What are you gibbering about?!
>"Fraggle gets home. Apple deactivate the phone, Fraggle contacts Apple, Apple deny the phone exists." Calling Applecare isn't getting in touch with Apple. It's calling Apple care. Why didn't the Fraggle hand it in at the bar? Why didn't the fraggle surrender it to the police?
>"So here's the question - if Apple deny the object exists, how can they then jump up and down and scream criminal behaviour when their "bluff" is called? " They aren't though.
>"They refused return of the phone." They didn't though!
>" I also disagree that the guy's approach to returning the phone was "unobvious", but admittedly I don't know the timescales - did Apple deactivate the unit before or after he tried to return it?" You can disagree all you like, doesn't make you right! The honest thing to do would have been to hand it in to the bar or the police! Simple. As. That! As to whether or not Apple tried to deactivate the unit prior to the--lets say what the the individual concerned really it--* thief* tried to "contact" them is irrelevant. The thief had already looked at the engineers Facebook info--if I were him, I'd be changing all my various log-in/passwords and bank details.
>"If you don't know who owns the phone, have no way of contacting them, who better to ask than the people likely to have User Registration Details?" Again, the thief knew the owners NAME!!! The thief looked at his Facebook info! The thief *should* have handed it over to the authorities! End. Of.
Accusing the Reg of being "Pro Apple" is just about the funniest thing I've read on these pages! They are *FAMOUSLY* antagonistic towards Apple--have you not noticed that most headlines for articles about Apple contain the words FANBOIS!? (and breathe)...
Next time, check the facts before posting your drivel. Facts will ALWAYS out-way the opines of deluded fanbois/haters, and in this case they are pratically incontrovertible. No matter how much you hate Apple, you opinion is just plain wrong...