PhoneTalk

Recently, I rented a car and was on my way to return it at the airport. Seeing as I review cell phones, I always like to put them to the test whenever possible. In this situation, I didn't remember how to get to the airport so I decided to use the GPS service in the LG enV Touch that I had on me. The GPS service had a hard time locating the airport in the search, but it did find several other locations on the same street, so I simply selected that option. The directions were great - even gave me a shortcut to get through traffic. Once I was in the vicinity and started seeing the signs for the airport, I ended the application (it drains the battery a bit too fast for my tastes) and threw the cell phone on the front passenger seat. As far as I was concerned it was smooth sailing from there. Until I realized I had 45 minutes to return the car, board the rental car shuttle to the airport, check-in and get through security in time to board the flight.

After pulling into the rental car return parking lot, I checked out, grabbed my bags and ran for the bus. It wasn't until I got on the bus that I realized I had left the cell phone in the car. Gasp! I decided the wheels were in motion - literally. Thankfully, I had other cell phones with me in order to call the rental location. I know that's not the case for everyone, but the check-in counter has a phone that they would have allowed me to use. After spending 5 minutes calling the wrong 800 number on the envelope of the rental agreement, I looked deeper and found that I needed to call the number on the actual agreement. That's the number to the local office. Here's a tip: Call the number on the rental agreement and ask for lost and found. Through this method, I was able to inform them of the lost cell phone and get a direct number to call the next day.

Thankfully, in that time my cell phone battery died so I knew my information on the device was secure. I knew this because when i landed I called my number and it went right to voice mail. Next step: call Lost and Found. They had found the phone and are sending it back to me (at my expense). Here's another helpful tip: If you ever worry about the information on a cell phone set a lock code for the phone. This feature is available on most smartphones out-of-the-box.

All and all, if you lose a cell phone, best bet is to call the phone first. You might just get lucky. If not, retrace your steps and chances are you might just find it. Of course, you can always use a service like YouGetItBack for a different kind of insurance. It all helps, but the thing to really think about is how important is your cell phone to you? Have a story and tips to share? Post a comment below.

Topics: Phone Smarts Verizon Wireless Customer service LG GPS