I found an iPhone

Intensive Care Bear

I was walking out of a club a few weeks ago and i found a iphone 4s. I kept it charged and the next day when someone rang i explained that i had found it and i would return it if they gave me their details, this happened 3 times with 3 different callers and each time the person just hung up on me (great friends they are)

After a few hours the phone was blocked so i brought it up to the O2 shop to see if they could contact the owner. That was a complete waste of time, they said without knowing the phone number of the the phone they could not search for the owner, which i thought was bizarre.

Next up i called apple and gave them the IMEI number, they were able to search for the owner and then they sent them an e mail with my contact details, i thought great, thats my good deed done however no one has contacted me about the phone, a few weeks has gone by and im wondering what i should do? How long do i leave it sitting in my drawer and can i ever use it? or is just a expensive paper weight now.

Slippin Jimmy

1210m5g wrote: »

I was walking out of a club in a few weeks ago and i found a iphone 4s. I kept it charged and the next day when someone rang i explained that i had found it and i would return it if they gave me their details, this happened 3 times with 3 different callers and each time the person just hung up on me (great friends they are)

After a few hours the phone was blocked so i brought it up to the O2 shop to see if they could contact the owner. That was a complete waste of time, they said without knowing the phone number of the the phone they could not search for the owner, which i thought was bizarre.

Next up i called apple and gave them the IMEI number, they were able to search for the owner and then they sent them an e mail with my contact details, i thought great, thats my good deed done however no one has contacted me about the phone, a few weeks has gone by and im wondering what i should do? How long do i leave it sitting in my drawer and can i ever use it? or is just a expensive paper weight now.

Probably a bit late now, but you could drop it in to your local Garda station.

holystungun9

an iphone.

Slippin Jimmy

holystungun9 wrote: »

an iphone.

Does it really matter ?

holystungun9

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Does it really matter ?

No, sorry bout that.

long_b

1210m5g wrote: »

I was walking out of a club in a few weeks ago and i found a iphone 4s. I kept it charged and the next day when someone rang i explained that i had found it and i would return it if they gave me their details, this happened 3 times with 3 different callers and each time the person just hung up on me (great friends they are)

After a few hours the phone was blocked so i brought it up to the O2 shop to see if they could contact the owner. That was a complete waste of time, they said without knowing the phone number of the the phone they could not search for the owner, which i thought was bizarre.

Next up i called apple and gave them the IMEI number, they were able to search for the owner and then they sent them an e mail with my contact details, i thought great, thats my good deed done however no one has contacted me about the phone, a few weeks has gone by and im wondering what i should do? How long do i leave it sitting in my drawer and can i ever use it? or is just a expensive paper weight now.

Seems like you've done all you can do ... use it as a slightly oversized iPod ! It still works over WiFi, right ?

Intensive Care Bear

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Probably a bit late now, but you could drop it in to your local Garda station.

I dont live anywhere near the place i found it.

frozenfrozen

make a video of you smashing it and get enough money from the ad revenue to buy a new one

Intensive Care Bear

holystungun9 wrote: »

an iphone.

I am so sorry for that mistake, please accept my sincere apologies.

Intensive Care Bear

long_b wrote: »

Seems like you've done all you can do ... use it as a slightly oversized iPod ! It still works over WiFi, right ?

Im not sure, its locked so i haven't been able to use it.

Solair

You should probably bring it to your local Garda station.

Legally speaking, you cannot keep it, however if there's no taker after a year and a day (I think, it could possibly be longer) the Gardai will just give it back to you.

I'm surprised and disappointed that O2 didn't do more. The least they could have done was look up the iPhone's rightful owner based on the IMEI + SIM card. It's not THAT hard!

You might be better off calling 1909 and asking them to contact the owner. AFAIK, O2 Retail's actually a separate company, and outside of the major urban centres, they could possibly be franchisees with little / no contact with the O2 mothership.

Intensive Care Bear

Solair wrote: »

You should probably bring it to your local Garda station.

Legally speaking, you cannot keep it, however if there's no taker after a year and a day (I think, it could possibly be longer) the Gardai will just give it back to you.

I'm surprised and disappointed that O2 didn't do more. The least they could have done was look up the iPhone's rightful owner based on the IMEI + SIM card. It's not THAT hard!

You might be better off calling 1909 and asking them to contact the owner. AFAIK, O2 Retail's actually a separate company, and outside of the major urban centres, they could possibly be franchisees with little / no contact with the O2 mothership.

I found it in Brixton and i don't live there so thats not an option. I couldn't believe the attitude of the person in the O2 shop so i rang O2 and i got the same answer.

Slippin Jimmy

1210m5g wrote: »

I found it in Brixton and i don't live there so thats not an option. I couldn't believe the attitude of the person in the O2 shop so i rang O2 and i got the same answer.

There's really nothing more you can do so. Sell it on envirofone if you want. You've done more than enough.

Solair

1210m5g wrote: »

I found it in Brixton and i don't live there so thats not an option. I couldn't believe the attitude of the person in the O2 shop so i rang O2 and i got the same answer.

The law's similar in the UK. Just bring it into a local Police station.

andy1249

The original owner probably doesnt care , probably has a replacement by now via insurance or whatever.

You can never use it though , as these things can be tracked when powered on , and the insurance company , phone company or whoever replaced that unit might take it on themselves to press charges under the "Theft by finding" law.

So , its a bit of a hot potato , get rid of it , drop it into the police station , or whatever.

Solair

Also, it's probably best to bring it to a police station near where you found it. That's the most likely place that someone who lost it might come looking for it.

Duggys Housemate

Solair wrote: »

Also, it's probably best to bring it to a police station near where you found it. That's the most likely place that someone who lost it might come looking for it.

He cant power it on, its blocked.

As for the police. I left an iPhone 3GS in a pub in Chelteham once, remembered rushed back to get it after 10 minutes - thus missing my train. Saw a guy sitting at my seat, asked him whether he took it. He said no ( and told me to f*ck off) so called the police. They came, he had left. CC footage was indecisive, it was there he sat down, he left and it was gone, but the camera was behind him, and other people were milling about. So it didn't show him taking it, but there was little other option.

Later that day, iPhone was powered on, I got the ( home) address, sent a message, blocked the phone, took the address details and sent to the same cops who turned up and.......nothing since.

Of course this is an easy case, on the other hand police don't care about minor cases, they assume insurance. I don't think anything is going to happen.

But it is blocked anyway, so no signals.

jive

To be fair you've made every effort.

jarvis

You've said it's locked. Do you mean pin locked or is it imei blocked. If its imei blocked and it's a uk phone it means the phone would be unusable in the uk and northern Ireland. But it is usable anywhere else as there is no cooperation between different countries when it comes to blocking imei's.
If you decide you have made all efforts to contact the rightful owner and you decide to keep it, then you can find loads of swaps on the Internet. Or you could sell It on eBay.

It will work fine in ROI, you will just need to restore it.

So i would hold onto it for a bit longer and if nothing comes of it you could give it to family or a friend in ROI.

chris2008x

Best suggestion was the smashing it up with a hammer putting it on YouTube. You would make a small fortune with adsense and a lot of enemies on YouTube. Seriously be careful not to show your face or leave personal details on the account whilst doing it because of the death threats you will receive from obsessive iPhone fans. I heard stories of guys getting stabbed in the states for badmouthing iPhone's (seriously it is just a phone)

WoollyRedHat

I just hope the poor person who lost it is coping well and has people to support him, it's a rough time, I know, I've lost ****ing three of them.

(Not Iphones, never owned one of those, for reason mentioned above, insult to injury and all that)

Duggys Housemate

chris2008x wrote: »

Best suggestion was the smashing it up with a hammer putting it on YouTube. You would make a small fortune with adsense and a lot of enemies on YouTube. Seriously be careful not to show your face or leave personal details on the account whilst doing it because of the death threats you will receive from obsessive iPhone fans. I heard stories of guys getting stabbed in the states for badmouthing iPhone's (seriously it is just a phone)

that sound you hear is the sound of nobody laughing.

digitaldr

Just wondering if it would work ok for uk roaming with an Irish sim.

culabula

Duffff-Man wrote: »

Does it really matter ?

Yes, it does.

Richard

Mr.S wrote: »

You've done everything you can do, the owner has most likely gotten it replaced via insurance. He has your details after all because Apple emailed them.

The phone is IMEI blocked in the UK (im guessing its an UK phone since you found it in London) but it will work over here in Ireland fine, all you need to do is restore it via iTunes and stick in a new sim card.

Handing it into a police station will do feck all at this stage, plus your no where near where you found it.

Keep it IMO:)

It isn't his.

culabula

How will it work in Ireland if it's network-locked? IMEI blocking irrelevant.

guil

See if you can get it unlocked by unlock guru

.243

hand it in to a garda station,if its not collected by owner or insurance company its then yours,and as its then your legally owned property you apply to get it unlocked

Bambii_

It's mine...

digitaldr

culabula wrote: »

Yes, it does.

I'd have to agree with you there. What really annoys me though is people using your instead of you're. Here's a good quote from the head of PayPal Ireland:

The amount of bad spelling mistakes in CVs is embarrassing; at least 20 per cent will have them. Grammar is an issue too . . . If you can’t write a CV, you certainly can’t work for me.

OK I'll admit it - I'm a pedant.

aN.Droid

culabula wrote: »

How will it work in Ireland if it's network-locked? IMEI blocking irrelevant.

If it is IMEI blocked in the UK it should work fine here, there is no EU wide (yet) or Worldwide IMEI blocking service yet.

Hobbes

Ask O2 who does their phone insurance and ring them. Tell them you tried to give it back to the owner but they refused to take it.

OK I'll admit it - I'm a pedant.

Language is always evolving. You are only being pedant based on your timeframe of the language. For example the apostraphe isn't English, it was taken from the French in the 16th Century.

culabula

Limericks wrote: »

If it is IMEI blocked in the UK it should work fine here, there is no EU wide (yet) or Worldwide IMEI blocking service yet.

But I wrote network-locked; almost certainly, that iPhone is locked to one of the big four UK operators.

Duggys Housemate

culabula wrote: »

But I wrote network-locked; almost certainly, that iPhone is locked to one of the big four UK operators.

Yes, and if reported stolen it is sim and IMEI blocked.

culabula

Hobbes wrote: »

Ask O2 who does their phone insurance and ring them. Tell them you tried to give it back to the owner but they refused to take it.



Language is always evolving. You are only being pedant based on your timeframe of the language. For example the apostraphe isn't English, it was taken from the French in the 16th Century.

I agree; the apostraphe isn't English.

As for the apostrophe, it was borrowed, rather than taken, in imitation of French usage and presumably with good reason.

I find it works :pac:

culabula

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

Yes, and if reported stolen it is sim and IMEI blocked.

The point is that IMEI-blocking not working in Ireland notwithstanding, the phone will still be unusable since it will be network-locked to a foreign operator.

aN.Droid

culabula wrote: »

But I wrote network-locked; almost certainly, that iPhone is locked to one of the big four UK operators.

Apologies, i misread your post. Yeah that would be a problem unless there is another way around the simlock on the 4s, I haven't kept up with the JB scene since my 3g so I have no idea if it is possible or not.

jeckle

culabula wrote: »

Yes, it does.

Sometimes, concentrating too much on the correct use of the apostrophe can lead to incorrect spelling, grammar & syntax. All things considered it's probably the least of four evils :pac:

1 : In the first place, their very existence is largely and Irish phenomenon...
2 : Yes, I appreciate what you or saying...
3 : Am not sure I can get my head round what exactly you're asking but...
4 : ..the answer given is based on the state of play late afternoon following the...:D

All joking aside, when it comes to posting on an internet forum, once 'text speak' isn't constantly used, & most people can understand what is meant we can all go a bit far as regards the incorrect use/lack of punctuation, spelling, grammar etc. & it's a bit pointless nitpicking for the most part IMO.

My pet peeve is lack of paragraphs though - simply because the lack of them makes longer posts so hard to read.

guil

http://unlockguru.co.uk/index.php/application/credit/Services-Offered.html#.

Gillo

1210m5g wrote: »

Solair wrote: »

I'm surprised and disappointed that O2 didn't do more. The least they could have done was look up the iPhone's rightful owner based on the IMEI + SIM card. It's not THAT hard!

You might be better off calling 1909 and asking them to contact the owner. AFAIK, O2 Retail's actually a separate company, and outside of the major urban centres, they could possibly be franchisees with little / no contact with the O2 mothership.

I found it in Brixton and i don't live there so thats not an option. I couldn't believe the attitude of the person in the O2 shop so i rang O2 and i got the same answer.

I assume you mean Brixton, UK, in which case going into an O2 shop in Ireland they wouldn't have had access to that information. If it had been an Irish phone then they could have found the info and contacted the customer on your behalf, but not given you any information.

From what I remember a hearing a few years ago the stores in the UK, actually have access to a lot less customer information than here.

Legally you have to hand it in to the police, but you then if it's not claimed after a year and a day you can claim it.

Gillo

It can still be blocked remotely by the owner though.

OP, you tried to give it back, fair play to you. Legally it's not yours and should be given back, but you tried as fair as I see you your best, keep it and enjoy it.

Stainless_Steel

The OP sounds like a decent fella who deserves a free iPhone IMO. Keep it.

Wolverine359

1210m5g wrote: »

I was walking out of a club a few weeks ago and i found a iphone 4s.

How come you didn't leave it with the staff/doorman at the club? That would be the first place I'd look if I had lost mine.

Intensive Care Bear

Wolverine359 wrote: »

How come you didn't leave it with the staff/doorman at the club? That would be the first place I'd look if I had lost mine.

Sorry if i wasn't clear but i didn't find it in a club, i was leaving a club and i found it while on my way to get a taxi.

Just to answer a few other questions i did bring it to an O2 shop in the UK (where i live) and i also rang O2 giving them my details but they assured me that without knowing the phone number they couldn't search for the owner (even though i provided the imei number) Apple have contacted the owner and given them my details so hopefully they will contact me.

I really don't see whats to be gained by handing it in to my local police station, i doubt very much that they would have gone through half the effort i have to find the owner. Oh and for the record i have no desire to gain any money by selling/destroying a phone that doesn't belong to me. I also have a 4s already so i think ill just pop it in a drawer and if no one contacts me within the next year its getting recycled.

Intensive Care Bear

Apparently under UK law the time limit for someone to claim a lost phone is only 6 weeks after that you can keep it providing you have taking reasonable steps to find the owner.

Slippin Jimmy

1210m5g wrote: »

Apparently under UK law the time limit for someone to claim a lost phone is only 6 weeks after that you can keep it providing you have taking reasonable steps to find the owner.

Either way, well done. You've done a lot more than most people would.

dodzy

1210m5g wrote: »

Sorry if i wasn't clear but i didn't find it in a club, i was leaving a club and i found it while on my way to get a taxi.

Just to answer a few other questions i did bring it to an O2 shop in the UK (where i live) and i also rang O2 giving them my details but they assured me that without knowing the phone number they couldn't search for the owner (even though i provided the imei number) Apple have contacted the owner and given them my details so hopefully they will contact me.

I really don't see whats to be gained by handing it in to my local police station, i doubt very much that they would have gone through half the effort i have to find the owner. Oh and for the record i have no desire to gain any money by selling/destroying a phone that doesn't belong to me. I also have a 4s already so i think ill just pop it in a drawer and if no one contacts me within the next year its getting recycled.

As has been said above, you have done more that enough. Admirable really. Restore the thing and give to a family member, or keep as a spare. And FWIW, I would not be handing it into a local police station.

heffo500

How did you get the imei number? Can you use the phone? If so you can press the Phone Button and Press Contacts the number of the phone will be at the top.

Personally I'd keep it you've done enough now if they're not bothered contacting you they don't deserve or need it back.

tigershould

sounds like you nicked it and dont know what to do with it now and in a vain attempt to clear your concience you're making a half hearted attempt to return it to the owner knowing full well you'll never trace them.

just sell your stolen wares on ebay

culabula

tigershould wrote: »

sounds like you nicked it and dont know what to do with it now and in a vain attempt to clear your concience you're making a half hearted attempt to return it to the owner knowing full well you'll never trace them.

just sell your stolen wares on ebay

Not sure quite where you're getting this conclusion from. Until such times as you have proof of what you allege, keep your opinions to yourself and the tone of this forum civil.