Found a cell phone

[SuepaFly]

I found this cell phone and with the remaining battery life, I called the phone number in their phone book named "home" telling them to call my land line because I found their cell phone twice. No one ever called me back and the cell phone died like 5 hours afterward. Now I have this dead cell phone. What should I do with it? Can I give it to a friend who lost her cell phone?

Edit:
T-mobile store it is, going to the police would suck. They take forever for everything. When I reported my car stolen to them, they kept me on hold for 45 minutes then didn't even come out.

 

[Legendary]

Depends what kind of phone (Verizon, GSM, PCS) and what service your friend had (has to match the phone.)

 

[MrChad]

How long did you wait for the owner to return your call?

EDIT: I would return it to the service provider and have them sort it out.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: SuepaFly
I found this cell phone and with the remaining battery life, I called the phone number in their phone book named "home" telling them to call my land line because I found their cell phone twice. No one ever called me back and the cell phone died like 5 hours afterward. Now I have this dead cell phone. What should I do with it? Can I give it to a friend who lost her cell phone?

sure, give your friend a hot cell

 

[Mojoed]

How long ago did you find it? Maybe the owner is on vacation or something. Personally I'd go the extra mile and attempt to return it. You can always try a reverse lookup and just mail the phone to them.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[neovan]

you should report it to the police. if no one claims it within 30 days (i'm not sure), then the cell phone is yours to keep legally.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

you could take into a store of teh provider, they will probably let you charge it for free so you can try to contact the owner again. or they may be able to help you locate them.

 

[SuepaFly]

I found it the week before Thanksgiving and nothing... So its been a good few weeks. The "Home" phone number claims to be a home office and residence. Maybe its the person's parents or something, but in any case I described the cell phone, I tried to get into the voicemail so I could leave a message in the event they checked it, but it wouldn't let me in. Turned the phone off and on to see if it flashed the cell phone number, that didnt work.

It is the same as the provider she uses (T-Mobile). I remember a few years ago, I lost my cell phone I was talking to my provider about it and they told me that lost or stolen cell phones can't be used because they are locked out of the system, not sure if that is the case any more.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Turn it in to the police. If it's reported stolen and you're caught with it, you're in trouble. If it's not reported stolen, just turn it in anyway. The police can find out who owns it and return it.

 

[phreakah]

shouldnt t-mobile be able to get it back to the person?

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: phreakah
shouldnt t-mobile be able to get it back to the person?

Yes, you can drop it off at a T-Mobile store.

They can locate the account using either the SIM card # or the IMEI of the phone.

Viper GTS

 

[SuepaFly]

T-mobile store it is, going to the police would suck. They take forever for everything. When I reported my car stolen to them, they kept me on hold for 45 minutes then didn't even come out.

 

[forumJunkie]

Yea I agree better safe than sorry, and you did a good deed. Now if you wanted to get your gf a cell that badly, go and get it to her as a gift! Good man SuepaFly

 

[SuepaFly]

Originally posted by: forumJunkie
Yea I agree better safe than sorry, and you did a good deed. Now if you wanted to get your gf a cell that badly, go and get it to her as a gift! Good man SuepaFly

Girlfriend? Good man? lol

 

Where did you find it?

 

[funboy6942]

You all fail to realize that if the cell phone is reported stolen, or has a bill attached to it, or even a contract you will never be able to activate that phone till the original party takes care of that.

 

[oogabooga]

Originally posted by: SuepaFly
T-mobile store it is, going to the police would suck. They take forever for everything. When I reported my car stolen to them, they kept me on hold for 45 minutes then didn't even come out.

that's probally the best option.

 

[raanemaan]

Originally posted by: oogabooga

Originally posted by: SuepaFly
T-mobile store it is, going to the police would suck. They take forever for everything. When I reported my car stolen to them, they kept me on hold for 45 minutes then didn't even come out.

that's probally the best option.

:thumbsup:

 

[Turkish]

In Europe, a cell phone can be traced by the IMEI number and yes, I got my phone back from the police when I lost it. Don't think GSM is that advanced in U.S. yet.

 

[skrilla]

Originally posted by: funboy42
You all fail to realize that if the cell phone is reported stolen, or has a bill attached to it, or even a contract you will never be able to activate that phone till the original party takes care of that.

T-Mobile doesn't activate phones, they activate the sim cards. If it is a T-Mobile phone you could use the phone with a different sim card and nobody would ever know. It doesn't matter if the phone is stolen or not, all you need is a new sim card.

I would take the phone to T-Mobile, or you could take the sim card out and put it in another tmobile phone and try calling those numbers again. Do everything you can to return it. It sucks losing a cell phone.

 

[ABitTooSpicy]

So thats what happened to my phone.. give it back u bastid