Yes let us consult our crystal ball...

[Chanlin]

Quick Background: I work in a call center for a prepaid cellular service.

We received a fax today from a law enforcement agency which I will leave nameless as it corresponds to a city and state - this is done to protect the stupid. Below is the text of the fax verbatim sans names and identifying information.

Reply To:
Detective Fancy Pants
City, State Police Department
111 Fake Street Drive
City, State Postal Code
(555) 555-1212
e-mail address

Date: 06/26/2009
To: My Company
Fax: (555) 555-1234

Pages: 1

Comments:
To whom it may concern,
On 06/25/2009 a business named (name) at (address) in our town was burglarized. In the burglary, at least one (my company) phone was taken. It was new in the box. We do not have the serial number or the phone number of the phone, but were wondering if there is any way to determine when the phone was activated or if there is any other information that could be obtained. Many other items were taken during the robbery and any information you can provide could lead to the apprehension of a suspect.
Thanks in Advance,
Detective Fancy Pants

So without providing any actual pertinent information let us go consult our crystal ball and we will magically produce information about a phone we know nothing else about.

[finlayfox]

Well, i do not see how this is sucky... because it is phrased... well... they are seeing if anything can be done, you know, checking all leads. Especially with this quote from ya, "but were wondering if there is any way to determine when the phone was activated or if there is any other information that could be obtained."
They don't know what you are or are not capable of, they are wondering and asking so that they can see if they can use it to catch someone being naughty.

[persephone]

Well, i do not see how this is sucky... because it is phrased... well... they are seeing if anything can be done, you know, checking all leads.

Yes, but they specifically say they have no serial number or anything attached to the phone. What is OP's company supposed to do? Any police agent should know that without SOME kind of identifying information, there's nothing the company can do. The only thing they could do is say that they will double check and verify new activations from that city and state but still -- that would unlikely find anything, as they have nothing to look for to tell them which phone might be the stolen one!

[Byronthebanker]

Is there a record of phones shipped to that store that includes the numbers? For example - on the packing list, does it say - we shipped phone serial number 123 to ABC Phone Store, Inc.?

If that were the case, a phone that was activated after the robbery, that had been shipped to that store, would be suspect.

Also, if the police knew the phone was new in the box, they might know the make and model, which could help narrow down possible phones as the stolen one.

If you work for a big company, I think someone somewhere will be able to likely help them, hopefully this letter will make the rounds to the right folks and they actually catch the bad guys.

[finlayfox]

Well, i would say he was being retarded or sucky if he was demanding info, but he is inquiring to what the company can do, not demanding. He is doing what it is that detectives do, follow any possible lead no matter how small.
Also, why would a detective automatically know what can or can not be done. From the way he worded it, it sounds like he figured that the company can't do much, but part of what makes a good detective is to not assume, and ASK QUESTIONS.

[edible_hat]

If the phone company knows which serial numbers get sent to which store, that list could help narrow it down.

[Chanlin]

The problem boils down to several issues: I do agree that they are checking out any possible lead.

1: As pointed out we have no information identifying the phone which was stolen.

2: We aren't sure if the phone was active or not since we don't have a phone number.

3: Many of the stores supply their own phones so long as the phone is compatible with the company we lease phone numbers from any phone can be used. So we don't have an inventory of any stores phones.

It really comes down to we have no definitive way of finding out from our end of saying which phone was stolen. It would come down to any inventory the store kept.

[Broomjockey]

Well, i would say he was being retarded or sucky if he was demanding info, but he is inquiring to what the company can do, not demanding.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=34921

This thread. Read it.

[finlayfox]

roger that, and my apologies.

[Dips]

Welcome to my world, Chanlin.

Here is a typical sequence of events here:

1. Over a number of years we ship a few hundred licenses to a reseller. We record the serial numbers and which reseller we sold them to.

2. The reseller sells one of those hundreds of licenses to a customer.

3. The reseller does not tell us to whom they sold the license.

4. The customer, despite the many reminders and recommendations to register with us, fails to do so.

5. The customer moves and loses his license and all of his paperwork in the shuffle.

6. The customer then calls us and asks us to replace the license.

7. We ask for his license number.

8. He doesn't know it.

9. We ask for his name.

10. His name isn't in our database.

11. The customer asks why.

12. We explain that we have no way to retreive information that nobody ever gave us.

13. The customer expresses disbelief.

14. We find a polite way to explain that we aren't pyschic.

15. Customer accepts the facts asks what to do next.

16. We suggest contacting the reseller in the slim hope that they may be one of the handful who think to record serial numbers when they sell licenses.

And all this could be avoided by registering the software.

[crashhelmet]

Something's not right here. The store should be able to go through its inventory and determine what is missing and what is not. From there, they will have all of the necessary information needed to track down whether or not this phone has been activated and whether or not it's been used. I would think that it would be handled by someone in a different department or team designed to work with law enforcement over situations like this. If not, the police should have their own tools to locate the phone by ID.

Either that or this is a rookie that has NO CLUE what the hell he's doing.

Just my 2 pennies anyway...

CH

[crazylegs]

The store should be able to go through its inventory and determine what is missing and what is not.

Many companies have an automatic issue of company phones in bulk orders. Occasionally they are in serial number order but on many occasions they are not.

We do not have the serial number or the phone number of the phone

It makes it virtually impossible to track the phone.

Without either the serial number, the 'phone number or the IEMI number there is no way of tracking it. If the crim has chaged the SIM card it makes it doubly hard to see if a random phone has been activated, because what you're looking for won't be there but the phone will still be working.

If not, the police should have their own tools to locate the phone by ID.

There are tools, however you need a telephone number to do it, and the phone needs to be switched on with the same SIM card in it. In addition it costs (over here at least) many thousands of pounds to do it on each occasion so it is usually reserved for the preservation of life.

[tamezin]

So without providing any actual pertinent information let us go consult our crystal ball and we will magically produce information about a phone we know nothing else about.

Stop hording the pixie dust and sprinkle it in the wind. You know if you click your heels together 3 times and say 'I wish you weren't stoopid, I wish you weren't stoopid, I wish you weren't stoopid', Turn around 4 times and do the Hokey Pokey, then the magic pixie dust will fly up the Bum of the theif causing Haley's Comit to make an early return and hover over perpetrator(s), so the local yocals can locate the pixie dust bum bag, and ensure that he she they it never commit such a heinous crime again.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Somebody here is an idiot and it ain't the OP.

You expect them to look up a phone without any identifying information for said phone? Yeah, good luck with that.