Found a blackberry - what's best way to return to owner?
 

I found a blackberry on a train in the UK.

A picture of the unit is here - can anyone tell me what model it is?

Since this is my first post, I'm not permitted to add images, so I'm having to be a bit devious to picture. But I've put a scan if the unit here. just stick in front of this, and hopefully you will see the picture.

boxen <<<dot>>> math <dot> washington <dot> edu
slash home
slash kirkby
slash blackberry.jpg

(note, it does start 'boxen' and not 'www')

What's the best way to go about tracking down the owner? It's on a Vodaphone network. The phone is locked, but I have no intension of shelling out for an unlock code.

I contacted Vodaphone via their web site, and they suggested I returned it to a Vodaphone shop.

Ideally I'd like to get the owner call me, and tell me where they lost it. Then I know it is the true owner and hand it over to them. If at all possible, I'd like to avoid leaving it a "lost property" office, or handing it into some shop.

I did think of taking it to a very reputable shop like John Lewis, but I don't believe they sell phones any more.

I know these things are not exactly cheap, and tons get stolen and sold on eBay. I am keen the real owner gets this back, and not someone who wants to make a quick buck. I could do that myself if I so desired, but I don't want to.

If the Simm card was removed, would there be a number on there which I could give to Vodaphone, and ask them to get the real owner to contact me?

Dave

I meant to say add the following in front of the link I gave. ignore all the XX

hXXtXXtXXpXX:XX/XX/XX

There is no www - it does start 'boxen'

Just a kudos and respect on your honesty.

kthxbye

If it is branded to a carrier, you can take it to one of their stores or to a police station.

Or if you can open it and find out if there is any owner info.

Most carriers have sim card duplicators/readers. They should be able to at least dupe the sim and stick in another phone to get the tel#, shouldn't they?

It says "Vodaphone" on it on the LCD display, so I assume it is on their network. I took the back off, removed the battery, but did not find anything written inside it.

I rather suspect someone who lost it thinks they will never find it again, and would hardly bother reporting it to the police. I suspect Vodaphone should have the contact details of the owner, but I'm reluctant to leave it in a Vodaphone shop and just hope they do the right thing.

I'd hope the owner would try ringing it at some point. Would it be possible to answer it in that case, without unlocking it?

Can anyone tell me what model it is - if you wan work out the picture from the URL I gave. At least then I could report it to the police as a model XYZ, but I somewhat doubt the person will get in touch with the police.

The lost property office on the station is an obvious place, but I'm not a very trusting person. If at all possible, I'd like to get someone to phone me and tell me where they lost it. Then I know it's the true owner.

Dave

Call the carrier and provide them with the ESN or imei they can look up the owners info! You can then have the carrier contact the owner and provide them with your contact info so they (the owner) can contact you and hopefully get the device to its proper owner
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

How do I find that? Is it on the SIMM card? I don't actually know how to remove the simm - it was not obvious to me, though if I knew what model it was, I could probably find out with google. I see there are some videos on Utube about removing simm cards from blackberries, but I would spend all day since I don't know the model number.

I stuck it on my scanner and have put the scan on a server in the USA. Since I've made <10 posts, I can't actually provide a full link, but hopefully this is enough for someone to reconise the model.


Hach tee tee pee://

boxen.math.washington.edu/home/kirkby/blackberry.jpg

Probably model 8310, based on http://en.wikipedia.org search on List of Blackberry Products which show models and carriers... Numbers should be under battery compart. They are VERY small in print.

Thanks, but I don't think it's an 8310 I found a site that says that has a 2.0 M Pixel camera, but this is definately 3.2 Mpixel, as that is clearly written on the back. It looks very much like a 9330, but that too is a 2 Mpixel camera, so it's not that.

It looks remarkadly similar to the 9700, but I'm not 100% convinced it is one.

I'll try to use my own camera with a macro lens and try to read the model number inside, as its too small for my eyes. I have a decent camera and lens, so should be able to zoom into print much smaller than my eyes can resolve.

Dave

Just to clear it up, that is an 8900.

Yes, thank you. it is indeed that. I found a side-view on the blackberry site, and that looks identical too.

Tommorow I'll take a look for the serial number and try to get Vodaphone to get the owner to contact me - then I know the right person gets it back.

dave

Somewhat off topic, I always put "Reward for return - " in the Owner field under Options just in case something like this happens to me.

Props to the OP for trying so hard to return it.

Regards,
R

That's ok if someone can access the machine - but if it is locked, that's not a lot of use.

I think a sticker on the battery might be best. I only use a low-end phone myself - about £20 on pre-pay, as I don't make much use of it. If i lose the phone, it would not be the end of my world. But I think if I had a decent phone, I'd stick a note on the battery.

I carry a laptop around a lot with me (Sony Vaio), on which I have installed OpenSolaris. So anyone finding that would have one hell of a time trying to get the information from the ZFS file systems.

I think I'll put a sticker with my name/address on the bottom and offer a reward for its return.

I seem to be getting somewhere with this Blackberry. I found the phone number, and have reported it to VodaPhone, who have told me the phone is a corporate phone, but they appear to have no email or other contact details. As I pointed out to them, someone must be paying for it, and the phone has been taken offline in the last 12 hours, so they must have some contact information. Apparently they will investigage and email me within the next 24-48 hours. I'm a bit surprised they can't resolve it quicker, but I've done all I can reasonably do.

I also emailed the lost property office of the phone company, and gave them most of the phone number, but not the last 3 digits, saying I would return it to anyone able to tell me the last 3 digits of the phone number. But I've not get any response from them yet.

Anyway, I'm certainly going to put a label on my laptop, as unlike my mobile phone, I would be a bit annoyed if I lost that.


Dave

PS, I had to change the wording of your quote a bit, as I'm not allowed to post email addresses. This forum is a bit draconian, but I guess it is to stop spammers.

Nope - the owner information is displayed on the phone screen when it is locked. Give it a shot.

R