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Seems like it was only last year. So much has happened since then that it’s hard to remember exactly how this whole mess got started. And like a lot of cases involving a runaway cellphone, it didn’t strike anyone as such a big deal back then. Boy were they mistaken.<span id="more-10123988"></span></p> <p>It all begins with a woman, a California woman. Her new phone was acting hinky.</p> <p>“The phone would just shut off,” she would later <a href="http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/03/28/call-kurtis-took-my-phone-in-for-repair-best-buy-couldnt-find-it-for-almost-3-months/" target="_blank" target="_blank">tell CBS Sacramento’s Kurtis Ming</a>, the investigator who would eventually find himself lured into this mystery. </p> <p>But she had a plan; a warranty plan. So she took that phone to Best Buy to get it fixed by a Geek. You can probably guess that since I’m telling you this story that things didn’t go as planned.</p> <p>A week comes and no phone. Two weeks…three, a month. Still nada. She makes repeated visits to Best Buy, but she might as well have been screaming into the wind. </p> <p>“We don’t know what happened to your phone, we can’t find your paperwork, oh give us a week,” she recalls, “that gets tiresome.” </p> <p>She rode this un-merry-go-round for three long months. While we all took it for granted that we could call home on Christmas with phones of our own, she was borrowing a phone just to keep a tether to the rest of the world. </p> <p>Finally, she used that borrowed phone to get Ming on the case. From there, it was a whirlwind of action as Best Buy HQ got involved, not only tracking the unlucky lady’s phone down, but tossing in a $100 gift card as a way of saying, “sorry about that.”</p> <p>And so this case was finally closed, but it’s hard to rest easy when you know there’s always another mystery waiting outside your door to be solved.</p> <form id="wpcom-iframe-form-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9" target="wpcom-iframe-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9" method="post" action="https://wpcomwidgets.com/?wpcom_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fconsumermediallc.wordpress.com" style="display: none"> <input type="hidden" name="width" value="420" /> <input type="hidden" name="height" value="330" /> <input type="hidden" name="frameborder" value="0" /> <input type="hidden" name="style" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="class" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="scrolling" value="no" /> <input type="hidden" name="webkitallowfullscreen" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="mozallowfullscreen" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="allowfullscreen" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="resize" value="0" /> <input type="hidden" name="replace_attributes" value="0" /> <input type="hidden" name="fallback" value="<p class="protected-embed-fallback">This embed is invalid</p>" /> <input type="hidden" name="_data" value="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,f423c0adbe2876ca3c6a746e90c85b9fc89b6ded" /> <input type="hidden" name="_tag" value="protected-iframe" /> <input type="hidden" name="_hash" value="e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1" /> </form> <iframe name="wpcom-iframe-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9" id="wpcom-iframe-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="420" height="330" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen class="wpcom-protected-iframe " ></iframe> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { var func = function() { var iframe_form = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-form-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9'); var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9'); if ( iframe_form && iframe ) { iframe_form.submit(); iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-e544d99225dca7562ba1059e075005d1-5ae79cf77bdb9' }, window.location.protocol + '//wpcomwidgets.com' ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'wpcomwidgets.com' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'readystatechange', function(){ if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); } }, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )(); </script> <blockquote><p>Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization,<strong> <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank">Consumer Reports</a></strong>, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.</p></blockquote> <footer class="lf-post-footer"> <div class="lf-post-meta"> <p><span class="lf-post-footer--dates">3.29.13</span>By <span class="author vcard"><span class="fn"><a href="../../../../author/chrismorranconsumerist/index.html" title="Posts by Chris Morran" class="author url fn" rel="author">Chris Morran</a><a href="https://twitter.com/themorrancave" title="themorrancave" class="twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i>@themorrancave</a></span></span></p><p class="lf-post-tags"><a href="../../../../tag/the-phone-vanishes/index.html" rel="tag">the phone vanishes</a> <a href="../../../../tag/best-buy/index.html" rel="tag">best buy</a> <a href="../../../../tag/warranties/index.html" rel="tag">warranties</a></p> </div> </footer> </div> </article> <div class="wpcom-related-posts widget widget_related_posts" id="wpcom-related-posts-10123988"> <div class="widget-wrap cs-related clearfix"> <h3>Related</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="../../../../tag/thanks-for-nothing/index.html" class="cs-tag" rel="tag"> thanks for nothing </a> <a href="../../../../2015/10/06/how-my-credit-card-company-helped-save-my-broken-ps4-when-sony-wouldnt/index.html"> <div class="cs-related-image-cover" style="background-image: url(../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/10935253806_c933b932a2_k.jpg%3Fw=360&);"></div> <span class="cs-related-title">How My Credit Card Company Helped Save My Broken PS4 When Sony Wouldn’t</span> </a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../../tag/right-to-repair/index.html" class="cs-tag" rel="tag"> right to repair </a> <a href="../../../../2017/06/07/apple-putting-screen-replacing-robots-in-some-best-buy-stores/index.html"> <div class="cs-related-image-cover" style="background-image: url(../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/crackedspiderwebiphone5scre.jpg%3Fw=360&);"></div> <span class="cs-related-title">Apple Putting Screen-Replacing Robots In Some Best Buy Stores</span> </a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../../tag/achievement-unlocked/index.html" class="cs-tag" rel="tag"> achievement unlocked </a> <a href="../../../../2016/11/22/unlocking-mobile-phones-is-theoretically-easier-than-it-used-to-be/index.html"> <div class="cs-related-image-cover" style="background-image: url(../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/lock-e1479761017234.jpg%3Fw=360&);"></div> <span class="cs-related-title">Unlocking Mobile Phones Is Theoretically Easier Than It Used To Be</span> </a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../../tag/retail-colonoscopy/index.html" class="cs-tag" rel="tag"> Retail Colonoscopy </a> <a href="../../../../2016/05/25/best-buy-defies-everyones-expectations-is-mysteriously-not-dead/index.html"> <div class="cs-related-image-cover" style="background-image: url(../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/best_buy.jpg%3Fw=360&);"></div> <span class="cs-related-title">Best Buy Defies Everyone’s Expectations, Is Mysteriously Not Dead</span> </a> </li> <li> <a href="../../../../tag/it-wasnt-me/index.html" class="cs-tag" rel="tag"> it wasn't me </a> <a href="../../../../2016/09/14/woman-hit-with-9100-verizon-bill-for-data-she-says-she-didnt-use/index.html"> <div class="cs-related-image-cover" style="background-image: url(../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/verizonb.jpg%3Fw=360&);"></div> <span class="cs-related-title">Woman Hit With $9,100 Verizon Wireless Bill For Data She Says She Didn’t Use</span> </a> </li> </ul></div></div><div class="navigation next-previous-post"> <div class="alignleft"> <a href="../is-the-facebook-phone-is-really-just-a-better-facebook-app-for-android/index.html"> <span class="pagination-previous-label">Previous </span> Is The ‘Facebook Phone’ Really Just A Better Facebook App For Android? </a> </div> <div class="alignright"> <a href="../nope-its-not-legal-to-hunt-deer-in-the-walmart-parking-lot/index.html"> <span class="pagination-next-label">Next </span> Nope, It’s Not Legal To Hunt Deer In The Walmart Parking Lot </a> </div> </div><div class="after-post-ad"><div id="text-5" class="widget widget_text"><div class="widget-wrap"> <div class="textwidget"></div> </div></div> </div></div></div><script type='text/javascript'> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-10697639-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 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