Lost iPhone, now what?
April 8, 2012 7:59 PM Subscribe
I've lost my iPhone, now what?
My husband and I were at a party last night, I was using it there. It was low on juice, but figured it would be ok until the morning. When we came home from the party, I stayed up for a little bit on the conch while he went to bed. He left for work early, while I slept off the party, due to being extremely tired.
When I woke up I looked for my phone, but couldn't find it. Find My iPhone said it was offline, so it sounds like the battery ran out of juice in the middle of the night. Friends who were hosting the party didn't find the phone and we've torn apart the car and house looking for it, with no success
What do we do now? We have insurance on the phone through AT&T, which claims to replace it if lost. Has anyone had to go through this with AT&T, do I need to do anything special to get a replacement?
If we get the replacement and eventually find the phone, what do we do with the original phone?
We've sent a remote message to the phone, leaving my husband's number and we've also sent a remote lock. If the phone is found by someone, what does the remote lock do?
My husband and I were at a party last night, I was using it there. It was low on juice, but figured it would be ok until the morning. When we came home from the party, I stayed up for a little bit on the conch while he went to bed. He left for work early, while I slept off the party, due to being extremely tired.
When I woke up I looked for my phone, but couldn't find it. Find My iPhone said it was offline, so it sounds like the battery ran out of juice in the middle of the night. Friends who were hosting the party didn't find the phone and we've torn apart the car and house looking for it, with no success
What do we do now? We have insurance on the phone through AT&T, which claims to replace it if lost. Has anyone had to go through this with AT&T, do I need to do anything special to get a replacement?
If we get the replacement and eventually find the phone, what do we do with the original phone?
We've sent a remote message to the phone, leaving my husband's number and we've also sent a remote lock. If the phone is found by someone, what does the remote lock do?
If you have a lock on your phone (when you normally turn it on, and you "slide to unlock", do you have to punch your code in?) then it will lock with your passcode. If you don't have a passcode, then I'm not sure what happens.
If someone happens to find it and juice it up, you might be able to locate it then if you have enabled Location Services for that Find my iPhone app/service, provided you didn't do a remote wipe on it. You are also able to call your iPhone's number, and whoever has it should be able to answer it w/o the passcode, hopefully it's a good Samaritan.
I think if you contact AT&T, they will probably disassociate your number with that phone or something like that if you get a new one. You can ask them what happens if you find it after you've gotten a new one unless someone else here knows...
posted by Seboshin at 8:34 PM on April 8, 2012
If someone happens to find it and juice it up, you might be able to locate it then if you have enabled Location Services for that Find my iPhone app/service, provided you didn't do a remote wipe on it. You are also able to call your iPhone's number, and whoever has it should be able to answer it w/o the passcode, hopefully it's a good Samaritan.
I think if you contact AT&T, they will probably disassociate your number with that phone or something like that if you get a new one. You can ask them what happens if you find it after you've gotten a new one unless someone else here knows...
posted by Seboshin at 8:34 PM on April 8, 2012
If the phone is found by someone, what does the remote lock do?
It locks the phone so that the you have to enter the passcode before you can use it or look at any photos/contacts/apps/etc. But the phone has to be on and able to connect to the internet to receive that command. If your battery died it won't get the message. If someone finds your phone and charges it, it should get the message w/ your husband's number on it and the lock command.
Usually when you report your phone lost, ATT will deactivate the SIM so that no one can make calls/data/etc with the account. I've only used my Personal Affects Policy rider on my renter's insurance for claims on my iPhones and that was a simple they just reimbursed me. From what I've read about the ATT insurance, there's a deductible you'll need to pay. When I lost my iPhone a few years ago, they did say I could return the new one for a refund if I found the old one (my old one never was seen again...this was 2 weeks before Find my iPhone so I couldn't look for it online or send lock or remote wipe codes). When you file your claim with the insurance company ask about what to do if the old one turns up.
posted by birdherder at 8:35 PM on April 8, 2012
It locks the phone so that the you have to enter the passcode before you can use it or look at any photos/contacts/apps/etc. But the phone has to be on and able to connect to the internet to receive that command. If your battery died it won't get the message. If someone finds your phone and charges it, it should get the message w/ your husband's number on it and the lock command.
Usually when you report your phone lost, ATT will deactivate the SIM so that no one can make calls/data/etc with the account. I've only used my Personal Affects Policy rider on my renter's insurance for claims on my iPhones and that was a simple they just reimbursed me. From what I've read about the ATT insurance, there's a deductible you'll need to pay. When I lost my iPhone a few years ago, they did say I could return the new one for a refund if I found the old one (my old one never was seen again...this was 2 weeks before Find my iPhone so I couldn't look for it online or send lock or remote wipe codes). When you file your claim with the insurance company ask about what to do if the old one turns up.
posted by birdherder at 8:35 PM on April 8, 2012
I've only used my Personal Affects Policy rider on my renter's insurance for claims on my iPhones and that was a simple they just reimbursed me.
YMMV on that - we have State Farm and up until 3 years ago or so, they would cover smart phones either under the personal articles policy or your renter's/owner's insurance. That is no more, State Farm doesn't cover smart phones in any way, shape, or form from what our agents can tell.
posted by arnicae at 10:00 PM on April 8, 2012
YMMV on that - we have State Farm and up until 3 years ago or so, they would cover smart phones either under the personal articles policy or your renter's/owner's insurance. That is no more, State Farm doesn't cover smart phones in any way, shape, or form from what our agents can tell.
posted by arnicae at 10:00 PM on April 8, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
If we didn't lose something else in the couch and know that it must be there someplace, we would have never found the touch...
posted by NoDef at 8:06 PM on April 8, 2012 [3 favorites]