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Found iPhone

I found a Blackberry and took it to one of our local carriers stores (Rogers, I'm in Canada). The guy made one quick call, then called the owner. The owner wanted to talk to me, he thanked me and want to give me something for my trouble, which I refused. I just hope someone would do the same for me someday. I find it very hard to believe that AT&T cannot or will not try to find the owner, assuming that the owner has an account with them (it could be someone out country).
 
Come on guys, let's keep something in mind. The owner LOST/FORGOT or simply misplaced his/her phone. I don't know about everyone else but my iPhone is glued to me at all times.

I think the OP did the right thing to begin with, he contacted ATT and took it in the gas station. Were in 2010, do you think most people would even attempt to give a 3GS back to it's owner? NO, they would keep it like nothing. I personally would try to return it but I wouldn't jump all over the place just to do it when it wasn't my fault to begin with (having that she/he lost it to begin with).

So the way people are bashing him, it would of probably been best for him to not even post in these forums or even picked the phone up from the ground to begin with. He found it, therefore the owner is s.o.l unless the owner has Mobile Me. "Find My iPhone" is the reason this sort of thing was created.
 
Everyone needs to stop this holier than thou mentality. The OP has taken multiple steps to return the phone, so post ideas you may have to assist him. Otherwise keep it to yourself. The phone has been password protected so the owner may have shot him/herself in the foot and it may be impossible to return it. What do you want him to do, go out on the street and set it down in hopes that the owner receives a telepathic message and retrieves the phone?:rolleyes:
 
thecoolone1 said:
Come on guys, let's keep something in mind. The owner LOST/FORGOT or simply misplaced his/her phone. I don't know about everyone else but my iPhone is glued to me at all times.

I think the OP did the right thing to begin with, he contacted ATT and took it in the gas station. Were in 2010, do you think most people would even attempt to give a 3GS back to it's owner? NO, they would keep it like nothing. I personally would try to return it but I wouldn't jump all over the place just to do it when it wasn't my fault to begin with (having that she/he lost it to begin with).
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And that is what is wrong with this world today. Everyone thinks they have some sense of entitlement, especially if they find something on this scale that isn't theirs. Personal sense of entitlement versus their integrity and character. Guess which one wins out in this material world? :rolleyes:

So the way people are bashing him, it would of probably been best for him to not even post in these forums or even picked the phone up from the ground to begin with. He found it, therefore the owner is s.o.l unless the owner has Mobile Me. "Find My iPhone" is the reason this sort of thing was created.
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Thank you for demonstrating how much character and integrity you LACK. I know your mother and father taught you better than that, but somewhere along the way, you lost it. Thanks for proving what I said about what is wrong in the world today to be correct.

OP, Like I said, don't just call ATT, take it to the store, and file a police report. ATT can do something about this, despite what the CSR rep told you over the phone. This could be the best thing that could happen for you. At the least, you know that you did the right thing. The owner may even be giving, and comp you a new iPhone as well.

tcphoto said:
Everyone needs to stop this holier than thou mentality. The OP has taken multiple steps to return the phone, so post ideas you may have to assist him. Otherwise keep it to yourself. The phone has been password protected so the owner may have shot him/herself in the foot and it may be impossible to return it. What do you want him to do, go out on the street and set it down in hopes that the owner receives a telepathic message and retrieves the phone?
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I have, and did. Read the thread. You'll see my advice on the first bloody page.

BL.
 
Wow, you lot are horrible - you cannot take stuff that doesn't belong to you. End of discussion!
 
I would use the voice dial, call your iPhone and get the number. Then enter that number here.

https://www.peoplelookup.com/

See if they have a name listed or address, which they should. I think it cast 99 cents for a one time use.
If it were me I would be so happy to get it back, I would give you whatever cash I had in my pocket, so you will most likely get that buck back; and maybe a little more.

Good luck.
 
Although there are MANY negative comments in this thread, that I had to sift through, I would recommend to take the phone to the genius bar, see if they can get it unlocked to call whoever and return the phone. If they can not, then re format it and make it yours. At least you tried. If you take it to the police station, its not like they are going to put out an SOS for whoever. They will wait so many days for some one to claim it, and if it never gets claimed, then someone up there will do the same thing.

I mean really, what can you do if you can't get a hold of the owner?? I would keep it. Legally you are not liable for it, it was the owners fault it got lost in the first place. Congrats, you now have an new iphone 3gs!
 
Here's what you do if you really want to find the owner: Put an ad on Craigslist for the found phone. Mention that the owner must be able to identify the phone by telling you the correct passcode before you will release it. That will ensure against fraud.

If you put an ad out, even if you don't do anything else, I would consider that you've fulfilled a reasonable person's obligation to find the owner. If they don't claim it within 30 days after posting on Craigslist, then it's yours.
 
applemax said:
Wow, you lot are horrible - you cannot take stuff that doesn't belong to you. End of discussion!
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SICK DUDE. We freaking get it, okay? You, for some crazy reason, think that he should've just left the phone there. Just because you have some crazy idea that what he did was stealing doesn't mean he stole it.

Leave it alone, already!
 
applemax said:
Wow, you lot are horrible - you cannot take stuff that doesn't belong to you. End of discussion!
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I agree with you 100%. How dare people take iPhones from the ground. I'm pretty sure the ground spent a pretty penny on it and has nothing to show for now. The OP should place the iPhone back and apologize to the ground.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
I agree with you 100%. How dare people take iPhones from the ground. I'm pretty sure the ground spent a pretty penny on it and has nothing to show for now. The OP should place the iPhone back and apologize to the ground.
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Perhaps feed the ground with water as well..?
 
iObama said:
SICK DUDE. We freaking get it, okay? You, for some crazy reason, think that he should've just left the phone there. Just because you have some crazy idea that what he did was stealing doesn't mean he stole it.

Leave it alone, already!
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This coming from some guy with Obama in his name so obviously we cant listen to him ;)

anyhow he hasnt responded in a while, so he probably kept it
 
monaarts said:
Wow... some of you are what is wrong with the world...

I GENUINLY attempted to return the phone... I went into the gas station... Called AT&T... tried the phonebook but the phone is passcode protected... At what extreme is my duty over... I am not going to attempt to drive to the police station... I have already spent enough of my time. I can either throw the phone away or use it. I used enough of my time! Geeze people, give me some credit.


- Joe
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cruel... cruel.... be a nice selfless boy and give it to da police. THAT is the right thing to do for sure.
 
tcphoto said:
Everyone needs to stop this holier than thou mentality. The OP has taken multiple steps to return the phone, so post ideas you may have to assist him. Otherwise keep it to yourself.
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So you'll like that to happen to you too if you lose your belongings. :rolleyes:
 
if I LOST my iPhone...

If I lost my phone and didn't have insurance, I would spend DAYS calling it. I would TEXT it. I would call the places I'd been. I'd call my carrier. I'd talk to Apple. I might (but only might) call the police. But I would make an effort to find it. From the OPs comments, although I'm not sure that refusing to tell the police is right, they're only obliged to go so far to find the owner. If the owner isn't apparently making any real attempt to find the phone, why should the OP make any more attempt to find the owner?

And maybe the owner has insurance? If I had insurance on an iPhone and believed that I'd dropped it, I actually wouldn't want it back, because I'd fear that it was scratched/smashed, would look horrible and wouldn't be reparable. I'd call the insurance company and make a claim, and call the carrier and cancel the SIM card. A brand new (or at least refurbished) replacement would arrive, I'd restore it from a backup, and would be very happy!

In fact, when my partner DID lose her phone, I DID spend a lot of time phoning and texting it, and after a few days a refuse collector found it, switched it on, called me and returned it. If I'd not wanted it, I wouldn't have bothered trying to find it.

Anyway, from the lack of recent comments from the OP, they've either got completely hacked off with being insulted, or it was never real in the first place but they've wound a few people up as intended, or they've found the owner and can't be bothered to tell us, or they've decided to keep it and be damned...

Tiptopp
 
I think whoever is arguing with you is just jelious because they dont want you to get a free 3GS:D anyways I say you should keep it if you've tried everything to return the phone to its owner.
 
@OP: It's simple - as somebody posted, take the moral high ground and go to Apple and/or ATT stores to see if they can help. If they can't, try the police. Keeping the phone is wrong because you haven't actually exhausted all of the options, so just turn it in and sleep better at night. As for all of the negative posts here, the fact you have a guilty conscious makes you a better person than many. ;)
 
I also agree with some of the posters on this thread...

Op should not have taken the phone, he should return the iphone asap the gas station tarmac...hopefully it will survive rain/being run over/taken etc and the owner will come by shortly to pick it up..

lol

On a more serious note, you should really hand it to the police and leave your details, if not claimed within a certain amount of time, most police stations will give it back to you.
 
greygray said:
So you'll like that to happen to you too if you lose your belongings. :rolleyes:
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I would be able to use mobile me to locate my phone if I lost it. If I did lose it, I would think that it was my own fault. But, if someone did contact me and want to return the phone I would certainly offer a reward. You cannot blame anyone else for your own mistakes including losing your phone, keys or children. Of course, your local authorities will get involved if you lose the latter.:rolleyes:
 
tcphoto said:
I would be able to use mobile me to locate my phone if I lost it. If I did lose it, I would think that it was my own fault. But, if someone did contact me and want to return the phone I would certainly offer a reward. You cannot blame anyone else for your own mistakes including losing your phone, keys or children. Of course, your local authorities will get involved if you lose the latter.:rolleyes:
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No-one is placing fault on the person that found it. That is what you are not getting. But is it fair that to you if you lost your iPhone and whoever found it did NOT do everything they could to return it? While you wouldn't expect it, you would certainly hope that someone would do so.

So why not provide that hope for someone else in doing the right thing?

BL.
 
LOL. The guy even created a MacRumors account to try and get this phone to it's rightful owner.

If the OP wants to return it that's HIS business. It all falls back on him at this point if the phone happened to have been stolen and discarded at the gas station. At least he came and asked for ideas.
 
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