Stolen/Lost Cell Phone ... still on contract ... no insurance ... What to do?
Have you used "Find Phone" app? That would give you an idea of where it is if someone stole it in case you want to make a police report.
Sorry I can't be of further help. We also have Verizon but they've been very helpful when our boys' phones have been damaged. We've never lost one or had one stolen - thankfully. Hope everything works out.
If you were paying with your credit card monthly, you may have some coverage for lost or stolen phones or item.
I think you already thought of this but you can try to buy a used phone on eBay, and ride out your contract with it.
You may want to talk to AT&T or T-Mobile and see if you actually have to bring your phone with you if you switch. Since Verizon uses CDMA and the other two GSM, you would have to get a new phone on their network anyway. But they may want your phone since they could resell it. But it is worth looking into if you call them.
there are find my phone apps that I have heard can be installed remotely...not sure if it will work with the phone powered off...but I know the police can trace phones that are off as long as there is a battery.....i doubt the police would bother since so many phones are stolen though...
did you file a police report?
consider looking on ebay for a used phone.....
jmitw said:
there are find my phone apps that I have heard can be installed remotely...not sure if it will work with the phone powered off...but I know the police can trace phones that are off as long as there is a battery.....i doubt the police would bother since so many phones are stolen though...
Actually we do bother and we've been quite successful in recovering lost/stolen devices. The key is for people to already have tracking software installed and working AND immediate reporting. Anything more than a day and the chances of finding the device are very very low. Phones that are "off' cannot be tracked. Initial installation of tracking software has to be done with device in hand so remote installation isn't really an option. Phones can be tracked based solely on service but that involves special equipment and resources, warrants and subpoenas, none of which will happen for a lost or stolen device.
Junkmen you've most likely passed the point where we could retrieve your device, nonetheless I hope you've reported it lost or stolen. If so, take that report to your service provider, usually they are able to blacklist the device's ESN so that it can't be used by someone else....theoretically. Also, check this out: https://www.tapinto.net/articles/south-orange-police-say-tracking-apps-can-help-re
You can buy a phone from eBay or SWAP or similar (making sure that it is Verizon-compatible) and then activate it on your line
Agree about buying an old used phone on eBay. I needed to change providers to Verizon -- nonexistent AT&T data service where I live. I bought a used iPhone 4S running iOS 6 (3+ years out of date) and couldn't be happier.
Also, would it be worth having someone text your phone and offer a ransom? Maybe $50 or so? There was a 30 Rock episode where a taxi driver held Liz's phone hostage for a lot of money because she had naked pictures of herself on the phone. Pretty funny.
if t
ace789nj said:
jmitw said:Actually we do bother and we've been quite successful in recovering lost/stolen devices. The key is for people to already have tracking software installed and working AND immediate reporting. Anything more than a day and the chances of finding the device are very very low. Phones that are "off' cannot be tracked. Initial installation of tracking software has to be done with device in hand so remote installation isn't really an option. Phones can be tracked based solely on service but that involves special equipment and resources, warrants and subpoenas, none of which will happen for a lost or stolen device.
there are find my phone apps that I have heard can be installed remotely...not sure if it will work with the phone powered off...but I know the police can trace phones that are off as long as there is a battery.....i doubt the police would bother since so many phones are stolen though...
Junkmen you've most likely passed the point where we could retrieve your device, nonetheless I hope you've reported it lost or stolen. If so, take that report to your service provider, usually they are able to blacklist the device's ESN so that it can't be used by someone else....theoretically. Also, check this out: https://www.tapinto.net/articles/south-orange-police-say-tracking-apps-can-help-re
Maybe in your town, but it seems it is rarely done...some software can in fact be installed remotely at least on android...I install apps using my laptop all the time.....I did look and it and my computer did allow me to remotely install tracking software......are you saying it won't work that way? AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT A PHONE CAN BE REMOTELY POWERED ON BY LAW ENFORECMENT...it has been done in major crimes...that part may be too difficult to do for a minor theft...
stolen phones are used by other people all the time....newer phones supposedly have a function to disable that...it doesn't make sense that the service provider doesn't disable older phones permanently...it does seem that they are able
come to think of it...i saw a news story on how they remotely installed the tracking software after the phone was lost ...and it worked..unless they lied (which it isn't unheard of for the news to be wrong).
You may know "FOR A FACT" that law enforcement can turn on a phone remotely, but the security industry is not quite as certain that it is possible these days.
When my wife dropped her smartphone and shattered the screen beyond reasonable repair, we switched the whole family from ATT to T-Mobile, they gladly accepted some barely working older model phones in exchange for buying out our contracts. And I ended up making a couple of bucks selling my Galaxy S3 on e-bay.
T-Mobile also was significantly cheaper than ATT.
If you don't want to switch, your best bet is to find a used Verizon phone on e-bay, http://swappa.com/ or amazon and ride out your contract.
Switch to T-mobile and they will pay your early termination fee with Verizon. I have both (Verizon for work and T-mobile for my personal phone). Unless you are out in the sticks often the diffrence in coverage is not likely to matter much.
Prepaid services works just fine. No reason to disparage it, and in fact if you buy a phone on amazon you will -not- have to use prepaid services. All the companies these days offer 'bring you own phone' service.
Have purchased a new phone on Amazon that should arrive tomorrow.
Riding out my contract is what I hope to be doing -- and adding insurance!!!
Thanks for all the helpful posts everyone.
Thought I lost my cell phone, then a friend got a text in response to one she sent me -- that I did not send. So I guess it's stolen. Curious how they got past my sign-in code.
I suspended service. But no land line. I'm trapped with no phone.
I've about had it with Verizon -- customer service sucks big time. They tell me I didn't have insurance (hard to believe, because I lose everything, ESPECIALLY my phone, constantly). I know I used to see Asurion charges on my bills, but there are no charges for it on the last 12 or so statements I viewed online. (On-line Bill Pay can get you pretty out of touch with your statements.)
Verizon store at Livingston Mall was useless (no surprise) unless I want to spend $400+ to replace my Samsung Galaxy.
There appear to be a couple on-line at Amazon that I could buy without a contract but would have to pre-pay for service.
I need no bells and whistles ... use my phone to call and text. Trying to wean myself off using any data, but it adds up anyway.
Please give me your advice -- tell me about your experience with Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile Service (have had them al at one time or another, but not recently). Should I bite the bullet with Verizon? take a totally new approach and buy a phone through Amazon and possibly just finish out my current Verizon contract with that? or go with a switch provider to get a deal on a phone?
Thanks in advance.