Tuesday, April 07, 2009

ImHonest Labels Offer Advanced Lost and Found [Lost And Found]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ozimU0UylrA/imhonest-labels-offer-advanced-lost-and-found

ImHonest is a lost-and-found service with a clever spin on returning your valuables with a little incentive.

Photo by Paul Stamatiou.

To get this out of the way from the start: ImHonest isn't necessarily more effective than just dropping your own homemade labels on your gadgets and hoping that whoever finds your stuff does the right thing. What it does provide is some advanced recovery options. The service works like this:

You purchase ImHonest labels from the ImHonest web site ($15 for six labels) and place a label on every item you want to register with the lost-and-found service. Then you head to the web site and register each device and the unique ID code so ImHonest knows what device corresponds to which ID.

In the event that you lose your ImHonest registered gadget and some honest chap happens to come across it, they'll see the label with the reward incentive*, call up the number, and receive instructions for dropping off your gear at the nearest UPS store. ImHonest will email you asking you if you've lost the item that's being reported as lost, you confirm, and UPS magically sends the item back to your doorstep. (Don't get too excited—you're still paying the shipping.)

ImHonest seems like a solid service, though as I said above, it's not necessarily all that much more effective than your own homespun labels—or even your digitally signed portable media. If you've already got a solid method for getting your lost gear back from an honest stranger, let's hear it in the comments.

*Incidentally, the reward for your honest: Free labels from ImHonest. I think I'd be a little annoyed.