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Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

bells
Explorer C

I forgot an iPad in the seat pocket of a flight to Denver on Monday and have had absolutely no luck getting a response from Southwest, despite knowing exactly where it was left, and that it was handed over to Denver lost & found.

 

I used Find My iPhone to track the iPad and it showed up in the baggae office of the main terminal at DIA. I immediately put it in lost mode so it shows my phone number on the lock screen, but when I used the play sound function to hopefully get someone to look at the screen the only response was that two minutes later IT WAS TURNED OFF! This doesn't happen by accident, it takes a human to pick it up, see the message, then purposely ignore it and turn off the iPad.

 

There is no way that was just a coincidence, and I strongly suspect someone at Southwest baggage lost & found in Denver decided to play finders-keepers with my iPad. I've tried calling the Southwest baggage desk at DIA but can't get beyond voicemail (which, of course, is never returned).  I've filled out the online form with all of this info but have never gotten so much as an automated confirmation email, let alone any kind of human response.

 

I generally love this airline, but I am wildly disappointed with their handling of this situation. It is especially frustrating when you realize that an iPad in lost mode can never be re-activated by anyone else, so stealing it isn't just wrong, it's pointless.

 

The cherry on top, though, is the complete lack of any way to talk to a human, and the absence of any response to the online form. This is a very un-Southwest way to handle a customer, and needs improving.

6 REPLIES 6

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

bec102896
Aviator A
Solution

@bells 

 

I'm sorry to hear you left your iPad on your recent flight.losing valuables is never a fun thing to deal with. 

 

Being that you have filled out the report online that is your best bet at this time. Did you by chance upload your serial number to the report? If not I would update the report with that information if you have it as that should help with proof of that is your iPad not someone else’s. 

 

The ipad was probably turned off to save battery as well as they don’t want to hear the tune all day. When items are lost the stations will send the lost items to a central lost and found location where all lost items on Southwest planes are sent. Once they get these items at the central office they will go through all the reports which can take time and hopefully they will eventually find your report and match it with the iPad so they can then contact you to set up delivery. This process can take a couple weeks or even a month so just be patient and watch your email (including the spam folder)  you can always try the find my iPad again over time and you may see it is turned on and in Alabama that would be where the central location is and they would hopefully be getting close to reuniting you with your iPad. 

 

Hope your iPad is returned soon!

Blake 

 

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

chgoflyer
Aviator A

If I'm understanding correctly, you lost your iPad three days ago. I'd suggest you allow some time for the lost item department to process your claim. Southwest flys 70 million passengers each year, and you're far from the only person who has left an item behind. 

 

 

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

bells
Explorer C

As others noted, it did eventually make its way back to me via their lost & found vendor. Of course, since I didn't have a serial number for the expensive Apple keyboard case they took that off and listed it for sale on ebay (yes, I found the listing), but finder's keepers, right?

 

All in all, between the complete lack of communication and the theft of my property, this was one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had. Southwest shines in so many ways, but this was simply abominable, and I won't forget it.

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

dfwskier
Aviator A

@bells wrote:

As others noted, it did eventually make its way back to me via their lost & found vendor. Of course, since I didn't have a serial number for the expensive Apple keyboard case they took that off and listed it for sale on ebay (yes, I found the listing), but finder's keepers, right?

 

 I would find it hard to believe that the firm would list an item found less than two weeks ago on e-bay. I would think it would wait a while to see if someone would file a lost item report on it. Perhaps it was one identical to yours.

 

Perhaps another lost item report is in order.

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

chgoflyer
Aviator A

It was returned to you in less than 2 weeks?

 

And you're upset?

 

After you lost it?

 

Personally, I'd be ecstatic that something I carelessly lost was even returned to me. (I do, however, tend to take personal responsibility more seriously than some other people do, apparently.)

 

 

Re: Lost & found, absolutely no help, possibly stolen

dfwskier
Aviator A

@chgoflyer wrote:

It was returned to you in less than 2 weeks?

 

And you're upset?

 

After you lost it?

 

Personally, I'd be ecstatic that something I carelessly lost was even returned to me. (I do, however, tend to take personal responsibility more seriously than some other people do, apparently.)

 

 


I do wish I could leave more than one "love" for certain posts.