Coming back from Miami yesterday, I made the mistake of leaving my Nintendo DS Lite in the storage underneath my seat on British Airways, forgetting it when I left the plane. Since then, it’s been both an enlightening and frustrating experience to learn how poorly the company handles lost items.
Before I’d even left the airport, about 30 to 45 minutes after leaving the plane, I realized I’d left the DS in its game case on the plane. I was getting into my car outside the terminal, so I couldn’t dash into a BA counter for help. Instead, I phoned the main BA number for advice and to see if someone could get it off the aircraft.
I was given a number to call (it was 0208-745-7727, for others who might have lost property at Heathrow). Unfortunately, the office wasn’t open (this was about 7:45am). So I drove to the petrol station at the airport to fill my tank and wait a bit, figuring that it was worthwhile to stay there a bit longer, in case they could get my property quickly.
When someone answered, I quickly learned that BA doesn’t handle lost property themselves. Instead, they contract this out to the Excess Baggage Company, which also handles lost property for all of Heathrow. I was told there was no way they could go onto the plane to check for my DS. Instead, I had to wait until after 11am, for when they get a bulk delivery of everything that is found left on BA planes.
I waited until around 1pm and called back. Nope, nothing was found. I was told to try again the next day, then to try again for seven days altogether. And if it didn’t turn up, then it was probably stolen.
Great. I know security is all about keeping things off of airplanes, but you’d think there were some procedures in place to log what comes off plus you’d hope that items left behind weren’t going to be stolen by those servicing the aircraft.
I decided to try BA again. I called the main number, then was routed over this time to someone from the Aircraft Search department. Aircraft Search? Yes, he explained to me that I should have been sent to this department when I called originally. Had that happened, someone would have gone onto the plane and gotten my DS off.
BA never mentioned this when I called originally, nor did Excess Baggage mention this when I called them as instructed. That sucks, because it would have greatly increased the odds of getting my DS back (along with its game case, headphones and five games).
Next, I tried calling BA Customer Relations, to see if they could do anything to speed up the search process and if there was going to be any compensation if the DS had indeed turned out to be stolen, especially since I’d been incorrectly routed on my call. After about 15 minutes on hold, I decided to take up the offer and send in a request for help via the web. Using this form, off it went. A full day later, I’ve had no response. I’m glad I wasn’t emailing about some lost prescription medicine I needed or anything super crucial.
I had enough energy for one last attempt. I called Excess Baggage again. This time, the agent explained that no deliveries had come in from BA at all in the latest shipment, increasing the chances that my item had been found and not delivered, rather than stolen. I was told again to try back the next day, after 11am.
That’s what I did today. Sadly, it hasn’t come in yet. I was told to keep checking for another five days, especially since my flight came into Terminal 3, which BA rarely uses. That could add to the delay in getting it to me.
I also asked if there was a way to know if any items were found on a particular flight. It seems like it should be pretty easy for someone to check a database somewhere rather than me being kept guessing to see if my DS turns up in the Great Lost Property Lottery. I was told that BA does fill out a paper showing what flights items were found on, but these aren’t given to Excess Baggage.
I went back to BA. Didn’t they have a database they could check? No. But what about these records that are logged? No info on that, other than there was nothing for the customer service agent to check. Would they be compensating me for the loss? No, especially since it could have been taken by one of the other passengers.
I doubt that. I came back business class on BA. The seats all have these little lockable storage compartments under them. The DS wasn’t sitting out on display, for someone to walk off with. For another passenger to have taken it, they would have had to open all the little compartments under each seat when leaving. I highly doubt this happened.
No, if the DS is gone, this is what happened:
- Someone working directly or indirectly for BA checking all the compartments found it, took it and failed to log it.
- The aircraft wasn’t fully checked and cleaned (which wouldn’t surprise me), and so another passenger came across it when sitting in my seat.
Heck, for all I and BA knows, it might be sitting in that compartment still, flying around the skies. People don’t tend to use the compartments, from what I can see. I rarely do because I’m paranoid that I might forget about putting something in them (which is exactly what happened).
Even the customer service rep agreed that if the DS doesn’t turn up, it’s not likely that another passenger took it. And so I wait, hoping the next five days might have better news.
The loss won’t be a crisis for me, of course. I can get another DS and suffer the embarrassment of taking less care of mine than I always warn the kids to do with theirs! It’s more annoying, than anything. It’s definitely my fault for forgetting the darn thing. But I’m really surprised at how unresponsive BA was in trying to find it when I called, especially at a time when it was more likely to get found. Frankly, they didn’t really seem to care. I’ll keep that in mind.
{ 27 comments }
I had exactly the same experience – and I eventually wrote to Willie Walsh asking whether he thought it was acceptable service. A month later I get a call from BA telling me that they do have their own lost property office and they give me another number. I ask if this office has my ipod, and they haven’t checked – I have to do that.
I ring and eventually I get a voicemail message saying it is the Heathrow lost property office and I should call the same number you had.
They have absolutley no idea about customer service.
I left a hat on the plane on Friday night and realised once I was through passport control. Not being able to go back through I asked if someone from BA may be able to bring it through. No contact Lost Property. Well this was the most unfriendly customer experience I can ever had imagined. No wonder BAA is being sold off. BA rinsed their hands of my lost property and the main office once I finally got hold of them did not even ask what flight it was left on. For all I know it went back to Sweden and is left in their lost property. There is nothing worse than a system that clearly doesn’t work and has mgmt that do not care for the customer. To keep hearing “keep trying to see if it is here” sends shivers down my spine…..
I had a Gift Fossil watch, Camera left in the seat bag when I flew from Dallas to Heathrow T5.BIG MISTAKE!! Its been 2 days and there is no information.
I left my wallet (cards, cash etc) in the little drawer under the BA business class seat today at T5 flying back from SF. Realised as soon as I got to car in car park. Dashed back, consulted customer services on level three. Had to wait 40 minutes. But someone went and retrieved it from the cleaners before it got into the whole lost property system. Cash intact. Good job – thanks.
Wow! Sounds like I’m not the only one that has experienced problems with BA. I recently returned to the US from a trip to Europe (Bordeaux & Barcelona). BA misplaced my luggage in London – not once but twice during the trip. When my luggage was finally returned the first time after two days (just hours before my flight out of Barcelona), I realized a jacket containing my iPhone, iPod, and earphones had been stolen and the wheels to my suitcase damaged. I don’t know if it just did not make it back into my bag when it went through customs in London and is located in some Lost and Found department there or if it was stolen. BA would not give me the number to talk to an actual person or to check to see if it came up in Lost and Found. Instead, they said I needed to make a claim on line – which kept displaying error messages, even after several hours of trying. Again, on the trip back, my luggage was again left somewhere in London. I did not want to again take the chance of something else getting stolen, so I took off work and drove back to the airport the following morning to pick it up as soon as it arrived. I requested reimbursement for the lost/stolen items, the damage to the suitcase, clothes and toiletries purchased when my luggage was delayed the first time, and expenses (parking) for getting my luggage back the second time. Four days later, i finally heard back from BA. They say that they will not reimburse for anything but the jacket and toiletries I needed to purchase during the 2 days I had no clothes, etc. Their reasoning was that they allow for 1 carry on item and a purse (which I had) and expect that there will be “no valuables” in checked luggage. Of course, they don’t define “valuable” – but isn’t just about anything contained in one’s luggage (either checked or carried on) valuable? How can they do this? I would really appreciate it if anyone has any phone numbers they could provide that may be helpful. I’m still hoping that these items will show up som ewhere in London — i just don’t know who to call — and BA is not being at all helpful!!!
Wow, this really sucks. I’m struggling with them right now over a missing laptop which I stupidly left in the security channel. The most secure place on earth apart from, maybe, the pentagon, and they are unable to find it so far.
Not only are their office hours useless for anyone not in the UK, I constantly get asked to leave a message. I don’t want to leave a message, I don’t have a return number. I want to wait on hold and get spoken to, even if I have to wait an hour (thank you skype!)
Of course, insurance company wont touch me until it can be confirmed stolen, and I needed a laptop so I’ve had to buy one and am stuck in airport lost property hell right now…
Emma
I left my camera Samsung (red) in the seat pocket on the flight 283 from London to LAX ON 7-15-2009 .I have tried so many phone #s ,I even went back to LAX next day to the BA ticket counter with no luck.I just care for the memory card since it was my first trip to Europe ,sentimental reasons.
Left our son`s Nintendo DS Lite onboard, got two different telephone numbers and are having the same problems as Danny. Even though given an e-mail contact address, this didn`t help, since it was incorrect. Excess baggage personell are rare to get on the phone, so getting a new and corrected address might turn out to be difficult. BA have good onboard personell, but ground service system personell are – in effect – increasingly customer-unfriendly. Seriously haven`t experienced such unprofessional customer service personell, except with the really cheap airlines. Rather disappointing.
I am just in the process of trying to retrieve stuff left by my kids on an egyptair flight yesterday. should I even embark on this hazardous jouney?
Please help!
I traveled on your airlines connecting flights starting at Ohara airport to Heathrow airport July 31 – connecting I went thru security and forgot to take my jean jacket.
Can you help me find jacket – it is old but my favorite jacket.
Thank you,
Pat
Arriving at T5 from Moscow last Thursday I was in a hurry to get home after a long working week. Unfortunately my lap top went missing…between the plane and the arrivals hall. Its my fault entirely for not taking care of my property and I am also guilty of not backing my hard drive up…ten years of my life gone in a thoughtless second ! I feel sick. I feel like crying . I feel like …well you probably know how I am feeling.
The stressfull situation was compounded by the next to useless, unhelpful, badly mangaged airport procedures for lost property at Heathrow. I cant seem to get hold of anyone who can help me , or explain the recovery procedures. I have called and called
all the reccommended numbers.They either pass me back to ones that I have already called. The main number for Heathrow Lost property rings and rings. Is there anyone there?
Why cant the people running the Airport/Airlines understand that this is a key part of a travel experience. Lots of peole loose luggage. BAA & BA and all the other companies at Heathrow please get together and do something to improve this situation. I would prefer to see less spent on airport bling and more on looking after the customer
I left a gray Annapolis zip up hoody and an A&K East Africa safari hat in a drawer in my seat area on Oct. 8th&9th aboard the plane that I took from Nairobi, Kenya to Heathrow Airport in London. I was on flight 64 and I was in seat 03B. I too have been calling the number given to me by the stewardess, but no one answers. This surprises me about BA since all of my flight experiences with them have been wonderful. I am extremely disappointed in the fact that they don’t provide this lost and found service. I was misled to believe that there was a lost and found.
I have just arrived in Australia, on the first leg of my journey to Singapore I wasnt very well & stupidly I managed to leave my Ipod touch in the magazine storage compartment in the back of the seats. I travelled Premium Economy with BA and am really mad with myself. Didn`t notice until I went to get it out of my bag before I boarded the second leg.
As soon as I got to my hotel I emailed the excesss baggage lost property, stating my flight, seat, date & name etc, tried calling but no answer as its very late.
What do you think my chances are of seeing this item? It was a present from my kids last Xmas, its got so much music, all my business emails, notes, etc on it and it is so annoying that I was careless.
I will call the 0208 745 0342 as soon as it opens and keep you posted.
Fingers crossed……..
Best regards
Robert
I made the mistake of leaving my laptop in departures, and I phoned that number. They were very helpful; they advised me my laptop had been found and was waiting for me to collect. There was a 20 GBP charge to reclaim it, but that’s chicken feed for peace of mind.
I left my wallet with passport, credit cards, cash, etc. on BA flight to Moscow. Reported it within 2-3 minutes, just off the plane, before passport control. The wallet was returned within 6 minutes, cash has gone. But then, of course, this was in Russia…
I have a similar case involving a DSi left on an EasyJet flight. 1st Flight handle the EasyJet lost luggage. I know the cabin crew found the item because they confirmed this on the return flight a week later. They had handed it in and I was even given a reference number to help reclaim the item. That was back at the end of October 2009. 1st Flight cannot find it and it has probably been stolen.
I am saddened to read all of these comments as the hope of finding my camera that i left in the pocket of the chair is rapidly fading. I had such high hopes that it would be returned to me as a friend of mine had left his wallet in the pocket on the way out and it had been returned to him at security. I find it staggering that all of these items are left on flights and are clearly pocketed by someone along the way.
when i put a google search out requesting help on previous miracle baggage return cases i was hoping for some kind of amazing unkown trick to dealing with these incompetant people at BA. Sadly, it seems by your page that this doesn’t exist. I left my iPhone on my plane home from JFK but instead of facing my father’s wrath and reporting it as soon as i discovered it was missing at baggage reclaim, i wanted until i got home. I found that everyone i called would just refer me to someone else, except the Excess Baggage Company, who just repeatedly told me that they didn’t have my item, although he did sound sorry for the first five minutes. On second thought, he might have just been tired.
I am on the verge of calling someone at Heathrow getting their manager on the phone, and screaming at them down the line. However, this may not be particularly helpful so if anyone could post any numbers that may be of use to me i’d be eternally greatful.
Georgia.
I found that I had lost my mobile phone on an internal flight from Newcastle to Heathrow. I am certain that it slipped out of my bag in the overhead locker. I went straight to customer services who explained that Excess Baggage handle lost property. I tried to phone them but the line disengaged when I pressed 2 so I emailed them. Had a brief reply to say that it had not been handed in. No other suggestions to try BA’s own lost proprty or try again.
I left my wallet on the plane coming back on a flight from JFK. I know I left it on the top deck of the plane in the little drawer in the business class section. I realised I left if about two hours after I left the plane and called BA. They gave me a number (0208 283 5073). They said they had not got it but stuff left on BA planes can take 24 hours to come through.
I waited till the next day and called and nothing. They said they had still not had the delivery. I called BA and they said it can take then up to 48 hours to get stuff to lost property.
I asked the lady on the BA that if infact it does not get handed in can I assume the cleaners have removed the item. All she said was no comment. How can airline staff who work airside be so un-trustworthy?
The other number which I assume goes to the same place as the number above just sticks you in a hold queue for over 30 minutes.
I now have to report all my cards and driving license as stolen?
Great!
I left my wallet in my laptop bag on a BA flt Lax – Heathrow.
A very helpful lady at Excess Baggage Company at Heathrow arranged for it to be couriered to me in time for my Tuesday meetings in Berlin.
Lost and Found is a problem everywhere, believe me; the Lost and Found can only return what is given to them, and they also have to deal with all the airlines’ dirty washing!
Full marks Heathrow!
My first two plights with BA in years – last week they destroyed a beloved suitcase and this week one of their staff stole expensive sunglasses I left in the seat pouch – I told them as soon as I got to baggage collection and their response to me ?
‘Call the police’
Nasty nasty people. I too have written a complaint – seems like BA’s staff are allowed ‘bonuses’ in the form of whatever forgotten items they pocket.
I may have lost – left behind – a set of rosary beads which could have slipped out of my small bag in the overhead bin during the flight from Singapore to Heathrow on BA0012, 26/27 June 2010. The bag was located at Row 20B.
The rosary beads are of no commercial value but where my father’s left to me after he died. Their value is therefore incalcuable,
If they have been found and handed in, then please would you let me know how they can be retrieved.
Thank you for your kindness
I left a Nokia mobile at security. I called the Excess baggage Company to claim it but since they had six (6) similar sets, they adviced me to call my service provider in order to get an IMEI number, which is a sort of serial number for each mobile. I called T-mobile and effectively got such number. After that I visited http://www.excess-baggage.com/lost_property/lost_property_form.php and fill out a lost property form. Next day I was sent my property!! woohooo
I am having exactly the same problem as we speak, son left nintendo and game on flight from states. Realised before his connecting flight up to Aberdeen and was told by staff they would collect it straight away and put to lost property, which they say has never appeared after repeated calls.
Same song and dance. I realized right away that my Ipad was left on the seat and they did not let me back on the plane. (I was in one of the last rows and one of the last passengers off the plane). They said they would bring it to my next gate which never happened and then gave me the “excess baggage” number. I have tried this number for the last four days and after waiting to be transferred for 20 minutes the phone disconnects. I have gotten through to British Airways which is absolutely no help and they just say that anything left on the plane is not their responsibility. And continuously refer me to the excess baggage number that doesn’t work. I emailed several days ago without reply. I hope anyone in this circumstance has better luck than me.
I lost a notebook (the paper kind – not an item of obvious value but clearly very personal) on an incoming BA flight to Gatwick last week. I called the number on the BA website as soon as I realised and was assured that “the pockets are ALWAYS checked and EVERYTHING is logged so if it was in the pocket it will have been found.” So has it turned up? No, and it’s pretty obvious I won’t be seeing it again. Two things: I’m already a nervous flier so I don’t need to know that BA’s promises aren’t backed up by the people on the ground who actually do the work, and why is BA, which moves planes round the world, still recording lost property in a physical book in 2010? Seriously, BA? Seriously?
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