# Situation - Lost Phone - What would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863 "2013-02-20T04:37:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/1 "2013-02-20T04:37:50Z")
It’s 10:30 at night at a community gym. No one is around. You walk in, get on the treadmill, and see a black cell phone relatively well-hidden in the black cup-holder of the treadmill. It’s not obvious from afar. But if you get on the treadmill you’ll see it. The security guard left at 10:00 and won’t be back until tomorrow morning. Even then, the security guard rarely goes into the gym, much less gets on the treadmill and notices a relatively inconspicuous phone. So no giving it to security. You aren’t camping out at the gym overnight, and you leave for work too early to catch security. The management office is closed and there is no gap between the door and the floor, so no turning the phone into management. Plus, it might get stepped on come tomorrow morning even if there was a gap. You have to go home by 11:30 to sleep. You wait an hour and it’s 11:30. No one has shown up to claim the phone. What do you do? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/2 "2013-02-20T04:47:23Z")
I’d look in the contact list for “mom” “husband” “wife” or similar and send a text msg saying I found your phone and would like to meet somewhere public to give it back to you. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/3 "2013-02-20T04:51:25Z")
Yeah, I always look up an obvious family member or work number in the contacts, and I’ve managed to return every phone I’ve found. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/4 "2013-02-20T05:10:30Z")
Take it to the closest police station. Let them do the work for you. You go home and call it a night. The end. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/5 "2013-02-20T06:22:39Z")
or you could , ya know, just ignore the thing. It ain’t your problem. “Gee, there’s somebody’s cell phone in my cup holder. If I leave it there, he may come back to get it. Or somebody will turn it in to the manager’s office tomorrow morning. Or somebody could steal it , and re-program the electronics to detonate a bomb. But it’s 11:30 at night, I’m sweating and exhausted from my workout , and I really need to go to bed.” But me---- I’d do what DesertNomad and Silvorange said. It ain’t too hard. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/6 "2013-02-20T07:24:58Z")
Take it with you. Everytime I’ve lost a phone I’ve called it to see if some kind soul has picked it up. They call you, then you return it. No call - turn it into the management office when its convenient ---
**Author:** ![Nikki9doors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c77e96/32.png) [@Nikki9doors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki9doors)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/7 "2013-02-20T07:32:10Z")
Leave it at the front desk if there is one. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/8 "2013-02-20T07:56:06Z")
Last time I found a phone on the tube, I sent a text to the last two numbers in the ‘calls made/received’ log, asking them if they knew how to contact the owner. The owner picked up his phone from my workplace one hour later. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/9 "2013-02-20T08:15:03Z")
Out of curiosity… do a lot of people not use lock codes on their phone? As nice as it would be to send a text to someone in the address book to let them know you found it, if someone found my SO’s phone they’d be locked out of everything except the “Place an emergency call” button. ---
**Author:** ![Shiloh2013](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Shiloh2013](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiloh2013)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/10 "2013-02-20T11:00:14Z")
I’d do what I’d want done if it were my phone. I’d take it, try to call, and if locked, wait for an incoming call and return it. A hassle, but I don’t find many phones. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/11 "2013-02-20T11:16:10Z")
Best thing to do is leave it with a gym employee or drop it off at a police station. Also, there’s a good chance the owner has it deactivated by now. If it’s a rather basic inexpensive or older model phone the owner may not be too concerned with it unless he/she has a lot of personal information in it. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/12 "2013-02-20T11:30:50Z")
While my phone has a lock screen, it also displays emergency contact information on the screen, including my home phone number, and allows access to two emergency contacts. If I found a lost phone as described, I would hold on to it (prepared to answer it) until I could return it to the front desk of the gym, probably the next day. Why do anything different - the next guy might not be as ethical as me. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/13 "2013-02-20T14:17:40Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Out of curiosity… do a lot of people not use lock codes on their phone? As nice as it would be to send a text to someone in the address book to let them know you found it, if someone found my SO’s phone they’d be locked out of everything except the “Place an emergency call” button. Good point. I have my wife’s and two kids phone numbers in the Emergency Contacts. This might even be a better place to start the search for the owner. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/14 "2013-02-20T16:33:49Z")
Huh. Are emergency contacts an app, or is this native to Android? I’ve seen no such thing on my SO’s phone. Certainly nothing that would display phone numbers on the lock screen. All we get is the button that auto-dials 911. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/15 "2013-02-20T16:48:12Z")
Yeah - I use _In Case of Emergency_ - an app from the app store. Didn’t cost much, but works for me and mine. ---
**Author:** ![Bobhob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b19c9b/32.png) [@Bobhob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobhob)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/16 "2013-02-22T21:13:39Z")
This is why putting tracker tags from [mystufflostandfound.com](http://mystufflostandfound.com) on all your stuff is such a great idea. They make it easy for someone finding your lost things to contact you immediatly without revealing your personel information. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/17 "2013-02-22T21:27:07Z")
My phone isn’t terrible fancy, but on the main page it has an app that’s just a single note. In mine I put “If found please email [tdn@gmail.com](mailto:tdn@gmail.com).” Maybe they have something similar. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/situation-lost-phone-what-would-you-do/650863/18 "2013-02-22T21:45:15Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Last time I found a phone on the tube, I sent a text to the last two numbers in the ‘calls made/received’ log, asking them if they knew how to contact the owner. The owner picked up his phone from my workplace one hour later. This is what someone did when I left mine in a hotel room. I had it back in the hour. I resolved that I would do exactly that were I to find a phone.