I strapped my laptop onto the back of my moto, as I do every day, and drove to work.
When I got there the cargo net was still in place, but the case with the computer in it had gone.
What to do? Will I get it back?
It’s gone.
[quote=“Loretta”]I strapped my laptop onto the back of my moto, as I do every day, and drove to work.
When I got there the cargo net was still in place, but the case with the computer in it had gone.
What to do? Will I get it back?[/quote]
Never let your baby out of your sight!
I’m sorry bud, it’s gone gone gone and nothing’s gonna bring it back.
I would never strap my baby on the back of my bike.
Was it wearing a helmet?
Do you think some light fingered Larry (or 王小明 - as the case may be) lifted it?
Ha! I knew you would say that.
This actually happened last week.
It was picked up by a taxi driver and I got a call an hour later asking me where I wanted it delivered. The fare, and parking, was NT$350 plus I gave him an extra thousand to express my appreciation. It was undamaged and nothing was missing.
Only in Taiwan!
I always lose mine whenever I stand up.
Glad (and amazed) you got it back (in one piece too).
Good of you to give him the $1000 tip. A lotta people wouldn’t have, maybe making the taxi driver think twice next time.
On a related note, I read this story recently. Poor honest taxi driver…
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1240526.html?menu=news.quirkies.unlucky
Ah, they kidnapped your lap top and you paid the ransom.
You should have done a Mel Gibson on him. 
I lost my brand new mobile phone on Friday night. I left it in a taxi. I rang it for an hour, no one answered. Next morning, of course, it was switched off.
I didn’t remember the taxi number or even the company. Only realised it was gone after the taxi had left.
I’m not sure what pisses me off more: the fact that it was brand new or that it has all my damn numbers in it.
The police, though friendly, wouldn’t do anything beyond file a report. Far East Tone refuses to use the IMEI number to block the handset. I know they can do it, dammit.
You’re lucky you got your baby back, Loretta.
kamiwaza
Man, that sucks. You bothered to take a note of it for just this reason, and then they’re just useless about it. :s
Well, the number is on the box the phone came in.
It’s annoying though, that I think it would be pretty easy to at least prevent the handset from being used, if not track down which cells it’s being used in. The FET people want to tell me it’s a police thing. I bet if I was wanting to buy a new phone and contract they’d be more helpful.
I’m going to go to a bigger FET store though, apparently they have the equipment to block the IMEI or something.
Cheers
kamiwaza
Ahh… it’s on the box. Of course. Well, at least you had that.
Anyone else that needs to know (if you still have the phone), type *#06# on your phone and write down what it says. It’ll be too late once the phone disappears.
kamiwaza, please write back if you manage to get it blocked. It would be good to know if it’s possible over here.
Will do, irishstu. The problem is, it’s possible to change the IMEI code, and not very hard either. The cop I spoke said knowledge of IMEI and how to change them is widespread. I guess if you want to block it you should move quickly. A PIN is another good idea.
By the way, irishstu, are you sure that code you mentioned doesn’t apply only to Nokias? (Sorry for the double negative sentence, I can’t resist them.)
Cheers
kamiwaza
Well, I used to use it on a Motorola, and I just tested it on my new Sony Ericsson, so I guess it’s pretty universal.
I used to work for Motorola, and the IMEI thing needs to be done with some pretty smart software. Doubtless there are a lot of unsavoury characters that will do it here for a price unfortunately. Definitely NOT a case of just hitting a sequence of buttons though.
Of course, PIN is for the SIM card and will stop anyone making calls that you have to pay for. Disabling the IMEI will make the phone itself useless for ANY SIM card, and would only be good for pissing off the thief (very important).
Kamiwaza,
I feel your pain. My condolensces. I lost my Motorola V60 phone 11 days ago and I’m still mourning his death. All contacts were on that phone. I still feel a part of me died with him. I bought the Motorola V188 but it’s just not the same. The new guy doesn’t know me like the V60. Even the buttons are different, drives me up the wall.
Time heals most wounds, man. I hope you walk out of this darkness.
Take very good care,
914
V60 = great phone. My favourite Motorola. Very classy. Finally gave it to my dad, cos it couldn’t accept Chinese characters (not that I can read them).
Thanks for the kind words, 914. I’m curious why you didn’t replace yours with another V60… they can still be found right?
Mine was a brithday present from my girlfriend. I feel so stupid that she put all her hard earned cash into it for me to drop it in a taxi. Yes, it was my fault, no thief, though someone sure has it now. :fume:
Cheers
kamiwaza
Here’s what you do.
First cancel your SIM card.
Go to you local police station and report your phone stolen from your car/scooter/bag/home/pocket. Say it was stolen even if you were the idiot who lost it.
Assuming your phone is new enough and has an IMEI (or whatever) number and the thief hasn’t changed it, whenever the “thief” uses the phone, the phone ID and the users SIM card information is sent to the phone company. The police can call the phone company and get the information of the SIM cards owner.
Sit back and wait for your phone to be delivered to you by the police.
When they do call and let you know that they have your phone, tell them that you are just happy to have your phone back and would like to drop all charges. Unless of course it was actually stolen, in which case, claim psycological damage.
This really works. I know because it happened to me. Unfortunately, I was the unlucky guy naive enough to find a phone on the street and think it was my lucky day. The girl said it was stolen from her car when it was parked on the side of the street.
Lesson learned. If you find a phone, sell it. The cell phone stores know how to change the phone’s ID so it can’t be traced.
I was kinda pissed off when it happened because so many people (including myself) have lost thier phones and just let it go or found phones and used them happily for years. I had to go to the police station, file a lengthy report insisting on my innocense (where the police was a prick to me and treated me like a petty theif), and go to court (which was nerve racking) only to be dismissed with out any penalty. All for a 5000NT phone that wasn’t all that great anyway.
I figure my way of getting even is to let everyone know that the police can be used to fetch your lost belongings and try to swamp them with beaurocratic paperwork.
Now go and use this knowledge for good and not for evil…unless of course you are feeling ornery, then you can use it for evil.
Oh, and even if you find a phone on the street, it is illegal for you to use it. Proper proceedure entails that you try to find the owner, and if you can not locate the owner, you are to bring it in to the nearest police station and file a report for maximum karma points.
I only called two places and one didn’t have it, the other could order it. But I figured, I’ll try something new out, since the V60 is considered antique here. I put up an ad here too, to no avail.
I’m still in mourning and wearing black. 