Iphone in town

Twoandahalfmen · 31-12-2012 4:30pm #1

Is it safe to bring an iphone into town around talbot street and henry street ect.
I recently got a 5 and wont to know will it be safe.

Mr Simpson · 31-12-2012 4:34pm

What a strange post. Its as safe to do as anywhere. Keep your wits about you and don't go flashing it about.

Also, I'd recommend getting insurance for it. It could get stolen, or you could drop it etc. Better safe than sorry, it'd cost you over €600 to replace it.

Twoandahalfmen · 31-12-2012 4:38pm

Im just rarely in town and want to know thanks!!

Mr Simpson · 31-12-2012 4:41pm

Thats fine, it just seems that town is being given such a bad name lately, when in reality its no worse than most capital cities. TBH, these days you're nearly as likely to be robbed walking to your local shop as you are in town.

beaner88 · 31-12-2012 5:30pm

MarkMc wrote: »

What a strange post. Its as safe to do as anywhere. Keep your wits about you and don't go flashing it about.

Also, I'd recommend getting insurance for it. It could get stolen, or you could drop it etc. Better safe than sorry, it'd cost you over €600 to replace it.

Your advice is based on nothing but your own impresion and not facts.

Its far less safe to have an iphone in the areas mentioned than in other parts of the city and then even more so for other parts of the country. The OP is right to be concerned. Don't use it in those areas unless you absolutely have to.

Jev/N · 31-12-2012 5:34pm

Use your headset and SIRI (it actually works), avoid taking it out of your pocket as much as possible

cuddlycavies · 31-12-2012 5:34pm

beaner88 wrote: »

Your advice is based on nothing but your own impresion and not facts.

Its far less safe to have an iphone in the areas mentioned than in other parts of the city and then even more so for other parts of the country. The OP is right to be concerned. Don't use it in those areas unless you absolutely have to.

I'd agree with that. All the way along the Red Line from Heuston to connolly, you see the total dreggs.

Wintergreen · 31-12-2012 5:36pm

Its amazing to see how uncomfortable some people are in Dublin!

cuddlycavies · 31-12-2012 6:41pm

Wintergreen wrote: »

Its amazing to see how uncomfortable some people are in Dublin!

Not really! Just in that area of Northside CBD. We need a zero tolerance approach now. As it stands they do what they want.

MonkstownHoop · 31-12-2012 6:51pm

cuddlycavies wrote: »

Not really! Just in that area of Northside CBD. We need a zero tolerance approach now. As it stands they do what they want.

waiting on a bus at the top of o'connell st beside murrays is an eye opener, constantly be harrassed by junkies, drunks and general scumbags, my GF won't ever go into town on her own anymore and i don't blame her

Gaspode · 31-12-2012 6:57pm

beaner88 wrote: »

Your advice is based on nothing but your own impresion and not facts.

Care to share your 'facts' with us then?

beaner88 wrote: »

Its far less safe to have an iphone in the areas mentioned than in other parts of the city and then even more so for other parts of the country. The OP is right to be concerned. Don't use it in those areas unless you absolutely have to.

Why? a phone can be stolen anywhere. The areas mentioned are not ones I've ever felt uncomfortable in day or night, so unless you have your facts I'd advise the OP to go ahead and just take the usual precautions.

beaner88 · 31-12-2012 7:07pm

Gaspode wrote: »

Care to share your 'facts' with us then?

Why? a phone can be stolen anywhere. The areas mentioned are not ones I've ever felt uncomfortable in day or night, so unless you have your facts I'd advise the OP to go ahead and just take the usual precautions.

I can't share my full facts but you are welcome to derive part of them from here.

http://www.cso.ie/px/pxeirestat/Statire/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=CJQ03&PLanguage=0

cuddlycavies · 31-12-2012 7:30pm

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

waiting on a bus at the top of o'connell st beside murrays is an eye opener, constantly be harrassed by junkies, drunks and general scumbags, my GF won't ever go into town on her own anymore and i don't blame her

Sure there's a youtube video of two men having a broad daylight bare knuckle fight at that point on O Connell St. The junkies as you say are always there selling, buying, robbing and no one laying a finger on them. Don't get me wrong, I love Dublin, I come from here, I dine in China town, I've lived in England for years and Australia for 13yrs. But when I come out of Pho Viet or wherever, I watch my back. It's prudent to do so. Sad but true and much worse than London, Melbourne, Sydney and wait for it New York.

cuddlycavies · 31-12-2012 7:33pm

MarkMc wrote: »

Thats fine, it just seems that town is being given such a bad name lately, when in reality its no worse than most capital cities. TBH, these days you're nearly as likely to be robbed walking to your local shop as you are in town.

Sorry Mark, that's just wishful thinking.

bobin fudge · 31-12-2012 8:16pm

As much as people think dublin is as dangerous as down central LA , I would actually be cautious around the city centre and college green etc regarding your iphone, plenty of people out robbing them specifically daily. Id just keep it in my pocket and go into a shop etc if you need to make a phone call

Whatsernamex33 · 31-12-2012 9:49pm

It's no problem at all, just don't take it out while walking and texting. Also be weary of making calls, I've heard of people getting their phone snatched from their ears by passers by. Walk into a shop to text/make calls. Be smart with your phone and don't give anyone a single chance of snatching it at any point.

Definitely get it insured also.

carlmango11 · 31-12-2012 9:58pm

While I've never had a problem I've heard stories and also witnessed someone getting their phone stolen while they were talking on it only 2 weeks ago. Generally if I'm in town I hold my phone close to me and fairly tight in case some wanker tries to run past and grab it.

Get insurance though. Even just for general loss/damage. Smartphones are too expensive and easy to break!

Mr Simpson · 31-12-2012 9:59pm

Yep, my experiences. I've had a few attempted robberies. Dame Street & Grafton Street. My Brother was robbed in Stephens Green. There was a large gang operating around Stephens Green/Grafton Street. I didn't say you didn't need to be careful, I said you're as likely to get robbed elsewhere and to keep your wits about you. I feel as safe (if not safer) in Dublin, as I do Paris, London or Barcelona.

Also, my experiences are based on spending 5 days a week in College off O'Connel Street for 5 years.Believe me, it has its problems, but so does everywhere else.

ProudDUB · 31-12-2012 11:37pm

MarkMc wrote: »

Thats fine, it just seems that town is being given such a bad name lately, when in reality its no worse than most capital cities. TBH, these days you're nearly as likely to be robbed walking to your local shop as you are in town.

Not true I'm afraid, at least not in the part of Dublin that the OP is asking about. The Talbot St/Abbey St areas around Connolly station, Busaras & the Luas stops have a particularly bad reputation for people getting their phones snatched. Junkies (who attend the near by methadone clinic on Amiens St) and thieves see recently arriving travelers and tourists, who are distracted and not sure of their surroundings, as easy pickings. The number of dodgy phone shops along Talbot St make it easy for them to make a quick and untraceable profit from their thievery. The Luas also make it easy for them to make a quick get away. Hence the area having the reputation that it does.

I know all this as I used to live in the area, I have a friend who is a Guard at Store St station, and I have neighbours who got into trouble. Was I ever robbed? No, because I was always very conscious of my surroundings, and who was around me at all times. OP, don't flash your phone around and you'll be fine. If you have to make or take a call, step into a doorway or a pub and do it there. A little common sense can go a long way in areas like that.

(And before anyone points out the irony of my username, yes I am a very proud Dub. But I am not blind to the problems that some parts of our wonderful city can offer up to someone not familiar with the dodgier parts of it. And like it or not, Dublin like all capital cities, does have its dodgy parts.

)

riclad · 01-01-2013 5:03pm

There,s apps you can put on your phone,if its robbed you can trace it, i think there,s a gang that robs iphones in the city centre ,They just grab your phone and run.
http://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=trace+my+phone++iphone
they have no trouble selling it in certain shops.
If i was a woman ,i would only use my iphone in a shop,or pub, if in the city centre.
ITS a fact theres alot of junkies ,hang round city centre ,temple bar
some who do commit crime.
I heard of a man ,traced his phone to a shop, talbot st, he got it back ,went in with a member of the gardai.
i think if your phone gets robbed the gardai ,will usually give you a form,
to claim on insurance,ie they view it as petty crime
i ,ve got a 60 euro smartphone , so i just use it wherever,don,t think anyone would be bothered to rob it.
I think they target iphone,s ,galaxys ,s, eg expensive smart phones .

P_1 · 01-01-2013 6:32pm

As others have said, you should be fine so long as you don't be careless with it.

This should apply for any big town

Don't be flashing it about and keep it in a secure pocket so you don't get pickpocketed and you'll be grand.

Same precautions you should take with your wallet tbh.

latenia · 01-01-2013 9:04pm

ProudDUB wrote: »

Not true I'm afraid, at least not in the part of Dublin that the OP is asking about. The Talbot St/Abbey St areas around Connolly station, Busaras & the Luas stops have a particularly bad reputation for people getting their phones snatched. Junkies (who attend the near by methadone clinic on Amiens St) and thieves see recently arriving travelers and tourists, who are distracted and not sure of their surroundings, as easy pickings. The number of dodgy phone shops along Talbot St make it easy for them to make a quick and untraceable profit from their thievery. The Luas also make it easy for them to make a quick get away. Hence the area having the reputation that it does.

I know all this as I used to live in the area, I have a friend who is a Guard at Store St station, and I have neighbours who got into trouble.

Such bollox and defamatory against the two phone shops on Talbot St. How do I know all this? I dealt with over 10,000 tourists in the area last year and I can't think of a single such incident happening to them in the vicinity. It sounds to me like you just saw a few different elements and created your own narrative. No thief is going to run to the highly monitored CCTV of the Luas to get away. The worst area for phone theft is the north and south quays between O'Connell Bridge and Grattan Bridge; the worst area for pickpocketing and other petty crime is Temple Bar and the worst areas for actual violence are Westmoreland St and Dame St at closing time.

Dr. Jonathan Crane · 01-01-2013 9:05pm

As riclad mentioned, install and set up Find my iPhone, free from the app store. Always have your location services turned on and your data connection if possible as I'm not sure if Find my iPhone will work without one of these.

Always put a passcode lock on the phone so that even if it does get robbed they can't get into it, even if they remove the sim. There are ways around passcode locks, but your average scrote wont know them. Plus you can set it so that if the code is entered wrong ten times all data will be deleted.

As others said, be careful, don't walk and talk or text, do it in a shop or door way. Keep your wits about you, keep it in a good pocket where it's not peeking out at the top. The most common way people rob phones is coming up and asking you for the time, if your phone's not on display and anyone asks you this keep walking and say you don't have it or if you wear a watch just tell them quickly as you're walking away. Most people in Dublin are used to this, but I was amazed when my uncle, who worked in the city centre 30+ years had never known about it.

Sorry for the long post. Better safe than sorry, I've friends who call my paranoid over all this, but none of these friends own such expensive phones and wouldn't really miss if their old Nokia got robbed. On the other side, I've three friends who had iPhones stolen in Dublin, only one had set up Find my iPhone and got it back.

Gongoozler · 02-01-2013 12:23am

Wow I kinda can't believe people are so afraid. I live practically in town, and i'm in and around all the time, with my phone nearly constantly. I don't feel unsafe at all. But then I would have quite a bit of common sense about me when around people in general. From my experience, the city is generally safe to be in, just don't go flashing your new piece around, common sense really. Maybe knowing what areas to avoid would be a good idea. Henry St is grand really. Couldn't say about Talbot St much, but my experience has been fine.