Suggestions on what to do? Gf's Iphone on Verizon got stolen --- UPDATE - Returned

[goog40]

Verizon's insurance is $11/month with a $200 deductible. That's a terrible deal unless you know for a fact you're going to lose/break your phone.

 

[mugs]

Jesus christ.

Even Jesus won't save him from that stupidity.

Sorry man, saying that Verizon is treating you like a criminal because they won't give you a free or cheap replacement for a lost or stolen phone is beyond stupid. What company WOULD take a loss on that? Doesn't matter if you've been a customer for 9 years. You've been paying for phone service for 9 years, not insurance on future phones.

 

[ElFenix]

Verizon's insurance is $11/month with a $200 deductible. That's a terrible deal unless you know for a fact you're going to lose/break your phone.

that's horrible. esp. since they're buying those things for not much. the optimus s/v is $300 on sprint's main site but $150 on their wholly owned pre-paid virgin mobile service (and same price on tmo's no-contract). and i'm not seeing anything in virgin's T&Cs that obligates you to buy service from them. so they're probably not taking a loss on the phone itself.

buying phones from a contract carrier is such a racket.

 

[Demo24]

7. Verizon is treating every customer has a criminal that is going to resell the phone. Shit happens, thats understandable. She has to pay the full price, but teh fact that the store really goes ' take it up the ass with no lube ' is no way to treat customers, especially one that is in good standing over 8 + years. As for the eating the cost, trust me verizon has already made up its money on teh cost subsidized on the phone. I am sure they are NOT buying it at 650/piece from Apple. That might be retail, but they probably are getting it less than half that if anything. The loss is not much for a billion dollar company but treating every customer as a criminal that does it to make money is wrong.

She signed a contract to buy the phone (probably subsidized) over a 2 year period with a plan to use it. She didn't lease the phone. If people could get out or update their contract everytime they 'lost' a phone people would abuse it to get a new phone every 3 months.


This is like buying a car, not putting insurance on it and expecting the dealer to give you a new one when it goes missing.

 

[goog40]

that's horrible. esp. since they're buying those things for not much. the optimus s/v is $300 on sprint's main site but $150 on their wholly owned pre-paid virgin mobile service (and same price on tmo's no-contract). and i'm not seeing anything in virgin's T&Cs that obligates you to buy service from them. so they're probably not taking a loss on the phone itself.

buying phones from a contract carrier is such a racket.

The numbers I quoted were for the iPhone which has a higher monthly (and I'm sure a higher deductible). But at the same time it's undoubtedly still a ripoff for other phones when you do the math.

 

[nick1985]

To answer the questions.

1. We were playing tennis, we didnt notice the phone was missing until we got done.

2. The memories on the phone - she went to hawaii last month with her gf. There are pictures she took on the phone that arent on her camera. So those are now lost. Also her car mileage log thing was on the phone. Thats lost too. She last sync'ed it when she got the phone in early july.

3. The area where mobile me showed the phone is a place neither of us would normally go and we were not in that area. We drive through near the area to see each other but never live or work there. She lives in Valley Village, I live in Encino/Reseda. We have no reason to go into that area.

4. The whole 'illegal' statement was based on some of the people we talked to. They are all 'oh we dont speak english', so she speaks to them in spanish and they kinda walk away. One guy says 'i dont live here..' and he is coming out of an apartment, super shady. Its an area of Van Nuys that http://www.crimemapping.com/ shows as got a lot of crime.

We plastered signs saying reward of $100 for the phone. Its a distinctive phone white with a pink case.

5. We spent a total of 4 hours between calling / mobile me alerts / sending a reward statement on the phone. Nobody picked up or even called back to our number. Thats why we left the lost Iphone. Mobile me tracked it to within 2 apartment buildings. One small 2 floor apartment complex and a larger 3 floor apartment complex. We couldnt tell where it was. Calling it and sending the beep thing while we walked teh corridors we couldnt hear it.

The phone was locked so the person wouldnt have been able to access the thing to stop the beeping. They probably muffled it.

6. As for the insurance. I wasnt there when she got the phone. The sales guy just asked her if she wants insurance, and like everything from your hdtv to what not else, she said no because in the past insurance really didnt help. Had the guy mentioned something like its 650 brand new if you lose it, she would have gotten it.

7. Verizon is treating every customer has a criminal that is going to resell the phone. Shit happens, thats understandable. She has to pay the full price, but teh fact that the store really goes ' take it up the ass with no lube ' is no way to treat customers, especially one that is in good standing over 8 + years. As for the eating the cost, trust me verizon has already made up its money on teh cost subsidized on the phone. I am sure they are NOT buying it at 650/piece from Apple. That might be retail, but they probably are getting it less than half that if anything. The loss is not much for a billion dollar company but treating every customer as a criminal that does it to make money is wrong.

If this was a systemic issue of a person losing phones and wanting to re-negotiate a contract thats a different issue, this isnt systemic. This is the first time in 8 years. Their own sales staff was NOT competent in selling a product. I know because I was listening to the 'schlemiel' given to another new customer who was buying the phone. Never explained the '650 brand new cost' to her. Helpful as he is, its the same guy who sold her the phone 2 months ago.

How come you're stupid?

 

[Sluggo]

My car got stolen and the dealership won't give me a new one, fuck those guys.

I'm going to buy a car from the dealer down the road.

 

[Lyfer]

Verizon's insurance is $11/month with a $200 deductible. That's a terrible deal unless you know for a fact you're going to lose/break your phone.

It's not $200, it's $169, its through a company named "Asurion", not VZW. The same company that insures Tmobile, Sprint, and even At&T. (third party company).

My recommendation is either get a used unit or add a line for $9.99 and get another one at $199.99. Or you could start a line with a basic phone and trade it in for an Iphone 4 and get a $100 credit that VZW is currently running atm.

 

[The Stigenator]

My car got stolen and the dealership won't give me a new one, fuck those guys.

I'm going to buy a car from the dealer down the road.

Sluggo. There is a flaw in your logic. If you buy a new car. The dealer won't let you leave without mandatory full coverage unless you pay full in cash in which case they will let you go with liability.

Fact is in CA you need insurance by law. It not a law for phones. It's optional.

 

[isekii]

make sure you report it stolen so the ESN gets locked as well.

 

[MotionMan]

To answer the questions.

2. The memories on the phone - she went to hawaii last month with her gf. There are pictures she took on the phone that arent on her camera. So those are now lost. Also her car mileage log thing was on the phone. Thats lost too. She last sync'ed it when she got the phone in early july.

I have this GREAT data, photo and contacts insurance that is available FREE! It is called 'syncing my iPhone with my computer once in a while'.

I am pretty anal, so I actually run a sync and update every night, but even with that, when I get home from a trip or some place like Disneyland, I sync that thing up immediately (and run Chronosync, too)!

What is it with people who do not back their crap up for months, if at all?

(You can laugh at me as super anal retentive boy all you want, but it is going to take a lot more than a lost phone for me to lose any data, pictures or contacts.)

(BTW, OP, say 'Howdy neighbor!' to your gf for me.)

MotionMan

 

[1sikbITCH]

To answer the questions.

6. As for the insurance. I wasnt there when she got the phone. The sales guy just asked her if she wants insurance, and like everything from your hdtv to what not else, she said no because in the past insurance really didnt help. Had the guy mentioned something like its 650 brand new if you lose it, she would have gotten it.

Again you divert the blame instead of accepting that your GF screwed up.

 

[Itchrelief]

I do not agree with the OP.

 

[slayer202]

Sluggo. There is a flaw in your logic. If you buy a new car. The dealer won't let you leave without mandatory full coverage unless you pay full in cash in which case they will let you go with liability.

Fact is in CA you need insurance by law. It not a law for phones. It's optional.

oh, so you do know what insurance is? and you declined when you bought it? OHHH I see....

 

[Tristicus]

oh, so you do know what insurance is? and you declined when you bought it? OHHH I see....

I bet that $7 a month doesn't look so expensive now does it?

 

[Ichinisan]

$100 reward for a $650 phone.

This will not succeed.

Also, you fail.

It might succeed. To most people, a CDMA phone is worthless when it's stolen. The ESN is disabled / blocked by Verizon.

 

[lupi]

this thread does not dissapoint.

 

[Sluggo]

Sluggo. There is a flaw in your logic. If you buy a new car. The dealer won't let you leave without mandatory full coverage unless you pay full in cash in which case they will let you go with liability.

Fact is in CA you need insurance by law. It not a law for phones. It's optional.

Would you feel better if I had put credit life on there? Verizon doesn't owe you shit, deal with it.

As life lessons go, this one is relatively cheap, learn and grow.

 

[ViRGE]

It might succeed. To most people, a CDMA phone is worthless when it's stolen. The ESN is disabled / blocked by Verizon.

The last I heard Verizon almost never blacklists ESNs for stolen phones. Has that changed recently?

 

[The Stigenator]

UPDATE: Phone was returned today. She bought a phone from BBY yesterday and today the guy who stole it returned it. Her dad went to pick it up with LAPD in tow. Her dad works in LEO. It was the 'parents' that returned the unit.

 

[ViRGE]

I'm glad to hear this story had a happy ending.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'm glad to hear this story had a happy ending.

Well, except they've wiped all the pictures and stuff.

Is OP going to make good on the reward? Maybe the kid will do the right thing next time.

 

[The Stigenator]

Well, except they've wiped all the pictures and stuff.

Is OP going to make good on the reward? Maybe the kid will do the right thing next time.

we did.. paid the parents $100 for returning it.. LAPD was present because my gf's dad was dealing with the transaction. She was out some shopping and I was at home. When she called me I ran over there and so did she, her dad in the mean time was talking to LAPD who was invited to show up as a non-emergency call.

 

[moshquerade]

we did.. paid the parents $100 for returning it.. LAPD was present because my gf's dad was dealing with the transaction. She was out some shopping and I was at home. When she called me I ran over there and so did she, her dad in the mean time was talking to LAPD who was invited to show up as a non-emergency call.

now... to return the other phone she bought?

 

[Rumpltzer]

3. The area where mobile me showed the phone is a place neither of us would normally go and we were not in that area. We drive through near the area to see each other but never live or work there. She lives in Valley Village, I live in Encino/Reseda. We have no reason to go into that area.

Van Nuys in adjacent to and between Valley Village and Encino/Reseda. You should both move... or break up so you don't need to drive through Van Nuys anymore. Not worth the risk with all the "illegals", you know?

How come no pics of the gf even after the phone was returned? ATOT has invested time, indifference, and mockery into this thread. The "illegal's" parents got their $100 reward. Where's our reward???