[mark]

While visiting with my parents last month my father mentioned that he found a Blackberry in a pouch on the sidewalk. He didn't know much about it but there was a phone number on the screen that he tried calling to let the person know he'd found the phone. He told me that whoever answered said they didn't know what he was talking about and didn't lose a phone.

I took a look at the phone and as soon as the screen came on I saw the familiar red colour knew it was a Rogers branded device. I suggested that he take the phone to a Rogers Wireless store and they might have better luck contacting the owner.

Yesterday while visiting again I asked my father how it went with the lost phone and was surprised when he told me that the staff member at the Rogers store was annoyed by the fact that they had returned the lost phone and that they couldn't do anything to locate the rightful owner. Apparently they took the phone anyway.

Is returning a found phone to the carrier not the proper thing to do?

 

[TorontoColin]

Probably, but I'm sure it's a hassle for Rogers to deal with. The employee was probably just annoyed that he would have to handle it.

 

[rocket9]

No good deed goes unpunished!!

We need more honest people in the world like your dad.

 

[17671]

if the guy gave me attitude while i was trying to do a good deed like returning a lost phone to its rightful owner, id ask for the guys manager name, tell him to his face, waht if it was his phone i found on the sidewalk, he would be pissed if i found it and didnt care to return it to its rightfull owner, so id tell him off, then i would call up his manager and comment about his attitude towards lost/stolen phones

 

[topherpaquette]

cheers to you and your dad. even if the staff at a carrier didn't want to take the time to help you did the right thing... as one said previously " No Good Dead Goes Unnoticed ". Thank you to you and your father for being honest good people!

Digital Home Salutes You!

 

[ScaryBob]

I would have gone to a little more effort to trace the owner. They might have been grateful and offered a reward. At least you would have dealt with a grateful owner instead of a surly salesperson.

 

[BGY11]

I'd be leery of poking through someone's BlackBerry without them knowing - even if it was to help them get the device back. If there was a number that clearly indicated a family member or something, then I'd call that, but I certainly wouldn't go through e-mails and such for privacy reasons.

I know if the situation were reversed, I wouldn't want someone going through that info (especially since I would have informed the provider the phone was lost, and probably have a replacement fairly quickly).

That said, I am reminded of Tanta's attempt to help return a digicam to its rightful owner several years ago. I guess part of it would boil down to how much information you would want someone to look at to help return a device to you.

 

[ScaryBob]

I have my phone set to lock automatically so it would be difficult to access personal information. However, the phone's number is accessible when it is locked, allowing for tracing with that number. If anyone owning a phone or PDA is concerned about privacy, they should lock it. Otherwise, they should expect that anyone who finds it or steals it can access any information stored on it or use it for any devious, immoral or illegal activity they choose.

 

[can3gxw]

This is not at all unlike a similar situation that I went through a couple of years ago. My family and I were playing at a local park and I found a Rogers phone in the grass. It was clearly marked as Rogers, so I too took it back to the nearest Rogers store.

They were snotty there as well - and even went so far as to ask me "what do you want ME to do with this?"

Rogers just plain doesn't care about their customers! Whether it's the company itself who just keeps gouging (cutting service, raising prices) or the staff that only worry about "how much money is this guy going to make ME?"

I know that if I had lost my phone, and someone took the time to return it to a Bell store, and Bell called me and told me they had my phone, I would be grateful. Phones nowadays are NOT cheap if you have to buy a replacement.

 

[PG44]

I agree with Scary, if you have any sensitive information on your device it should be locked. My BB is locked after a maximum of 20 minutes idle as a corporate policy, and this cannot be changed in the settings. I have my contact info on the screen in case it is lost. I suppose most people if they were to lose their phone would consider it gone and cancel it right away, so they may not even want it back. Likely in the OP's case, given the length of time after finding it the owner had already forgotten and moved on.

As for the Rogers store staff, they are like their phones - short term commodities and easily replaced!

 

[Stilgar]

Rather than delving into the phone or being prevented from doing so because of a lock or device deactivation, you can always look to another obvious - The Sim card - since it's tied directly to the owners account.

Call the provider (ie: Rogers). If you are a like customer, use whatever method you can to "0" to live rep without giving out your account info. When you get a live person, use the good Samaritan angle - "I'm just your everyday Joe Citizen. I found this phone, I'd like to see it returned to it's owner." Give them whatever numbers they need from the Sim or Device. They can't give you the owners info, but once they have the person's account up on their screen, they should be able to contact the owner and tell them how to get in touch with you if you're willing to provide your contact info.

 

[Dr.Dave]

Stilgar, I tried that exact approach a couple of years ago when I found a plain cell phone and the provider (head office) refused.

So I went through the contacts and found a number to call. The woman came over and picked it up. She was so grateful she tried to offer me a $50 reward. I kept refusing, but finally accepted $20 "for pizza" just so she would go away.

 

[mark]

Thanks for all the thoughts. When I saw the phone the screen was locked and I believe there was a phone number displayed.

Being that I've been with Bell and had CDMA devices which are usually tied to an ESN I figured it would be somewhat similar for Rogers to track the owner via the phone's IEMI number (or SIM card).

 

[17671]

you can also call the number on the back of the sim if you are unsure what carrier it belongs to, for example if its rogers. it has their number on it, call the CSR, explain to them the situation, give them the IMEI and/ or ICCID, they will look it up (WITHOUT DISCLOSING THE CUSTOMERS NAME TO YOU). And put a note on the account that it was found, try and get in touch with the owner, and ask you to drop it off at the nearest rogers plus store, then the CX will be contacted via their contact # on their account, and will be instructed to go to such video store and pick up their lost phone. Bingo.

The problem is sometimes the third party retailers, not owned by rogers are like that, they can be a bit snobby at times.