what do you mean i can't use your phone??

[malmalthekiller]

I've had people do that to me as well.

I always say no. I pay for my own items, so I don't trust people with them, sorry.

[Kagato]

The good thing about iphones is that they ARE actually traceable. There is a service available called Find my iPhone which when your serial number is registered, as long as there is a SIM card in it and/or it is connected to a cellular network, you can pull up icloud.com from any browser, log in using your id and it will track down your idevice to within roughly a 6 foot radius.

A friend had their iphone stolen a while back and the police tracked down the phone and returned it to him thanks to that particular service.

[Merriweather]

I simply can't imagine asking a stranger to use their phone. Someone I know, of course. Or even a person working at a business I am at (meaning, the business's phone, not their personal phone).

But asking a stranger to hand you a couple of hundred or more dollars worth of equipment, that has personal info on it, that might use up minutes they've paid for, and that would leave their number with other strangers? How can anyone consider that acceptable.

Sure, there was a time when "can I use your phone?" was ok - but phones were stuck to the wall by a cord, much less breakable, did not have personal indo on them, and left no info with the person called. The only risk was them dialing a long distance number, and it was pretty easy to realize if they were doing that.

Really, would you go up to someone and say hey, hand me your expensive watch so I can check the time? I don't hand a stranger anything that belongs to me, and that I would not be prepared to lose, whether at work or on my own time.

[Cia]

First, tons of people out there are fumble-fingers. Hand them the phone and the next thing you know they drop it onto hard concrete or down a sewer-grate. Not good.

Second, some people are phone hogs. My mom was dumb enough to lend our cell phone to some relatives. They were only suppose to use it to call us when they were finish shopping at the mall, 1-2 minutes tops. There were over 400 minutes of air-time on the phone, when we got it back there was just over a 100 minutes left. They called London, England from Miami, Florida while they were shopping.

Was your Mom able to collect any money from them to cover the charges?

[Pixilated]

*snip*

As for the SC herself, if she'd told me I "had to say yes to everything," I'd have laughed in her face.

"Really? Is that your basic philosophy as well? You must lead an interesting life ..."

My boss in my old place ran a "say yes first deal with implications later" cust. Comes up and asks to use my phone while im on break, I whip out a store cell and dial 9 for external, cust takes phone and runs....I continue my lunch.

Don't leave us in suspense! What was your boss's reaction?

[cono1717]

I went back and he asked where my phone was and why I "chose to ignore him all day"

I grinned and said "well [boss name] a customer asked me to use my phone and since I fully support your new policy I just said yes and assisted the customer best I could, the implication of that however, is a phone got stolen"

He didn't say much not sure why the guy stole it they only work in a radius close to the store and they weren't exactly the type of phone you can resell. It wasn't a cell phone as we see it, http://www.mislimited.co.uk/Uploads/...92083_m400.jpg

[cashierbex]

I barely let my ex use my phone when we were dating. A total stranger, especially with the phone I have now (not an iphone)? Not happening at all.

[agirlfromnowhere]

Ha, let a stranger use my shiny new expensive phone? Um, yeahhh, not happening. Now, I have let strangers use my phone before but I think the last time was 2005 but it was a cheap prepaid phone.

[PepperElf]

Where does it say in your contract that you are obliged to let perfect strangers use your personal property whenever they feel like it?

Not to mention when you are off the clock!

Exactly.

If the boss punishes kitten in a box over this... then the corporation could face some very interesting legal issues.

cos like it or not, once a boss starts dictating to you that you're obliged to give your personal items to customers while you're off the clock... that's something the labor board will have a field day with.

[Pizzacommando]

Can I use your platinum credit card? I just need to make a few purchases real quick, I'll pay you back, honest

[LillFilly]

Can I use your platinum credit card? I just need to make a few purchases real quick, I'll pay you back, honest

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (breath) BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Wait, that could actually HAPPEN on this site!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

The first thing out of her mouth had me hearing, "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!" in my head.

The fact that she noted the type of phone before anything else just screams shenanigans. There's no chance in hell I'd let anyone like that anywhere near my expensive tech gadget.

^-.-^

Amen.

I actually had a guy walk up to me while I was off the clock outside the store asking to use my phone (while I was surfing on it no less) to call a cab.

I simply pointed toward the entrance and politely told him there was a phone at the Customer Service desk inside the store and went back to my Facebook.

Do I look stupid to you? Do you think I get out of my bed and come to work five days a week just to give my stuff away?

Hell NO. My stuff has been too hard to come by and I'm extremely protective. Can't help it . . . I've been this way since I was a kid.

So yeah, I'll have warning bells going off in droves whenever some stranger comes up asking for something.

Don't like it, then don't come up to me and set me off. It's totally bad manners.

[firecat88]

Can't say, with the exception of my mom, I've ever had anyone ask to borrow my phone. I *have*, however, been asked if people can borrow a pen from me. I make a habit of always keeping one in my purse for just-in-case purposes.

Also, back in high school, I went to a k-12 school. One of the second graders (who I'd never spoken to before and who I predict will grow up to be a major SC given the tantrums he used to throw when he didn't get his way), on the last day of the school year, wanted to borrow my water bottle. Apparently, he and his friends were having a water fight. I said no. He got indignant. I walked away.

[Mr Hero]

While I see the arguments for not allowing strangers to use your phone, I'm also thankful that when I was the one who needed to make a call on a stranger's phone, they were understanding.

I was making a 12am late night run for some munchies. I was on bike. I didn't get too far when 3 guys stopped me and asked if I had any cigarettes. When I said no, they took my bike, wallet, and phone. They said they had guns, but didn't produce them.

I was unharmed, but I hurried back the way I came. I passed one bus stop and asked the girl there if I could use her phone. She said she didn't have one, though I suspect she didn't know what I was really going to do with it. I left it at that and kept going home. Once I got to my place, I knocked on my neighbor's door, explained that I live next door, explained the situation and asked to use the phone to call police and to have my CC canceled. She was more trusting. And yes, the cops did end up finding the pawn shop that had my bike and caught one of the SOB!

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Once I got to my place, I knocked on my neighbor's door, explained that I live next door, explained the situation and asked to use the phone to call police and to have my CC canceled. She was more trusting. And yes, the cops did end up finding the pawn shop that had my bike and caught one of the SOB!

You see, if you had come to my house and asked to use my house phone I would be much more okay with that than someone walking up to me on the street and asking me to use my cell phone. One is much more liable to be stolen, and much more expensive to replace.. and has personal information, etc.

Though if you had walked up to me on the street and asked me to use my phone to call the police, I probably would've said, "I'll call the police, you tell me what happened and I'll relate it to them."

Being mugged a few times (well, ATTEMPTED muggings, they never worked bwahaha) has made me a bit more suspicious.