Bought an iphone 3gs off of craigslist.

[plmiller0905]

I posted an add on Craigslist about two months ago stating that I was willing to trade any one of my game systems ( wii, xbox or my PS3 ) plus my 8gb iPhone 3g for a iphone 3gs. Well Friday I was contacted and asked if I was still interested in the trade and I replied yes. Long story short, I traded my PS# plus my iphone 3g for a white iphone 3gs. I assumed everything was cool.

Today the seller's mom called me and told me that her son apparently found the iphone 3gs and had been attempting to find the owner for about 2 weeks, but he was unable to find them and no one came forth so he sold it. She asked me if I was willing to give it back and I said I'll think about it. Well I contacted Apple about this and they said it's nothing the original owner of the iphone could do. Once it's lost, it's lost! They have no way of tracking it. I even provided him the serial number number but he still couldn't locate a owner. He told me, "You basically got yourself an iphone 3gs." The only thing the owner can do is cancel their service.

I called the mother of the seller and told her what Apple told me and she said that that's the same thing Apple told her son. She thanked me for looking into it.

My question is, am I wrong for keeping the phone? I didn't do anything wrong in obtaining it, I made a trade and that's it. We both tried to somehow contact the orignal owner and that failed. I told the mother that that I was going to keep it. I did everything the right way didn't I?

Let me know what you all would do in this situation. I need a little advice. I'm leaning towards keeping it!

 

[Raz0rEdge]

The original owner has probably cancelled the service and moved on..however the person you traded with, essentially found an iPhone 3GS and then traded it for goods..so you are in the clear, but that person essentially got free goods either way you look at it.

So by all means, keep it and move on..

Regards

 

[TattooedMac]

You have done as much as you possible can to find the owner ....

Congrats on your new phone. Its a keeper

 

[plmiller0905]

Thanks everyone with helping me out. That's what I was thinking also. I contacted Apple and everything and so did her son. Once they said it's nothing they can do, I figured that that's it then, it's mine!

I'm kinda getting the vibe that maybe the mother realized how much the iphone 3gs are really worth and she probably wants to resell it for cash instead of a trade. But oh well, that's not gonna happen now.

 

[bobtomay]

Unless that iPhone was locked, the kid didn't try very hard. The phone number of the phone is in the phone at the top of the contacts list at a minimum. A quick call to the carrier would have provided the answer and likely return to the rightful owner.

For your part, it's likely been wiped at this point and not much to be done any longer.

 

[clayneal]

Ya so much for the due diligence on the part of the guy who found it. And good job by you of getting your side of the story onto the public record;D

Clay

 

[plmiller0905]

Yeah, at least I tried. The last thing I need is someone coming up to me telling me that I have their iphone. I contacted Apple again and registered it in my name along with all my other Apple products. He told me the the limited warranty expires in November of 2011 so I'm going to buy Applecare for it either tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

[chuongster]

Seem like a reasonable trade off. You guys both try to find the owner, but there was none to be found. So congrats on you new Iphone 3GS!

 

[triathlonstu]

I'd say you were in the right. But the question on everybody's lips... PS2 or 3?!