London Taxi CabLondon Taxi Cab

What do you do when you lose an iPhone in a London Taxi?  Since we lived this tale we can tell you what we did and perhaps you can take a few of these tips in case this ever happens to you.  You don't have to be in London to have this happen so keep that in mind.  Most of all believe in the good of humanity, that there's a high probability the person who finds your phone will step up and return it - possibly higher if there's a reward attached to it.

Probably the top reason for losing your phone is doing something out of the ordinary.  We were on vacation, still reeling from jet lag, when we got in a taxi heading for Victoria Station to catch the high speed train to Gatwick Airport in London.  As our taxi dropped us off I got out and collected my 2 bags while my husband paid the taxi fee.  In London the taxicabs have a back seat and 2 folding seats that are attached to the back of the front seats.  My husband moved from the back and flipped a seat closer to the driver to pay (see photo).  As he did so his phone fell into the backseat and since it is black it blended into the surroundings.  It wasn't until we boarded our high speed train and the doors closed that he looked at me and said, "I have some bad news, I left my phone in the taxi." - UGH!  I did not get an international package since we decided he would get it for his phone.  I would rely solely on WiFi to communicate back home.  

London Taxi CabLondon Taxi Cab

So, what did we do?

• First before you do ANYTHING, install Find my iPhone STAT (or Find my Droid).  This will save you a lot of heartache.

• Next, use your laptop, tablet or friend's/family's smartphone to open up Find my iPhone.  In our case we had decent FREE WiFi on the high speed train to Gatwick. My husband took out his laptop and immediately logged into his account.  He could see his phone traveling back to London central.  I dialed 611 from London (you can dial it anywhere to connect with AT&T) and added international roaming.

• Fortunately we had the taxi receipt and found the number to call.  The taxi dispatch called the driver but was unable to reach him. So we tried another tactic.  We activated the alarm through the app which you can tailor to leave a message and include a phone number.  My husband entered my cell number.

• After about 20 minutes someone texted. Turns out the taxi's next passenger found the phone and called.  They were so nice and said 'no worries, this happened to us before too.'  As it turned out they were heading back within minutes of where our hotel was.  We figured that they could drop it off with the concierge.

• By luck or good fortune earlier that morning we talked to the concierge of our Marriott Hotel off Duke Street.  He remembered us.  We told him to expect someone dropping off our phone. We had the address of our next destination in Edinburgh and gave it to him.  He kindly mailed it NEXT-DAY air to that address.

Keep your taxi receipts, they may have vital infoKeep your taxi receipts, they may have vital info

I highly recommend you check out this site: http://www.imore.com/find-my-iphone - it will give you all you need to know about using Find my iPhone.  This is a lifesaver and will give you peace of mind.

We happily received our phone the next day at our B&B in Edinburgh.We happily received our phone the next day at our B&B in Edinburgh.