As part of Mabel and Prem's US visit, we went to our cousin Vanitha's house in Sparta, New Jersey. Vanitha took them along with Freia and Reia
shopping to a few malls in their area. At the end of a full morning
shopping, it was finally time to have lunch and head back home. There
was a Chipotle outlet in the mall and it was decided to lunch there.
We found a table, and whilst we were doing the ordering, Freia and Reia went to use the washroom. 10 minutes later, they walked back and Reia seemed very upset. She was barely able to talk, but I managed to gather that her cell phone had been stolen from the washroom. She wanted me to go with her and see if we could lodge a complaint and try and get it back. She was in tears and sobbing and kept saying that the janitor had taken it. They had tried calling the number and it was switched off. Seconds after it was stolen.
We went back, and she once again went and checked the washroom. We went to security and they were not concerned. They reluctantly wrote down our details, in case someone finds and returns the phone, which I suspect they threw out as soon as we left.
The phone was an iPhone from AT&T. We went to an AT&T outlet that existed in the mall. We waited for 15 minutes before being attended and the staff who spoke to us had no idea, but was kind enough to guide us to the Manager. The Manager couldn't have been less bothered. As per him, they couldn't check if the phone was being used and basically would do nothing. Our options, "Claim Insurance" if you had insurance, else too bad.
This is where things get strange. His excuse for AT&T not helping find the phone. Privacy laws. The usual corporate reason for doing nothing. How can AT&T claim privacy laws protected tracing a phone where the registered phone owner in person is confirming that it has been stolen. We left AT&T completely disappointed and disillusioned. I was wondering who was the bigger thief, the one who had stolen the phone or AT&T which seemed to facilitate the same.
Interestingly if the telecom companies wanted, stealing of phones which is a huge problem in the US as well as globally, could be reduced to close to zero. Every phone has a unique identifier called the IMEI number. The telecom companies have this number and use it to activate the phone. All they need to do is come together and have a stolen IMEI database. And ensure that they do not activate any phone which is part of the stolen database. You would assume that something as simple as this, and technically it wouldn't even take a couple of days to implement would be in place.
For reasons known best to the telecom companies, they have chosen not to. This directly encourages stealing of phones, which have a value of a few hundred dollars. Why wouldn't people be tempted to pick up phones which is safer than even shoplifting. The telecom companies seem to think that the stolen phone market increases their business. The original subscriber buys a new phone, and the stolen phone finds a new subscriber for a phone at a cheaper price. What they don't realize is that in all probability the racket is funding criminals and drugs and all kinds of illegal activities. All of which have an overall negative impact. On each of us.
The only thing that will make telecom companies change is public outrage. And I believe its time that you wrote to your telecom company and the authorities to at least solve the simple issues. And who knows. We may actually be able to make a difference. The UK has already implemented a solution. When will the US and the rest of the world ?
We found a table, and whilst we were doing the ordering, Freia and Reia went to use the washroom. 10 minutes later, they walked back and Reia seemed very upset. She was barely able to talk, but I managed to gather that her cell phone had been stolen from the washroom. She wanted me to go with her and see if we could lodge a complaint and try and get it back. She was in tears and sobbing and kept saying that the janitor had taken it. They had tried calling the number and it was switched off. Seconds after it was stolen.
We went back, and she once again went and checked the washroom. We went to security and they were not concerned. They reluctantly wrote down our details, in case someone finds and returns the phone, which I suspect they threw out as soon as we left.
The phone was an iPhone from AT&T. We went to an AT&T outlet that existed in the mall. We waited for 15 minutes before being attended and the staff who spoke to us had no idea, but was kind enough to guide us to the Manager. The Manager couldn't have been less bothered. As per him, they couldn't check if the phone was being used and basically would do nothing. Our options, "Claim Insurance" if you had insurance, else too bad.
This is where things get strange. His excuse for AT&T not helping find the phone. Privacy laws. The usual corporate reason for doing nothing. How can AT&T claim privacy laws protected tracing a phone where the registered phone owner in person is confirming that it has been stolen. We left AT&T completely disappointed and disillusioned. I was wondering who was the bigger thief, the one who had stolen the phone or AT&T which seemed to facilitate the same.
Interestingly if the telecom companies wanted, stealing of phones which is a huge problem in the US as well as globally, could be reduced to close to zero. Every phone has a unique identifier called the IMEI number. The telecom companies have this number and use it to activate the phone. All they need to do is come together and have a stolen IMEI database. And ensure that they do not activate any phone which is part of the stolen database. You would assume that something as simple as this, and technically it wouldn't even take a couple of days to implement would be in place.
For reasons known best to the telecom companies, they have chosen not to. This directly encourages stealing of phones, which have a value of a few hundred dollars. Why wouldn't people be tempted to pick up phones which is safer than even shoplifting. The telecom companies seem to think that the stolen phone market increases their business. The original subscriber buys a new phone, and the stolen phone finds a new subscriber for a phone at a cheaper price. What they don't realize is that in all probability the racket is funding criminals and drugs and all kinds of illegal activities. All of which have an overall negative impact. On each of us.
The only thing that will make telecom companies change is public outrage. And I believe its time that you wrote to your telecom company and the authorities to at least solve the simple issues. And who knows. We may actually be able to make a difference. The UK has already implemented a solution. When will the US and the rest of the world ?
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