<p>Yeah, pockets are the favorite place for cell phones. I plead guilty on that one myself. I need to keep the danged thing with me at all times since I have calls that I am awaiting, and at home I don;t walk around with a handbag . I have a little holder that I can clip to the belt loops of my pants or to my pocket (a little less secure) but if I am not in clothes with pockets or belt loops, I do have a problem. That is when the phone gets mislaid. Many pockets are really too shallow to safely carry a cell phone, I know, but it is the most immediate place in mind for convenience of use.</p>
<p>I used to have a clip for my cell phone, but it unclipped itself as I got out of the car and whoever found the phone decided it would be more fun to steal it than return it. One of my contractors has one of those phones that loop around your ear... I hate it. I wish women's clothes came with better pockets.</p>
<p>I know it sounds weird, but with the right little tiny cell phone and and the right outfit (sweaters, etc) some of my D's friends tuck their phone into their bra for safe keeping!</p>
<p>You can purchase lost cellphone insurance from many carriers..maybe if your D had the cost of the insurance to pay she woule be more careful.</p>
<p>I like the designated jacket pocket idea too. My S has a jacket with a pocket that zips where he keeps his. My D carries hers in her purse, and always has it with her along with 10,000 other things.</p>
<p>I have a funny story about my son's cellphone. He goes to school at U of Oregon, and we live in CA. When he was a freshman, he and some friends traveled to a hot springs on a Saturday night. He wore his bathing suit, and a t-shirt, with his cellphone and car keyes in the pocket. He left his t-shirt in the car when they got there, and thought he would just walk to the hot springs in his bathing suit. It was November, and he had no idea of the length of the walk, or the temperature of the air until he started. By the time he got there, he was so cold he jumped in without thinking, with both his cell phone and keys still in his pocket. After about twoo weeks his cell phone had dried out enough to start working again. His little remote control for his car never worked again, and to this day he has to use his key to unlock his car manually.</p>
<p>So, I guess I'm weird because I'm a college freshman and I actually keep my phone in my backpack or purse, whichever I have with me; it's always one or the other. I have a habit of putting things down in stores and not realizing they're gone until later, so I would loose a my wallet, keys, or phone faster without my purse or backpack. </p>
<p>Since I got my first phone in 9th grade, none of them have ever been permanently lost, washed, dropped, driven over, or stolen. The first one, a Tracfone, I had for 18 months and then got what I thought would be a better one, a Virgin Mobile. I was wrong about it being better, the service was terrible and I only had it 3 months. The next one was a prepaid Cingular, which I liked fine, but I thought prepaid would be a real hassle once I came to college, so I got a Cingular phone with the monthly bill for graduation. That's the phone I have now. You parents who would buy new SIM cards or reactivate old phones are very nice. If I loose my phone or damage it to the point where it stops working before my contract is up in May of 2008, I'm out of luck.</p>
<p>Of my 3 girls, only 1 has lost her phone over and over. One time I got a call from the convenience store she left it in - the cashier looked through contacts and saw "mom".</p>
<p>Another time she lost it up at school - fell into a snow bank when she got out of a car. The guy who found it text messaged one of the contacts listed. </p>
<p>She has lost for good and/or broken phones at least 4 times. The first 2 times I paid for a new one - then I got the insurance and the next couple of times, she had to pay the $50 required fee and go thru the trouble of getting the new one. It's been over a year since she has lost the phone.</p>
<p>I agree frostburg
It was as much a priority for my teen to have a phone as it was for her- so that is why after she washed the phone I found one on ebay- ( I didn't realize that if you let it dry out first it might work)
But I wouldn't have bought her a new one-
I also agree that since there are other things that you need to have with you- like your id and money that it is just less stress to have a small purse that you always have- rather than worrying about things falling out of pockets or forgetting to transfer something</p>
<p>( sometimes it is the phone just as much as carrier for reception- I also have heard that the ins doesn't pay for a new phone- just one that the carrier happens to have laying around-but a warning</p>
<p>I have bought several phones on ebay- the best luck I have had are with owners who just want a new phone- the ones that are "refurbished" aren't- I went through 3 and had to send them all back none worked)</p>
<p>My D flushed her phone. It fell out of the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. Luckily we had been on Cingular long enough that she was eligible for a free phone upgrade (we had to pay the $18 activation fee and shipping.)</p>
<p>What we've done in lieu of insurance is just keep old cell phone (same cell phone provider) around the house so that if the current phone is lost, we COULD activate one of the old ones & just pay for the sim/activation fee. So far, we've never had to do this, but I refuse to pay the cost of insurance + deductible. We bought the phones as pre-paid T-mobile phones for $50 & it came with $65 in free minutes + free activation & the minutes lasted a year. We wanted to see how responsible the kids would be with their minutes & phones before buying a family plan.<br>
Just before S went off to college, we invested in a family plan & got free phones & free activation & are keeping the old cell phones as back up (they still work & still have active minutes, which we'll renew by buying $10 more on each phone so it will last another year). So far, we've never lost any phones among all of us & everyone has been very responsible about minutes & not texting.</p>
<p>I don't understand the question - most girls I've seen don't need to 'put' the phone anywhere since it's always in their hand and in use.:)</p>
<p>I just read an article that said a couple companies will repair cell phones, including water-damaged cell phones: Cellrepair.us and Fastcpr.com. The latter charges a flat fee of $44.95 to fix a phone. A third company, otter Products LLC in Fort Collins Co sells waterproof cases for cellphones.</p>
<p>I wish my d's cell phone HAD fallen out of her pocket. It stayed in so securely it went thru the washing machine. We took the battery out and put the phone in the oven on LOW (200) for about 10 minutes, then left it on the counter to dry out. Not only did it work for another 18 months, she didn't even lose any phone numbers or settings! The screen eventually fried, though.</p>
<p>Cell phones die even when they are properly cared for, so maybe the screen would have lost it regardless of its extra wash & bake. Glad she was able to use it another 18 months & didn't lose anything. Nice to hear -- hubby says about 50% of the phones he hears about that are "washed" eventually dry out & work fine (the others are out for the count).</p>
<p>My son lost his cell phone this past Monday night somewhere on campus. I got the frantic e-mail about this on Wednesday morning. He is a kid who cannot keep a watch since he always loses them, forgets appointments etc. But his cell phone is his lifeline to the world and that is the one thing he always manages to hang on to. Losing it this week seemed to really turn him upside down. "Cut off from the world! No way to reach anyone!" I had insisted on him having a regular phone in his dorm room but it was a bit sad that he did not seem to know even how to dial out on it to call me. I guess land lines are a dying breed in dorm rooms. My reminder to him that I made it through four years in college before cell phones were even dreamed up was no comfort at all to him. </p>
<p>Anyway, happy ending when on Wednesday afternoon MY cell phone rang as I was literally driving to the store to get a replacement phone (his contract was due for a new one anyway). The caller was a woman who worked at his university's medical school. She had found the cell phone lying on a sidewalk on her way to work and with help of her research assistant figured out how to get into his phone book and call "Mom". We quickly reached my son who must have RUN over to her building to get it. I think I was as relieved as my son since that little phone has always been my most reliable way to communicate with him since he reads his emails only sporadically and rarely ever answers them. He is a cell phone kid.</p>
<p>I think all kids are cell phone kids now.</p>
<p>How did we grow up without them??????</p>
<p>Funny thing - back in the 80's, a friend of mine got a job working for a cell phone company - we all told her to look for another job because only the very rich would have them and it would never make it to the general public...</p>
<p>"some of my D's friends tuck their phone into their bra for safe keeping!"
You've got to have the right figure for that along with the right phone and outfit! I don't think it would work for me or my daughters.</p>
<p>I searched this to see if anyone had recommendations re any of the companies that sell refurbished cellphones. I found a site in MI on google but?? I have lost or flushed three, sons had one and just lost one. The lost one must have been found because several calls were made (none to son's phonebook) before I suspended it. The insurance on 3 phones per month + the replacement fee was greater than a replacement phone every 6 months. I don't want to renew right now. Husb wants to change to Verizon, but I think the not so great Cingular is getting better and I would rather stay with them. Any rec?? the cheapest Cingular right now is $169, the same one I paid $99 for last year.<br>
Thanks
L</p>
<p>Our local t-mobile store often has refurbished phones available at reduced cost (or sometimes free). So far, I've never paid for insurance on our phones, just start out with free phones & so far we've managed to hang onto all of our phones (tho we have misplaced them for varying periods of time). If we were to lose them, I'd probably do what my brother does & buy them on eBay or get the cheapest one I could from the dealer rather than buy insurance, but we're all different. </p>
<p>An inexpensive pre-paid phone is yet another option, depending on the # of minutes needed, that way it's not as big a deal of the phone is lost/stolen.</p>
<p>Go to ebay and buy an "unlocked" phone.That means it will work with any carrier. If your old phone just plain died you can remove the sim card (which is what carries your cel phone number) and place it in the new phone. You don't even have to call Cingular. If you old phone is lost, you will have to call them. You can buy a phone and sim card on ebay. Then you call the phone company, tell them you changed equipment and give them the number off the sim card. They will active that phone with that sim card for you and make that sim card tied to your old cel phone number. On ebay you should buy new in box not refurbished. Make sure it says unlocked. You can also do a search to make sure it will work with your carrier if you are worried but if you buy unlocked phone it will work. Don't let the dealer sell you a new phone, it will be expensive and they will tie you to a new 2 year contract.</p>
<p>Well, my daughter lost her cell phone last week -- she apparently left it in a locker room and when she went back an hour later to retrieve. Whoever took it shut it off, so it wasn't possible to call it or send a text message. After 2 days we figured it wasn't going to be returned -- there was no activity on it either, so I figure whoever took it merely discarded the sim card - so of course the phone can be unlocked and sold on ebay to ebeeeee. ;) (Just kidding -- I've bought unlocked phones from ebay in the past, but they all came with the box & instruction manual & other accessories) </p>
<p>In any case, my daughter didn't want to wait. She went to the cingular store and of course there was a new, improved phone that comes with high speed internet access & streaming media & plays music, etc, that they wanted to sell to her for around $275. I got on the phone to Cingular and it turned out that she is entitled to upgrade pricing of $79 - which is less than it would have cost to buy a phone on ebay, especially if you factor in the cost of the replacement chip. I don't mind extending the contract -- we've had Cingular forever and I don't foresee any reason to change, since I am adamanant about wanting GSM service. So all is well. I also think that it might be covered by my daughter's dorm insurance -so I sent her the insurance info so she can make a claim, but there is a $50 deductible so I'm not sure its worth the effort of processing the paperwork. (My daughter is paying for the replacement, not me).</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I am very excited about her internet-capable phone and plan to upgrade my own cell phone in a few months, once I get her report on how well it works.</p>