Found Someone's Cellphone? Here's What to Do...

Recently one of our staff lost her cellphone.  Now, I've almost lost my cellphone many times by either placing it on a counter or having it fall off of my lap when getting out of the car.  Most of the time when I "lose" my cellphone, it's somewhere at home or in my car and is easy enough to find (even if I have to borrow someone else's phone to make it ring!).  This post is about someone ELSE'S phone, however.

When you run across (hopefully not over) someone's cellphone, it's not easy to figure out who owns it.  Many people have taken the extra step of labeling their phone with their name and phone number. Unfortunately, this is usually the number that will ring the very phone of questionable geography and is of no help in finding the cellphone owner.  Most people don't label their cellphone (maybe this is a good idea, just put a different means of contact...perhaps an email address).

The best thing to do to help the cellphone and owner reunite is to look in the recent calls and find the number that appears most often and most recent.  Place a call to that number (during reasonable hours) and announce that you have found this phone.  Ask the person on the other end of the line to contact the owner and give your phone number.

For your security or convenience (or if the battery is dead or the cellphone is locked in some way), you can drop it off at the nearest corporate-owned-and-run retail outlet of the service provider.  Be sure to make the call if you can before dropping it at the retailer, as this will surely be the quickest way for the owner to get their cellphone returned.

You know how frustrating your day could be without your cellphone and the sooner you are reunited, the better, so follow the "Golden Rule" and do the right thing:  

Take care of a found cellphone the same way

you would want someone who found YOUR lost cellphone

to take care of it.