Stolen phone help/advice needed

[Beddz]

About 1 year ago in April 2013

 

I took out a contract for an Orange iPhone 5 for about £42 a month.

 

After couple days or I decided I did not want to use the contract and wanted to return the phone etc.

 

My girlfriend at the time offered to pay for the contract and use the phone so I didn't have to return it.

 

Now about 1-2 months ago she decided to end our relationship and therefore would not be paying the bill anymore which is understandable.

 

Here comes the problem,

I have asked for the phone and sim card which are in my name to be returned only to find out she's sold the phone.. and not wanting anything to do with it anymore...can i do anything about this i.e call the police or something?

 

The sim-card is still with her which I have now got blocked via ringing up Orange....

 

Just wondering what my options are? Her dad has said if I contact the police regarding the matter he will put a counter claim in or something? :/

[BankFodder]

Firstly, ignore the threat from her dad. I can scarcely imagine what he could do and certainly on what you have said here there is no basis for anything. It is just an idle threat and it's nonsense – unless you know about something that you haven't told us.

 

There will be nothing that you can do about this I'm afraid. It's a shame that you have an iPhone. You should always get an android. It is easy to get into their operating systems and to put an anti theft program in place which can't be detected but which you can then control by SMS or by Internet. You would then be able to switch the phone off permanently or display a message asking the owner to contact you.

 

IPhones don't let you do this kind of thing. Also iPhones don't allow you to record telephone calls properly meaning that you can't record both sides of the call.

 

I don't really know why people buy iPhones – they're just toys.

 

I don't know what the value of an iPhone might be – maybe a couple of hundred quid. You will have to check. Then you will have to decide whether or not you think it's worth bringing a small claim in the County Court against her.

 

Strictly speaking she should return the value of the iPhone. At the very least, the decent compromise that she could reach would be to pass on the money that she sold it for.

[Beddz]

The basics are really what I've told you that I took the contract out decided that it wasn't for me then she offered to pay for it and use the phone. The contract still has god knows how many months left on it and the phone has been sold onto a total stranger. So would the police not do anything then with the contract being in my name. I'm grateful she paid it for as long as she did, but I feel that the phone still belongs to me regardless as the full contract was not met.

[sequenci]

 

IPhones don't let you do this kind of thing.

 

It *may* be possible, here's how:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5668

 

In addition to the above, you can call the mobile network and have the phone's unique serial number (this is called an IMEI number) barred. That would render the entire device useless - even if the person using the phone can bypass the phone's security settings and restore. Apple's security software was significantly improved in the latest version of the OS - if the phone was an iphone 5 it may be loaded with it (iOS7).

[BankFodder]

Ah right, – I see another side to this now. The phone was part of the contract and so therefore by paying the monthly installment, the telephone was also being paid for.

 

This makes it much more complicated. It's clear to me now that she probably does have some interest in the phone – although not in all of it because presumably you paid the initial £99 or whatever, down payment on the phone.

 

In that case, the phone is worth far less to you. I think that you will have to work out what you have paid and what she has paid. Then you will have to work out what value you have had from the phone and what she has had from the phone. Then you do all your calculations and see who owes what to whom.

 

If you put £100 down on the phone and only had two months use out of it then that's cost you £50 per month. If you also paid the subscription for the first two months then you will have to add that. If you paid £30 per month for two months then that means that you paid £160 for the phone for two months. That means that you would have paid £80 per month for the use of the phone. You then need to find out what your girlfriend has paid per month for the use the phone and then the rest of the calculation should become obvious.

 

On this basis it so complicated and so messy I wouldn't bother taking any action. It really won't be worth the hassle see if you can reach some reasonable compromise with your girlfriend but it sounds to me as if relations between you aren't too good at the moment anyway.

 

At the end of the day it might come down to whose dad is bigger, hers or yours.

[Beddz]

Ah right, – I see another side to this now. The phone was part of the contract and so therefore by paying the monthly installment, the telephone was also being paid for.

 

This makes it much more complicated. It's clear to me now that she probably does have some interest in the phone – although not in all of it because presumably you paid the initial £99 or whatever, down payment on the phone.

 

In that case, the phone is worth far less to you. I think that you will have to work out what you have paid and what she has paid. Then you will have to work out what value you have had from the phone and what she has had from the phone. Then you do all your calculations and see who owes what to whom.

 

If you put £100 down on the phone and only had two months use out of it then that's cost you £50 per month. If you also paid the subscription for the first two months then you will have to add that. If you paid £30 per month for two months then that means that you paid £160 for the phone for two months. That means that you would have paid £80 per month for the use of the phone. You then need to find out what your girlfriend has paid per month for the use the phone and then the rest of the calculation should become obvious.

 

On this basis it so complicated and so messy I wouldn't bother taking any action. It really won't be worth the hassle see if you can reach some reasonable compromise with your girlfriend but it sounds to me as if relations between you aren't too good at the moment anyway.

 

At the end of the day it might come down to whose dad is bigger, hers or yours.

 

So even though the contract is in my name, and she sold the phone to some total random stranger without my knowledge nothing can be done... That makes me angry is so :/ Surely there must be something, if I get the phone barred if things get resolved can it be unbarred?

[sequenci]

I understand that your network can place an IMEI bar and remove it again. That was certainly the case when I worked in the mobile industry (I left that world in 2006)

[belfast4]

I understand that your network can place an IMEI bar and remove it again. That was certainly the case when I worked in the mobile industry (I left that world in 2006)

 

 

 

 

if you report the phone as stolen or lost they will turn the phone off, the person will then either report her for selling a stolen phone or will come back looking his money back. if it does come back you can say you have now found the phone they will turn it back on.

[BazzaS]

 

There will be nothing that you can do about this I'm afraid. It's a shame that you have an iPhone. You should always get an android. It is easy to get into their operating systems and to put an anti theft program in place which can't be detected but which you can then control by SMS or by Internet. You would then be able to switch the phone off permanently or display a message asking the owner to contact you.

 

IPhones don't let you do this kind of thing. Also iPhones don't allow you to record telephone calls properly meaning that you can't record both sides of the call.

 

I don't really know why people buy iPhones – they're just toys.

 

It is a shame that someone as helpful as you are is willing to allow their dislike of iOS to allow them to become blinded to the inaccuracy of their comments.

 

Anti-theft?.

I used Orbicule undercover for iOS. I still use it for my Macs.

It is on my iPhone still but Orbicule have stopped developing it, because "Find my iPhone" is included free with iOS, and allows you to locate the phone, lock it, display a message in its screen , or remotely wipe it.

Paid for security apps such as "prey pro" and "lockout" are available for both Android and iOS 7.

 

I record calls on my iPhone just fine

It is true that restrictions in the SDK mean that inventive solutions needed to be used, as "2 way recording direct from hardware" wasn't an option. I use "Tape-a-call", which had excellent call quality.

 

I use iOS for all of my phone usage and MOST of my tablet usage. It also suits me to use an Android tablet sometimes.

I prefer iOS; that doesn't mean that I have to think Apple is better in everything, nor does it mean I *HAVE* to belittle Android.

 

The two (and their users) can co-exist.

 

If there is a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of each, should it not be based on accurate information and not falsehoods such as "nothing you can do about this" (it depends on if the security was enabled in advance?), "iPhones don't let you use security apps" (see above, they do), and "iPhones don't let you record calls" (they do, by app, with better call quality than my previous WinMo smartphone)

[BankFodder]

Yes it is a shame isn't it.

I'm glad to hear from what you say that iPhone has moved on a bit. Presumably the security settings can now withstand a factory reset. That's very good news.

 

I don't see why you think I don't like iPhones. I bought two of them – to give to my children to play with.