Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lost and found

How do I deal with a friend's lost object?

fiasco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:05:40 -0800

Friend said I lost something of his, asked me to replace it. What should I do now? The other night, several friends and I went out on the town. We then met up with another friend -- let’s call him Friend A – who drove us to another (and the last stop) bar.

Preface: I was on my way to becoming very drunk.

Friend A said he found his iphone charger in my belongings. I think that I might have grabbed it accidentally, mistaking his charger for my cell phone charger. He took it back; all was well.

Later, my friend reported that he lost his iphone. He asked me to search my apartment, etcetera. I searched my apartment high and low. I called the bar we were at and asked them to check the lost and found to no avail. I reported my findings to him.

Friend A then responded that he believes when I got out of the car to go to bar, he thought I dropped something. He assumed it was my phone and that I picked it up but he thinks now that it must’ve been his iphone.

I do not believe I dropped anything as I got out of his car. I was drunk at that point, but not annihilated. I feel that I would have noticed and/or retrieved said fallen object.

To figure things out, I asked my other friend (a third party – let’s call him Friend B) if he saw anything slip out with me. Friend B said he was getting out on the same side of the car as me and no, he did not see or hear anything fall out. He said if he had, he would have helped me out. Friend B also stated he never saw me with the iphone in my possession.

This all leads to my question. Friend A asked me to replace his iphone. I am not in a financial position to do so. I was pretty passive/helpful at first, doubting myself, and thinking it might have possibly been my fault, but at this point, I’m a little salty about the allegation.

I do not steal things. I have never stolen anything (except a piece of candy in a department store when I was seven) nor do I think it’s funny or mischievous to steal things when I am drunk. I have never been that type of person. I’ve heard about people who do that type of thing when loaded and I’ve always wondered where the humor or logic is.

Our friendship is important to me but there is no feasible way I can pay him. What is the right thing to do? How would you handle this situation?

I used to have a dearth of iPhones. Now I have a glut of iPhones.

harperpitt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:11:09 -0800

Last week I lost my iPhone. Yesterday my new iPhone was delivered. Today we discovered my original iPhone lying face-down in my front yard. Now what? After drinking way too much bourbon, I woke up last week to find that my iPhone 3GS had disappeared. After tearing up the house looking for it, I resigned myself to the fact that it was lost or stolen, and I bought a replacement.

Through at&t's website, I "upgraded" my phone to a refurbished 3G model with only 8GB of memory, as opposed to the 16 my 3GS had. I paid $250 and reset my contract to get this new refurbished model, which was delivered yesterday.

Today, my roommate discovered my first iPhone laying face-down in the mud of our front lawn. Its sturdy rubber casing prevented it from getting any (obvious) damage, and it boots up just fine. Obviously, I have no idea if there are any problems with the phone I can't see.

So now what do I do?

- Can I return the crappier iPhone to at&t? Can I get my money back, or my contract changed back?

- Should I do this, or is the second iPhone (crappier though it may be) safer, since it's never been exposed to water?

- Can I take the iPhone Mark I to an Apple store to find out if there's any insidious damage I can't see?

- Is there anything else I should be thinking about here?

- Can/should I make the iPhones duel to the death?

If you think about it, if someone helps CF Kane get the sled back earlier, a lot of people lead much better lives. So who is that hero?

rileyray3000 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:53:57 -0800

Say that Citizen Kane really wanted to find Rosebud - who would he call? Is there a kind of specific person who tracks down these personal lost things? So I’m doing research for a project and I’m wondering if there is a specific class of person of searcher, or researcher or private investigator who goes looking for objects that are lost. Kind of like art provenance people but more general if that helps.

If there’s a name or kind that exists and you can tell me, that would help. And if there really is some sort of expert out there you can name that I could then try to reach out to and ask some questions that would help more.

How can I find my lost ring?

OlivesAndTurkishCoffee — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:35:57 -0800

Other than Craigslist and Kiiji, are there any other places to try to find lost and found items in Toronto. I just lost a ring downtown in Toronto. I posted it in the Lost and Found on Craigslist. I know that the odds of my finding it again are terrible, but are there any other avenues I might try?

Taxi lost & found

ceribus peribus — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:47:44 -0800

Help, I left some important paperwork in the back of a NYC cab last night! I've read this, and submitted the online Lost Property Inquiry form. The lost property precinct numbers were busy when I called; I'll try them again in a few minutes.

Is there anything else I can do?

Like an idiot, I don't have a medallion number. That lost binder has my passport, and immigration forms that have taken me years to get. I can't believe I did this.

Please help me reach out to the person who found our memory card!

lioness — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:13:18 -0800

What would you do if you found a memory card? Have you found our memory card in Rome, Italy? We've lost our Sony memory card in Rome, Italy, during our vacation at the end of July. It probably fell out of our bag while sitting on the benches on Piazzale Ugo La Malfa, near Circo Massimo. It was in its plastic encasing, so it's fairly protected and a bit easier to spot than 'just' a memory card. We probably lost it on the 25th of July.*
I know the odds of the card being found are slim and the odds of retrieving it are even slimmer, but I really have to try for my own piece of mind.

So, if you're a Roman/Italian and found a memory card, what would you do?
Or, if you're a tourist in Rome and found a memory card, what would you do?

On which Italian or English websites/forums/boards would you post? Which site with advertisements do I have to keep an eye on? Where could I place advertisements myself? Would you bring it to the police (and how can I contact them if that's the case)? What is the Italian equivalent to Craigslist?

I want to maximize the odds that if there is indeed someone trying to find the owner of our memory card, he will be able to find us.
I'm already keeping an eye on Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures and I've posted an ad on The Found Bin and Lost and found now.

Last part of my question:
Can you help me write a short Italian version of this question I could post on the Roman Craigslist? The contact information you should mention is lostandfoundinrome at hotmail dot com.

Of course, I will gladly offer a reward to the person who finds the memory card!

Grazie mille!

*If any Roman living in the neighbourhood happens to feel very warm-hearted and compassionate and would be willing to go look on the Piazzale, he/she would earn my eternal gratitude and some great Belgian sweets!

Diamond found on ground... now what?

djpyk — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:32:56 -0800

Diamond found on ground... now what? Q1: How long should I wait for someone to claim? Q2: What steps should one go through when selling a gemstone? Any advice? My friend (yes yes, I assure you, it was my friend and not me), found a sizable diamond on the ground (>.75 carat). It looks nice, and we're pretty sure it's a diamond based on some simple tests. We reported it to a few nearby places to where she lives, but no bites yet.

Question 1: How long should she wait?

Now, supposing it remains unclaimed for a few months (my suggestion)...

Our current plan is to get it appraised, to #1, see if it's real, #2, see if there is some laser engraving or otherwise, and #3, see what grade/color/cut classes it falls under.

Question 2: What steps should one go through when selling a gemstone? Any advice?

This could include... are there any pitfalls to watch out for? Any preferred methods? I've heard consignment is an option... but I don't know the logistics of it all (perhaps it's different based on the jeweler? or is there consistency in consignment practices?). Is online selling with a GIA certificate worth it (and is the GIA certificate worth it?)?

If it helps, I'm in Georgia here in the US.

Lost and Found

soonertbone — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 09:38:03 -0800

I recently found an iPod on the ground. What should I do? I found this iPod in my apartment's parking lot. I'm planning on putting up a sign by the apartment mailboxes saying something like "Found: iPod. Call for info."

If I were to do something like that, how would I verify that the person calling actually owns the iPod? There is no personally identifying information on the iPod itself, other than music (which is very generic college-student music). No movies, contacts, etc. I called the Apple Store, thinking that there might be a way to get the iPod's serial number off the original owner's iTunes, but they said there wasn't.

So, suppose I get a call from somebody claiming it's theirs: How can I be sure I'm giving it away to the right person?

Bonus question: Suppose nobody calls. How long should I keep the sign up before I take it down and keep the iPod? Am I justified in doing that at all?

I need to stop losing stuff. But how?

gregb1007 — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:28:48 -0800

I need to stop losing stuff. But how? When I am on the train, in a public building like a library or even in a park, I may incidentally leave behind an item of mine to never see it again.

The worst incidents happened on the train as a hat, gloves, cell phone, or wallet that I had put on the seat next to me or on my lap did not make it out of the train with me.

(I would take gloves and hat off because it was hot, but have nowhere to put them. I would hold the wallet on my lap cause I took out some card from it and forgot to put it back in my pocket.)

Now, recently, I have decided to always have the wallet and cell phone in my pocket so that I wouldn't have the chance to lose them. But my PDA/Palm Pocket PC was always in my hands cause I was writing or reading it. To my dismay, I didn't take it with me as I left the train. I probably laid it down by my side and forget to check whether I put it back in my backpack as I exited the train.

Now, what should I do in the future to make sure that I don't lose a PDA (or anything else in my hands like hat, gloves) in a public place. I really need some tips to feel like I am gonna manage to keep my stuff, otherwise I'll be pretty nervous about carrying PDAs and/or other expensive things.

(It takes only one forgetful moment every 6 months or so, or every year to lose an important item. But how to prevent it?)

Lost a 30D! But have hope.

sirliberal — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:30:51 -0800

Lost Camera! How can I search the 'net's for it? I lost a Canon 30D SLR camera. Games up right, ill never find it. The kicker is I have my email address set in the camera, so any photos it takes will be tagged with my email address unless said finder happens to know about this, and how to change it (you need the Canon software, and its hidden in a menu).

So! How can I search the web for EXIF data, specifically my email address or the camera serial number? Are there services that offer this? Would it be worth emailing flickr, or the other major sources? I would have to assume if someone picked up a 30D eventually it would get a photo from it posted on the net, and as long as EXIF survives, it should show up!

I left my iPod in the seat pocket!

mhm — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:04:27 -0800

I left my iPod in the seat pocket on a flight from SFO to IAD (I changed planes and went on to ROC) yesterday. I've made some attempts to locate it, but with the holiday travel and the huge backup due to Denver being closed, I'm having little success. I'm jumping through the hoops with the airport and airline, but having a tough time due to the heavy traveler volume. Has anyone else lost an item by leaving it in the seat pocket and got it returned? Any tips?