As a fairly conscientious person, I rarely misplace or lose anything. Really.

Yet, just the other day, I couldn’t find my cellphone. After 30 minutes of looking around my work at home office and searching throughout our home, panic set-in.

You see, most folks think they are not held responsible for fraudulent calls made after they lose their cellphone or have it stolen. Don’t believe me? Read the fine print of your contract. You may find that you are, in fact, responsible for calls made from your phone, unless they are made after you have called the service provider to report the phone missing.

So, when should you call your cellphone provider and report your phone missing?

My advice — call them the moment you notice that your phone is missing. The provider will temporarily suspend your service and most likely advise you that you have 30 days to find your phone, or get a new one before they cancel your service.

Some providers will give you the courtesy of suspending your service and monthly fees for up to 30 days until you replace or recover your wireless phone; provided that you haven’t been granted a similar courtesy within the previous 12 months.

Most service providers however do not offer courtesy suspensions and may require that you present documentation to them, such as a police report or a sworn statement, within 14 days of having reported your cell phone lost or stolen.

Whatever the case, an immediate notification could save you big bucks in fraudulently made calls charged to your account.

Oh yeah, panic attack over, I found the phone under my driver’s seat. Whew!

search for : cellphone, work at home office, not held responsible for fraudulent calls, cellphone provider