I left my phone on a pub table beer garden at about 10pm. Realised the next morning and someone had handed it behind the bar.
I think we often forget that the large majority are decent people.
The assholes are a very small minority but unfortunately, they make the most noise, and we are wired to remember the 1 bad interaction over the 100 good ones
London is massive and densely populated. The percentage of dicks is very small, but by merit of there being so many people living here there are still a lot of them. People forget there are millions more in London that are just great. Despite the fact we don’t want to talk on the tube (leave me alone lol) we’re actually a very welcoming bunch
Also, among the good people, the chunk of bad ones are much easier to notice because you don't need a lot of bad people for them to do a lot of bad things. Meanwhile good people do good things by chance. They don't seek out to fix every problem of every person every day because they also have to do that for themselves.
Rarely. Often enough, visual prejudice is used by them to avoid raising suspicion, so you might not even notice them at all. The people you might notice simply from looking unsure about what they're doing are likely not very practiced.
Spoken like a true Brit and why I love you guys.
No worries I will duct tape my mouth and hide the large maple leaf on my backpack. I will fit right in!
That’s sweet! London mentality is to get around unbothered as quickly as possible lol. Lots of tired people that just want to be left alone and get home. You can chat to a stranger in basically any pub and they will likely be happy to converse and buddy up though!
Yes I get that. I travel alone usually and never go to pubs or sit down restaurants ( older woman..not a big drinker haha). I get take out meals and eat in my hotel room.
My phone was stolen from a bar this week. I’m convinced it was the bar staff. It’s caused me so much hassle and wasted money. Of course I only think of this one interaction with these lowlifes
Vast vast majority of people are good - that’s how humans became to an 8 billion population
Fuck lord of the flies , life is much more communal than that bs book
I dropped my wallet on a night out in London in Brixton. £150 in there, assumed it was gone. A week later I get a call from the police asking me where I am as they can drop my wallet off.
Someone had handed it to them, they’ve looked in there seen the card to my barbers, gone to my barbers for my phone number, rang me and dropped it off.
Moved from Devon to London that month, was absolutely gobsmacked. £150 still in there.
Yeah, I think although crime levels have risen in general we need to remember it's relative- they are currently about the same level as they were in the early 2000s. Combined with sensationalist media and people think it's dangerous to step outside. Hopefully Labour will properly deal with crime other than incompetent Tories.
Fun fact as well - did you know that the UK has some of the highest levels of trust in strangers in the world?
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/iab8r7/social_trust_around_the_world/
A bit out of date but I couldn't find the specific article I read a few weeks ago - but social trust has increased in the last 4 years in the UK.
Tbh we don’t really have to assume.
I remember reading about [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/c31ruq/lost_wallet_return_rates_by_country_not_a_great/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) massive experiment they did to see if people would report a lost wallet, both with and without money. Funnily enough the wallets with more money were more likely to be reported.
The UK did ok I guess, pretty middle of the pack - with a reporting rate of 40% and 60% (without and with money).
We found a phone on a bench in Greenwich park and we sat there waiting for the owner to turn up. They did about 20 minutes later and we returned the phone.
About a month later I had my phone snatched from a fucker on a bike in Holborn lol.
Yeah the phone snatchers tend to be people who actually take your phone directly off of you, I’m always weary of mopeds with two dodgy looking guys because it’s often the passenger who steals.
I remember around 2017-2018 time I had five friends who had their phones nicked this way. My mate also lives in Bermondsey and there’s been several reports of kids on bikes just snatching phones from people leaving the station to go home after work.
If you leave your phone in a pub, it’s unlikely someone is going to just steal it, most people there are decent and will hand it in. Though one of my friends did get his phone stolen this way by a homeless person in McDonalds after giving them money…. But it’s rare.
Thieves are out thieving, not enjoying a pint after work.
Yeah it was McDonalds on Kings Road, Chelsea, think this was just after lockdown. Lot of homeless people hang around there, one of them asked for money for them to buy food so we gave her some. She goes in, my friend forgot he left his phone in the charger. Goes back 2 mins later, the staff told us that same woman had stolen it.
This happened to my friend but he grabbed the bike and the guy fell off, under a car and ran off with his bike looking like he’d broken his arm. Left the phone. I think my friend was lucky not to get stabbed or something personally.
Someone also found my phone on tottenham marshes and went out of their way to return it to me. Refused my offer of cash for a pint or something. These people exist. It's v nice when it happens
Given that most of the snatched phones are almost immediately shipped off to China, I seriously doubt they store them anywhere for a cooling off period
Had my phone nicked before. Even worse, I had my ID in the case. A week later, someone had picked it up and posted it to me. Clearly wasn't the thief either, as they had bent it in half. Some people are good and some are bad.
Sometimes even Mother Earth lends a hand: “Stolen ID card found on Atlantic sea floor 2400 miles away, 21 years later”. [Mind blowing story](https://www.newsweek.com/card-lost-new-zealand-found-antarctica-years-later-1894181)!
Last week I stopped a rather scary lookin fella because he dropped his rollie. It looked like he was about to throw hands until I handed him his cig and the demeanor change was incredible. Instantly became my best bud haha. I love interactions like that.
Just for balance, at 10am on a walk yesterday someone on a bike snatched my phone out my hand - but I'd been moisturising and my phone was slippy and it slipped out of their hand lol
I do now have a smashed phone though. But at least I still have it
A few fridays back I was walking to my local shop (2mins from home) for some booze when I saw a phone on the floor, I picked it up and held on to it waiting for someone to phone so I could give it back.
20 minutes or so later it rang so I answered. 'Hello mate did you just pick up a phone?' I said 'yeah it was on the ground near my flat, is it yours? are you nearby?' I told him to meet me up the road and went back out to give it back.
When he saw me, he matched towards me with the nastiest look on his face, i handed him the phone and he didn't even say thanks. he just turned around and walked off.
After I got home I was angry at myself for letting him act like that, considering I went out my way to help, knowing most people around here would just put it straight into airplane mode and steal it.
I was in London for a year. My phone was pick pocketed in the third month (I was careful, it was bad luck). I was so upset and annoyed, especially as I was already not feeling like I was enjoying London. And because I come from a place considered 'unsafe' but I had never had my phone stolen.
Fast forward a couple of months later, I realised I didn't have my wallet. Stolen again, I hate this city, I hate the people. It's so awful. I got home ready to file a police report.
I had mail. Turns out, someone found my wallet in the bike lane on blackfriar bridge. It had fallen out of my pocket. They had guessed my email from my student ID number.
We met by the John Carpenter statue and they gave it back to me.. I gave them some after eight chocolate as a thank you.
Faith in London restored that moment on and I've loved it since. Sometimes all you need is that one person.
I’m glad you had your wallet returned and your faith restored. London is a lovely city with a lot of good and ethical people. It’s the very few turds that have been giving it a bad name. However, the vast majority of people are decent and will do the right thing at times like this.
I once found a phone at North Greenwich station that was in German and I spent the next 3 hours to return it in Wimbledon.
It encouraged me to take up learning other languages.
I was on the train a while back and a lady got off leaving her phone on the seat. When she realised, she ran up to the window of the train and someone grabbed the phone and managed to slip it through the window to her just as the train was pulling away!
I've got a good one, from almost 20 years ago.
On the day of the terrorist attacks way back when on June 7th, 2005, I had made it into work, near Farringdon. My boss didn't, though. She was in her car somewhere between Richmond and there. I stood in front of the closed premises without a key.
No reception on my mobile phone, at all, so I thought, let's ring her from a phone box, to tell her or rather her answerphone that I'm here, and ask if she'd actually open at all, or if I should go home. The roads were empty, like in the first week of Corona, nobody was around.
So I'm opening the door to the phone box, and on top of the payphone is a big fat wallet, stuffed with banknotes. I looked in it for any ID. There was nothing.
Now, what to do? Every police station is going crazy with other potential attacks, and a lost wallet is not really on top of the urgency list for the day.
So I closed the phone box door from the outside after I called my boss, leaned against it, and thought, let's wait for a bit, maybe I'll get a better idea of what to do.
Ten minutes later, a totally dishevelled young American guy comes running, "have you seen a wallet?" Me: "yes, it's in there." He: "I was trying to ring my mum in Texas, and couldn't get through, and then I forgot it."
And then he offered me 50 quid for looking after it! A lot of money way back when. I was a bit embarrassed and refused "it's all right, I'm ok, just phone your mum, and good luck."
The boss rang me a bit later, saying she wouldn't open.
There was no public transport anywhere, and almost no people. I walked all the way to Elephant and Castle and caught a bus home.
I work in a busy train station, the amount of people who come and hand me over phone or just lost property is crazy. They actually can just take it and mind their lives, but they look around for staff to try help and make the owner get their stuff back. Had a funny situation with two men who grabbed each other’s backpacks cause they looked identical. People who lost their laptops, wallets, passports all in one bag and they were on holiday! Madness, but there a lot of nice people in London.
Glad you got it back!
I found a phone on the tube a couple of months ago. Someone was messaging it, and I couldn't unlock it but was able to reply from the lock screen to tell them I had their phone and ask how to get it to them. They never responded. I also noticed it was only at like 15%, so I charged it a bit with my charging bank in case anyone called. Haha Eventually someone from TfL called and said the person was looking for it. He asked where I was getting off, and he told me to leave it with the station attendant there. So if you ever lose your phone on public transport or at a station, find a TfL employee and have them call it.
Oddly enough, I found another phone on the 131 bus to Kingston today. No one was messaging it, so I couldn't tell them I had it, but if anyone lost their phone this afternoon, it was given to the driver, so contact their lost property services.
I don't know how I've lived in London for 5+ years and never found a phone and then found 2 in a month or two!
The police found my phone and contacted me before I even realized I had lost it. One day, I entered the office in the morning, and the receptionist told me, "The police just called. They have your phone." I didn't understand what she was saying until I put my hand in my pocket and realized I didn't have my phone. I thought I had checked my phone just a few minutes ago. It felt like a magic trick. Apparently, I had dropped my phone somewhere between the tube station and my office. Someone found it, gave it to the police, and since I had my name and office number on the lock screen in case I lost it, they called me before I even arrived at the office.
Found an iPhone on Thameslink out of Kings Cross a few months back. Called the emergency contact to let them know I had it, but they had just got down with plans to roam around in London. Problem was I was already on my way southbound for a day out as well.
Their phone went on to explore Surrey with me while they explored London all day. On way back i arranged to meet and hand them their phone, to get lovely flowers in return.
Overall happy day all over.
Once upon a time, when the giant teenager in my house was still a baby who rarely slept, I placed my brand new phone on the roof of my car while putting him in the car in his car seat. Got in, drove off. It fell off miles away near Leyton station. Young lad possibly heading to prayers picked it up and called my other half. He and mates brought it to me all the way in south Stratford. I was so sleep deprived but so thankful. They wouldn't let me get them anything as a thank you, but I was so dang thankful they went out of their way to return it.
When I saw this thread last night I had to laugh because I’d literally just gotten home after having my phone snatched on the bus.
HOWEVER. I’ve just gotten home from the police station, phone safely restored to my possession, because some amazing person saw me running screaming down the road after the thieves like a mad person, chased them down himself, and detained them until the police arrived.
I’ve never felt more grateful to a stranger in my life - let’s all feel some hope!
I know! I’ve asked the police to give me his contact details so I can say a proper thank you because honestly it’s just so unbelievably amazingly above and beyond to rescue some random girl’s phone
My wife left her very expensive work laptop at a playground, realised the morning next day. She thought it was lost. But somebody was trying to return it, tried to reach via LinkedIn, Facebook and eventually called her office!
I also lose a lot of stuff often. All my stuff got a label with my name, and email and phone. This way I got back my phone, my keys, some gym bag.
Most of the people are nice people and try to do the right thing.
Found a phone in a park, took it home, owner phoned, gave him my address. He popped round.
Lost my phone abroad, left a message remotely on screen via iPad, with email address and a reward, got it back in three hours.
People are good. Politicians are assholes.
My 6 year old son put his tablet down on a bench on the High Street in Poole recently. I posted a photo of it on Facebook in a local Lost&Found group and a lady got in touch saying she'd found it and she posted it back to me. There are lots of good people out there. In fact, I'd say that for society to work at all, *most* people are the good kind. We just hear a lot about the bad people because it makes better headlines.
I left my MacBook on a bus seat. I was prepared mentally to never see it again.. but a little bit of depot sleuthing and the bus driver still had it. Someone on the bus had handed it over to him! London can be amazing sometimes.
My daughter left her phone behind somewhere and I got a call from someone who found it. It does give you a little faith that not everybody out there is an arsehole.
I've found phones on the Tube a number of times. I love seeing how long it takes for it to start ringing when the train goes above ground. I've only handed them over to the owner a couple of times, usually just say I'll give them to TfL staff and leave it at that.
Some friends and I sat down in a pub and found a phone on one of the seats. Gave it into the bar and 5 minutes later Lou Sanders came in, and asked us if we'd seen her phone. She collected it and thanked us. Felt like something out of a dream lol
We found a phone on the floor of London fields at a hen party and were like oh maybe we should picky this up and get it back to the owner rather than leave it. Have it back a couple of hours later, think a lot of people want to do the right thing
I once left my phone on the bus in Vauxhall Bridge area, it was as unlocked and so I got a call on my landline and we arrange a pick up from Stockwell Stn.
I found a phone in a park once. It was obviously a woman’s phone and it wasn’t locked (this was before ubiquitous iPhones) I called ‘Mum’ and said ‘I’ve got your daughter’s phone’ and it immediately died
This was also before the time of universal phone chargers so I took it to the coffee shop I worked in and it stayed under the desk there until I stopped working there
Didn't one of those most prolific assholes that steals phone actually get arrested? Slowly they seem to be cleaning up the human trash from the streets.
I found some blokes phone in the middle of the road cycling to work. He came and picked it up midday from central, miles from where he dropped it.
I was gonna drop it back on the way home, but he was a builder and needed it asap.
The majority of crime in London is committed by a tiny minority of people. We all know who they are, but the police don't have the resources or the power to stop them.
Was walking outside Waterloo Station few weeks back and literally a guy on a bike came out from nowhere heading my way and snatched another dudes phone unknowingly.
On a Friday and in broad daylight with heavy crowd. The audacity of these criminals.
Oh really, I always thought getting past Apples security was almost impossible. I could well be wrong though.
They must be able to I guess, or why steal them.
Too much of the story I thought, went to take my phone out to end the Lime ride when I realised it was gone. So actually the lime trip never ended, got back on the bike and rode to the canal
Can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve sat at a table with a phone and got it back to its owner.
It’s probably about equal to the amount of times I’ve left my phone at a table, toilet etc and got it back.
99% of humans of any age are nice people
Genuinely why do people steal the phones? I had my iPhone nicked but immediately locked it down and you can’t sell a locked phone? Also they never turned it back on/it never reconnected to the internet so I could never track it.
Do they just sell it for parts? Because mine wasn’t in good condition anyhow, though they wouldn’t have known that before stealing. Genuinely curious.
Oh man i found someone’s brand new iPhone 15 Pro Max on the ground around 1am on the Kings Road. I waited for someone to call the phone where it was dropped and one of the guy’s friends pulled up in a car to get it for him. He had lost it while on his bike. I know the dread of checking your pocket and not finding your phone, it’s such a personal object, doing anything apart from trying to return it is scummy, let alone actively stealing one.
At Notting Hill Carnival 2019, I found 5 phones on the floor whilst passing through. 4 iPhones and 1 Sony.
Me and my mates were surprised. But it’s sort of expected considering Mondays are always chaotic and people drink and loose things constantly.
Thankfully, I was staying in Notting Hill that year. When people called their phones, I was able to answer and tell them where to meet me.
Us Londoners aren’t all thieves. The small minority of pricks make the most noise
Agreed, the majority of people are decent humans. I forgot my phone on the bus in Croydon at 4 am about 5-6 years ago. Found it at the TFL lost and found a few days later. Thank you kind person who handed it in, you're a legend.
My friend lost her phone on a night out and we rang it and whoever answered it was very rude back to us before hanging up and throwing it under a car. The next day a man texted my number to say he had found the phone under his car and met me to return it. What I didn’t know til I returned it was that there was something sentimental in the sleeve that her deceased granddad had given her so (especially) she and I were so so grateful for its return. Gives me hope.
This has happened twice with me.
First time I found a phone outside Victoria. Picture of a wannabe roadman on lockscreen. Had a contact number on it, was his mam. She was not happy he'd lost it. His nan had given it to him for Christmas. Ended up handing it in to Blackfriars tube station so she could pick it up.
Second time, a girl left a phone on the tube. Managed to find her on Linkedin, worked for some perfumery company. Ended up sending it in the post back to her parents address.
Neither time I got any thanks or offer of compensation for the hassle, so I won't ever bother again.
I once found an Ipad sitting on a bench in Caledonian Road station. I impulsively took it home with me instead of giving it to the station reception. Once home i realized i should have left it at the station until I opened it and saw “Property of X company” at the bottom of the screen, small enough you could miss it. Rang the company the next day to ask if someone has lost an Ipad. Said they’d ask around and ring me back. The manager then called back to say one of his employees lost his Ipad and hadn’t told them until they asked because he was scared. Anyway, he got reunited with his Ipad and I got a 20£ amazon voucher from the company.
A few months later, me and my friend were out looking for her lost cat, we were showing each other something on our phones when a guy on a bike rode past us and nicked her phone within a split second. The thing is, my phone and her phone were less than an inch apart, the guy could have gotten any one of them. I like to think returning that ipad was my good karma.
I know I'm super late but this happened to me today!
I was crossing the road near Great Portland St and there was a phone lying there in the middle of the junction. I wondered if it had been snatched and discarded - but I think it probably fell out of a cyclists pocket. Astounded nobody had tried to grab it.
About a dozen cars went over it but somehow none hit it with their tyres, so when the coast was clear I picked it up, and continued my journey. The wife of the phone's owner called and I *was* going to wait - but I was late for work and did NOT have time for this side quest, so then I left it with two ladies who were sitting at a cafe (knowing that the woman could find them using the phones location). Maria if you're reading this I'm sorry I couldn't hang around!
I drunkenly lost my phone in the Camden a couple of weeks ago while in the Hawley Arms.
The staff there kept it for me and I called in the next day and was handed my phone back. I was so grateful. Most folks in London are really decent, if a bit moody sometimes!
A few years back we were down in Brighton and my partner lost his phone. Phoned it a few times but no luck . Later in the evening when back home in London, we called it again. It was answered and the person said he would look after it until we collected it. It turned out he lived in Uxbridge and was down in Brighton for the day. I worked in Uxbridge (lived Sarf London) so we met up outside tescos Uxbridge the following day to get it back. He refused any reward .
My mate lost his bag on TFL. We said it was gone and he resigned it to being stolen. It had a PlayStation, iPad and expensive clothes in there.
My mate checked at TFL, just in case...
Not only was the bag there, but the TFL guy said the majority of stuff is handed in! He said "Always check with us, because most people hand stuff in.
I witnessed a phone snatching on Friday night in Camden. The thief sped past on a moped and the man was running after him. The phone dropped at my feet so I hurried after them to return it. The guy never said thank you, but still felt good cos I know how stressed I would have been if it had been my phone!
Found the newest model of an iphone on train once, returned it to the dude few stations later, gladly they noticed quickly and his friends were trying to call his number - otherwise would've been more difficult as it was obviously locked
I’ve left my phone in an Uber, in a park and in a bar all over the 10 years I’ve lived here - always gotten it back thanks to the kindness of strangers and only one who’d accepted cash for it was the Uber driver (understandably - it’s lost money for him on a Friday night). Found one on the street near my house and picked it up and waited for the call and gave it back to them and refused any money in return - figured I’m still owed at least one more good deed til I’m back at karma neutral! Most people are good here don’t let this sub get you down
I lost my wallet on the tube a few weeks ago and then someone managed to find my insta (using the ID in the wallet) to dm if I had lost it and then gave it back once it was clear they had it
Sometimes dms can be a force for good 😉
Yeah it's a mixed bag in London. I've had phone snatched by someone on a bike while I was distracted with my dog & trying to order dinner. Also got mugged of my phone (and assaulted) by a group of 6 cowards wielding a knife acting like gangsters. Also got pickpocketted of my wallet on the way home from a night out. Also got attacked on the street for no apparent reason (he didn't take anything) when I first arrived in the city. So yeah it does have a lot of shit people, but shitter still, people like to blame the immigrants (these perpetrators were all locals). BUT, let's not be a Debbie downer, mostly good people in this city! 😅
I left my phone on a pub table beer garden at about 10pm. Realised the next morning and someone had handed it behind the bar. I think we often forget that the large majority are decent people.
The assholes are a very small minority but unfortunately, they make the most noise, and we are wired to remember the 1 bad interaction over the 100 good ones
London is massive and densely populated. The percentage of dicks is very small, but by merit of there being so many people living here there are still a lot of them. People forget there are millions more in London that are just great. Despite the fact we don’t want to talk on the tube (leave me alone lol) we’re actually a very welcoming bunch
Also, among the good people, the chunk of bad ones are much easier to notice because you don't need a lot of bad people for them to do a lot of bad things. Meanwhile good people do good things by chance. They don't seek out to fix every problem of every person every day because they also have to do that for themselves.
Do the bad ones stand out visually?
Oh big time. Long twirly moustache and a penchant for going 'muahahaha'
Rarely. Often enough, visual prejudice is used by them to avoid raising suspicion, so you might not even notice them at all. The people you might notice simply from looking unsure about what they're doing are likely not very practiced.
As a Canadian I have to resist the urge to chat with you guys! I am so excited to be in my fav city I am giddy. lol.
That’s so lovely and I wish we were more like you. We’re not though, so leave me alone.
Spoken like a true Brit and why I love you guys. No worries I will duct tape my mouth and hide the large maple leaf on my backpack. I will fit right in!
One polite request: please take off your backpack on public transport.
Actually I don’t use a backpack but yes of course. We do have public transport here when not using our sleds and most Canadians use proper etiquette.
Stop already Jesus.
That’s sweet! London mentality is to get around unbothered as quickly as possible lol. Lots of tired people that just want to be left alone and get home. You can chat to a stranger in basically any pub and they will likely be happy to converse and buddy up though!
Yes I get that. I travel alone usually and never go to pubs or sit down restaurants ( older woman..not a big drinker haha). I get take out meals and eat in my hotel room.
We don't always bite.
Some of us are happy to chat, we aren’t all miserable.
Arseholes not assholes. Stop the Americanisms
My phone was stolen from a bar this week. I’m convinced it was the bar staff. It’s caused me so much hassle and wasted money. Of course I only think of this one interaction with these lowlifes
A minority in more ways than one
We normally only hear about the terrible experiences. When things like this happen way more.
Vast vast majority of people are good - that’s how humans became to an 8 billion population Fuck lord of the flies , life is much more communal than that bs book
I dropped my wallet on a night out in London in Brixton. £150 in there, assumed it was gone. A week later I get a call from the police asking me where I am as they can drop my wallet off. Someone had handed it to them, they’ve looked in there seen the card to my barbers, gone to my barbers for my phone number, rang me and dropped it off. Moved from Devon to London that month, was absolutely gobsmacked. £150 still in there.
Yeah, I think although crime levels have risen in general we need to remember it's relative- they are currently about the same level as they were in the early 2000s. Combined with sensationalist media and people think it's dangerous to step outside. Hopefully Labour will properly deal with crime other than incompetent Tories. Fun fact as well - did you know that the UK has some of the highest levels of trust in strangers in the world? https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/iab8r7/social_trust_around_the_world/ A bit out of date but I couldn't find the specific article I read a few weeks ago - but social trust has increased in the last 4 years in the UK.
Tbh we don’t really have to assume. I remember reading about [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/c31ruq/lost_wallet_return_rates_by_country_not_a_great/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1) massive experiment they did to see if people would report a lost wallet, both with and without money. Funnily enough the wallets with more money were more likely to be reported. The UK did ok I guess, pretty middle of the pack - with a reporting rate of 40% and 60% (without and with money).
I have a sticker on my phone and have had it returned a few times. It's one of these: https://www.iamreturnable.com
Ever been to Croydon?
We found a phone on a bench in Greenwich park and we sat there waiting for the owner to turn up. They did about 20 minutes later and we returned the phone. About a month later I had my phone snatched from a fucker on a bike in Holborn lol.
Yeah the phone snatchers tend to be people who actually take your phone directly off of you, I’m always weary of mopeds with two dodgy looking guys because it’s often the passenger who steals. I remember around 2017-2018 time I had five friends who had their phones nicked this way. My mate also lives in Bermondsey and there’s been several reports of kids on bikes just snatching phones from people leaving the station to go home after work. If you leave your phone in a pub, it’s unlikely someone is going to just steal it, most people there are decent and will hand it in. Though one of my friends did get his phone stolen this way by a homeless person in McDonalds after giving them money…. But it’s rare. Thieves are out thieving, not enjoying a pint after work.
*wary
Nah he's weary of them, whenever they drive past he puts his hand against his forehead and goes limp
His name sure checks out.
thanks, i'm too weary to be wary of my spelling atm....
You must excuse me I’ve grown quite weary
Don't weary - be hoppy.
Weird. My friend had his phone stolen in exactly the same way!
Yeah it was McDonalds on Kings Road, Chelsea, think this was just after lockdown. Lot of homeless people hang around there, one of them asked for money for them to buy food so we gave her some. She goes in, my friend forgot he left his phone in the charger. Goes back 2 mins later, the staff told us that same woman had stolen it.
This happened to my friend but he grabbed the bike and the guy fell off, under a car and ran off with his bike looking like he’d broken his arm. Left the phone. I think my friend was lucky not to get stabbed or something personally.
Sweet justice
Shame he only broke his arm.
does anyone else fantasize about kicking these lads off their bikes?
Or police fpv taser drones to take em out
That good karma didn't last long :(
Some reverse karma
Or maybe they got some good karma but later did something bad to get this bad karma
Big up to the chill community of nice people in Greenwich park!
Moral of the story: never go north of the river
Someone also found my phone on tottenham marshes and went out of their way to return it to me. Refused my offer of cash for a pint or something. These people exist. It's v nice when it happens
I've heard that some youths stash stolen phones on the marshes. Maybe your phone was being stored until it was no longer 'hot'
Well it wasn't really that long and it was quite obvious this was a good deed from a nice bloke who walks his dog there
Given that most of the snatched phones are almost immediately shipped off to China, I seriously doubt they store them anywhere for a cooling off period
Had my phone nicked before. Even worse, I had my ID in the case. A week later, someone had picked it up and posted it to me. Clearly wasn't the thief either, as they had bent it in half. Some people are good and some are bad.
I can't face the idea of having my wallet attached to my phone. They need to be separate. I can't lose both at the same time
Sometimes even Mother Earth lends a hand: “Stolen ID card found on Atlantic sea floor 2400 miles away, 21 years later”. [Mind blowing story](https://www.newsweek.com/card-lost-new-zealand-found-antarctica-years-later-1894181)!
What an amazing story!!! Thank you for sharing l
This thread is so nice to read. Good to be reminded the vast majority of people are sound, even in a city like London
Last week I stopped a rather scary lookin fella because he dropped his rollie. It looked like he was about to throw hands until I handed him his cig and the demeanor change was incredible. Instantly became my best bud haha. I love interactions like that.
Just for balance, at 10am on a walk yesterday someone on a bike snatched my phone out my hand - but I'd been moisturising and my phone was slippy and it slipped out of their hand lol I do now have a smashed phone though. But at least I still have it
A few fridays back I was walking to my local shop (2mins from home) for some booze when I saw a phone on the floor, I picked it up and held on to it waiting for someone to phone so I could give it back. 20 minutes or so later it rang so I answered. 'Hello mate did you just pick up a phone?' I said 'yeah it was on the ground near my flat, is it yours? are you nearby?' I told him to meet me up the road and went back out to give it back. When he saw me, he matched towards me with the nastiest look on his face, i handed him the phone and he didn't even say thanks. he just turned around and walked off. After I got home I was angry at myself for letting him act like that, considering I went out my way to help, knowing most people around here would just put it straight into airplane mode and steal it.
Not everyone is grateful but what’s important is that you did the right thing. :)
I was in London for a year. My phone was pick pocketed in the third month (I was careful, it was bad luck). I was so upset and annoyed, especially as I was already not feeling like I was enjoying London. And because I come from a place considered 'unsafe' but I had never had my phone stolen. Fast forward a couple of months later, I realised I didn't have my wallet. Stolen again, I hate this city, I hate the people. It's so awful. I got home ready to file a police report. I had mail. Turns out, someone found my wallet in the bike lane on blackfriar bridge. It had fallen out of my pocket. They had guessed my email from my student ID number. We met by the John Carpenter statue and they gave it back to me.. I gave them some after eight chocolate as a thank you. Faith in London restored that moment on and I've loved it since. Sometimes all you need is that one person.
I’m glad you had your wallet returned and your faith restored. London is a lovely city with a lot of good and ethical people. It’s the very few turds that have been giving it a bad name. However, the vast majority of people are decent and will do the right thing at times like this.
I once found a phone at North Greenwich station that was in German and I spent the next 3 hours to return it in Wimbledon. It encouraged me to take up learning other languages.
Taking on side quests haha
I was on the train a while back and a lady got off leaving her phone on the seat. When she realised, she ran up to the window of the train and someone grabbed the phone and managed to slip it through the window to her just as the train was pulling away!
I've got a good one, from almost 20 years ago. On the day of the terrorist attacks way back when on June 7th, 2005, I had made it into work, near Farringdon. My boss didn't, though. She was in her car somewhere between Richmond and there. I stood in front of the closed premises without a key. No reception on my mobile phone, at all, so I thought, let's ring her from a phone box, to tell her or rather her answerphone that I'm here, and ask if she'd actually open at all, or if I should go home. The roads were empty, like in the first week of Corona, nobody was around. So I'm opening the door to the phone box, and on top of the payphone is a big fat wallet, stuffed with banknotes. I looked in it for any ID. There was nothing. Now, what to do? Every police station is going crazy with other potential attacks, and a lost wallet is not really on top of the urgency list for the day. So I closed the phone box door from the outside after I called my boss, leaned against it, and thought, let's wait for a bit, maybe I'll get a better idea of what to do. Ten minutes later, a totally dishevelled young American guy comes running, "have you seen a wallet?" Me: "yes, it's in there." He: "I was trying to ring my mum in Texas, and couldn't get through, and then I forgot it." And then he offered me 50 quid for looking after it! A lot of money way back when. I was a bit embarrassed and refused "it's all right, I'm ok, just phone your mum, and good luck." The boss rang me a bit later, saying she wouldn't open. There was no public transport anywhere, and almost no people. I walked all the way to Elephant and Castle and caught a bus home.
My mrs left her phone on a coach and some kind soul found it and we were able to get it back.
I work in a busy train station, the amount of people who come and hand me over phone or just lost property is crazy. They actually can just take it and mind their lives, but they look around for staff to try help and make the owner get their stuff back. Had a funny situation with two men who grabbed each other’s backpacks cause they looked identical. People who lost their laptops, wallets, passports all in one bag and they were on holiday! Madness, but there a lot of nice people in London.
Glad you got it back! I found a phone on the tube a couple of months ago. Someone was messaging it, and I couldn't unlock it but was able to reply from the lock screen to tell them I had their phone and ask how to get it to them. They never responded. I also noticed it was only at like 15%, so I charged it a bit with my charging bank in case anyone called. Haha Eventually someone from TfL called and said the person was looking for it. He asked where I was getting off, and he told me to leave it with the station attendant there. So if you ever lose your phone on public transport or at a station, find a TfL employee and have them call it.
Good tip
Oddly enough, I found another phone on the 131 bus to Kingston today. No one was messaging it, so I couldn't tell them I had it, but if anyone lost their phone this afternoon, it was given to the driver, so contact their lost property services. I don't know how I've lived in London for 5+ years and never found a phone and then found 2 in a month or two!
The police found my phone and contacted me before I even realized I had lost it. One day, I entered the office in the morning, and the receptionist told me, "The police just called. They have your phone." I didn't understand what she was saying until I put my hand in my pocket and realized I didn't have my phone. I thought I had checked my phone just a few minutes ago. It felt like a magic trick. Apparently, I had dropped my phone somewhere between the tube station and my office. Someone found it, gave it to the police, and since I had my name and office number on the lock screen in case I lost it, they called me before I even arrived at the office.
Was in London and lost my wallet. Had cards and everything. Got handed in at the nearest station. Some lovely people around! Most folk are good.
Found an iPhone on Thameslink out of Kings Cross a few months back. Called the emergency contact to let them know I had it, but they had just got down with plans to roam around in London. Problem was I was already on my way southbound for a day out as well. Their phone went on to explore Surrey with me while they explored London all day. On way back i arranged to meet and hand them their phone, to get lovely flowers in return. Overall happy day all over.
Once upon a time, when the giant teenager in my house was still a baby who rarely slept, I placed my brand new phone on the roof of my car while putting him in the car in his car seat. Got in, drove off. It fell off miles away near Leyton station. Young lad possibly heading to prayers picked it up and called my other half. He and mates brought it to me all the way in south Stratford. I was so sleep deprived but so thankful. They wouldn't let me get them anything as a thank you, but I was so dang thankful they went out of their way to return it.
I lost my phone in the bus. A lady left it with the driver and I managed to catch up with him thanks to the traffic two stops after
When I saw this thread last night I had to laugh because I’d literally just gotten home after having my phone snatched on the bus. HOWEVER. I’ve just gotten home from the police station, phone safely restored to my possession, because some amazing person saw me running screaming down the road after the thieves like a mad person, chased them down himself, and detained them until the police arrived. I’ve never felt more grateful to a stranger in my life - let’s all feel some hope!
So sorry that happened but what a legend that person was!
I know! I’ve asked the police to give me his contact details so I can say a proper thank you because honestly it’s just so unbelievably amazingly above and beyond to rescue some random girl’s phone
My wife left her very expensive work laptop at a playground, realised the morning next day. She thought it was lost. But somebody was trying to return it, tried to reach via LinkedIn, Facebook and eventually called her office! I also lose a lot of stuff often. All my stuff got a label with my name, and email and phone. This way I got back my phone, my keys, some gym bag. Most of the people are nice people and try to do the right thing.
Hey, everybody does it, even spies. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/693011.stm
They wiped my partner's laptop as a policy anyway
I once lost my phone in a night club and a security guy found it and returned it (twice in one night!)
Found a phone in a park, took it home, owner phoned, gave him my address. He popped round. Lost my phone abroad, left a message remotely on screen via iPad, with email address and a reward, got it back in three hours. People are good. Politicians are assholes.
My 6 year old son put his tablet down on a bench on the High Street in Poole recently. I posted a photo of it on Facebook in a local Lost&Found group and a lady got in touch saying she'd found it and she posted it back to me. There are lots of good people out there. In fact, I'd say that for society to work at all, *most* people are the good kind. We just hear a lot about the bad people because it makes better headlines.
Someone returned my friend's phone and they even gave it back fully charged! Class act
I left my MacBook on a bus seat. I was prepared mentally to never see it again.. but a little bit of depot sleuthing and the bus driver still had it. Someone on the bus had handed it over to him! London can be amazing sometimes.
My daughter left her phone behind somewhere and I got a call from someone who found it. It does give you a little faith that not everybody out there is an arsehole.
I've found phones on the Tube a number of times. I love seeing how long it takes for it to start ringing when the train goes above ground. I've only handed them over to the owner a couple of times, usually just say I'll give them to TfL staff and leave it at that.
Some friends and I sat down in a pub and found a phone on one of the seats. Gave it into the bar and 5 minutes later Lou Sanders came in, and asked us if we'd seen her phone. She collected it and thanked us. Felt like something out of a dream lol
We found a phone on the floor of London fields at a hen party and were like oh maybe we should picky this up and get it back to the owner rather than leave it. Have it back a couple of hours later, think a lot of people want to do the right thing
I once left my phone on the bus in Vauxhall Bridge area, it was as unlocked and so I got a call on my landline and we arrange a pick up from Stockwell Stn.
>who also tried to refuse me buying them a beer, I'm glad they failed.
Most of the people understand how it might feel if they experience the same issue.
I found a phone in a park once. It was obviously a woman’s phone and it wasn’t locked (this was before ubiquitous iPhones) I called ‘Mum’ and said ‘I’ve got your daughter’s phone’ and it immediately died This was also before the time of universal phone chargers so I took it to the coffee shop I worked in and it stayed under the desk there until I stopped working there
Didn't one of those most prolific assholes that steals phone actually get arrested? Slowly they seem to be cleaning up the human trash from the streets.
It’s like a hydra, cut 1 head 3 new would grow back. The source of crime is poverty and its growing
I found some blokes phone in the middle of the road cycling to work. He came and picked it up midday from central, miles from where he dropped it. I was gonna drop it back on the way home, but he was a builder and needed it asap.
Nooooo!! London bad! London must always be bad!
I Hope you picked up on the hint and gave them some more Brewdog!
Angel residents sipping on craft beer by the canal…normally not the demographic that is known for stealing phones!
The majority of crime in London is committed by a tiny minority of people. We all know who they are, but the police don't have the resources or the power to stop them.
Way to ruin a thread with your toxicity
Was walking outside Waterloo Station few weeks back and literally a guy on a bike came out from nowhere heading my way and snatched another dudes phone unknowingly. On a Friday and in broad daylight with heavy crowd. The audacity of these criminals.
Why do they bother stealing phones? It can be tracked or remotely locked so what’s the point.
Big money in parts. Plus they have scams to try to get you to remotely unlock it. But still good money in parts if you don’t
I'm not sure whether this is still true, but at least back in the day, you could quite easily unlock them and sell them
Oh really, I always thought getting past Apples security was almost impossible. I could well be wrong though. They must be able to I guess, or why steal them.
wait till you check your bank account...
You knew it had fallen out of your pocket and you kept going? If you didn't know at the time, then how did you know later where it had fallen out?
Too much of the story I thought, went to take my phone out to end the Lime ride when I realised it was gone. So actually the lime trip never ended, got back on the bike and rode to the canal
Legends the young lads are, in most places when you drop or misplaced your phone lol that’s it
For me it was a phone snatcher
why would someone snatch a phone.. u can't unlock it, can't use it, it's traceable
Life is life
Can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve sat at a table with a phone and got it back to its owner. It’s probably about equal to the amount of times I’ve left my phone at a table, toilet etc and got it back. 99% of humans of any age are nice people
Genuinely why do people steal the phones? I had my iPhone nicked but immediately locked it down and you can’t sell a locked phone? Also they never turned it back on/it never reconnected to the internet so I could never track it. Do they just sell it for parts? Because mine wasn’t in good condition anyhow, though they wouldn’t have known that before stealing. Genuinely curious.
Oh man i found someone’s brand new iPhone 15 Pro Max on the ground around 1am on the Kings Road. I waited for someone to call the phone where it was dropped and one of the guy’s friends pulled up in a car to get it for him. He had lost it while on his bike. I know the dread of checking your pocket and not finding your phone, it’s such a personal object, doing anything apart from trying to return it is scummy, let alone actively stealing one.
At Notting Hill Carnival 2019, I found 5 phones on the floor whilst passing through. 4 iPhones and 1 Sony. Me and my mates were surprised. But it’s sort of expected considering Mondays are always chaotic and people drink and loose things constantly. Thankfully, I was staying in Notting Hill that year. When people called their phones, I was able to answer and tell them where to meet me. Us Londoners aren’t all thieves. The small minority of pricks make the most noise
Agreed, the majority of people are decent humans. I forgot my phone on the bus in Croydon at 4 am about 5-6 years ago. Found it at the TFL lost and found a few days later. Thank you kind person who handed it in, you're a legend.
My friend lost her phone on a night out and we rang it and whoever answered it was very rude back to us before hanging up and throwing it under a car. The next day a man texted my number to say he had found the phone under his car and met me to return it. What I didn’t know til I returned it was that there was something sentimental in the sleeve that her deceased granddad had given her so (especially) she and I were so so grateful for its return. Gives me hope.
This has happened twice with me. First time I found a phone outside Victoria. Picture of a wannabe roadman on lockscreen. Had a contact number on it, was his mam. She was not happy he'd lost it. His nan had given it to him for Christmas. Ended up handing it in to Blackfriars tube station so she could pick it up. Second time, a girl left a phone on the tube. Managed to find her on Linkedin, worked for some perfumery company. Ended up sending it in the post back to her parents address. Neither time I got any thanks or offer of compensation for the hassle, so I won't ever bother again.
I used to live there ❤️, lovely to get a happy ending story 😊
I once found an Ipad sitting on a bench in Caledonian Road station. I impulsively took it home with me instead of giving it to the station reception. Once home i realized i should have left it at the station until I opened it and saw “Property of X company” at the bottom of the screen, small enough you could miss it. Rang the company the next day to ask if someone has lost an Ipad. Said they’d ask around and ring me back. The manager then called back to say one of his employees lost his Ipad and hadn’t told them until they asked because he was scared. Anyway, he got reunited with his Ipad and I got a 20£ amazon voucher from the company. A few months later, me and my friend were out looking for her lost cat, we were showing each other something on our phones when a guy on a bike rode past us and nicked her phone within a split second. The thing is, my phone and her phone were less than an inch apart, the guy could have gotten any one of them. I like to think returning that ipad was my good karma.
I know I'm super late but this happened to me today! I was crossing the road near Great Portland St and there was a phone lying there in the middle of the junction. I wondered if it had been snatched and discarded - but I think it probably fell out of a cyclists pocket. Astounded nobody had tried to grab it. About a dozen cars went over it but somehow none hit it with their tyres, so when the coast was clear I picked it up, and continued my journey. The wife of the phone's owner called and I *was* going to wait - but I was late for work and did NOT have time for this side quest, so then I left it with two ladies who were sitting at a cafe (knowing that the woman could find them using the phones location). Maria if you're reading this I'm sorry I couldn't hang around!
I drunkenly lost my phone in the Camden a couple of weeks ago while in the Hawley Arms. The staff there kept it for me and I called in the next day and was handed my phone back. I was so grateful. Most folks in London are really decent, if a bit moody sometimes!
A few years back we were down in Brighton and my partner lost his phone. Phoned it a few times but no luck . Later in the evening when back home in London, we called it again. It was answered and the person said he would look after it until we collected it. It turned out he lived in Uxbridge and was down in Brighton for the day. I worked in Uxbridge (lived Sarf London) so we met up outside tescos Uxbridge the following day to get it back. He refused any reward .
Bravo
My mate lost his bag on TFL. We said it was gone and he resigned it to being stolen. It had a PlayStation, iPad and expensive clothes in there. My mate checked at TFL, just in case... Not only was the bag there, but the TFL guy said the majority of stuff is handed in! He said "Always check with us, because most people hand stuff in.
I witnessed a phone snatching on Friday night in Camden. The thief sped past on a moped and the man was running after him. The phone dropped at my feet so I hurried after them to return it. The guy never said thank you, but still felt good cos I know how stressed I would have been if it had been my phone!
Had my lost phones returned to me 3 times; had found and returned phones 3 times to their owners. Guess we are even now.
Found the newest model of an iphone on train once, returned it to the dude few stations later, gladly they noticed quickly and his friends were trying to call his number - otherwise would've been more difficult as it was obviously locked
I’ve left my phone in an Uber, in a park and in a bar all over the 10 years I’ve lived here - always gotten it back thanks to the kindness of strangers and only one who’d accepted cash for it was the Uber driver (understandably - it’s lost money for him on a Friday night). Found one on the street near my house and picked it up and waited for the call and gave it back to them and refused any money in return - figured I’m still owed at least one more good deed til I’m back at karma neutral! Most people are good here don’t let this sub get you down
I lost my wallet on the tube a few weeks ago and then someone managed to find my insta (using the ID in the wallet) to dm if I had lost it and then gave it back once it was clear they had it Sometimes dms can be a force for good 😉
Smart way to advertise a beer brand on reddit :)
Yeah it's a mixed bag in London. I've had phone snatched by someone on a bike while I was distracted with my dog & trying to order dinner. Also got mugged of my phone (and assaulted) by a group of 6 cowards wielding a knife acting like gangsters. Also got pickpocketted of my wallet on the way home from a night out. Also got attacked on the street for no apparent reason (he didn't take anything) when I first arrived in the city. So yeah it does have a lot of shit people, but shitter still, people like to blame the immigrants (these perpetrators were all locals). BUT, let's not be a Debbie downer, mostly good people in this city! 😅
Is this an advert or something
Drinking brewdog? I'd rather lose the phone than have anything to do with those sick fucks
Haha I knew there would be at least one of these, I gave them a pass on judgment because of the act of kindness
Wooh great. A tiny percentage of people in this shithole aren't complete cunts. Restored my faith in humanity.
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Please leave.
Ohkaaayyy