Recovering stolen goods from a company

auntsarentgents

(Hopefully I am posting this to the correct forum!)

For time's sake, I will try and keep this brief:

Back in March 2013 my iPhone was stolen from my back. I reported it to the police, got a crime reference number etc.

In October I was contacted by an officer at the Met police; the IMEI of my phone had come up in an audit the police were doing. It turned out the phone was with Apple.

The person who stole it brought it into Apple, claiming it was there's and it was broken. Apple through their repair and replace program switched out the broken phone and gave the thief a brand new phone. Apple did not check the IMEI number to see if the phone was stolen. In my view this was negligent.

I have spoken to Which?, and they said that the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 applies here. Basically that phone is still my property under law, and Apple have a legal obligation to give me either the original goods or an equivalent.

I have written to Apple twice; the first letter they ignored, and after the second (where I specified I expected the phone or an equivalent to be returned in 14 days) I have been speaking to their customer service department who are being uncooperative and have said Apple can do nothing and it is not their problem.

Question: What do I do next to resolve it (this is outside of Which?'s area)? Do I make a small claim through court? This is all rather overwhelming

Thank-you for any help.

transient

First and foremost apple have no access to the database of blocked IMEI of devices report lost or stolen. This ploy has been used 1000's times over all round the world to swap a stolen phone for a legit one and is common knowledge, however that will not occur now iOS 7 is out.

I agree with which the device is still yours and as it has been identified I am surprised the police did not take it and pass it back to you, that is afterall their job. I would go back to the officer that contacted you first and ask him to retrieve the device, if the exact device is not available then proceed via the courts.

Poppie68

Unless it was insured and you made a claim, it would then belong to your insurance company.

auntsarentgents

Hi transient - thanks for the comment.

The police told me to take it up with Apple as there was nothing that they could do. I still have the contact details of the officer so will try him again.

auntsarentgents

Poppie68 wrote: »

Unless it was insured and you made a claim, it would then belong to your insurance company.

Thanks Poppie68; the phone wasn't insured.

transient

auntsarentgents wrote: »

Hi transient - thanks for the comment.

The police told me to take it up with Apple as there was nothing that they could do. I still have the contact details of the officer so will try him again.

I can only imagine that they only went through a list of IMEI numbers rather than actual devices and picked it up, seems a easy win for them to mark cases as solved.

Poppie brought up a great point regarding insurance and as it was not, I would write a Letter Before Action adn start the process running.

shaun_from_Africa

transient wrote: »

First and foremost apple have no access to the database of blocked IMEI of devices report lost or stolen.

If the phone was lost or stolen in Europe or the USA and then had its IMEI blocked, it is extremely easy for Apple or anyone else for that matter to check the status of it.

I used to buy and sell mobiles (usually lost property & stolen/recovered) and checked every phone before I purchased it.

auntsarentgents

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If the phone was lost or stolen in Europe or the USA and then had its IMEI blocked, it is extremely easy for Apple or anyone else for that matter to check the status of it.

I used to buy and sell mobiles (usually lost property & stolen/recovered) and checked every phone before I purchased it.

Thanks Shaun

This was my understanding when I spoke to the police. They expect shops/traders in second hand phones to check to see if they are stolen. They run operations from time to time to ensure these checks are happening.

auntsarentgents

transient wrote: »

I can only imagine that they only went through a list of IMEI numbers rather than actual devices and picked it up, seems a easy win for them to mark cases as solved.

Poppie brought up a great point regarding insurance and as it was not, I would write a Letter Before Action adn start the process running.

Solved cases - yes! The officer mentioned it was part of a very large investigation into phone theft in London by a gang.

spacey2012

Once the police have a result, they will have no incentive to help you any further.

auntsarentgents

spacey2012 wrote: »

Once the police have a result, they will have no incentive to help you any further.

That was my thinking, but I'll give them a call to check.