I stopped to help a neighbor stuck in their driveway on the way home last night after we had 5" of fresh wet snow. When I got home I couldn't find my phone. Searched everywhere then went to bed. This morning I got on the internet to locate it and found it was at the neighbor's house so I went back to look but found the neighbor had just plowed the driveway. I shoveled snow for an hour but no phone. With more snow on the way and daylight fading I called around to find a metal detector. I scurried into town thru the blowing snow on black ice roads and whiteout visibility to rent the last one, only to find someone else beat me to it as I walked in. The store owner felt bad and rented me rent his personal one. At the house I canvased the entire area slowely but got nothing except a lot of noise where the culvert was. I buried my keys under 6" of hardpack snow to test the MD but it couldn't find them so I knew I would never find the phone, buried 1-2 ft. It's in sleep mode and has a lock screen. Still I remotely locked it from the internet (if that actually worked, who knows) and will have to wait till spring to find it.
 
Insurance doesn't cover lost or stolen phones so I get to pay for a phone I can't use.

That sucks. My phone's fallen out of my pocket many times while working (gardener) but have been lucky so far, usually get someone to call it while I wander about listening.

It's snow joke.

Bummer.
 
Maybe you'd hear it ring if you call it ...
 

 
I think your story is symptomatic of how valuable we now all perceive our cell/mobile phones to be.
 
Not just for the sheer 'hassle' factor and expense of replacing one if we lose it, but for how much of our lives these things contain.
 
Losing or misplacing your phone instils the same panic as realising you can't find your wallet or keys.

When my son left his cell phone on the bumper of his truck and then drove off, we were able to narrow down its location to a one-mile stretch of road. So we drove back and forth, calling the phone and listening intently. Found it in some bushes, which had cushioned its landing so it was intact. I would think that 5" of snow would offer comparable cushioning. But better find it quickly, before the snow starts to melt, as water will likely short the battery.
 
Then again, you could always just wait till Spring.

My worst phone mishap was when I bent down to pick up the poop of the dog I was walking and it fell out of my shirt pocket, slap bang in the middle of the poop. I took it home in a bag and used about half a bottle of rubbing alcohol cleaning it up but for weeks afterward I still held it an inch from my ear when using it.

SteveStrummerUK
 
I think your story is symptomatic of how valuable we now all perceive our cell/mobile phones to be.
 
Not just for the sheer 'hassle' factor and expense of replacing one if we lose it, but for how much of our lives these things contain.
 
Losing or misplacing your phone instils the same panic as realising you can't find your wallet or keys.

Indubitably 

Hmm...  This thread is making me realize that I currently don't have the "protection plan" simply because I couldn't afford it before but, now, I rely on my phone for LOTS of things (heck, I can even remote in to servers and fix 'em from the dang thing!) so maybe I should add that to my plan.
 
My current cell phone has replaced:  My home phone line, a separate navigation device, taking an iPod with me, taking a camera with me, my alarm clock, having to take a physical game or book, my desk calculator, taking a flashlight with me, etc.  I have reference material in it, I learn new things on it, I keep client information on it, my grocery list is there, any to-do lists or spontaneous notes (I have a Galaxy Note 5 with that wonderful stylus).  Plus I'm sure I'm missing other stuff.  It's great!
 
Now that many of the "nice to have" things are far more stable and accurate (like the GPS navigation and camera/video resolution), it really has become a valuable, go-to tool for me.
 
Of course, in the last 15 years, I can count on one hand the number of times I've dropped my phone or temporarily lost it (and still have fingers left), so that helps!  The new wireless chargers are wonderful (and, if you get the Galaxy Note 7, you can start campfires with it too! LOL).

If only it WOULD catch fire, then I could find it at least.