My daughter lost her phone 2 weeks ago, the whole time she said she "thinks" she have it at home but since the battery die it was hard to find, so we just waited thinking that eventually she will want/need find it.
Well, our phone bill just got home and we owned $300 of her phone (somebody find it and had made calls to Republica Dominicana!)
We call the phone company and tell them what happen, the lower the bill to $100 and stop the service.
I don't know what step to follow next.
My first thought was to call the person but the phone was off, then I thought to call that the people he/she have being calling, but I don't see how that could help. My husband said that we should try to talk to them first I think that we should call the police but he said that the police will most likely wont do anything and they have all our personal info, plus some of my daughter texting.
I mean, my daughter didn't have that many phone numbers but I know as a fact that she had my phone number as a "mom" and my husband as a "dad" and she have aunt, grandma, etc. So obviously this person wasn't trying to give us the phone back, besides she only lost the phone, unless the person have the same phone she/he must had to buy a new charger.
I have the feeling is nothing I can do to make them pay, but at least I want the phone back,
I am also upset at my daughter so unless we get this phone back I don't think she is getting a new one. True is that she did took very good care of her phone for 3 years so I guess in unfair she doesn't get another one,she has $300 saved so we may can find a fix for that, maybe she can pay half or something, I don't know. I think I need to cool down and think about that later, after I figure it out what to do about the lost phone.
Should we just let go? Pay the bill and forget about the phone?
Hi moms, I am a little more calm now, you are right, everybody makes mistakes. I have never lost my phone but I have drop it in the toilet. But I still think she needs to have some consequence. I wanted a new phone with a better camera so we may give her mine since it is also old and already paid off.
I will go to the police, they may or not do anything but it doesn't hurt to try.
Thanks for the advices ladies.
My brother just lost his phone and called his provider to have the service suspended. They also put a "lock" on the phone's serial number so that if someone puts their memory card in his phone it still won't work.
We have Verizon so I put a GPS on my son's phone. When he misplaces it we simply activate the GPS and find it immediately. Also if it is not readily available we temporarily stop service so that nobody can use it. The last time my son lost his phone was when he left it on the bus, he went the whole vacation without it but we knew exactly where it was and taught him one heck of a lesson; LOL he won't loose it ever again. LOL With us all working full-time and me going to school out of the area we need him to have a phone just in case but we do keep a very tight reins on him and the phone. If I were you I would do the same thing.
- There's no use in calling the people in the dominican rep. 1) What would you expect to gain from it? 2) Language barriers 3)Not their fault someone called them on a stolen phone. 4) Would YOU give out your daughters personal and contact info to a stranger on the phone? -That's all you are to them, an angry stranger at worst, and a complete stranger at best.
- If she's had the phone for 3 years, she's overdue for an "upgrade" from your company. I'd be surprised if a new phone cost more that $100 out of pocket, and it's likely you'd be able to pay nada. ALSO if she had insurance on the phone, a replacement of the same phone would be free.
- If someone stole YOUR phone, how would you punish yourself?
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How old is your daughter? She should help pay for a new phone, however, since she has had this one for 3 years and you are on a contract, she should be able to get a new phone for free. The best option is to get her a prepaid phone. Both of my teens have one, it costs to buy the phone and they buy a phone card each month and put the money on the phone and then add the features they want for the next month. No one can find the phone and make a lot of calls, it has worked well for us.
I had someone break into my car and steal two cell phones from me (one working with service, one not). I got online (and skipped classes at college) to find out if they were making calls anywhere to figure out who it was. I got on the phone the police in the city it was stolen and gave them the numbers and what my phone looked like and everything. Police traced the numbers and got them back. That person also got a ticket for stealing and using my phone. So.....that would be my approach. Don't pay the bill!
Yes, I think there is nothing you can do about it.
Lesson learned.
Pay the bill. It's not the phone companies faught.
If you lose your phone again call the phone company right away and have them shut
off the service until you find the phone again.
Your daughter didn't do it on purpose, I'm sure she feels real bad about losing the phone. Try to relax.
She sounds like a good girl.
If my cell was lost or stolen I would suspend service till further notice
if you file a police report & show it to the phone company then service should be suspended & all charges should be dropped for you (then if they ever do find the person they will be ticketed & fined with the charges).
as far as getting her a new phone, it happens to everyone, even adults lose their phone & she did have it 3 years & do good with it...that being said, i think that kids should share in cost of extras like cell phones, so telling her to pay part of it is fine, or she can wait until you are willing to give her a new one as a gift (ie. christmas or birthday)...but really it happens & although its wrong & makes us angry you shouldn't be too h*** o* her...
YOU pay the bill. She told you she lost the phone and YOU chose to wait 2 weeks before doing anything about it. Just be glad the phone company dropped the bill down to $100 for you. Since she had the phone for 3 years with no problem she has already showed she is responsible and should get a new one. Everyone loses things once in a while. Yes, she has to learn a lesson but it sounds like she already has learned one. She has been without her phone for quite a while now. Give her your old phone and tell her to be more careful with it.
As for trying to find out who has her old phone, forget about it! You will probably never find out. And even if you do, it's probably been passed around to so many people it will be almost impossible to trace. Besides you had it shut off now so it's probably in the trash now.
This is a lesson for all of you. You daughter will more then likely be more careful with her new phone, and you and your husband will know to act faster if something like this happens again!
This is frustrating, but it does sound like your daughter is generally a responsible girl. That said there is still a consequence to losing the phone. You are getting the consequence and you didn't lose the phone. I like your idea of paying 1/2 and having your daughter pay half. Seems fair. She is a good girl, but she has to share in the replacement as this is expensive. I would make her pay for 1/2 a new phone and 1/2 the $100. She may decide she doesn't want the phone after all.
As far as the people who stole the phone.........let it go. They aren't nice people and they won't listen to you.
I don't think you should expect anyone else to pay the bill, least of all the person who found/stole your daughter's phone and knowingly used it to make international calls. At least you were able to get the phone company to come down on the bill. If your daughter has demonstrated responsibility with the phone in the past and you feel comfortable with her having a phone, I would get her a new one. Since she lost this one, I would suggest that she contribute to the purchase of a new one with her savings. In the future, if she says she lost her phone, call the phone company immediately and ask them to place a temporary hold on the phone so that it cannot be used if found by a dishonest person. Then if you do find it you can have the hold removed, or if you don't find it then you won't have a $300 phone bill to deal with. You can always transfer your plan to a different phone so you don't have to deal with cancellation fees. You may want to consider getting insurance on the phone that covers loss/theft. I think it's only a few bucks a month extra, and you could make your daughter pay for it if you see fit.
The person who found the phone probably will not pay you for the charges. The police wont do anything, but file a report for stolen property, but not knowing who took the phone, nothing will happen. Honestly this was an accident. Your daughter has had the phone for 3 years and has been responsible for it. Even adults lose their phone on occasions.
It's also not anyone's fault that someone picked up her phone and made calls on it. It doesn't matter if it were local and going over the minutes or to the Republica Dominicana, it was still wrong for someone to use it, but lets face it, thats why they picked up the phone in the first place without trying to give it back.
Just breathe, it's one of those things that happen in life that sucks, but it was an accident. Pay the 100 bucks and look into getting your daughter a new phone. Good Luck! =)
I think it's great that she had the phone for 3 years without anything happening to it. I know adults who lose/break phones multiple times a year. She is very responsible and did promptly tell you it was lost. You should have suspended the service immediately.
As for getting her a new one, there are simpler, less expensive options. Pay-as-you-go phones are probably ideal for teenagers. But cut her some slack....these things happen. You're lucky the phone company subtracted some of the charges for you after waiting so long to report it as lost.
Lynsey
If she lost her phone, she should have to pay for at least part of a replacement phone, but you need to deal with the bill. She told you she lost it, and you needed to either find it right away or report it to your carrier so that they could cancel service. There's no need to play amateur detective and start calling people who were called with your phone. What are you going to do if you reach them? If the phone was stolen, you have no authority to do anything to the people who have it. You can see if your service carrier will give you some kind of break on the bill, but since you never reported the phone as missing, they may not opt to do that.
