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I left a tablet computer behind once on a plane. Easily done - slide down in the magazine holder etc. I phoned the airline. They had found it. Getting it back

I left a tablet computer behind once on a plane. Easily done - slide down in the magazine holder etc. I phoned the airline. They had found it. Getting it back was impossible. It was apparently sent to Helsinki, then back to Heathrow in London. The airline just say "we had it sent to London - ask there. We're done." Fine, but if you go to LHR and ask where the lost property office is, you are met by blank looks. No one knows. There are 5 4?) terminals, all are huge. Someone says there might be something air side in T3, someone else says there might be something near the car park in T5. Others appear to find the very concept of lost property novel and confusing. I found one place, but they only did lost property for select airlines, and even then it is not open to the public. WTF? It pushes me off to know that my tablet was sold off to someone despite spending ages schlepping around LHR trying to get it, having been in contact with the original airline and having it sent to London.

ta1234567890 6y ago
Had a similar experience. Left an iPad on a flight from Paris to Stockholm. Also had to go to a bunch of different places at weird locations of the airports (both in Stockholm and Paris), had to knock on closed doors and ring door bells sometimes for more than 20 minutes, only to be finally told the office was closed that day. It was also super bizarre that a private company, separate from the airlines, was in charge of lost items. I ended up being able to file a lost item claim form on paper at one of the offices, and I also filed a complaint online, but of course nothing came of it. Big effort, zero reward. Very frustrating.
paulsutter 6y ago
You needed to call the airline staff at the destinaton airport, not the airport itself. There's a phone number for the local team for the airline. They're not supposed to give it out, but if you ask enough different people someone will.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  If it’s a number “they’re not supposed to give out” how is anyone supposed to know to call this group and not the airport directly?
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    I suppose it's the equivalent of getting support from Google - you have to either know someone working in the right team, or make enough of a stink on HN/Reddit/Twitter to have said Googlers to read it, and/or for the media to pick it up.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- jsmith99 6y ago
  When I lost my kindle on easyjet I reported it to them unsuccessfuly. Months later I was contacted out of the blue by the airport lost property who had turned it on to deduce the owner's contact details. I asked if they had received the easyjet report. They almost laughed. Of course they hadn't.
freepor 6y ago
Airplane logistics are already tremendously complicated without trying to chase down personal effects that are hopping from country to country. It's just not going to be a high priority for them, nor should it be. Take your stuff with you when you get off a plane.
canada_dry 6y ago
OTOH, somewhere between the plane and getting through immigration at Beijing's new airport, I lost a brand-new pair of noise-canceling headphones. The concierge from my hotel called the next day, and my headphones were reunited on my return to the airport. Considering the volume of traffic that airport sees I was quite impressed.
ssalazar 6y ago
I can leave my positive story here- on a trip from SFO > Maui I accidentally left my laptop in a luggage bin in the SFO security check. Called the airport as soon as I realized it, in Hawaii, and they said they could hold on to it until I returned. Picked it up from a strange, unmarked corner of SFO when I got back. Ultimately, being deprived of a laptop for a week in Hawaii was probably a good thing.
PopeDotNinja 6y ago
I left my MacBook Air in the tray that passes through the x-ray machine at SFO airport. I called the airport and they had it in lost and found. I thought for sure it would be gone!
nikanj 6y ago
To me this mostly sounds like someone from the airline scored a free tablet that day.
kleinsch 6y ago
Left my Kindle on a Southwest Airlines flight. Filled out a customer service form on the web, they sent back that they found it. I just had to pay shipping and they mailed it to my house.
Fargren 6y ago
I didn't put my e-reader back into my backpack after passing security in Heathrow. Two days later I received an email telling em they had found an e-reader configured with my email address. They asked me to describe it, I mentioned which was the book I was reading at the time, and they sent it back to me. My only complaint is that the fee was quite high, almost as much as the reader itself. Still better and less wasteful than buying a new one.
wdr1 6y ago
I left my Kindle on an Emirates flight to HYD. I thought it was lost forever, but on the last day of my trip, a coworker mentioned I should just get to the airport a little early and ask. It took maybe 30 minutes, but at the end of it, my Kindle was back in my hand!

ta1234567890 6y ago

Had a similar experience. Left an iPad on a flight from Paris to Stockholm. Also had to go to a bunch of different places at weird locations of the airports (both in Stockholm and Paris), had to knock on closed doors and ring door bells sometimes for more than 20 minutes, only to be finally told the office was closed that day. It was also super bizarre that a private company, separate from the airlines, was in charge of lost items. I ended up being able to file a lost item claim form on paper at one of the offices, and I also filed a complaint online, but of course nothing came of it. Big effort, zero reward. Very frustrating.

paulsutter 6y ago

You needed to call the airline staff at the destinaton airport, not the airport itself. There's a phone number for the local team for the airline. They're not supposed to give it out, but if you ask enough different people someone will.

dvtrn 6y ago
If it’s a number “they’re not supposed to give out” how is anyone supposed to know to call this group and not the airport directly?
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  I suppose it's the equivalent of getting support from Google - you have to either know someone working in the right team, or make enough of a stink on HN/Reddit/Twitter to have said Googlers to read it, and/or for the media to pick it up.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jsmith99 6y ago
When I lost my kindle on easyjet I reported it to them unsuccessfuly. Months later I was contacted out of the blue by the airport lost property who had turned it on to deduce the owner's contact details. I asked if they had received the easyjet report. They almost laughed. Of course they hadn't.

freepor 6y ago

Airplane logistics are already tremendously complicated without trying to chase down personal effects that are hopping from country to country. It's just not going to be a high priority for them, nor should it be. Take your stuff with you when you get off a plane.

canada_dry 6y ago

OTOH, somewhere between the plane and getting through immigration at Beijing's new airport, I lost a brand-new pair of noise-canceling headphones. The concierge from my hotel called the next day, and my headphones were reunited on my return to the airport. Considering the volume of traffic that airport sees I was quite impressed.

ssalazar 6y ago

I can leave my positive story here- on a trip from SFO > Maui I accidentally left my laptop in a luggage bin in the SFO security check. Called the airport as soon as I realized it, in Hawaii, and they said they could hold on to it until I returned. Picked it up from a strange, unmarked corner of SFO when I got back. Ultimately, being deprived of a laptop for a week in Hawaii was probably a good thing.

PopeDotNinja 6y ago

I left my MacBook Air in the tray that passes through the x-ray machine at SFO airport. I called the airport and they had it in lost and found. I thought for sure it would be gone!

nikanj 6y ago

To me this mostly sounds like someone from the airline scored a free tablet that day.

kleinsch 6y ago

Left my Kindle on a Southwest Airlines flight. Filled out a customer service form on the web, they sent back that they found it. I just had to pay shipping and they mailed it to my house.

Fargren 6y ago

I didn't put my e-reader back into my backpack after passing security in Heathrow. Two days later I received an email telling em they had found an e-reader configured with my email address. They asked me to describe it, I mentioned which was the book I was reading at the time, and they sent it back to me. My only complaint is that the fee was quite high, almost as much as the reader itself. Still better and less wasteful than buying a new one.

wdr1 6y ago

I left my Kindle on an Emirates flight to HYD. I thought it was lost forever, but on the last day of my trip, a coworker mentioned I should just get to the airport a little early and ask. It took maybe 30 minutes, but at the end of it, my Kindle was back in my hand!