Phone Stolen in Mail...

I have an 8125 less than a year old and not working.
Cingular agreeed to send me a new phone.

DHL apparently delivered it and left in the hallway of my building and guess what! Someone stole it!

I think I know who did it....but have no way of prooving it. I know the culprit also has a Cingular phone and could just put theri SIM card in and use it. However, Cingular told me that they can tell if the phone is being used and who is using it based on the SIM card. Is this true?

I don't know much about DHL but I have extensive dealings with UPS and FedEx; they are never supposed to leave a package at a business unsigned for, and in a situation like this they would almost always pay the insurance claim if one were filed. It might be a good idea to call DHL and ask them what their policy is, but ultimately the shipper has to file claim and none of the parcel services I've dealt with will even talk to a recipient about a claim.

Yes, they will be able to tell if the phone is being used on their network. Otherwise, theft of cell phones would be ridiculously out of control. Granted, there are ways to evade being detected by Cingular, but your thief would have to know quite a bit about hacking cell phones, and the common thief is generally less educated than that. I hope Cingular is able to help you get your phone back, but I don't see how you can be held at fault if the delivery service is unable to provide satisfactory proof of delivery. Good luck.

Edit: Hallway of building doesn't necessarily mean "work", I caught that after I posted... that might make things a bit more difficult in the claims process but you still can't be held liable in any case... I wonder if Cingular sent the package "carrier release" with allows DHL to leave it without being liable? If that's the case, it's up to Cingular to replace the stolen phone. Most carriers won't leave packages in apartment buildings, condos, dorms, or places with public hallways... some of the blame lies with the driver. UPS drivers are responsible for every package on their truck and if they leave one in an unsafe place and the recipient doesn't get it, it's their neck.

They are sending another new phone. Gave me a hard time though.

The thief is a 16 year old punk with good parents. I am pretty confident that the stolen phone is going to end up back in my possession.

Still going through with getting another replacement..shame on Cingular for allowing a drop delivery with no sig.

Not sure what I should do with it once I get the first replacement back. Any ideas?

If you get the stolen phone back after Cingular replaces it, you are responsible for notifying Cingular and sending one of the phones back. Anything else would be considered "insurance fraud".

Got ya...

yes they can locate it via: the tower it is on (down to the side of the tower it is using and signal strength), the IMEI number, and the sim card number, and also the phone number.....