Come join my pity party. Bring pixie dust and some perspective to share. *UPDATE #86*

[Pootle]

I am so sorry that this was the outcome. We are at OKW at the moment and have received so much totally unexpected 'pixie dust' that I feel very lucky to have dealt with such nice CMs (I won't be sharing details for fear of the 'entitlement brigade' using the info) and it saddens me to hear such a story of a dishonest CM/maintenance person.

Hope lots of nice things are round the corner for you.

 

[Disney Princess]

Bad news. Find phone app shows the phone near downtown Orlando. Since it never moved from Buzz until after park closed at 1:00 AM, it appears that one of the Buzz maintenance people took it. At least I know that I have to get a new phone. I called security this morning as soon as the app tracked the phone and they will see who was working at Buzz that night but I doubt that they will be able to finger which person it was. I will file a report with Orange County police online. Sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The specifics of my camera loss a couple of years ago seemed to point to a CM then also.
In retrospect I should have contacted security right away, not just park people, even though there was no reason to believe the worst then. They could have stayed at Buzz after closing and worked with me as I repeatedly called my phone. I was naive enough to think that as long as my phone was working then CMs would turn it in. Just a suggestion to anyone else out there....
Thanks again for all the support, DISers.

Jean, that sucks. Hopefully your report with the OC police with lead to the phone's recovery. I wish you had a better outcome. I was so hopeful.

 

[jekjones1558]

Sorry to hear about the loss, Jean. Hope there's a happy ending.

For what it's worth, if you end up getting a new iPhone I would strongly suggest looking into the Photo Stream feature. With Photo Stream enabled, all of your photos are automatically synced to Apple iCloud servers. It's a great way to back-up that content.

My wife and I are both linked to the same iCloud / Photo Stream account. Between our two iPhones, iPad and iMac, every photo we take is immediately accessible on every device. A few minutes after we return to our hotel room, all of the photos taken on either of our iPhones are synced across all devices and we can easily browse through them on the iPad.

The only footnote I'll add is that you need access to wifi in order for the sync to occur--it won't transfer photos via the cellular data connection.

Here's some info:

http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/photo-stream.html

I have photo stream and back up to iCloud and my laptop. So that is a good thing.

 

[jekjones1558]

I am home and soon will file a report online with Orange County. The app has not reported the phone being turned on since that once this morning. My Verizon account shows no activity either. So I need some advice:
I am in MN and my phone is who knows where. Even if the app shows me it's whereabouts again, my guess is that the person who has it will quickly turn it off again. I can't imagine that police in another town are going to go running to some address if I call. I think I need to cut bait, write it off as bad luck and move on. I can't really get a new phone until I wipe the old one and I miss my phone. Anybody think there is really any reason to keep tracking it? What would you do?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am so disappointed that someone took it. Hang in there. I firmly believe in "what goes around, comes around." Karma will bite them.

I agree! I too was frustrated for you that you couldn't get someone to help you. In retrospect, I think if this happens to me, I'm going to call police first and go the route with the park people once the police have responded.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am home and soon will file a report online with Orange County. The app has not reported the phone being turned on since that once this morning. My Verizon account shows no activity either. So I need some advice:
I am in MN and my phone is who knows where. Even if the app shows me it's whereabouts again, my guess is that the person who has it will quickly turn it off again. I can't imagine that police in another town are going to go running to some address if I call. I think I need to cut bait, write it off as bad luck and move on. I can't really get a new phone until I wipe the old one and I miss my phone. Anybody think there is really any reason to keep tracking it? What would you do?

What do the police say to do? I'd probably try to track it until the end of the week.

 

[Sur]

What do the police say to do? with all due respect to Jean (not wanting to sound insensitive to her loss and trouble) do you really think the police are going to put in much effort to try to recover it? Really?probably try to track it until the end of the week.

red

 

[disneynutz]

I am home and soon will file a report online with Orange County. The app has not reported the phone being turned on since that once this morning. My Verizon account shows no activity either. So I need some advice:
I am in MN and my phone is who knows where. Even if the app shows me it's whereabouts again, my guess is that the person who has it will quickly turn it off again. I can't imagine that police in another town are going to go running to some address if I call. I think I need to cut bait, write it off as bad luck and move on. I can't really get a new phone until I wipe the old one and I miss my phone. Anybody think there is really any reason to keep tracking it? What would you do?

Contact the police and see what they say.

Send an email to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com with the details of your attempt to get Disney's help.

Bill

 

[Bribrittmom]

I'm so sorry about your phone. Disney really dropped the ball with their lack of effort to help you.

 

[wilma-bride]

Couldn't read and run. While I don't have an iPhone and am not particularly reliant on my mobile phone, I can understand why the loss of an $800 phone would be a bummer. I don't know what the practicalities were of being able to recover the phone from where it was but it is a real shame that Disney weren't able to assist you more in its recovery. What I think is even worse, however, is the fact that a Disney worker has likely found the phone and not handed it in (particularly as you had made Disney aware that it was missing and where it likely was). OP, I can totally understand your disappointment and frustration and I would definitely be contacting Guest Communications to let them know exactly what happened.

 

[delilah]

In an alternate universe view of the situation, perhaps whoever found the phone will send it back to you. One time, I found a wallet with an ID inside of it, and I sent to the person who was on the ID. Of course, I sent it anonymously, because there was no money or credit cards in the wallet when I found it, and I didn't want to be acused of taking it.

But, it sort of makes me reconsider what I do when I find something. I turn it in to lost and found, or, at WDW, to the castmember at the attraction. Obviously, not all the people who work at WDW are honest enough to return something of obvious value (not like losing a pair of dollar store sunglasses). Probably, with a little effort, a finder would be able to find out from Verizon what to do with a found phone.

My son has an Iphone, which I am glad I bought the insurance for. He had it for about 2 mos when we went to WDW. Somehow, he managed to drop it into a sink full of water in our room. But, that isn't want did in the phone. When he returned to school, he put it in one of the leg pockets on cargo pants, and when he sat down, it hit his desk and shattered the screen. Totally unusable. So we got a "new" one from Verizon, which was actually refurbished. I know it was refurbished, because when we tried to program it, the phone came up with the name/phone number, etc of the previous owner. So, even if you "erase" the phone, there are ways to recover the information.

 

[jocin3]

So very sorry this happened to you. I want to believe in the positive and pray that the person who has your phone wanted to turn it in this morning, rather than late last night (maybe supervisor wasn't around or something else kept them from doing so) Keep us updated!

 

[LPnerd]

So very sorry this happened to you. I want to believe in the positive and pray that the person who has your phone wanted to turn it in this morning, rather than late last night (maybe supervisor wasn't around or something else kept them from doing so) Keep us updated!

I think we get in the LAND of the MOUSE and our reason gets wiped ... Everyone is so happy and eager to please, it's their job, I know I have a tendency to forget too. If those folks find something worth a lot of money, and small enough to smuggle out like anywhere, they keep.
This is a good lesson for me, I had been told years ago to call security for something like this, not sure I would have either, I would ave probably followed in your footsteps.
I would think when you report the phone to the phone company, they can trace it if its ever used again and at least render it unusable. My daughter had an Ipod touch stolen and they shut it down so it coldn't download any songs or new account opened... something the the serial number...
Thanks for posting this! I learned a couple lessons, sorry it was at your expense.

 

[anna08]

You might be able to claim it under your homeowners insurance, but for that you might need a police report number. I would definitely report it because otherwise it makes the crime rate for the area lower than in actuality it is. I'm sure they are not going to work it as a case, but if you don't report it, you are giving WDW a pass they don't deserve. Sorry about your frustration. I'll bet they find hundreds of cell phones on property and few get returned.

 

[rlduvall]

You might be able to claim it under your homeowners insurance, but for that you might need a police report number.

While that is a nice thought and you have good intentions, I strongly suggest she not do this. It could potentially make her homeowners' insurance go up significantly and if she tried to change insurance companies at a later date it would definitely affect her. I'm not saying that's fair . . . but that's reality. You should only make a homeowners claim on a major loss.

 

[ccigliano]

So sorry to hear about your phone. I too shot pics like a mad woman when I went at Christmas with my nephew's Flat Stanley. Pics at parades, fireworks, rides, with characters, it was crazy. I can definitely see how you dropped it and very disappointed that it walked to Miami after the MK closed. I really expected better of Disney staff. Maybe the thief will get a conscience. Good luck.

 

[jekjones1558]

A final update (I think): I filed a police report online. I am sure nothing will be done but it is there. No more activity with the missing phone, so I am thinking that the SIM card has been replaced (Verizon iPhones are actually unlocked and my phone may already be in use by someone). I elected not to file with homeowners insurance because after the deductible it wasn't worth the risk of increasing premiums later. I decided to move on and bought a new iPhone 5 but the entry level this time because it was cheaper ($649) and I will upgrade in a little over a year anyway. A grey cloud still seems to be hanging over me and my phone, however. I bought my new phone at the same Verizon store that I had purchased the missing phone. After spending hours setting it all up, I called Apple to add Applecare+ insurance and was told I couldn't do that because I needed to add it within 30 days of purchase. Turns out that the phone Verizon sold me had been previously sold in February and must have been returned. So after having spent hours setting up the new phone I had to bring it back, erase and return it. Then I went to an Apple Store to buy one. Spent all night setting it up all over again. It will be days before I have all the settings the way I want. Just another small pain in the rear but those small pains are starting to get to me. I am glad to be going to work tomorrow to have my day filled by something other than iPhones!!!

 

[DebbieB]

Sorry to hear this Jean. I lost (?) a phone one time at OKW. It was 1999, long before I-Phones and I remembered having it at check-in when I was waiting for friends to call. I thought I put it into my carryon bag. Back then I didn't carry it around, I had limited minutes. I went to get it out of my bag a couple of days later and it was not in there. I reported it to lost and found and to the police, it never turned up. I didn't have it very long so I had to pay full price for a replacement, around $500 I think.

I am really paranoid about my I-Phone. I'm always checking my purse to make sure it's there. At least now I'm out of contract so it would not be as expensive to replace.

 

[ToddyLu]

Jean I can sorta relate. Was walking with DH into AK and dropped my 4G, busted screen, when I got home I started using my 3G and about 2 weeks later dropped it on the pavement. DH just knew he could fix the 4G after spending $70 on a kit.....the 4G met an untimely death on the wall of our garage after DH's 4th attempt to fix it.....so he didnt even try to fix the 3G....then he gave me his old 3G and that is the phone I am using....I don't think I am worthy of a 5.

 

[hoffmann2828]

When my family was there in January, someone had left an iPhone 5 on top of the garbage can by the kidani bus stop. I actually looked at the recent call list and immediately called one of the numbers...the one that said "DAD".

He answered and I told him that his daughter (could tell by the case) had left it on top of a garbage can and that we were turning it into the front desk. When I got there the front desk was busy so I went to bell service. The manager overheard and promptly took it from them...they could have been honest, but I'm sure it happens Doesn't make it any easier though.

Hugs.