Apple Thoughts: Good Luck Getting Your Lost or Stolen iPhone Back

"Traveling around with your Apple gear makes you a prime target for thieves of all kind, but this is kind of obvious. On the other hand, what you may not know is that if your stolen gear gets sent to Apple for repair, it doesn't mean you're getting it back."

In reading the comments to this post, which originally came from The Consumerist, I was really annoyed at how many hoops the person had to go through and all for naught. And adding to the annoyance it brought back the memory of a stolen iPhone a year or so ago that I was dealing with. In my case, it was one of the original iPhones, a police report was filed and I was given a case number. I then thought to myself, "Self, why not call Apple and they can flag this iPhone in case someone tries to get it serviced?" Well they wouldn't do it and told me nothing they could do about it, sorry! Seemed silly they couldn't flag it, but then on the other hand it might be too much trouble especially if the iPhone were recovered, I forgot to tell Apple, and then I needed service and couldn't get it. And on Apple's end, keeping track of all of it plus making sure they have valid documentation...oh it would be a nightmare for Apple.