“Australia 🇦🇺 ~Rough Start at the Sydney Airport!”

• April 1, 2021
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

True Story, Folks

Right after we arrived in Sydney, Australia, we were loading the shuttle with our luggage, and bodies; (six people in our group) when, somehow through the confusion, Daryl’s iPad became missing!

We did what anybody can do in these situations; checked with Airport lost-and-found.  They were super nice, and said they would call if anything showed up.

Next Day, no word on the iPad, so Daryl erased all the data from his device, (sans a note on the device with his cell number, and mine, asking for a courtesy call if the iPad is found); although, in reality, we did feel like it was long gone, at this point.

Now, this where it gets interesting: 

Later, that same day, Daryl gets a call, (showing an Egypt number) from a woman with a very thick accent. She said;   “I’ve got your iPad and F#~*^K YOU.”  Then she hangs up. Well that was rude! 

Two days later: I get a phone call from a man from Russia (according to the phone), and with very broken English offered me the very same delightful sentiments that Daryl got from the Egyptian caller.

By this point, Daryl had gone to the police station in Sydney, to file a report on the theft, to get a case number for the insurance claim we knew we would be making, upon our return home; to replace the iPad.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

While it was mildly disturbing to get phone calls like we did, from these thieves, Daryl and I were unsure if the individuals were feeling “full of themselves,” for feeling like they got one over on us, or just “angry” in general. The broken English, and deflections in the voice made this hard to know for sure.

We soon got our answer.  About a week after our return home, and after our insurance claim was submitted, Daryl gets another phone call; this time from a man (now, the phone saying Washington D.C.) who, also with a heavy Middle Eastern accent, admitted to stealing his iPad. BUT, this time….

Wait for it. WAIT FOR IT…..

The guy asked Daryl if he wanted to buy his iPad “back,” for $50!

Well, anybody who knows Daryl,  K N O W S  Daryl had some fun with this guy, while on the hook for awhile. The thief became quite agitated with Daryl, and expressed more than once, how he couldn’t get into the (more colorful language here) iPad; first, because of protections in place, then, secondly, after a time, it shut off, and wouldn’t even turn back on!  THE GUY WAS MAD AT DARYL, which confirmed to us that the (original) colorful messages given, WERE out of frustration, not the na-na-na-na-na-na, ~ha, ha, ha kind of thing we thought it might be.

In the end, the guy was so desperate to get this iPad working, he asked Daryl if he would SELL him his iPad for $50!

Okay, I will let you take a few moments to wrap your brain around that last piece of data.

The insurance came through and Daryl got a brand new iPad, to replace his worn out one. We added a little more money to get an upgrade. 

The points of this Travel Story:

1.Travel Insurance does come in handy

2. Security codes are good to have in place on sign in, should one lose their device

3.The App; “FIND MY PHONE” worked in the sense that it allowed us to know where the iPad was at, AND more importantly, allowed us to delete (remotely) any and all sensitive data from the device

4.Never let anything like this ruin a great vacation

5.Never bargain with a thief!