lies and a lost cell phone

[fordman]

i lost my cell phone while mowing today. so i called the cell phone company to see if they could locate it approximately with the gps system in the phone. they said no we don't have that capability. i had a pretty good idea where the phone was. it was in the grass of course. but it could have been anywhere in the 10 mile stretch i drove the tractor. any way it was right where i had been mowing of course. but when i got back to town i talked to a cop about finding a cell phone in an emergency. and he said the cell phone company is the one to do that not us. well the cell phone company lied to me then completely. they said they couldn't do it at all. supposedly they are suppose to be able to do it by law. why would they lie like that? the cop said that they might do it for a few. but the police can only request an emergency cell phone locate from the phone company and all others it is a charge to have the cell phone company do it. it just gets me that they lied to me. if i wasn't able to find the phone i was going to use one of those web sites that can do it for you. but i didn't need to. i know not very interestign but just soemthign i thought was strange. why would they lie? so they could sell me a new phone? that wouldnt have worked. i have a old phone that would have worked fine. i don't know.

[Caseys71]

, That's interesting. Can't believe they didn't help you out Craig, maybe you are right and they were hoping you'd go in and buy a new phone or something. Wish I knew that the cell-phone company could locate phones for you like that when I lost my last phone (set it on the tool-box of the truck and forgot about it ). I take it you found it though?

[fordman]

yes it wasnt that hard since it was in the grass. my wife was calling it and it was dark. i had a flashlight. but the way i found it was i saw the redbacklight that lights up when the phone is rining. i couldnt hear it until i reached down to pick it up. because i keep it on outside ring tone. which means it rings slightly but it vibrates too. if it were off of that it rings slightly louder.

[Caseys71]

At least you found it. Cell phone company could have made it easier if they located it for you though....

[fordman]

i should have saved the time in driving and done a gps check on the internet first.

[Caseys71]

I didn't even know you could do a GPS check at all to tell you the truth, every time I've left my phone somewhere we've had to do the same thing you and your wife did and call it until we find it .

[fordman]

here are few sites that can do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzwT1UNW ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9SlWeNl ... re=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSmVkhZ ... re=related there are more sites too.

[basketcase0302]

why would they lie? so they could sell me a new phone?

[ok68crewcab]

Do you call it lying if people are just stupid (or just lacking knowledge) about their job? Whose is the comedian who always says "You can't fix stupid"?

[Oren09]

Whose is the comedian who always says "You can't fix stupid"?

Bill Engval.
Or one of the other Blue Collar boys... I think it was Bill, though.

[fireguywtc]

Whose is the comedian who always says "You can't fix stupid"?

Bill Engval.
Or one of the other Blue Collar boys... I think it was Bill, though.

Ron White

[Sparx Macgyver]

Tater salad.

[Oren09]

Ah, yes
Thanks.

[Old Bird]

by "capability" she may have meant "authority." I'm guessing any attempts by cell phone companies to track where phones are short of emergencies (which you specifically authorize in your contract) would raise some hackles in privacy circles. They don't want the liability.

They probably don't want the extra expense of dealing with what would literally be millions of calls per day from people trying to find their phones when most of the time they're just lost in a purse or on a desk. You think your phone bill is high now? How bad would it be if we were also paying for calls and time for every lost cell phone?

[fireguywtc]

It comes down to cost and practicallity. It will cost more then your phone is worth to try and track it down. The best they can do when tracking is triangulate the signal from at least 3 towers and that is if the phone is on and getting signal out. It only gets a location within a few meters or so. That is why it is used in emergency situations only.

I don't think the cell company lied to you, they just said they couldn't do it, assuming you knew they would never do it in a "lost phone" scenario. They also cannot pinpoint its location.