AN EXPENSIVE AND VERY EMBARRASSING MISTAKE TODAY

chief38

chief38

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I was out on my Harley riding this morning and when I returned about 5 hours later I decided to clean the bike in my Garage. I took my 2 year old iPhone and set it on the rear window of my Wife's Buick (parked next to my Bike) so I could listen to some tunes while cleaning the Bike. After a couple of hours I was done but the Pandora App automatically shuts off after a few hours so I forgot the phone was on her rear window. We ordered some Chinese food for dinner and my Wife went to pick it up (phone still on her rear window).

About 3 hours ago I went to look for my phone and lo and behold I could not find it. Recalling what I had done, I drove about 3 miles following my Wife's route - but no luck in finding it. Then I sat down at my computer and figured out how to download the App to find iPhones and traced it to a Gasoline Station about 500 yards where my Wife parked and went into the store. Still no luck and the Station attendant even helped me look for it while calling it.

I returned home and then our home phone rang - it was my iPhone but no one was speaking - but I could hear voices in the background. :eek: We got a few more phone calls (at least 5) from my iPhone but again, no one was talking and it got a bit creepy so I called the local Police (feeling like an idiot the whole time I was going through the story). Anyway, the Precinct send a Patrol Car to a Gasoline Station where the locator said it was and he dialed my number - but I still did not hear it ringing, THANKFULLY he did! It was standing up neatly against the Service Station sign and was purposely placed against it on an angle. No signs of being run over but the phone was smashed to smithereens! Apparently who ever found it got frustrated at not being able to unlock it or just got tired of hearing it ring when we called it. Obviously they smashed it a few times and it is now "history". No signs of being run over but pretty sure it was purposely smashed. So there goes what was a perfectly good $700 iPhone that will now cost me over $800 to replace. :( No one to blame but myself and like I said, it's a pretty embarrassing story but this is the first time I've ever done something like this.

I have always said "I hate these stupid phones" (feels like an "anchor" to me) but unfortunately they have become a part of general life now. At least all my info that is in the phone is now safe and at least the mystery has been solved. The extremely helpful Officer that responded had really good hearing and of course mine SUCKS - guess why?? :o Exactly how whoever found my phone was able to dial my home without unlocking it remains a big mystery to me. I am unaware of how a number can be dialed when the iphone is locked unless there is an emergency number I programed that allows it to dial even in locked mode.

Tomorrow I will be off to get a new one and will never repeat what I did today - that's for sure! :o
 
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Ouch!

Suggest you look into AppleCare, Apple’s warranty plan. It can be extended from what comes with the phone, I think up to two years.

Also, maybe you could buy, refurbished from Apple, the same two year-old iPhone model that got smashed.... Be cheaper than buying a new one...
 
I was just on ebay looking at used 2 year old phones and they are around $350 or so. Probably doesn't pay to spent that much for one with little or no warranty and the battery would also be 2 years old, so life expectancy is unknown.

This phone was the first one I declined the warranty plan on because for 20 years I always paid for it but never used it - that figures, the only time I've needed the plan of course I don't have it! :o

Even though it will now cost me, at least I know the info stored in the phone is now safe and I will NEVER make that stupid mistake again! What a Bozo move.......... :(
 
hittman77 said:
Only if you allow it. They still sell new flip phones. I bought one a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry for your $800 loss though.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!

Yea...... I fought the iPhone thing for many years (longer than most of my friends) and I did have a Flip Phone up until only 4 or 5 years ago. BUT, like anything else once I got an iPhone I fell into the trap of being dependent on it. :o

While it can be a huge annoyance at times, it does take great pictures, gives the option of buying tickets and passes on line without even having to print them, works great with Uber when traveling, and settles arguments by looking up the facts instantly.

What really ticks me off is it was just a stupid mistake on my part and I'll be up all damned night being mad at myself - LOL!
 
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Don’t worry youngster.....it only gets worse from here on out, your memory will just keep slip sliding away.... don’t ask me how I know. I am sure there are a few guns in the house that I don’t even remember hiding.
 
Ouch
Did something similar with a new,expensive digital camera several years ago.Drove about 100 miles to a new fishing hole when it dawned on me that I'd set it on the vents in front of the windshield while loading my gear and never retrieved it...
 
I hope to never have a smart phone. I know at some point I'll probably break down and spend hundreds on a phone but I'm holding out as long as I can with my $30 dumb phone that still makes phone calls, is easy to text on, takes pictures, plays music, has an alarm and a calculator, and it stays charged for days, even weeks. Cell service costs me $100/yr.
People don't own IPhones, IPhones own people.
It's true that smart phones are amazing, they really are, I just don't need "amazing". I feel very few people really need amazing, they just think they do.
 
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HUH?

chief38 said:
...
... No signs of being run over but the phone was smashed to smithereens! Apparently who ever found it got frustrated at not being able to unlock it or just got tired of hearing it ring when we called it. Obviously they smashed it a few times and it is now "history". No signs of being run over but pretty sure it was purposely smashed...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Chief38, but your conclusions are very harsh and difficult to believe.:eek: If it happened at the gas station, go to that station and ask to see their security camera footage, even if you need to pay $$$ to do this.

Just why would a destructive criminal (as you suggest) smash the phone AND THEN neatly lean it up against the pump/pole? The phone STILL works, so this "criminal" you suggest failed to destroy the phone since it still worked when the police "heard" it ringing. Just saying...
 
chief38 said:
. . . No signs of being run over but the phone was smashed to smithereens! Apparently who ever found it got frustrated at not being able to unlock it or just got tired of hearing it ring when we called it. Obviously they smashed it a few times and it is now "history". No signs of being run over but pretty sure it was purposely smashed. one and will never repeat what I did today - that's for sure! :o . . .
Click to expand...

Not sure how you deduce this set of events, but if it makes you happier than it bounced down the parking lot as your wife entered or left the station, more power to ya'. As for your dialing problem, it's possible that the distortion caused by cracked screen could be unlocking your phone or not allowing it to lock, and then it could be stuck on dialing the last number you dialed. Kinda like when you spill beer on your keyboard and the "d" key sticks . . .

Here's a couple pointers:

Buy a $20 Bluetooth speaker for your garage. Phone stays in your pocket, audio is much better.

Buy a $40 to $80 case for your $800 phone. OtterBox and LifeProof make real nice ones.

Insurance for your $800 phone is about $10 a month. You won't get a brand new one, but you'll get a perfectly fine reconditioned one by next day air for the $50 deductible. If you do this a lot, it's money well spent. If you don't, the $80 case will protect it from anything short of the apocalypse . . .
 
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I forget what I paid for my phone, but I think it was downright cheap really. I've got a camera, a computer, and a GPS all in one that will also make phone calls. My dispatcher sends me jobs on it. I get proof of delivery on it in return. No more papers cluttering things. I can track my mileage on it. I can read this forum on it. And play spider solitaire on it.

I'm sure it will do other things I've not even figured out how to use, or just don't have much use for, like the music/video stuff.
 
Maybe it broke when it fell off the car, I have found phones on roof's of cars in parking lots, I bring them into the store and leave them at the service desk.

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk
 
HorizontalMike said:
I'm sorry Chief38, but your conclusions are very harsh and difficult to believe.:eek: If it happened at the gas station, go to that station and ask to see their security camera footage, even if you need to pay $$$ to do this.

Just why would a destructive criminal (as you suggest) smash the phone AND THEN neatly lean it up against the pump/pole? The phone STILL works, so this "criminal" you suggest failed to destroy the phone since it still worked when the police "heard" it ringing. Just saying...
Click to expand...

Horizontal Mike:

I'm just reporting the exact chain of events as it happened. How the person was able to dial my phone number from a locked phone is still not only a mystery --- but a bit disconcerting!

The phone probably fell off my wife's car 500 yards away when she pulled into a store - she was never at he Gas Station. The Gas Station is 500 yards away and the phone was more than likely found by kids who brought it there. That's as accurate and truthful as I can be since I simply do not know exactly what transpired once she drove out of the Garage.

Once in a while Kids go into the convenience store at the Gas Station, buy a soda and some chips and sit on the grass while leaning up against the sign pole (as a back rest), that's the only thing I can think of. More than that I can't answer and will never know! I will say the phone was incapable of walking the 500 yards and incapable of standing itself up so somewhere along the line someone had it, PLUS I did receive about 5 calls to my home through out this ordeal (no one was talking but I could hear background noises) - no ideas on how that could have happened either since it was locked!

This is 100% accurate as to how it happened as best as I can piece it together. I'm still a bit bewildered as well!
 
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