What if I lost my phone..

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › What if I lost my phone..

grasshoper

164 posts

Master Geek

#81887 19-Apr-2011 20:09

So after watching the episode of Target tonight about the person who lost her phone and someone else was using it, it lead me to think of this question:

If I loose my phone, and have it barred straight away, whats to stop that person from simply ringing vodafone and having it unbarred. I understand their are security questions needed if you forget your pin, but arn't the questions things like "what is a last number you called" which could easily be found by going into the recent calls list on the phone.

I'm probably way off here, but just wondering..

corksta

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#460639 19-Apr-2011 20:25

The questions usually include name, address, DOB, mother's maiden name, etc, so in theory the person shouldn't get any futher than that.

johnr

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#460641 19-Apr-2011 20:29

corksta: The questions usually include name, address, DOB, mother's maiden name, etc, so in theory the person shouldn't get any futher than that.

And if it's a prepay account with the name Jim Beam?

richms

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#460720 19-Apr-2011 23:22

johnr:
corksta: The questions usually include name, address, DOB, mother's maiden name, etc, so in theory the person shouldn't get any futher than that.

And if it's a prepay account with the name Jim Beam?

I missed it, and all I get from ondemand is that its only available to NZ but if I am in NZ it will start shortly, and I wouldnt dare to try to pirate a show nowdays ;)

So this is totally uninformed from the show, but IMO, if you call it "jim beam" with the DOB whatever is on the bottle etc, you deserve to lose the number. If you are making up personas for your online etc, make it believable and keep the details.

For someone that finds a phone and uses the number, also idiots. Do 2 idiots make a right? In some cases, yes they do.

Richard rich.ms

GH33

65 posts

Master Geek

#460733 20-Apr-2011 00:28

Person who lost their phone should have called the carrier to block the number and possibly block the device. He or she can then go get a replacement sim and get the number back + unblock the number for future use. In this case target is just making a big deal out of nothing, not wanting the old number back shows the lack of intent to follow the right procedure which the daughter and her mum has to held accountable. Low/no value customer taking on corporate + lack of accountability just makes me shake my head. They have too much time on their hands. Let's try to be a bit more productive please, this is why NZ is so far behind of everyone else.

Jaxar

383 posts

Ultimate Geek

#460894 20-Apr-2011 12:21

I'm personally really keen to hear some of the opinions of the critically thinking members of these forums on that piece by Target.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

VinLew

210 posts

Master Geek

#460901 20-Apr-2011 12:51

If a SIM is blocked, it should stay that way; I don't see any point at all in blocking a SIM if it can be unblocked again simply by answering a few questions (especially when things like DOB & even addresses can be found on sites like Facebook).

Just my 2c.

BarTender

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#460928 20-Apr-2011 13:43

Blocking the number wouldn't however prevent them from porting the number onto another network if they figured out what the number was.

"Ownership" of the number is somewhat challenging in a prepaid world where porting comes into play (and you can port from your home PC into 2Degress without needing to talk to anyone).

Sharesies

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GH33

65 posts

Master Geek

#460929 20-Apr-2011 13:44

I think we wouldn't have this whole saga if the family block the sim straight away, instead they took actions after a few months of losing the phone. By that time it was too little too late as the new user has been using the sim for a while and of course could answer any questions relating the call history. This needs to be looked at objectively and in my opinion the family need to take the burden.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#460940 20-Apr-2011 14:06

the target piece was pathetic. A storm in a teacup.
But at least they did put vodafone's points accross

a) if the owner had blocked it when she lost the phone, then this could have all been avoided
b) if the owner had taken the 5 minutes to register the prepay account in her name then this could all have been avoided.
c) even if the owner had done all that stuff, the old number still goes back into the pool of available numbers after a certain time, meaning all the issues about phoning an old number and getting a stranger would still exist.
d) why did the owners family retain the girls old number in their phones at all. Why didn't they just overwrite the old number with her new one

IMO, whilst vodafone's policies could arguably be better, the girl and her family had plenty of opportunities to avoid all the problems and didn't take them. People need to take some personal responsibility.

I find target to be pretty shoddy. Fair Go is much better. For context, the next story on target was about which brand of rice cracker was better! the public demands to know!!

Jaxar

383 posts

Ultimate Geek

#460945 20-Apr-2011 14:20

VinLew: If a SIM is blocked, it should stay that way; I don't see any point at all in blocking a SIM if it can be unblocked again simply by answering a few questions (especially when things like DOB & even addresses can be found on sites like Facebook).

Just my 2c.

I don't think you've thought this through fully. People block their phones because it is missing and might be stolen.

They can unblock the phone because they might be able to recover or find the phone.

Additionally in a case of a prepaid customer where they have not registered their name or any security questions against the account. Any caller can claim to be the owner of the phone and can ask for it to be barred. It would be pretty bad service to find your phone has been barred with credit on it and you cannot get it unbarred because your ex or something has called up and gotten it barred.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

wellygary

8342 posts

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#460946 20-Apr-2011 14:23

GH33: Person who lost their phone should have called the carrier to block the number and possibly block the device. He or she can then go get a replacement sim and get the number back + unblock the number for future use. In this case target is just making a big deal out of nothing, not wanting the old number back shows the lack of intent to follow the right procedure which the daughter and her mum has to held accountable. Low/no value customer taking on corporate + lack of accountability just makes me shake my head. They have too much time on their hands. Let's try to be a bit more productive please, this is why NZ is so far behind of everyone else.

Tending to agree, From what target implied they waited 8 months to block the number, and then another 8 months to get upset that the number was still in use. But made no effort to get the number back,

What is Vodafone's general policy on when cancelled numbers go back into the pool for reallocation??

Also I guess it raises the basic issue of who actually owns a number?, Are they owned by those who have the number originally allocated to them in the NAD (or subsequently port to them) i.e. the telcos or does ownership pass to customers when someone starts to pay a bill??

All lovely juicy issues.

richms

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#460979 20-Apr-2011 15:58

telcos own the number. its all in the terms that you should have read before using their service

Richard rich.ms