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Positive Lost and Found Experience

Sincerenca
Explorer C

I just want to give Southwest kudos, because of their great customer service! I was on Flight 211 from Burbank to Denver. This was the 7:45am flight on 4/15/19. I left my personal cell phone in the window seat front pouch. It was about 4 or 5 rows from the back, on the left side of the plane. I give these details in hopes that the employee who was instrumental in getting my phone back to me, receives the recognition that they deserve. For others who may go through this same ordeal, my story may help you:

 

I slept all the way on this early morning flight. When the plane arrive in Denver I was a bit groggy, and just got off of the plane. I did not realize that my phone was even missing until I was already at the Westin hotel right next door, trying to check in. The desk person there kindly called SW to try to help me, but was unable to do much. I promptly put my bags in my room, and immediately went on the SW website to try to figure out what to do. l found and filled out the "lost and found" form as best I could, and submitted it. I then walked back next door to the airport & went to the baggage claim office. I suggest doing this as soon as you realize your phone is lost, and it is too late to retrieve it from the plane.

 

The lady behind the counter in the baggae claim office, went out of her way to try to help me. She looked through a box that contained a lot of phones, tablets, glasses and other items. Unfortunately none of them were mine. One thing I did realize through, is that a lot of things do  end up in that office! I was fortunate to have a work cell phone to use, so this helped me to keep my wits about me and to stay positive. I didn't even report my phone missing to my carrier. I also called my phone regularly to make sure it was still off. Since it was in airplane mode, there was no tracking it.

I went back to the baggage claim office, one more time after a few days, but still no phone. A different SW employee helped me this time but once again was also patient and kind. The kindness and reassurance of these SW employees helped to calm me. It made losing the phone almost worth the experience!

 

I suggest that you find out the serial# of your phone sooner than later, especially if your phone is plain and does not stand out in any way. A few days later I went back to the form and added the serial# I received an email the next day saying that they had found my found. Their main lost and found hub is in Alabama, and that is where it ended up. You will have to pay for them to ship it back to you. In total with shipping time, it took me two weeks to get my phone back. By submitting this form, it enabled SW to keep in touch with me via email about every other day. They kept me informed of the status throughout the whole ordeal, and even emailed me the tracking#

 

This is just another reason that I fly SW as often as possible. Even if they hadn't found my phone, their customer service was excellent! Most likely if SW finds or receives your lost item, you will probably get it back. If a customer ends up keeping it....well always insure your phone if it is expensive to replace, and have your photos etc. always auto backing up to the cloud, so that if you end up with another phone you can retrieve most if not all of your data. Hope this helps!

1 REPLY 1

Re: Positive Lost and Found Experience

dfwskier
Aviator A

Thanks for sharing. Southwest does it's best to reunited lost items with thier owners. Your story proves that positive outcomes do happen.