Anyone left something on a plane at Gatwick and got it back their lost propertysystem?

littlerock

My son left his phone on the plane at at Gatwick, after arriving from the US. The official lost property system at Gatwick seems worse than useless basically you have to report it, wait for them to locate it and match it to your report then get in touch to return it. Only stage 1 seems to work. Sine he lost it I have mentioned it to friends and they all jeer and say the losr property system at Gatwick does not work. Period. Anyone used it successfully?

mattyprice4004

Seems fair enough to me, they don’t have the staff to send someone on a wild goose chase every time they leave something on the plane.

elsien

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Seems fair enough to me, they don’t have the staff to send someone on a wild goose chase every time they leave something on the plane.

The OP isn't expecting that. They're asking whether in practice items eventually find their way off the plane, through lost property and back to the owner, or whether the lost item is more likely to plunge into a black hole never to be seen again.

eDicky

The lost property system probably works fine, if a found item reaches it. But you have to rely on the honesty of the aircraft cleaning staff, or whoever finds it, to turn it in...

LadyDee

It could have been picked up by another passenger, spotting it as they left the plane.

Isn't there an app available to find your phone? Might be a good idea to look into that when he gets his replacement.

sheramber

According to this you need to contact the airline for items left on the plane

https://www.airportlostandfound.com/london-gatwick-lost-and-found/

This airport’s office is physically located in the South Terminal on the ground level. It’s open seven days a week, and the hours of operation are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Please note that this office is only for items that have been lost or found in the airport or at security. If you left an item on an airplane or an airline bus, you will need to contact the airline to learn how best to proceed.

maisie_cat

A lost of lost property does not make it to the lost property office. Airline staff help themselves, my next door neighbour works for an airline at LHR and anything valuable goes home with staff

ibizafan_2

I met a guy who once worked as a cleaner on planes at Gatwick and said that anything valuable would never make its way to lost property, and anything else mostly gets thrown away. I wasn’t surprised to be honest. Contrast that with me leaving my kindle in one of the lounges in Dubai Airport when on my way to Australia. One month later, on my return, there it was in lost property. Restored my faith a bit.

littlerock

thanks for this. In fact my son enquired at the airline (ba) and they referred him to the onebaggage system. He knew it was on the plane for some time after because he had left it on and he could see it via the tracker. Then the battery ran out.

I happen to be visiting relatives this weekend and mentioned it. My sister immediately said her son left something on a plane from Gatwick, something you might expect to turn up in Lost Property. She said getting through to the service at Gatwick was a nightmare and they just basically denied having it more or less off the cuff.

Then my sister in law said she had watched a TV consumer show where a woman had left her iPhone and iPad on a plane at Gatwick. She eventually got a lawyer on the case and it emerged that expressbaggage ( who run the onebaggage lost property system there) had never even logged her report on the system in the first place. They only did so after the lawyer wrote to them. Not logging valuable items allows them to manipulate their statistics on returned items. My SiL said the show indicated this happened a lot and they basically just stored stuff and then sold it.

Their system does seem fairly open to abuse.I mean if they only recorded half the stuff handed in, told all customers who enquired it was not handed in and then sold it on after a period, what is there to stop that.?

I was basically conducting a straw poll to find out if anyone here has successfully used the Gatwick lost property system !

eDicky

Well, I take back my comment that the system probably works if an item is handed in.

Let's face it, honesty is rare among British airport staff who have access to belongings, luggage etc. Other countries vary.

littlerock wrote: »

He knew it was on the plane for some time after because he had left it on and he could see it via the tracker.

This means that the cleaners would have found it, the crew don't linger.

I make a point of never putting anything in the seat pocket, where it's out of sight and can be easily forgotten when disembarking.

Gloomendoom

eDicky wrote: »

Let's face it, honesty is rare among British airport staff who have access to belongings, luggage etc. Other countries vary.

Evidently.

I left my wallet on a plane while transiting at Singapore Changi. It was back in my hand within an hour of reporting it. Delivered by a policeman.

My wife managed to leave a jacket on the same plane but didn't realise until later. It was found but she had to go back and collect it in person. They wouldn't send it. Luckily we were were going back the following month.