apple should do it. It happens, as some of us have attested to. You can quote official statements ad nauseum, it doesn't change the fact that in practice there is variance, and some of us have firsthand experience with it. It's not supporting it, it's providing information to the OP that it does occur.

And if you're insinuating with the "supposed Apple employees" statement that I am lying about my former employment with Apple, you're wrong, and that's a ridiculous thing to lie about.

Your attitude, especially as a brand new member, leaves a lot to be desired. You can participate in a discussion without being antagonistic.

 

[thundersteele]

Well that's great and all, but ...

I really doubt Apple had people checking the serial number of every Macbook Air that was brought in for repairs.

Add in the fact that there is more than one Apple repair center in a country and your story isn't really looking strong.

Furthermore, a company will just replace a stolen laptop and not bother law enforcement about it.

Lastly and most importantly ... Who the hell remembers the serial number of a laptop that just went missing in a company setting? I mean, there has to be several of these Macbooks, so if one of them goes missing how the hell do they know the serial number? You suggesting they keep their receipts and check all Macbooks they own to see who is missing?

Your story is possible but highly unlikely.

Every serial is recorded when a Macbook is repaired in an apple store or an AASP. If they are flagged, the flag will pop up somewhere. The store can for sure decide to ignore if a stolen flag is raised, but they will notice.

Any reasonable company will keep track of their equipment, and will bother law enforcement. All purchase records are being kept, and if it is just for tax purposes. If the system is not completely crazy, it should be very easy to figure out the serial number of the stolen or missing laptop.

Essentially everything written here is just wrong.

Should I go on?

 

[ezramoore]

Apple has another website, dedicated to support professionals, where they often issue bulletins that indicate they should not be shared with the general public.

There are plenty of Apple company policies that aren't stated on their public website.

 

[ET3SW]

I don't understand what the big deal is. Of course apple is not going to flat out say "We flag stolen products". That would give them some level of responsibility.

I just don't get it. There are several people around these forums that have witnessed stolen products being flagged and offered good solid advice to the OP. No one guaranteed it would work but just offered another path to try.

 

[goMac]

Apple does flag stolen machines. I've worked in organizations that have had several MacBooks returned to us by the Apple store.

They may say they don't some places, that doesn't change that they have been known to.

AppleCare's backend let's you note anything you want on the machine.

 

[MovieCutter]

Well this is an interesting thread with the legendary Gore in the picture.

EDIT: and now Gore out of the picture...ha ha. The spirit of Vidal is alive in that one. Too bad IIlIIlIIl's bad attitude caught up with him.

 

[johnhurley]

Well this is an interesting thread with the legendary Gore in the picture.

EDIT: and now Gore out of the picture...ha ha. The spirit of Vidal is alive in that one. Too bad IIlIIlIIl's bad attitude caught up with him.

??? What does it mean when someones profile says "in time out"

 

[MovieCutter]

??? What does it mean when someones profile says "in time out"

It means they ********* up, were rude, mean, unbecoming of a respectable member of the MacRumors community, etc. Trust me, I know...

 

[thundersteele]

Lol, I was just wondering why the thread lost 2 pages.

 

[Dispatched]

I have no hope I'll be getting it back anymore. It hasn't been connected to the internet since wednesday. I thought I had the correct serial and Applecare agreement numbers but when I put them in on the Apple website it says please enter a valid serial number, so no luck even trying anything with that...

If only the $1,500 I'm going to dish out would get me all my work and essays I had written for finals...guess I should probably get an external HDD too.

Again, thanks for all the help and suggestions for everyone.

EDIT: One more question, I bought the Applecare protection plan (or the premium support one) not sure, but I had about a year left on that. When I get a knew MBP would I be able to switch the plan to the new one?

 

[praetorx]

Sorry for your mishap. I guess that's where iCloud would have come handy...

 

[Queen of Spades]

EDIT: One more question, I bought the Applecare protection plan (or the premium support one) not sure, but I had about a year left on that. When I get a knew MBP would I be able to switch the plan to the new one?

No, unfortunately the Apple Care is permanently tied to the machine. You may be able to get a prorated refund on the remaining Appls Care if you cancel it. I'm not 100% positive on that though, so call Apple Care about it.

 

[Vudoo]

I have no hope I'll be getting it back anymore. It hasn't been connected to the internet since wednesday. I thought I had the correct serial and Applecare agreement numbers but when I put them in on the Apple website it says please enter a valid serial number, so no luck even trying anything with that...

If only the $1,500 I'm going to dish out would get me all my work and essays I had written for finals...guess I should probably get an external HDD too.

Again, thanks for all the help and suggestions for everyone.

EDIT: One more question, I bought the Applecare protection plan (or the premium support one) not sure, but I had about a year left on that. When I get a knew MBP would I be able to switch the plan to the new one?

Since you bought AppleCare, I'm assuming you registered your laptop under your Apple ID. Just log into Apple Support and the serial number should be listed.

As for transferring to another laptop, I was told no. You're better off canceling AppleCare and get a pro-rated refund.

 

[Kendo]

I have no hope I'll be getting it back anymore. It hasn't been connected to the internet since wednesday. I thought I had the correct serial and Applecare agreement numbers but when I put them in on the Apple website it says please enter a valid serial number, so no luck even trying anything with that...

If only the $1,500 I'm going to dish out would get me all my work and essays I had written for finals...guess I should probably get an external HDD too.

Again, thanks for all the help and suggestions for everyone.

EDIT: One more question, I bought the Applecare protection plan (or the premium support one) not sure, but I had about a year left on that. When I get a knew MBP would I be able to switch the plan to the new one?

I feel for you OP but it only cost you $1500 to learn a valuable lesson, to be more careful with your valuables. And I don't mean that in a condescending way.

I myself am moving out on my own and I own a MacBook Air. Your thread is prompting me to spend the extra $50 and buy a Kensington Lock so I can hook my laptop to my desk when I keep it in the apartment.

Another lesson (regarding the loss of your papers) is to set up an iCloud or DropBox account and store your papers in the cloud (much better than an external HDD since the files are so small and you can access them anywhere).

 

[ezramoore]

Your thread is prompting me to spend the extra $50 and buy a Kensington Lock so I can hook my laptop to my desk when I keep it in the apartment.

Which Air has a Kensington lock port?

and a big +1 for DropBox, or BackBlaze.

 

[Kendo]

Which Air has a Kensington lock port?

and a big +1 for DropBox, or BackBlaze.

Oh no, it doesn't have one does it...

 

[ezramoore]

Nope.

 

[r1ctron1c]

My macbook pro was stolen out of my dorm room today. Luckily I had iCloud all set up and the person who took it connected to the internet breifly and it showed up in a neighborhood not far from the school. The police said the area it gave was to broad though and they couldn't get a search warrant for all the houses in the area it covered.

Is there any way to get a more accurate location using iCloud?
Also, I remotely locked my computer the second I knew it was missing but the name of my macbook changed in iCloud which is confusing me. Can this person still use the computer if it's not connected to the internet?

Thanks

the same thing happened to me.
i still haven't got my MBP back but, i know they can't get into it with my firmware and icloud remote lock enabled.
at least we have some sought of justice.
unless they use as parts.

 

[r1ctron1c]

Well that's a little disappointing but makes sense. The police said there's no students living in the area where it showed up on find my mac so there's really nothing they can do. The pin is dropped right on top of a house/apartment building so I'm going to go over there myself and talk to some people...

Thanks for the help everyone...looks like I'll be buying a new macbook.

did you have any luck talking to people, i would blow the whole apartment up if they had mine.

 

[Mojo1]

If only the $1,500 I'm going to dish out would get me all my work and essays I had written for finals...guess I should probably get an external HDD too.

My condolences for your loss; I haven't lost a computer but I have had a couple of things stolen (Italian 10-speed and a brand-new twelve string guitar) when I was in my twenties. After that I got with the program and started being more more conscious regarding keeping my stuff reasonably secure without becoming paranoid.

Having all your data on a portable computer isn't a very good idea, as you have discovered. The external drive is a good idea, except external drives can be stolen too, especially if they are in the same location as the computer.

Dropbox is fine for storing some data as long as you are within the free limit. But then it gets rather pricey. I consider Dropbox to be a syncing service rather than a data storage service.

Take a look at CrashPlan. It's the least expensive online data storage option and it does its thing automatically in the background. If your hardware ever comes up missing at least all your data will be retrievable.

Ideally, data backup should include a bootable clone on an external drive, so that if the internal drive dies you can boot from the external and keep on working until you can get it repaired. If the computer is stolen a clone makes setting up a new Mac one-click easy.

Off-site data backup is important in case disaster strikes. Plan for the worst and hope for the best!

 

[thekev]

I have no hope I'll be getting it back anymore. It hasn't been connected to the internet since wednesday. I thought I had the correct serial and Applecare agreement numbers but when I put them in on the Apple website it says please enter a valid serial number, so no luck even trying anything with that...

If only the $1,500 I'm going to dish out would get me all my work and essays I had written for finals...guess I should probably get an external HDD too.

Again, thanks for all the help and suggestions for everyone.

EDIT: One more question, I bought the Applecare protection plan (or the premium support one) not sure, but I had about a year left on that. When I get a knew MBP would I be able to switch the plan to the new one?

OP at least cancel your Applecare so you get a partial refund seeing as the machine is no longer in your possession. You must have a credit card statement, receipt, or some information or whatever that can be used to track the purchase. Sorry about your loss .

I've never heard of an account of an Apple Store actively holding a computer because it was flagged as stolen, that oversteps their bounds as far as I know. I never said they should be the police, but for the handful of times all of my Geniuses and I verified the person making the flag had a police report, serial number, etc.

They really should be able to hold it. This doesn't mean release it to the original owner but rather release it to police custody to be turned over to the correct owner. I realize there are issues with someone potentially selling it and reporting it stolen or something like that (as in weird obscure circumstances), but they shouldn't be returning something reported as stolen, or denying the machine to the registered owner. When I buy something expensive used like electronics, I generally request something indicative of ownership, whether it's an original sales receipt, or any way to confirm it's not stolen, along with some way to confirm I now own it. I've paid with a check and gone to a bank branch to finalize it with them before, but I pay what they're asking in exchange for this rather than trying to talk them down.

 

[Mojo1]

Undercover Info

Seeing as how we are discussing what should happen if a stolen Mac should wind-up in Apple's hands, people might be interested in reading some of the things that happens when Undercover theft recovery is activated:

The first phase

The next time your stolen Mac goes online (using dial-up, WiFi, ethernet, Bluetooth, ...) it will notice that it is flagged as stolen. This will initiate the first phase, in which Undercover will send geographical information based on the built-in Skyhook Wireless technology, the same technology used in the iPhone and iPod Touch. This will enable us to accurately locate your stolen Mac within a 10-20 meter range. In addition, Undercover transmits network information, screenshots and iSight pictures. You can view all this information in your account at https://www.undercovercenter.com. Together with law enforcement, we work to recover the Mac.

Hardware failure. Revenge of the darkness

If recovery of the stolen Mac fails for any reason, Undercover has an ingenious plan B. It will simulate a hardware failure by gradually making the screen darker until it becomes unusable within 30 minutes, even when the Mac is not online.

Full-screen message. Scream and shout

Undercover will show a full-screen message alerting the reseller (or someone who bought the Mac from the thief) that the Mac has been stolen, that it has become unusable and that it needs to be returned as soon as possible. Our contact information and a promise for a finder's fee will be displayed as well. Additionally, your Mac will start shouting this message.

OK, but can't a thief simply wipe the drive and be rid of Undercover once and for all? Yes, but in the OP's situation the thief's IP address and photo would have been captured and transmitted before the Mac went offline, as well as his location within a 20-30 meter radius. Wiping the drive can be made more difficult by enabling a firmware password.

(When installing Undercover you can elect to have your Mac tracked at all times or not. I can log-in at Undercover and see where my Macs are located.)

Student license is $39
Volume student license is $9.99 (100 copies or more)
Single user lifetime license is $49
Family license (5 Macs) is $59
iPhone/iPad license (covers all your devices) $4.99

I purchased a family license for $40 3-4 years ago when Undercover was introduced. It's been a simple process to remove Macs I have sold and enable protection on new Macs. Orbicule tech support has also been fast and friendly when replying to questions.


There is more information at http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/mac/works.html.