Stolen IBM T43

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gunston · #1 Post by **gunston** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:35 pm

hi,
my girl friend's 3 months old IBM T43 had been stolen yesterday,
She looks very pitiful and helpless.
what can i do for her?

christopher_wolf · #2 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:45 pm

Do you have the S/N of the T43?

If so, you can inform the aurthorities and look on auction sites for for it.

Model # and any marks on it would help too

Best of luck to you and your Girlfriend, Gunston.

HTH

#3 Post by **jdhurst** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:46 pm

Probably not much.

I use a Hard Drive lock on my machine. At least if it is stolen, the thief has to replace the hard drive, or risk having the machine identified as stolen.
... JD Hurst

gunston · #4 Post by **gunston** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:15 pm

christopher_wolf wrote:Do you have the S/N of the T43?

If so, you can inform the aurthorities and look on auction sites for for it.

Model # and any marks on it would help too

Best of luck to you and your Girlfriend, Gunston.

HTH

Yes, we do have the S/N and P/N of the machine, does that mean the Stolen machine still covered by 3years warranty if the guy encounter any hardware issue of the machine?

christopher_wolf · #5 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:27 pm

gunston wrote:
christopher_wolf wrote:Do you have the S/N of the T43?

If so, you can inform the aurthorities and look on auction sites for for it.

Model # and any marks on it would help too

Best of luck to you and your Girlfriend, Gunston.

HTH
Yes, we do have the S/N and P/N of the machine, does that mean the Stolen machine still covered by 3years warranty if the guy encounter any hardware issue of the machine?

Well, not sure about this, but you can inform IBM of that. Perhaps they will refuse service to them or something along those lines.

yossarian · #6 Post by **yossarian** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:43 pm

Make sure you report the serial number of the machine to both IBM Service Centre and the police.

It's not enough to just tell the police because sometimes they forget to tell IBM.

The advantage of telling IBM is if the thief or unsuspecting buyer of the stolen machine tries to take the machine in for servicing they will detain the laptop and their fraud dept will launch an investigation. Make sure you leave your details with IBM too so they know how to contact you.

#7 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 1:41 am

the important thing is to report to the local police right away..
with serial number..

then ibm/lenovo so they can hold the thinkpad if it ever comes in for service..

DIGITALgimpus · #8 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:49 am

I've posted this before, but worth repeating:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171617,00.html

Report it to police, and to IBM/Lenovo support. It can help. Especially if your using the password protection stuff.

brainpicker · #9 Post by **brainpicker** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 1:17 pm

All the advice given here was good stuff. It really helps. TWICE I bought a stolen laptop off eBay (which is a reason why I don't like to buy there anymore, AND it took 4 months to remove the sellers!!!). Each time the warranty was good during the auction as it wasn't reported to IBM by the rightful owner. Big mistake. The police got around to it AFTER I bought each laptop, so when I called IBM I wasn't getting the usual help I'm used to. Of course the 2nd time around I had already been through this experience so I laughingly asked THEM if I was getting the run-around because the laptop was flagged as stolen. Then the fun of having the police come to your home and calling the credit card company begins! On the buying end... Never buy a laptop using PayPal alone no matter WHAT they tell you! Always use a credit card through PayPal for real protection (or use an escrow service like the one offered by Bill Morrow). And if your Thinkpad is stolen report it to IBM right after calling the police!

It might also help posting it here too. Any Mod think a sticky for stolen Thinkpads is a good idea? Hell, we buy enough of them and know others too! The rightful owner could give a brief description including model and serial numbers, and would have to also state the law enforcement office they reported it to along with the law office phone number & case number as proof that it was stolen. We could even keep track of the number of laptops recovered, you know, like America's Most Wanted does

Any feedback on this?

- Yak

Website · #10 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:51 pm

I too think that it would be a great idea to post the model/serial numbers in s sticky here, as long as it is controlled. For example, lock the thread so that only Mods/Admins can make changes. This way there is no on going chatter about experiences. More like a single post that gets edited everytime that there is something to add.

Example:

Model# Type# Serial# Status
T21 2647-4BU 78-xxxxx Stolen
T21 2647-4AU 78-aaaaa Recovered

Then the mods can have their own thread in the MOD forum with contact information for the original owner (so that it isn't posted in the open). Then hopefully our kindly mods will contact the original owner (via email) with the "finders" information. The the Thinkpad and the Original Owner will be reunited.

I'd be willing to help if needed.

#11 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:28 pm

not a bad idea..
though it is going to take some clerical effort..

we can start with this T43..

and we should have a scan of the original sales invoice in an archive or at least something that can be verified..

sambocaesar · #12 Post by **sambocaesar** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:23 am

Also, the police report is mandatory to make an insurance claim; that is, if you have homeowner's or renter's insurance. It should be covered by most all insurers, but really depends on the insurer. I had new laptop that I sold thru Yahoo .. like a dumba$$, I ignored all of the fraud signs, and shipped it overseas. The credit card they used was stolen, so I thought I was out the cost, until I inquired with my claims adjuster. It was covered, so I got most of my money, less the deductible. I'm glad I thought to ask.

munna · #13 Post by **munna** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:27 pm

I'm curious. If i were to buy a thinkpad from ebay, how could i tell if it was not stolen before purchasing it, assuming that the seller gave me an accurate serial number.

ThinkPad · #14 Post by **ThinkPad** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:44 pm

Wow that is very sad. Care to share the details of where and possibly how it was stolen?

#15 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:51 pm

first, make sure that the sellers ebay account has not been hijacked, then look at the feedback..

then use your common sense..

understand that there is no free lunch..

watch out for the sure signs of a crook..

i have seen more than a few really slick scams on ebay and elsewhere but they all will fail one or more of my personal "checks"..

SIMON L · #16 Post by **SIMON L** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:44 pm

Wish you get it back, especially the HD.
Anyway, the data in the HD is much more valuable than the notebook.

#17 Post by **underclocker** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:43 pm

Well, at least it's good to hear that IBM does something once the laptops are reported stolen.

Sorry about the loss. Theft is another excellent reason to back up data.

Stolen IBM T43

Stolen IBM T43

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