Lost my phone in China

[Derdle]

Help please. I have come from the UK to China to visit the Canton Trade fair and on the first day I lost my phone a Galaxy S24 Ultra. I need a phone urgently as communicating here is causing me some distress. There is a Huawei shop next door to my hotel where I could pick up a cheap phone. However I love Samsung devices and have always had Samsung phones even my kitchen appliances are Samsung. I would rather cross Guangzhou City tomorrow to go to the Samsung Shop and buy a replacement S24 Ultra but I am concerned it will work when I return to the UK. I am with EE. My UK purchased S24 Ultra worked fine here in China so I assume it will, the other way round. I just want to check that there is no default language or similar setting etc etc set up on the phone that cant be changed. I obviously understand that I will have to change the Sim card when I return but is there any difference in the phone. I hope you can help me Kind Regards Kevin

[XRaySpeX]

@Derdle : You need to call CS to report the loss & they will block it & send you a replacement SIM with the same no. to your UK addy.

[Ali_A · Accepted solution]

Thanks for joining us on Community @Derdle 

Sorry to hear about the loss of your device. 

Samsung devices may be region locked. Usually this is removed by making the first 5 minutes phone call using a local SIM for the region it was originally intended for. (Samsung requirement). 

You can check with the selling shop who will confirm that you are purchasing an unlocked and unrestricted handset. 

Once you get back to the UK you can then pop your replacement UK SIM into your new phone. 

It's also worth asking the seller if all the features for Chinese region devices are compatible with UK. 

In the mean time I'd recommend contacting Customer Care to report your phone and SIM being lost/stolen. 

Contact Us From Abroad| Help & Support - EE

Ali 

[Derdle]

Thanks for the help so far @XRaySpeX  @Ali_A 

I borrowed my colleagues phone earlier and tried calling CS on the number on their web site.+44(0)7953966150 and +44(0)7953966150 but was getting a recording that the number is disconnected (probably blocked in China) I will try the 0800 one in morning as my colleague is now a sleep in his hotel room (we are 7hours ahead). It is a nightmare over here though behind one of the biggest firewalls in the world. most web sites are blocked or you get the Chinese version. Cant run a VPN as they have blocked the IP numbers so can't get to the English sites. cant log in to most of my accounts because the 2 step authentication wants to send verification codes to my phone which I no longer have. I only managed to log into EE account because I haven't set up the 2 stage authentication yet, but I've only got 2 more logins before it blocks me untill i set upthe 2 stage verification LOL. All my bank cards were in the phone case,  and in China now, every one pays with WeChat or iPay which you need a phone for. I have What's app on my laptop but that's blocked here in China. What a nightmare. I will go to the Samsung Shop in the morning and see what they say if I can get round the language barrier. luckily i am here with my business partner and he has his phone and cards still. I will also give the British embassy a call as I had my drivers licence in the phone case and maybe some one honest found it and handed it in. (I wont count on it though.

Am I right in thinking though, that without my finger print or unlock code that my data is safe and the only thing they can do is a factory restart????

Note to self...next time I come here I will bring a backup phone cand not carry all my cards together.

Thanks for the advise

[Derdle]

I can't believe the only way to contact EE to tell them your phone has been stollen is to phone them.

They should play "isn't it ironic" by alanis morissette as there on hold music.🙄

Oh just found that you can send them a letter as well. 😫

[XRaySpeX]

Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. on Skype over WiFi. It should be free.

[Ali_A]

@Derdle 

Did you try calling +44(0)7953966150 or did you dial it as +447953966150  without the zero at the front? 

Ali

[Derdle]

I have tried all the numbers including the 0800 and tried with every combination 

+44 0xxx, +44 xxxx, 00440xxxx, 0044 xxxx

the mobile numbers give a message first in Chinese then in American accent English "this number is disconnected or not in service"

The 0800 ring once then just disconnect.

I found EE had an online complaint form so I have messaged my problem in that but they just ignored me.

I cant believe in this day and age with all banking, transactions and passwords for site/account logins being forced on us to use our mobile phones for 2 stage authentication that there is not system in place to contact them if you loose your device when you consider the seriousness of the potential security breach. I am not home until Wednesday where I am going to find out if I still have any money in my accounts or if i have been wiped clean. I managed to cancel my bank cards as they were with the phone and even that wasn't very easy and took 4 hours over 2 days chatting with the AI Cora on the NAT WEST website.

In China now, the only way to pay for anything is to Install AliPay or WEChat and use QR codes that they scan on your phone which means you need to link your cards to these Apps...Its a bit terrifying when you loose your phone and cant get your Service Provider to close it down. 

Its shocking really shocking.....

Just in case EE are monitoring and reading this forum I received your receipt confirmation of my complaint form at   25/10/2024, 00:57 China time, so that would be 24/10/2024, 17:57 UK time. All my details and a contact email address are  in the complaint form and I would appreciate a response please. Any losses I incur will be going through OFCOM so please EE get in touch.

Thanks for the advice from every one on here. and in regards to the buying a replacement phone here i have decided to not risk it and wait till i get back to the UK.

This is probably going to be my last post on here as EE are about to lock my account after this login unless I set up 2 stage authentication and they want to send a pin code to my phone for me to continue **bleep**, can you believe it. 

[bristolian]

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@Derdle wrote:

I cant believe in this day and age with all banking, transactions and passwords for site/account logins being forced on us to use our mobile phones for 2 stage authentication that there is not system in place to contact them if you loose your device

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There is provision for this - CS can be contacted from any working phone or from a web-calling app. You don't need to call from your specific EE mobile.

Having banking & financial details on your phone should not be done without appropriate passwords and PIN protections being in-place.

EE, as a mobile network operator, don't cover consequential loss - neither do Ofcom handle individual customer complaints except for statistical purposes.

Good luck resolving your situation.

[XRaySpeX]

OFCOM don't handle individual complaints. You can make a formal complaint to EE & if you don't get satisfaction after 8 weeks you can take it to EE's ADR provider. See Complaints code of practice and here is the Complaints Form .

You are not compelled to set up 2 stage authentication here.