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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Want school to offer a replacement or some money

109 replies

craigton0506 · 31/08/2016 19:42

This my first post and need some advice. Two weeks ago my son lost his mobile phone in his school, (The school allows them have phones with them). We live quite far from the school so he needs it in case of emergencies etc. Anyway a member of staff found it and handed it into the office. He was told to come and collect it, but the next day when he went to collect it he was told it had been misplaced. I have phoned several times and have been told they definitely had it but just don't know what has happened to it. It is an iPhone 5c and a relatively new one. I am self employed and cannot afford a new phone for him at the moment. The school has apologised but have offered no further help. Should I insist that they contribute towards a new phone. Thnks

OP posts:

superram · 31/08/2016 21:38

How do they know it was his phone that was found? We have about 10 phones through our school office everyday. Have you found a blue iPhone 5c-yes-doesn't mean it was your sons and that is why they won't replace. It could have been another students' phone, not lost just collected by someone else.

LadyPenelope68 · 31/08/2016 21:39

YABU - lesson learnt!

Smrendell · 31/08/2016 21:51

It isn't their job to guard the lost and found. No, it's not their job but the people on reception should keep it safe and 99% of the time have a locked draw/cupboard where lost and found is kept.

Say the OPs son had his phone confiscated and then they lost it, would you all be saying the same thing?

Original poster

craigton0506 · 31/08/2016 22:05

It was a pink 5c, he loves rugby, football and Pink. But phone definitely his as it had his picture as screen saver. The school confirmed it was his.

OP posts:

Notcontent · 31/08/2016 22:19

Well, the school can't really pay for it anyway, can they - where would the money come from??

A lot of people seem to think that there is this never ending pool of money from the government that can pay for all manner of things...

whywonthedgehogssharethehedge · 31/08/2016 22:27

Our school (primary and secondary) both state that they won't take responsibility for any valuables. It's a total pain but sadly just a lesson in
Don't take Expensive stuff into school.

whywonthedgehogssharethehedge · 31/08/2016 22:28

If it was in school it will likely turn up
Somewhere random in a few days.

ChubbyBubby · 31/08/2016 22:38

I don't think YABU, it's a really frustrating situation, hope it turns up but if it doesn't the school should offer to pay. I think that would be the decent position for them to take.

ShelaghTurner · 31/08/2016 22:56

YANBU. School lost it. Not sure what you can expect from them but they had it, they clearly stated that they would look after it till the agreed time that he would collect it and now they don't. If they didn't want to be responsible for it they should have told him to get it there and then or said they'd leave it out for him and he can take his chances. But they didn't, they said they'd keep it for him.

ReginaBlitz · 31/08/2016 23:09

Stupid to send him to school with it, but the point here is they found it and the school had it and it's obviously been stolen! I would personally call the police and I'm being serious! Sounds like one of the teachers has half inched it.

PaulAnkaTheDog · 31/08/2016 23:14

Calling the police for a mislaid item being subsequently mislaid in a busy secondary school? Fucking hell. What a stupid bloody suggestion.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 31/08/2016 23:21

The school can and should pay for it.

They lost it. They are responsible.

Yanbu.

maddiemookins16mum · 31/08/2016 23:22

Why is it, always, always, someone else's fault!!!! I appreciate it was a phone but if it was a sock or a lunch box???

Ptarmigandancinginthegloaming · 31/08/2016 23:26

I sympathise, hi reckon you'd be lucky to get anything from the school. 2 of my son's school sweatshirts went missing (primary school), and when I asked to look in lost property the head said they no longer get kept any, and all items would get returned if they had a name in...his stuff all had names in, but we didn't get them back.
Come the end of turn there was a school fair, and they were selling off lost property in aid of school fund! - I was a bit miffed to find that they DID have a heap of lost property, and had a look, and there were the sweatshirts, with his name in! I challenged the head about it, and she just smiled, and said I could buy them back!
I'm sure many school teachers and heads are honest, but that lot seemed to have no grasp at all of the difference between reasonable fundraising, and what was really theft.
So maybe check the stalls at the school Xmas fete for pink phones.....!

ImissGrannyW · 31/08/2016 23:41

If you have any evidence at all of the school saying they have the phone (i.e. if they put it in writing in any way, or if there were witnesses to your DS being told he could collect it from the office, then it's the school who have lost it and they should replace.

If you have NO evidence, then you have to put it down to experience.

But, fwiw, I think the school has been crap, and most likely, someone's nicked it! But if you've got nothing - no witnesses, no texts, no emails, then there's nothing you can do and you have to let it go. sorry!

ShelaghTurner · 31/08/2016 23:42

Because it is their fault. The son losing it is by the by. They were the last to have it. They said they'd look after it. They didn't. It's their fault.

WyfOfBathe · 31/08/2016 23:56

I don't know that the school would pay out, but I would put in a complaint with the school. If the phone was definitely put in the office, it was probably either taken by a member of staff, or they're allowing others into the office (which isn't great if they have confidential documents). I wouldn't contact the police before asking the school to double check, in case someone put it on a desk and it's currently hidden under piles of paperwork.

LuluJakey1 · 01/09/2016 00:10

I never fail to be amazed by what children lose at school. In the secondary school where I worked we had to take mountains of stuff to the carity shop every term. There would by 30+ coats - often expensive ones- mobile phones, jewellery, expensive trainers, PE kits. They were rarely claimed. We held regular identify your belongings events before the end of term, parents were invited. Very little of it was ever claimed back. We once tried to have a 'sale' after keeping stuff for 6 months but no one wanted to but secondhand. Occasionally, we would discover a name written somewhere in an item and it would be taken to the child who would just look embarrasssed. The children were careless in every sense of the word.

ReginaBlitz · 01/09/2016 07:22

Paul, how is it stupid calling the police the phone was FOUND it wasn't misplaced anymore it has been stolen clearly. So no it's not a "fucking stupid" suggestion you are "fucking rude"

SoupDragon · 01/09/2016 07:28

Why is it, always, always, someone else's fault!

In this case, it is the school's fault because they are the ones who lost it or allowed it to be stolen from their office.

insancerre · 01/09/2016 07:31

Calling the police is a massive overreaction

The phone wasn't stolen, it was lost by its owner

I hardly think that warrants a call to the police

SoupDragon · 01/09/2016 07:32

Actually, it was lost by the school or stolen from their office.

kazzacam · 01/09/2016 07:34

Completely agree with LuluJakey1- our 'lost property' is full of £200 mountaineering-style coats. It never ceases to amaze me.
On the other hand-I would say that the vast majority of kids in my secondary school have smart phones- mostly iphone 6. There are a few who have 'budget' phones, but not many. Most parents seem to cave in to the peer pressure.

acasualobserver · 01/09/2016 07:35

Sounds like one of the teachers has half inched it.

Most likely. Just the sort of thing a teacher would do. Bent bastards the lot of them.

londonrach · 01/09/2016 07:37

Buy a cheap payg replacement phone. Yabu

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