Detailing as a business? Don't make this mistake!

[Bates Detailing]

Hey all - just a quick stop by to toss some advice on a crappy experience this week. Been in business almost 2 years now, and my smart phone did it all for me..... texts with po numbers, tag numbers, needed info..... every single client's info ....... ALL GONE! Was exhausted after polishing an airstream for around 12 hours or so and layed my phone on the bumper of the truck and drove off :/ 20 miles later I realized my phone was gone . Well - I now have learned that backing up all contacts is going to be super important, especially since I have jobs lined up this week that I have no way of getting a hold of them :/ PLEASE learn from my mistake..... it hurts :/

 

[davey g-force]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Hopefully someone hands it in (assuming it still works).

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

Daaaaaaaang! That sucks! You should see if your carrier backs up your contacts. I think Verizon does automatically. Also, if you have an Android phone (and depending on your settings) all of your contacts should have been automatically backed up to your gmail account.

 

[RTexasF]

Hard lesson but check into what Nicholas said.....it might be a life saver.

 

[DavidJ021]

Daaaaaaaang! That sucks! You should see if your carrier backs up your contacts. I think Verizon does automatically. Also, if you have an Android phone (and depending on your settings) all of your contacts should have been automatically backed up to your gmail account.

:iagree:

Sprint does also. Reminds me I need to clean out a lot of numbers. I've had three different phones with the same number, every time all my numbers were saved.

That sucks to hear though! Hope you get a hold of your clients!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

layed my phone on the bumper of the truck and drove off :/ 20 miles later I realized my phone was gone .

Well - I now have learned that backing up all contacts is going to be super important, especially since I have jobs lined up this week that I have no way of getting a hold of them :/ PLEASE learn from my mistake..... it hurts :/

Thanks for sharing your horrible experience... I've lost date before and didn't have a recent back up and it's never fun...


I feel your pain...

 

[Flannigan]

That does suck. I have all my contacts and calendars set up through gmail so it's saved no matter what device I'm on. It helps a lot.

 

[vet]

Sorry to hear this. Hope you can get the information back. Almost makes me glad I'm techno-challenged. lol

 

[jfelbab]

FYI, If you are an iPhone user, you have all your contacts, calandar and email in the iCloud, which auto syncs to all your Apple devices. In addition, you could use the "Find My Phone" feature to pinpoint the exact location of your phone via GPS mapping. I'd suspect similar functionality is there for non-Apple smartphones.

Your phone probably has GPS so there may be a way for you to find it as well unless it has wound up being driven over or drowned.

Personally I love the cloud. I can get my mail, contacts and calendar on any device I own. They are always in sync and I have no worry of any data loss.

 

[Flash Gordon]

Hate to hear this Anthony. Hopefully you can get it all worked out

 

[rider9195]

Noted*

Sorry to hear this news. As others have mentioned they may still be backed up.

 

[Bates Detailing]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Hopefully someone hands it in (assuming it still works).

Yeah, only I really think it is in a ditch somewhere unfortunately :/

Daaaaaaaang! That sucks! You should see if your carrier backs up your contacts. I think Verizon does automatically. Also, if you have an Android phone (and depending on your settings) all of your contacts should have been automatically backed up to your gmail account.

I'll have to check that out!

Hard lesson but check into what Nicholas said.....it might be a life saver.

Very hard lesson :/

:iagree:

Sprint does also. Reminds me I need to clean out a lot of numbers. I've had three different phones with the same number, every time all my numbers were saved.

That sucks to hear though! Hope you get a hold of your clients!

Thanx man - BIG lesson learned.

Thanks for sharing your horrible experience... I've lost date before and didn't have a recent back up and it's never fun...


I feel your pain...

Yep - going to be backing EVERYTHING up now!

That does suck. I have all my contacts and calendars set up through gmail so it's saved no matter what device I'm on. It helps a lot.

If that didn't happen this time around I will definitely do it next time around.

Sorry to hear this. Hope you can get the information back. Almost makes me glad I'm techno-challenged. lol

LOL

FYI, If you are an iPhone user, you have all your contacts, calandar and email in the iCloud, which auto syncs to all your Apple devices. In addition, you could use the "Find My Phone" feature to pinpoint the exact location of your phone via GPS mapping. I'd suspect similar functionality is there for non-Apple smartphones.

Your phone probably has GPS so there may be a way for you to find it as well unless it has wound up being driven over or drowned.

Personally I love the cloud. I can get my mail, contacts and calendar on any device I own. They are always in sync and I have no worry of any data loss.

Thats a great idea :dblthumb2:

Hate to hear this Anthony. Hopefully you can get it all worked out

Thanx Flash

Noted*

Sorry to hear this news. As others have mentioned they may still be backed up.

Yep - will be checking up on that for sure.





Well hopefully everyone that reads this can bypass this headache! Hope it helps.

 

[Robert8194]

Gosh. Sorry to hear that Anthony. Hope you get some good news on a backup.

 

[SeaJay's]

That sucks Anthony. I've been worried about that as well since I do everything through my iPhone. But I use the icloud so everything is automatically backed up each night. Thankfully....

But definitely a good idea to back up your info to your computer or some where else in case that happens.

 

[jfelbab]

Doing a bit more thinking about the loss and I'd be a bit worried about a couple more things.

1. If someone finds the phone and starts to make a lot of international calls you could get a surprise bill in the mail from your carrier.

2. What data did you have on that phone? If someone who was to get access to that data could it cause you problems? Do you store any banking info on the phone? It may be appropriate to consider what might happen if a low-life got a hold of the data on that phone.

I'd immediately contact your carrier if you have not done so already and tell them the phone is lost. They may have a GPS tracking service or at least let them know you want the service disabled for now.

One neat feature of my phone is that if it is lost or stolen I can wipe it remotely. This doesn't disable the GPS tracking feature but will wipe the phone back to factory. Since the phone's data is backed-up in the cloud I can restore my data to the phone if it is found or returned or even to a new phone.

I also put a name and contact number on my lock screen so if someone finds my phone they know how to return it.

Here is a really good read on the subject of loss or theft of a cell phone that everyone can benefit from. Tips for Retrieving a Stolen or Lost Cell Phone - The Daily Beast

 

[TS656577]

Thanks for sharing your horrible experience... I've lost date before and didn't have a recent back up and it's never fun...


I feel your pain...

But you're Mike Phillips! They'd definitely come crawing in/back. You probably had them all memorized anyway.

OP, sounds like a crappy way to end a day :| So are you going to a paper version or something like an iPad or small laptop?

 

[Bates Detailing]

Gosh. Sorry to hear that Anthony. Hope you get some good news on a backup.

That sucks Anthony. I've been worried about that as well since I do everything through my iPhone. But I use the icloud so everything is automatically backed up each night. Thankfully....

But definitely a good idea to back up your info to your computer or some where else in case that happens.

Doing a bit more thinking about the loss and I'd be a bit worried about a couple more things.

1. If someone finds the phone and starts to make a lot of international calls you could get a surprise bill in the mail from your carrier.

2. What data did you have on that phone? If someone who was to get access to that data could it cause you problems? Do you store any banking info on the phone? It may be appropriate to consider what might happen if a low-life got a hold of the data on that phone.

I'd immediately contact your carrier if you have not done so already and tell them the phone is lost. They may have a GPS tracking service or at least let them know you want the service disabled for now.

One neat feature of my phone is that if it is lost or stolen I can wipe it remotely. This doesn't disable the GPS tracking feature but will wipe the phone back to factory. Since the phone's data is backed-up in the cloud I can restore my data to the phone if it is found or returned or even to a new phone.

I also put a name and contact number on my lock screen so if someone finds my phone they know how to return it.

Here is a really good read on the subject of loss or theft of a cell phone that everyone can benefit from. Tips for Retrieving a Stolen or Lost Cell Phone - The Daily Beast

But you're Mike Phillips! They'd definitely come crawing in/back. You probably had them all memorized anyway.

OP, sounds like a crappy way to end a day :| So are you going to a paper version or something like an iPad or small laptop?

Great info guys and thanx for the sympathy - I actually just talked to a company today about creating a network that will link 3 laptops (1 in each mobile unit) to my office computers.... I think that will help alleviate issues like this and get us a bit more organized.

 

[Kristopher1129]

I've said it to you many times. Check out Genbook!!!! You will love it. I've been using it for almost two years now. It's changed my business. Seriously.

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

Great info guys and thanx for the sympathy - I actually just talked to a company today about creating a network that will link 3 laptops (1 in each mobile unit) to my office computers.... I think that will help alleviate issues like this and get us a bit more organized.

Don't bother. I will network your computers in 30 seconds.

Go here: https://www.dropbox.com/

Install.

Enjoy the wonders of auto-syncing folders accessible from any computer and most smartphones.

 

[Bates Detailing]

I've said it to you many times. Check out Genbook!!!! You will love it. I've been using it for almost two years now. It's changed my business. Seriously.

Yeah man.... I was just telling Tyson about that today.... may be the plan :dblthumb2:

Don't bother. I will network your computers in 30 seconds.

Go here: https://www.dropbox.com/

Install.

Enjoy the wonders of auto-syncing folders accessible from any computer and most smartphones.

Good stuff, I'll look into it!