Friend found a LG G3, safe to use?

[Dari]

He should know what the right thing to do here is. It's not even really debatable.

I know, right? Return the damn thing. It's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[mmntech]

Your buddy needs to either contact the owner ASAP, or take it to the nearest Verizon store. There's nothing worse than losing your phone, especially if it has personal information on it. I'm sure the owner will be grateful. Just taking it is tantamount to stealing.

 

[lxskllr]

I found a phone in the road back when portable cells were getting popular. I tracked the guy down by digging through his contacts, and got in touch with him. Turns out it was the owner of a bagel shop, and he lost it on the way to a catering gig. When he came to pick up his phone, he brought me a big bag of bagels and toppings to go on them. I was pleased, he was pleased, and AFAIK, we lived happily tolerably ever after.

 

[chimaxi83]

My wife found a phone in the bathroom at Target about 2 weeks ago. Galaxy S4, no lock on screen. Most people have a contact to that's obviously their partner. Babe, my love, the wife, hubby, etc. Found it, called the husband, and got the phone back to them within the hour. They were ecstatic, and mentioned the wife was the only one working right now and they really needed the phone. You just never know the situation.

The moral of the story is that you and your friend are shithead douchebags. Its just a fucking phone, return it.

 

[gmaster456]

Why anyone would do anything less than return the damn thing is disturbing . What's even sadder is someone has to actually ask what the right thing to do is. Disgusting.

Return the thing, if you don't, legally speaking that is theft. It doesn't belong to your friend and keeping it is intent to permanently deprive aka theft.

 

[holden j caufield]

find new friends

 

[Ichinisan]

Anything less than returning it to the owner = extremely shitty

This. Any one of us that ever lost something valuable hopes that the finder would return it. Keeping the phone is a total dick move.

Claiming insurance typically has an incident charge of $50 or $100. If OP's friend had returned it promptly, it probably would have saved the owner some money.

 

[Ichinisan]

If you get a chance, take your buddies current phone.

When he mentions it is missing say, "Don't worry about it. I am sure if someone finds it they will take steps to return it to you." If he doesn't get the hint, go to a shady part of town, set the phone on the ground and then leave.

-KeithP

This is karmically justified

 

[Ichinisan]

Just because the original owner *probably* got the phone replaced via insurance, it doesn't mean they are whole. Perhaps there is data on that phone that is invaluable to them. Perhaps there are pictures that are irreplaceable. Perhaps there is something related to their work they need.

Also this.

Phones are extremely personal devices these days. It's even more devastating than it would be to steal a traveling businessman's briefcase in 1975.

 

[CZroe]

I just returned a Sprint LG G3 to its owner today. It WAS dropped in a parking lot, but it was never lost. Back in November she was working a retail event at a hospital parking lot (Grady Memorial) and dropped it. The screen was more than shattered and looked like it had DEEP gouges from... something. What's more, the digitizer was not functional and you couldn't even unlock the phone. She had purchased a Galaxy S5 for her son and had to use it while I assessed the G3, aaaaaand she ended up dropping and breaking THAT too. Should could only make one insurance claim so I gave her a list of the part prices and told her that I would repair it at-cost. $90 later and her phone looks like brand new (surprisingly, the battery door and frame had ZERO damage).

It was actually much easier than the Verizon LG G2 I did less than a week earlier.

This. Any one of us that ever lost something valuable hopes that the finder would return it. Keeping the phone is a total dick move.

Claiming insurance typically has an incident charge of $50 or $100. If OP's friend had returned it promptly, it probably would have saved the owner some money.

She had insurance on hers and it was $150 deductible. I looked up the cost of a factory repair through LG and a user reported that it was ~$14X.xx for a repair, ~$15X.xx for a full refurbish (assume that means new housing). Insurance didn't make sense even if the $90 part wasn't available.

 

[LPCTech]

1. A buddy found it. = You found it

2. You have detailed contact info to return the phone but are not. You have their phone number and email.

3. You are (sorry, your buddy) logging into and looking at this persons email without their permission, this is kind of a crime i think maybe. Waiting for them to make a transaction to steal their bank info?

4. You and your friend think its ok to keep the phone cuz the person got another ( and you found this out by breaking into their email without permission) but there could be and MOST LIKELY IS irreplaceable data on the phone. They PROBABLY NEED it back.

5. I BET YOU HAVE THE GPS TURNED OFF DONT YA?

So pretty much. If you (your friend) doesnt return the phone to that person you are possibly a thief, definitely in possession of stolen property that has been reported stolen and is in your hands, and at least an accessory to theft for knowing of this and not either calling the police on your "friend" or returning the phone.

So yeah. probably a mistake to post.

aaand its useless to you.

Edit: I mean "your friend" when I say "You", easier to write. Sorry to be all accusatory. Im sure if it was you, you'd do the right thing.

 

[Darknite39]

Good advice all around. Tell your friend to stop being an asshole.

 

[nOOky]

Email the owner, since he can obviously get in her email. At worst, take a picture of your wanker, set it as the wallpaper, and return it to a Verizon store, anonymously of course.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Your friend should either contact the owner or turn it over to the police! Otherwise, your friend might be charged with possession of a stolen item. Court and legal cost will be at least 4X that of the LG G3 if you get a private attorney to represent your friend. Otherwise, most public defenders will tell you to do a no contest plea. And your friend might have a record if he/she is found guilty!

 

[soccerballtux]

Most carrier insurance plans cover theft, damage, or losing the phone. The deductible is usually high enough to keep people from claiming it's lost when it's not. buying insurance

yep thats how it works for me

 

[spat55]

Lot of people quite up themselves on here, I think alot would keep it and not return it if they actually found one working, me myself am not sure if I would return it, depends if I thought it had something on it they might want.

 

[CZroe]

Lot of people quite up themselves on here, I think alot would keep it and not return it if they actually found one working, me myself am not sure if I would return it, depends if I thought it had something on it they might want.

Jerk

 

[jacktesterson]

Why even post this?

Do we really need to spell it out as to why this phone will be blocked and should be returned?

 

[soulcougher73]

Owner could be hot and give you a favor for returning phone. Dont let your friend be a douche. tell him to return it

 

[chimaxi83]

Lot of people quite up themselves on here, I think alot would keep it and not return it if they actually found one working, me myself am not sure if I would return it, depends if I thought it had something on it they might want.

Cool story. You're a dickhead too. It's a $200-300 phone, buy your own shit.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Lot of people quite up themselves on here, I think alot would keep it and not return it if they actually found one working, me myself am not sure if I would return it, depends if I thought it had something on it they might want.

You don't base your morals on what "alot" would do do you? You know what the right thing to do is. As long as that's true you have no excuse for doing otherwise.

 

[PowerYoga]

Time to lose that "friend". Who knows what else he'll steal with that nonexistant moral compass.

 

[Ichinisan]

Lot of people quite up themselves on here, I think alot would keep it and not return it if they actually found one working, me myself am not sure if I would return it, depends if I thought it had something on it they might want.

This is the thought process of the true asshole.

 

[Jodell88]

I hope the cops show up at your friend's front door.

 

[Insomniator]

Its good to know if I ever lose my phone and someone on here finds it, it will be returned immediately... you are all saints. Unfortunately I've never known anyone to recover a lost phone so I don't think the average person is so noble.

BUT now that I think about and the comments in this thread, I wonder why he hasn't had the slightest inclination to find the owner especially given that he has the information. Lets be serious though, cops aren't going to show up at anyone's door over this, unless the owner was like... assaulted for it.