Stolen Vodaphone I-Phone 4

ess0two

SmudgeUK wrote: »

In my personal opinion the fact that apple state they cant check a phone is stolen, or so they are saying, and the fact that you dont have to provide id or proof of purchase to be able to exchange a handset, then i feel that the whole iphone market is open to having a lot of stolen phones taken into apple stores, for the people who took these phones to have the ability to come out with a new clean phone.

And on top of that Apple will not deal with you as they say its a legal issue, you ask them for details of the repair, where the phone is and say sorry its a legal matter, only the police can ask that.

What a joke, allowing people to take in stolen phones, and not ask or check for id, proof of purchase or anything.....

I will certainly not be recommending apple to anyone based on my experiences.

Could there be scam going with a shop employee and 'friends' swopping stolen fones etc.

Vodafone

Hi SmudgeUK

It's astonishing to read the list issues you've experienced. You did the right thing by contacting the police straight away.

I can see that our Customer Relations Team are now in touch with you.

Sukhi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

Note - I've edited my original post as I can see that this is now under investigation.

BRSurvivor

Surely the buyer of the stolen phone is also guilty of an offence, as he disposed of the goods (taking it to the Apple store), knowing it to be stolen property.

This is in intersting loophole. I lost my iPhone 3G on Friday, and this may give an insight into a possible 'black' market. Apple will replace a phone for a fixed price, on the spot. So, if the person who found my iPhone broke the screen, they could replace it for a new/refurbished 3G in an apple store for the fixed price - and get a working, non-blacklisted phone. (Ok, so it's probably not worth it with an iPhone 3G).

Apple must also now turn the phone over to the police or be guilty of an offence.

Personally, I'd email Steve Jobs (I'm sure someone will be picking up his emails). Apple could be seriously damaging the work that's been done to make mobile theft less lucrative.

SmudgeUK

Well I have had the Director's Office investigate this, and getting in touch with Apple on my behalf, and this is the outcome of that investigation:

When i spoke to Apple care they advised that they dont check for id from the customer bringing in the phone, they assume that you are either the owner or have bought it in for a friend or family member. They confirmed that you handset was sent for repair, but had to be replaced, which was duly done and the 'theif' collected the new one.

I hope this will aid the police in getting you your phone back.

Kind regards

Kim ********
For and on behalf of Guy Laurence
Directors Office
Vodafone UK

Edit:

They did add extra information, like the phone details account number etc, just copied the details that could be posted.

Guys_Dad

SmudgeUK wrote: »

Well I have had the Director's Office investigate this, and getting in touch with Apple on my behalf, and this is the outcome of that investigation:

When i spoke to Apple care they advised that they dont check for id from the customer bringing in the phone, they assume that you are either the owner or have bought it in for a friend or family member. They confirmed that you handset was sent for repair, but had to be replaced, which was duly done and the 'theif' collected the new one.

I hope this will aid the police in getting you your phone back.

Kind regards

Kim ********
For and on behalf of Guy Laurence
Directors Office
Vodafone UK

It looks like thief has somehow broken the phone beyond repair, so at best you may get your phone back in an unrepairable state.

You may have answered this above, but have Apple given Vodafone the details to bar the replacement phone?

Orrin

SmudgeUK wrote: »

When i spoke to Apple care they advised that they dont check for id from the customer bringing in the phone, they assume that you are either the owner or have bought it in for a friend or family member. They confirmed that you handset was sent for repair, but had to be replaced, which was duly done and the 'theif' collected the new one.

If they don't check the phone against those reported stolen and they don't confirm the identity of the person bringing it in for repair, what is to stop thieves doing this on a regular basis to 'launder' their stolen iPhones?

NFH

Guys_Dad wrote: »

It looks like thief has somehow broken the phone beyond repair

I wonder whether the reported fault was that it wouldn't log on to the network (because the IMEI had been blocked)?

SmudgeUK

Guys_Dad wrote: »

It looks like thief has somehow broken the phone beyond repair, so at best you may get your phone back in an unrepairable state.

You may have answered this above, but have Apple given Vodafone the details to bar the replacement phone?

Kim from the Directors office apparently asked for the imei, and Apple refused to give it them as they wanted to block the handset, I do have the new serial number as it is listed under my Apple Profile, she did say they had now passed this information to their "outsourcer's"

If the phone does come back broken, then I will just send it to apple under warranty, to be replaced, as they have obviously once said that the phone is faulty and should be replaced, so there would be no reason for them not to repair a handset with the same issue.....

As of yet the CID at Barkingside, have heard nothing from Apple regarding if they have found the phone, and still at this minute the phone is still apparently lost within the Apple Repair System.......

SmudgeUK

Orrin wrote: »

If they don't check the phone against those reported stolen and they don't confirm the identity of the person bringing it in for repair, what is to stop thieves doing this on a regular basis to 'launder' their stolen iPhones?

As Vodaphone said their is nothing to stop anyone taking in any stolen I-Phone and having exchanged, as long as it is under warranty, which they will be at the moment.

Vodaphone did tell me that they was unhappy with Apple Procedures, and will be looking into it further.

They also said as far as Vodaphone are concerned from their side of things they can do no more for me.

NFH

SmudgeUK wrote: »

Kim from the Directors office apparently asked for the imei, and Apple refused to give it them as they wanted to block the handset, I do have the new serial number as it is listed under my Apple Profile, she did say they had now passed this information to their "outsourcer's"

You should get the police to ask Apple for the new IMEI number in order to trace the buyer, who has evidently committed an offence under Section 22 of the Theft Act 1968. I'm fairly sure the mobile networks can see the IMEI number of the phone that a particular SIM card is in when it's connected to the network.