What to do when you get your phone stolen in France

This article does indeed focus on an episode which I got my iPhone stolen but holds useful information dealing with any situation of theft or loss of an object in Paris.

I’ve had my iPhone since September of 2011( bought in Paris with a French phone company and under contract for 2 years). I had bought it through a second party phone vendor and spent a fortune on an insurance plan but it was worth it….more on that later.

Since I’ve had it my phone has been ABSOLUTELY essential in my ever moment so when it was stolen while I was playing a show in a bar I was beyond distraught. Smart me I had all my information backed up and an insurance plan. However the fact that I had been sneakily deprived of my phone by a rich fils de papa“daddy’s boy” who was upset that I wouldn’t let him touch and play my guitar after my set was going to work against me.

Apparently because I allowed my object to be in a situation where it could have been stollen or victim of malice was as if I was handing it to the guy an saying “here, have this”. So even though I had been victim of a crime the last thing I should do is tell the truth. The only way to get anything reimbursed by the French system is to LIE.

For an American this is unthinkable. Maybe it is because of our first president’s ridiculous story about boyhood mishaps that has it ingrained in us that telling the truth will always get us further. But here in France it is not the case.

For example: in 2010 I was working and tired after my shift I went to put my tips into my bank after my shift. Well I being the stupid American and use to US ATMs I took my receipt for my deposit and walked away… Forgetting my card in the machine. After the weekend when I realized my card was gone I looked at my statement. The person behind me in line had been able to take 300€ out of my account (that was only + the 50 euros I had put in before). Two months later after days of stress and crying and even dragging my French roommate along with me to act as my double. They never returned the money even though I had an insurance and it was obviously a vole.When the whole debacle was over a receptionist recognized me one day and asked how things went with the claim. When I told her what happened she said

“well why didn’t you just lie and say that your card was stolen by someone? They would have never checked into it and you would have gotten your money right away.”


So when I got my phone stolen the first thing I did in the morning was go to the police station and get a police report ( you have to do this for ANY lost or stolen object). Then i filed a claim with the phone company as well as the company I bought the phone from. However I made the mistake of telling the truth to the police and when I went to the insurance company I laid on the American accent ( I’ve learned this has charming benefits). I was lucky to have a very nice salesman who AMAZINGLY lied for me to assure I would get a phone! Unbelievable!

Afterwards he advised me that when you get your phone stolen you have to lie and say that you were texting someone and someone ripped it out of your hands or that you whole bag was stolen along with it, either in the street or in the metro. The police get so many reports like this that they never follow them and the insurance company is satisfied with this as an event of theft.

So when you get your phone stolen:
1. ALWAYS insure everything
2.Keep all paperwork that you’ve ever had on the phone, your plan and everything to do with it.
3.Embellish somewhat on your story of the events (lie to make things simple)
4. Ne lâche pas l’affaireNever give up!

A+ EmilieinParis

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About Emilie

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