I Phone Gold

Surf Master

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Joined
Feb 23, 2010
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Mid Atlantic Beach
Low tide was rough and sloped , found two Apple I phone's , one in bad shape 1 foot down, in the water, one 6 inches down in the wet- still ON :shock: , screen was locked, but had a message Phone Lost and a CALL option on the phone, i called no answer, so i turned the phone off to conserve power , today i called it was a Colorado 719 exchange #, a guy answered , he lives in MD now but used to live in Colorado, i said good news your phones in good shape, i charge a finder's fee of 50 bucks, he said he has 45 , i said that's fine, he drove out and picked his phone up, and was happy, 115 in change, and one 925 silver ring, a star fish that once was a pendant , and trash, doesn't seam to be any gold here, i covered 70 block's , but will keep tring, a little cash in the pocket was the pay day with a silver ring kicker , had fun, glad to get out, very stiff today , my herniated disc , hate's the slopes :roll: happy hunting everyone enjoy the summer, Earl PS ???? These Apple I Phone's don't open up , they are concealed , what do you guy's do with them, i can't even pull the SD card's out, more less if they don't turn ON, they seem no good at all.
 

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Nice hunt SM, congrats on the successful phone return and reward! I see the two threads on not dealing with lost I-phones had no affect on you :D
 
Nope

Basically i held the phone until he broke out his wallet , i don't think at my size he wanted to play, he was more than happy to hand me 45 clam's , as far as the other I phone , i guess it's trash , does'nt come on, busted up screen , Thank's bro., Earl PS buy the way are those 2 dollar bills worth anything now day's :?: :lol: My girl want's it :shock: , i told her LETS MAKE A DEAL :laughing:
 
Good work Big Earl on the outing and the reward. Cash is as good as gold! And he got a deal..at 45.oo
 
Obn

Thanks ,Basically the way i look at it, a small price to pay, rather than having to go out and purchase a new one, can't believe it was still on and running 6 inches down in the wet sand, those phones are concealed i guess that help's with water proofing , as far as i am concerned , it was his lucky day , Earl
 
Nice score Earl! Clean up the other iPhone and put on Ebay. "Ocean-recovered", "For part's only," "Sold As Is", "Wont' power up" , yadda yadda. Just be honest. You just might get more than the $45 you just got.
 
Basically i held the phone until he broke out his wallet , i don't think at my size he wanted to play, he was more than happy to hand me 45 clam's , as far as the other I phone , i guess it's trash , does'nt come on, busted up screen , Thank's bro., Earl PS buy the way are those 2 dollar bills worth anything now day's :?: :lol: My girl want's it :shock: , i told her LETS MAKE A DEAL :laughing:

I'm curious what you would have done if he showed up with a cop and refused to pay your "finder's fee"?
 
Toy S

That would have been bad news, would have went in the house, and would have come out with a cracked screen like the other phone , than smiled , oh well I guess you will have to buy a new one, wet sand is hard on a phone , most don't make it. Have you ever herd the saying , there is more than on way to skin a cat ? Ask Felix :laughing: Basically the reward , or finder's fee is discussed, and agreed to before we even meet , he agreed , he got his phone back, for a small fee, and didn't have to buy a new one , real time that BS won't happen , waiting to loose my phone , it's a S4 , don't think I will ever buy another smart phone, my next will be a water proof , shock proof regular cell, it seems a new way with these smart phones to get hacked , not me lol
 
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Nice hunt SM, congrats on the successful phone return and reward! I see the two threads on not dealing with lost I-phones had no affect on you :D

^ ^ ^ I agree Good story. MD'r saves-the-day reunion stories are good reads. And ... lo & behold ... no legal ramifications, no ingrate story, etc....
 
I'm curious what you would have done if he showed up with a cop and refused to pay your "finder's fee"?

Do you mean what are the ramifications "technically and legally" ? Or do you mean "realistically " ?

Technically and legally: Surf-master's fee (the way it appears to have been worded) would ... legally ... be "extortion". The owner is under no obligation to pay to get his stuff back.

But realistically, ... Any stories of "accompanied by a cop" and "legal hassles" are the rare flukes. Like shark attack stories. Ie.: *possible* but not likely in the slightest.

At worst, someone doesn't tip or reward you. But the few times that has occurred are way-off-set by the times of grateful folks and rewards.
 
I was approached one time by a fellow on the beach who had just lost his wedding ring. He showed me the zone. After about 10 minutes, I found it. I did not ask for a reward or fee. But I suppose I could have (since it required time-away from where I intended to detect that day).

He asked me for my contact info (name, and/or email address, etc..). I handed him my business card. He did not say why he was asking for my info, but ... I suspected that he was going to send a tip or whatever.

Nothing ever came. But I was content with just the "thankyou".
 
Tom

Don't think I would use that word, extortion :laughing: , once upon a time I used to have a cell phone , dog, cat,wallet, keys, the original owner until LOST , has a choice reward someone for finding a phone, dog, cat, wallet, keys, as it can cause issues, with a phone, loosing contact #s & pictures are the worst, a small reward VS that loss and 1000 buck phone would be a NO brainer, in my case a verbal agreement was all that was needed, I asked for 50 because I thought I would have to pay shipping to Colorado, he offered 45 and picked it up, I was happy, he was happy, all the negative feedback from those other threads were basically BS drama , that never takes place in real time encounter's , sure 1 in 10000 , just like we use high dollar equipment to find these thing's , Our Work, to be honest Scuba suiting up in Scuba gear , no way, but he deserves a finder's fee, or reward, no difference at all with a season detectorist, returning lost items, cleaning up the beach of hazards , trash, the public should be happy we are around , happy hunting.
 
A slightly different approach to getting cash for a returned phone. I did one similar that didn't go according to plan. I have done just about every scenario out there. Sure it's good to be the "nice guy" and do a return. But when I've done it for this long I'm just tired of the "thanks" ( if that ) and walk away. Phones are just not worth it anymore for me. Unless they have cash behind the case ! Remember the old saying " Cash , grass or ass" nobody rides for free ? That's where I'm at. Bottom line is , glad you got some $ for your return. And they were happy.
 
Wow, no police or lawsuits involved? :lol::lol::lol:
45 bucks is okay for a busted i thingy. They have a tiny little slot that opens up on the side with the sd card, pull that.
 
Thanks, you sound like a biker , :lol: Ride to Live, Live to Ride bro., happy hunting :biker::good:

Thanks. I have alot of that mentality but NO , I never got into bikes. Rode a few times when I was very young. In my teens and 20s , EVERY single one of my friends was either seriously hurt or killed riding. And because of that , I never got into it. I miss a few of them....
 
Kob

It can happen, driving tractor trailers before I retired two people totaled their cars on the rear of my set of Doubles , felt less than a bumper car bump to me , both driver's were tring. to get something off the floor without pulling over, along time ago we tried to take the keys from a biker friend that had to much to drink, wanted to meet up with a chic at a local bar, he lost his life on the way, I allway's rolled the dice, but ya can't live your life scared , I would rather ride , rather than , sky dive, climb mountain's, or bungee jump , I don't like height's, I trashed the other I Phone , don't use ebay, don't want to be bothered with it, I know the older I get, the more stubborn I get , the next I phone I find will go in the beach trash can, unless it work's , happy hunting.
 
I was approached one time by a fellow on the beach who had just lost his wedding ring. He showed me the zone. After about 10 minutes, I found it. I did not ask for a reward or fee. But I suppose I could have (since it required time-away from where I intended to detect that day).



He asked me for my contact info (name, and/or email address, etc..). I handed him my business card. He did not say why he was asking for my info, but ... I suspected that he was going to send a tip or whatever.



Nothing ever came. But I was content with just the "thankyou".



I have done many returns from rings to phones and would never accept money. I do ask for a photo of me and the person along with the item. Most times it's an instant find while on the beach and I'm asked to help. Other occasions such as class rings etc I search and try to find the person. For me the feeling you get returning one item out of 100's found is a great feeling that money can't buy. Just my opinion. HH


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I once put a broken iPhone found in the surf (and it was there for awhile) on ebay with lots of pics and stating where it was found in the water and it does not work. Someone best offered my $20 for it. I guess there may be a trade-in policy or someone wanted to experiment with it. The screen was broken.
 
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