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Finding a lost phone can put you in a tough spot. You want to help, but you also don’t want to cross a line.

That’s what this retail employee was thinking after a customer accidentally left behind an expensive iPhone. A few hours passed, and nobody came back to claim it.

So, she decided to take matters into her own hands. The phone wasn’t locked, so she sent a quick message to one of the contacts, hoping someone could let the owner know where to find it.

To her, it seemed like a simple way to help someone get an expensive phone back. But then the owner finally showed up, and the whole situation went sideways.

Instead of thanking the employee, the customer exploded and left her wondering whether she’d crossed a line after all.

Read on to see what happened.

AITA A Customer left their phone for hours, so I opened it and messaged a contact to get ahold of her

I work retail in a small/medium-sized town. But it’s actively growing, and there are lots of businesses.

Customers often come in with bags from other stores in the plaza.

If you lose something, it’s unlikely you’ll find it quickly, if at all. This is why I was initially comfortable with what I did.

Upon finding the phone, she messaged a contact.

A few weeks ago at work, someone accidentally left a very expensive iPhone behind. After a few hours, she still had not come back for it, so I checked to see if it was locked. It wasn’t.

So I went to Messages, tapped on the first contact I saw, and left a message explaining where I worked, where the phone was, and asking them to contact her household about the phone. Her lock screen was a picture of her kid, so my line of thought was that she likely had another adult at home.

I did NOT snoop through the conversation or anything else on the phone.

Then it went back into the safe room until she came to claim it. I thought this was a reasonable thing to do, as I’ve seen it happen in movies and TV shows, although I’d never dealt with it in real life.

When the lady came back, she was angry.

She came back in less than an hour later, cussing up a storm and calling me ******** multiple times, both to my face and to my manager.

It turns out her expensive, unlocked phone was her business phone, and I had messaged a client.

My manager did her best to calm her down and get her to leave ASAP because I was clearly about to cry (I get overwhelmed easily).

My manager made it clear I wasn’t in trouble after she left, and we moved on.

Now, people have mixed feelings on her handling of the situation.

Well, this happened in front of another customer who was waiting.

When I came back to check her out, she said she had heard everything and was appalled by the phone lady’s reaction. Customer #2 said she would have been grateful in that situation and generally reassured me that I shouldn’t feel bad.

When I got home, I told my mom about it, and she basically told me I was dumb to do that, but she agreed that the phone lady was overreacting since I had good intentions.

I have no idea how to feel about it anymore, but I probably won’t be going out of my way like that again.

AITA?

Yikes! Talk about not expecting an outcome.

Let’s see how the people over at Reddit would’ve responded if she did this to them.

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This reader encourages her to keep going out of her way.

These are nice words.

That probably is why she’s mad.

Here’s someone who doesn’t think she should ever do that again.

The customer’s reaction was way over the top.

Sure, opening someone else’s phone isn’t something to take lightly. But the employee wasn’t snooping through private messages or trying to invade anyone’s privacy. She was just trying to find the owner.

Then, instead of showing a little understanding, the customer started insulting her. Nobody deserves to be treated like that for making an honest mistake.

Hopefully, this customer looks back on the situation and realizes just how badly she handled it. A little kindness would’ve gone a long way.

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Author

Heather Hall

Heather Hall | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Heather Hall is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter specializing in internet culture, workplace conflict, and viral customer service stories. With over a decade of editorial experience in digital publishing, Heather excels at curating trending online discussions and providing insightful commentary on the daily dramas that capture the internet's attention.

Since beginning her career in 2011, she has developed deep expertise in SEO-driven digital content, having written for a wide array of publications covering lifestyle, business, and travel. At TwistedSifter, Heather focuses on synthesizing complex social media threads into engaging, highly readable narratives that highlight the human element of viral news.

When she isn’t analyzing the latest internet discourse, Heather is a dedicated mother of three sons who takes family gaming nights entirely too seriously—whether she is dominating in Mario Kart, exploring The Legend of Zelda, or jumping into Roblox.

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