Lost iPhone! Can the guards help?!

froo

Hi folks, bit of a story..

Left my iPhone in a taxi when I was in Dublin for a night in March. I called the taxi company we'd got who said they'd contact the driver but if they find a phone they are to hand it in to the guards. No luck from the taxi driver, says he didn't find it (which i obvs don't believe). Called the garda stations in city centre anyway to check if anything had been handed in, but no luck. Typically, i didn't have 'find my iphone' or anything similar and more importantly, no insurance. I know it's unlikely but I'm holding on to every hope that I'll be reunited with my phone!

I went to the guards again to see could they trace the IMEI but they said they will only do so for a serious case, ie missing person, murder, not just a lost phone, understandable enough. I called Apple to see if there was anything they could do and was told to go to the guards, they have had customers say the guards have tracked their phones for them... What I really want to know, is has anyone had any luck going to the guards with something like this? It's frustrating knowing that they CAN track it but won't!

Tefral

Have you the app find my phone installed?

You can track it yourself then on https://icloud.com

Jesus Shaves

froo wrote: »

It's frustrating knowing that they CAN track it but won't!

They can't track it

Tefral

darokane wrote: »

They can't track it

They can actually, if its used. They can track it to the nearest cell tower, in fact they managed to convict a criminal in a court in dublin based on it.

Jesus Shaves

cronin_j wrote: »

They can actually, if its used. They can track it to the nearest cell tower, in fact they managed to convict a criminal in a court in dublin based on it.

Right, to the nearest cell tower isn't much good, they wont waste their time tracking a phone that someone left in a taxi

biko

In this case the gardai won't track it, nor should they.
Your best hope OP is that you had FindmyIphone installed and active, which in this case you didn't.
Not much else that can be done sorry.
Learn from this expensive lesson and make sure all your friends have tracking software installed.

ted1

No the gardai can not help. With the time and effort and resources required it would be cheaper for them to buy you a new one.

coylemj

froo wrote: »

No luck from the taxi driver, says he didn't find it (which i obvs don't believe).

Why don't you believe the taxi driver? It happened at night so the phone could have fallen on the floor and been discovered by the next passenger and never spotted by the taxi driver.

Even if you had insurance, it probably wouldn't have covered you since straight loss (as opposed to theft) from a public place isn't covered, precisely because so many phones fall out of pockets in taxis.

Get your network to block the IMEI, that way the phone at least will be useless and it will go some way to deter the theft of smartphones which by all accounts is rampant in the city centre, especially by thieves on bikes from women who stand in one spot gabbing away and are sitting ducks.

froo

I started ringing the phone straight away and it rang for ages, the taxi driver would have heard it.

I understand they're not going to do it for everyone's lost phone, I just wanted to know if it was easily done and had anyone had any luck with that..

leemaree

I had my iphone stolen but then again I had the 'find my iphone' app on it

meoklmrk91

leemaree wrote: »

I had my iphone stolen but then again I had the 'find my iphone' app on it

Did you manage to get it back?

leemaree

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Did you manage to get it back?

Guards still have it

meoklmrk91

leemaree wrote: »

Guards still have it

The Guards were actually willing to help when you had the app installed?

leemaree

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

The Guards were actually willing to help when you had the app installed?

Yes they did

meoklmrk91

leemaree wrote: »

Yes they did

Good to know, I thought they would have little interest tbh.

aidan_walsh

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Good to know, I thought they would have little interest tbh.

A stolen phone is a different matter to a lost one however.

leemaree

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Good to know, I thought they would have little interest tbh.

They actually took 2 phone, a galaxy s II phone and the iphone but they only found the iphone

120_Minutes

coylemj wrote: »

Even if you had insurance, it probably wouldn't have covered you since straight loss (as opposed to theft) from a public place isn't covered, precisely because so many phones fall out of pockets in taxis.

Wrong, some policies do cover against this.

coylemj

120_Minutes wrote: »

Wrong, some policies do cover against this.

Only 'some'?

What I said was that if he had insurance it 'probably' wouldn't cover it. Most gadget insurance doesn't cover loss in a public place. The fact that some policies do doesn't make what I said wrong.

CathalDublin

froo wrote: »

Hi folks, bit of a story..

Left my iPhone in a taxi when I was in Dublin for a night in March. I called the taxi company we'd got who said they'd contact the driver but if they find a phone they are to hand it in to the guards. No luck from the taxi driver, says he didn't find it (which i obvs don't believe). Called the garda stations in city centre anyway to check if anything had been handed in, but no luck. Typically, i didn't have 'find my iphone' or anything similar and more importantly, no insurance. I know it's unlikely but I'm holding on to every hope that I'll be reunited with my phone!

I went to the guards again to see could they trace the IMEI but they said they will only do so for a serious case, ie missing person, murder, not just a lost phone, understandable enough. I called Apple to see if there was anything they could do and was told to go to the guards, they have had customers say the guards have tracked their phones for them... What I really want to know, is has anyone had any luck going to the guards with something like this? It's frustrating knowing that they CAN track it but won't!

I love your optimism but it's almost June, I'd say move on;)

are you serious

froo wrote: »

I started ringing the phone straight away and it rang for ages, the taxi driver would have heard it.

I understand they're not going to do it for everyone's lost phone, I just wanted to know if it was easily done and had anyone had any luck with that..

Stand inside the public office of Store Street Garda Station or Pearse Street Garda Station on any Monday between 8am and 5pm.... Listen to how many Lost mobile phone reports they get from just the weekend before.... This will tell you the reason why the Gardaí do not have time to find lost phones!!!

If you dont believe the taxi driver then why not report that he has stole your phone?????????

If you dropped €50 on the street and reported that to a Garda station would you honestly expect it to be handed in and it to be returned to you... neither would I, a mobile phone is the exact same!!! They are too easy to wipe/clear and sell on!

nob rainer

froo wrote: »

I started ringing the phone straight away and it rang for ages, the taxi driver would have heard it.

I understand they're not going to do it for everyone's lost phone, I just wanted to know if it was easily done and had anyone had any luck with that..

sorry!! maybe you lost the phone who says in the taxi . most taxi drivers and i say most will hand them in to a police station . your not doing yourself any favors with taxi drivers with your comments . its good to see the bigotry towards taxi drivers is still alive and kicking . you lost it and its your problem not the taxi business , Lesson in life "You get more from honey than vinegar !!" I do know how to find your phone but as a retired taxi driver i feel reluctant to help you , however in the name of "detant" . go to a private detective company and pay for its return if its worth it to you

Xavi6

nob rainer wrote: »

sorry!! maybe you lost the phone who says in the taxi . most taxi drivers and i say most will hand them in to a police station . your not doing yourself any favors with taxi drivers with your comments . its good to see the bigotry towards taxi drivers is still alive and kicking . you lost it and its your problem not the taxi business , Lesson in life "You get more from honey than vinegar !!" I do know how to find your phone but as a retired taxi driver i feel reluctant to help you , however in the name of "detant" . go to a private detective company and pay for its return if its worth it to you

Stark

nob rainer wrote: »

its good to see the bigotry towards taxi drivers is still alive and kicking .

Well I'm sure if they were all as polite as you...

keith31000

Glad you a retired taxi driver, I would not like to be in your taxi.

Ha, trust taxi drivers when one in six of them have a criminal conviction whether it is a minor conviction or a serious one. There are lods of decent taxi drivers but I don't agree if you have a conviction of any sort how you are supposed to be allowed a Public Service Vehicle licence since the state is allowing you to carry the public.

Point of phone's been traced by Gardai can't be done for minor crime as they have a very small I.T section and a their management does not allow it. I found this out after mine was stolen.

andy1249

There are lods of decent taxi drivers ...

Yes , there must be I suppose , I'm looking forward to the day that I actually meet one of these mythical beings , or even just one that wasnt having a general racist rant or trying to rip me off in some way.

Quackles

Mine was stolen out of my pocket in a shop. The guards wouldn't even let me report it stolen because I didn't see it being removed from my pocket. I had to report it lost, to which they said they couldn't do anything about. And I did have the tracking app installed, but the thief made a few calls to Romania then switched it off.

Also, in defence of taxi drivers, I left my camcorder in one last year while wrestling with cranky kids, and the driver was kind enough to leave it back to the hotel we were staying in.

Jesus Shaves

Pigeon holing all taxi drivers as being "bad" is like saying all iphone users have the sense to use the findmyphone app and look after there phone properly

120_Minutes

coylemj wrote: »

Most gadget insurance doesn't cover loss in a public place

are you sure?

i just checked vodafone, o2, meteor, gadget insurance.ie and carphone warehouse. none of them list "loss in a public place" as a key exception. so thats 3 networks and 2 independants that do

So most do indeed cover loss in a public place.


What they dont cover is "unattended theft" which is not loss.

So yes, you're still wrong.

are you serious

Quackles wrote: »

Mine was stolen out of my pocket in a shop. The guards wouldn't even let me report it stolen because I didn't see it being removed from my pocket. I had to report it lost, to which they said they couldn't do anything about. And I did have the tracking app installed, but the thief made a few calls to Romania then switched it off.

Hahaha, how can you say it was stolen if you didn't see anyone take it, you could have dropped it? Then again if you know someone took it why didnt you stop them. . .

BaZmO*

If you find the right guard you'll probably stop sweating over your current predicament.

_Whimsical_

Can't add much here except to say there's a great tracking app on cydia called ICaughtYouPro .If someone incorrectly enters your lock pass the app will silently and imperceptably take a photo with the front facing cam and email it to you along with location details. You can set it to do this the first time the pass is incorrectly entered or the second or third time. In itself it is good reason to jailbreak your phone.

BaZmO*

Just on the subject of phone trackers. Funny story about that. A mate of one of the lads I work with left his iPhone in a taxi after a night out. He tried to ring it but it either kept ringing out or the call was rejected. Luckily enough he had that "find your phone" app on it so he tracked it down to a taxi rank. So himself and a few mates were sitting in their car and waiting until a taxi moved off (to make sure it was the right guy to approach), and then followed the guy and waited for him to stop.
They went up to him and asked him for his phone back. He said he didn't know what they were talking about, so they rang the phone and they could hear it ringing in the glovebox. Cue the taxi driver trying to explain himself, saying "oh, that phone? Yeah I was on my way to the police station to hand that in....yadda, yadda, yadda!!"

DYLF

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Can't add much here except to say there's a great tracking app on cydia called ICaughtYouPro .If someone incorrectly enters your lock pass the app will silently and imperceptably take a photo with the front facing cam and email it to you along with location details. You can set it to do this the first time the pass is incorrectly entered or the second or third time. In itself it is good reason to jailbreak your phone.

Just to add.. this app is amazing. i live in a new (unfinished) estate, not on google maps or anything like that but when i was trying this out it was able to give my exact address and gps co-ordinates as well as the photo it takes.

tinkerbell

The gardaí will probably only track the phone's whereabouts by checking what phone number is using the phone through the IMEI if it has been stolen from you. In your case though, you left it somewhere so it was your own doing so it's a different story. Your best bet is to ring up your mobile phone provider and get the IMEI blocked so it can't be used.

Quackles

are you serious wrote: »

Hahaha, how can you say it was stolen if you didn't see anyone take it, you could have dropped it? Then again if you know someone took it why didnt you stop them. . .

They made calls instantly, so yeah, I know. I know when I find a dropped phone my instinct isn't to make international calls.

are you serious

Quackles wrote: »

They made calls instantly, so yeah, I know. I know when I find a dropped phone my instinct isn't to make international calls.

Quackles
I just checked, then double checked and checked again. . .

It wasnt your phone.... was it?? :rolleyes:

Sam Mac

As with a lot of things, the Guards can very easily do it, but couldn't be arsed. Shows the state of the country.

BaZmO*

Sam Mac wrote: »

As with a lot of things, the Guards can very easily do it, but couldn't be arsed. Shows the state of the country.

It would say more about the state of the country if the Gards wasted their time and resources trying to find someone's lost iPhone.

NetNinja

BaZmO* wrote: »

If you find the right guard you'll probably stop sweating over your current predicament.

Sure

Mellor

cronin_j wrote: »

Have you the app find my phone installed?

You can track it yourself then on https://icloud.com

Tracking an iphone via icloud or find my iphone has nothing to do with installing the app or not. It's replies completely location services settings. on the phone.
I'm not trying to be pedantic, just think its best if the correct information is posted as people might think they are covered by having the app, or are not covered when they didn't have it, when neither is the case.

cronin_j wrote: »

They can actually, if its used. They can track it to the nearest cell tower, in fact they managed to convict a criminal in a court in dublin based on it.

That's only a benefit when trying to find missing person, or disprove the alibi of someone involved with a serious crime. In the OPs case, it would locate the phone to a huge area and then he'd no further clue where it was.

BaZmO*

NetNinja wrote: »

Sure

Well played. Took me a while though.