Lyft, Lies, and Lost Phones

The Incident: A Night Out Gone Wrong

Okay. So, I left my phone in the Lyft after going to a party in Harlem, New York. I went home, got out the lyft, and noticed as I entered my space that I didn't have my phone. So, I quickly telephoned a friend who was still at the party in Harlem to inquire about the whereabouts of the phone and he said he didn't see it but that he will ask the owner of the club to ask where it is. I decided fi drop a sleep and wait until the morning fi see wah gwaan. Meanwhile, before I go to sleep too, I message Lyft to ask about the phone and to see if they can get in contact with the driver and they are so unresponsive. They didn't reply to me for a while. Then, the next day when I'm in class I text my friend on iMessage on my computer and ask him fi check di phone location. So, he replied back to me and told me that my phone location says it's in the Bronx in some apartments on Kingsbridge Ave. Him gimme di address and a seh it deh inna one apartment building pon di right side.

II. The Hunt Begins: First Clue - Kingsbridge, Bronx

So mi guh up deh so and, because I don't know where specifically the phone is (the apartment number), I have to knock on every single door. So a dat mi do. Mi knock on di wul a di door dem and discover that everyone is Dominican and a speak Spanish (I also speak Spanish). I knock on the first door and a woman answers by saying "Quién es?" I respond saying, in my Dominican accent, "Hola, me llamo Langston. Ayer perdí mi móvil en una discoteca y quería saber si Ud. lo ha encontrado pork la ubicación dice que está aquí." That woman replies saying "Aquí no, aquí no." Same thing happens for the rest of the doors. Now yuh kno seh mi get ignorant and gwaan bad. Cuz where is the fucking phone? Then, I'm like smh I'm going to go back home cah mi cyaah badda. But then, as I have my computer with me, I decided to check the phone location on my computer again via the screenshot I took from my friend, and see that the address matches the address of an abandoned church. But, nonetheless, because my friend told me it's in an apartment, I believed and went with that. Memba seh mi nuh have nuh intanet enuh? So, mi haffi just go off wah him did a tell mi. Anyway, at that moment two things go through my mind - (1) either the phone is in the church or (2) the Lyft driver left the phone in his car and parked in front of the abandoned church but lives in one of the apartment buildings. Anyway, I got class that same day so I go. When I reach back home, mi text mi fren and him tell mi seh di phone deh a di next building pon di left NOT the right. A tru seh di man a Jamaican too enuh so wi a chat and a chat and a gwaan bad. But then, mi guh back up deh so and a guh a di building pon di left and do the same ting weh mi did a do earlier - knocking on all the doors and asking where the phone is.

III. The Misdirection: A Church, Not an Apartment

They were all Dominican too and none of them had the phone. So now mi a tink weh it deh. Mi seh mi a guh look around weh di church deh. Mi guh a school cah dem a seh dat a di entrance a di church. So mi aks one man how fi go in and him tell mi seh mi haffi guh in straight and make a left. A dat mi do and di woman seh "this is an elementary school, not a church. You got to go around to get into the church." Mi a struggle tpc. So, I'm walking all over the place looking how to get into the church because there is a lock on the outside. So, eventually I just decide fi aks one person fi mek mi guh inna e place a one deli and him tell mi weh fi guh cah him used to do delivery. Him tek off e lock and mek mi guh in deh. So, I enter a red door and it did dark. Very dark and mi cyaah find a light. Anyway, I use flashlight and light from my computer to safely navigate the space. It very dark and mi a walk slow go in fi look fi di phone and mi cyaah find it. Mi check closet, bathroom, stage, inna e box dem, confessional, and di rest a di place. To my dismay, no phone. So mi a tink now - weh di fuck a di phone? But memba seh mi very determined and persistent fi get back di phone.

IV. Frustration with Lyft & Taking the Fight Online

Eventually after this, I decide to leave and go home fi contact Lyft again and demand where the phone is. When mi reach home now, dem a come around and a seh "Oh, I noticed you had a great ride with your driver Hector." Mi seh "No, not really. Cuz I lost my phone." Den dem a come around a tell mi seh dem a guh look into the situation and do the best they can do to get back the phone. No response so mi follow up wid dem and dem still unresponsive so again mi get ignorant. Memba seh mi a Jamaican so mi gwaan bad. After this, I decide to tag Lyft in a post on Twitter requesting/demanding them to assist me in finding my phone. No reply. But then, I also message them on Instagram demanding the same thing. The Lyft on Instagram were very helpful and let me know that the driver Hector gave the phone to the 50th Precinct in Kingsbridge Ave, in the Bronx, New York, to an Officer Dupree #2674.

V. The Precinct Debacle

By the way, I was in class when they responded to me and after my class was done, I immediately went to the Precinct where they told me "So, we can't find the phone. I don't have it." I was very pissed cah memba enuh. Mi nuh live close. Mi live a midtown and dem tell mi seh di phone deh a di bronx - kingsbridge. Dat a 1 hour pon di train. Deep!!!! So then, I was very pissed cah di woman tell mi seh mi haffi come back a different day when Officer Dupree a work and she nuh even kno har. So, anyway mi jussa cut and call back di next day. Mi call and one woman come pon di phone wid one nasty attitude yuh see? So mi guh off pon har bloodclaat and a class har. And den mi hang up. But then mi call back a di same Precinct and one nice woman come pon di phone and mi explain di situation and she seh "let me check." She gaan and a check weh di phone did deh and a tell mi seh she track di phone and di phone is at Bronx Criminal Court with the Lost property clerk in the basement.

VI. Bronx Criminal Court Drama

So listen nuh? Mi guh up deh so fi look di phone and when mi reach tell mi why di man seh "we're closed." Di way mi did vex now. Cah di Bronx Criminal Court deh near Yankee Stadium stop pon di train. Di man did have one likkle attitude and act like seh a lie mi a tell when mi tell him seh di Precinct track di phone and dat di phone deh. Him seh "If the phone is really here, ...", "If the phone is here as you say, ...." "Again, if the phone is really here." Yo, di way mi did class him cho. And di woman back a him. Yes, a true seh mi vex and a gwaan real bad. Den one likkle white woman come in who was visiting her cousin who was arrested a few hours earlier, come around and a see wah gwaan and try calm mi dung and deescalate the situation. She seh "Calm down, calm down. What's the issue." Mi tell har wah gwaan and seh aks di man "What can we do for this young man to help him get back his phone?" Now, the man very calm and neutral in him tone and a seh "We are open Mondays - Fridays from 9am-2:30pm ET." So, mi seh thanks and cut. Di next day or two days later mi nuh really memba mi seh mi a guh show up a half hour before so mi cyaah be di first one fi go in and be in and out. Mi nuh waan deh fi so long. So mi reach a 8:30am ET and mi ready fi guh a 9am ET and tell mi why mi neva reach a di counter until 11am ET. A 2 hours mi did haffi wait. It was crazy. Very unorganized and terrible.

But when a my turn now, mi guh up a di counter and a explain di situation to di woman and she seh when you lose the phone? Mi seh "A few days ago." She seh she need a date. Mi seh "try the 12th of March or the 13th." First, she tried the 13th and she said no phone. Den mi tell har fi check the 12th and she find di phone and that it was delivered to the Criminal Court by Officer Dupree. The phone was that exactly described by me. But, despite that, the woman refused to give my phone because she said she cannot confirm and verify that the phone is mine because I (1) don't have a voucher to get the phone returned to me and (2) the voucher that she printed out to give me said the officer put "unknown owner" and "unknown finder." Now, take a second and really look pon dis. Why did Lyft driver guh a 50th Precinct fi hand di phone in and not give him name nor the owner of di phone? You have my identity and name on the Lyft app. Why yuh neva check it fi look mi name? And why didn't you give them your name? Nonsense and just dunce. Anyway, she give me the voucher and she seh mi haffi guh back a di 50th Precinct fi have dem update di voucher fi reflect seh di phone a mine and mi a di owner. When mi tell yuh mi vex, mi vex. Cah dis a one Monday too enuh and lucky mi did pon Spring Break a di time yah so mi did have di time.

VII. Final Attempt: Bureaucracy at its Worst

So, mi guh back a di Precinct right after di nonsense and explain di situation to di woman. The woman tell mi she cannot update the voucher because she don't got the phone here with her so she cannot verify seh a mine. I'm telling her this and that what dem tell mi and she say she a guh call dem. A one black woman too enuh. She did nice mi nah lie. So, she call back di Bronx Criminal Court and a seh "You all don't do what we do when an alleged owner comes looking for their lost property? You don't verify it in some way or whatever?" Di two a dem a guh back and forth an a argue bout the proper protocol and policy about handing in lost property. Anyway, the black lady propose a solution "Is it possible for you to transfer the phone back here so we can return the phone to him?" They say yes but den she tell mi fi wait fi check wid har supervisor. After discussing with her supervisor, she come out and a tell mi "So, under usual circumstances, we would just tell you there's nothing we can do. But, I spoke with the people at the Bronx Criminal Court and they said they can transfer the phone back to the Precinct and will do it. My supervisor is going to go there on Friday to get the phone but you should come in on a day I am working like Sunday or Monday since I know the situation. What I want you to do is text this number and remind me about the phone so I can check if the phone has been transferred back yet." I tell her that I have been using free online calling services to call people but that they have 15 minute time limits and I can only make one or two calls a day. But I assumed she had android not iphone. I realized later that I could text and call her from my laptop because I have iphone and she does too. So, anyway, she tells me to go to the nearest precinct, explain the situation, and ask if I can use their phone to call her. They will let me call and ask about the phone. Later, on Friday, I call the 50th Precinct about the phone and if it was yet transferred back and one woman answer and a seh "I don't see anything. No phone. I would call back when Officer Thompson is working since she is the one familiar with the situation." So, mi call back Saturday and check on the phone and they all said they can't check that because they don't know what I'm talking about. Then, I finally text Officer Thompson (the black lady) on Sunday to inquire about the phone and she said "let me check." I'm waiting and don't hear from her for hours so I follow up later that evening and she says "she hasn't heard back from the supervisor yet, but that he will be in tomorrow so she will check with him tomorrow." So, I wait and text back Monday morning and she seh "Hi I just reached out to you. Unfortunately we are not able to get the phone back. They denied giving the phone back to us, they only way to verify is with the MEID number and it’s not listed...We are able to transfer to BX court after a certain time. We can’t keep all property in the precinct. Yes they did say that last week but unfortunately they don’t want to open a bag that is not verified with the owner. We won’t know you are the owner until the bag is open." Yooo di way mi class har and a seh "But did you not confirm with the person at Bronx Criminal court that you could transfer the phone back to the precinct? What is an MEID? I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why my phone was transferred to the lost property clerk at Bronx Criminal Court in the first place. I must get this phone back. There is no way for me to verify that it is my phone there? Your precinct personally delivered the phone to the Bronx Criminal Court without waiting for someone to come by to verify that it is theirs? What do you recommend I do? Because at this point I am very unpleased with the quality of service I am receiving from all parties and I would not want to escalate this situation. Your offices are operating on a lack of communication and it appears that I am being blamed and suffering for it as a result...So, what can I do? They won’t let me verify the phone either even though I am the owner. When I went there, the woman refused to give me my phone claiming that you all never wrote down my name as the owner so they don’t know it is mine .This is a mess. They said you all needed to update the voucher to reflect that I am the true owner of the phone."

VIII. The Resolution: One Last Hurdle

After this, I go back to the Bronx Criminal Court and demand my phone be returned to me or else I will file a lawsuit for gross negligence and gross misconduct and file an injunction mandating the release and return of my phone." Tell mi why I had my phone in my hands within 5-10 minutes?!?!?! Crazy. I felt bad afterwards cuz they personally didn't deserve that threat but I was so fed up with the entire system at that point, I just went tf off. Anyway, I thanked them and left and went back home. By the way, in order to get the phone returned to me, they just charged it for a few minutes, asked me what the background/screensaver is, to type in the passcode, and if they could look at pictures to verify my identity. Anyway, that is the Phone Saga story.

IX. Reflection: Lessons from the Chaos

1. Bureaucracy is a mess.

2. Lyft is useless when it comes to lost items.

3. New York will humble you.

4. If you want something back, be ready to FIGHT for it.

5. Persistence and determination is key.

6. Enable your Find My IPhone in the settings on your iPhone. My computer was the only device that appeared as my device.

7. At least it makes a crazy and entertaining story.