Comedy of Errors (left item on plane - AA not helpful)
 

This is my first post, I feel like I need to tell someone and know that if I send this to AA customer service, I will get a form letter letting me know how sorry they are about what ever it is that happened and hope that is does not happen again. That has become not good enough.

My story starts two days ago in Nashville (BNA) Tn. I got to the airport earlier than expected and inquired about earlier flights I could fly stand by on. I was successful in not only getting on the flight but also upgrading. Unfortunately, there were storms in Dallas and after boarding and making our way out to the runway, we were told that we would have to wait for a while before taking off, this became over an hour.

Once we got to Dallas, I was concerned that I was not going to make my connection and accidentally left my Bose QC2 headphones and IPOD in the seat back pocket of 6B. I realized this once I got to my gate and called the Exec. Plat. Desk for assistance. They called the gate and were told that the plane had left already and no one had found and turned it in. I was given a number to call that turned out to be DFW lost and found. I had to leave a message which I have yet to be contacted by them either way. I then called back to exec plat and asked them to contact the gate in Montreal where the plane was headed.

The best they could do was give me a number for Montreal's airport lost and found. I asked that they contact the gate so that some one could look when the flight landed. They said they would, however when Montreal called me 24 hours later they just let me know that no one had turned in my headphones/IPOD. I asked if there was some way to contact the occupant of my seat from DFW to Montreal and was told no.

I know this was my fault leaving it in the seat back pocket, but you would think that American would try to help one of their customers that they claim is their most important customers (executive platinum). But it appears that they don't care.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Hi, sam_minkowitz. Welcome to Flyertalk.

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has ever reported on this forum leaving something on an AA plane, so I think you are in uncharted waters. Good luck in getting your stuff back.

Searching for 'lost' and 'found' returned a number of threads.

Some with good results (returned items) and some with bad results (frustration and item still missing).

Not sure what to suggest .. the DFW lost & found seems to be an answering machine blck hole in the system.

All the promises of people to call ahead and look for the missing items is probably less valuable than gemac's comment on this thread.

Good luck .. tho I have low estimation of you getting them returned.....

And AA will probably be sympathetic to your plight, tho there is nothing they can really do since it could be cleaning crew (contract) or another pax who ended up with your booty. As in I would not expect any compensation .. ;)

I don't think you can expect an organization the size of AA to raise a hue and cry every time someone (of whatever status) leaves something in the seat pocket.

I think the ExecPlat desk calling the gates in both DFW and YUL is over and above.

Also, kudos to AA for NOT bothering the passenger who occupied your seat on the next flight... I don't think I would like it if someone from AA called me out of the blue and said: "It seems another passenger left is iPod in your seat on a previous flight. Did you seat it by chance?"

What's not good enough is not taking enough personal responsibility to account for your own personal property when you got off the flight. Instead, it's AA's fault that they accomodated you an earlier flight, provided an upgrade which was subsequently delayed by weather and then attempted to make phone calls on your behalf, which were ultimately unsuccessful. Are you expecting an apology or some type of reimbursement?

I apologize in advance if this seems abrupt - but as you so state - never would have been an issue if you hadn't left those items to begin with.

From a more practical standpoint, you may want to check if you are covered on any type of renter's or homeowners policy with a deductible low enough to cover some of the $500 or so lost.

jdburns11

Virtually any passenger on that airplane who was seated behind the OP had a chance to take his IPod and Bose headphones.

I have seen passengers check the seat pockets as they progress up the aisle to the exit.

This is not an AA issue.

Well, I'm not sure if you're being, umm, obtuse or if you left out "and getting it back"... but just in case the latter is the case, I too left an ipod/bose combination on an AA flight.

Called Platinum number from the rental car bus, they got me in touch with the AA lost and found at Denver, they told me they had my gear (impressive - it hadn't taken me very long to get to the bus from the plane that day) and I could either pick it up then or when I returned for my outbound.

What was really nice was the the person who answered the lost and found phone also gave me her name and said something to the effect of "I am personally going to guarantee you get this back."

When I claimed it, they wanted ID and they took it out of a locked locker.

So, there are some success stories, but if the cleaning crew isn't honest, you're probably SOL.

Note: someone mentioned pax looking in the seatbacks while exiting, in my experience they're generally looking for the sports section or the financial section...

What's wrong with the first part :confused:

Cheers.

I was checking in at the first-class desk in DFW last month. The friendly agent saw my bose case draped around my neck and asked if I had my name inside. I told her I did, and she informed me that "most of the ones that get turned in don't have any identifable information inside." I expressed surprise that any would actually be turned in, since I wouldn't expect to get them back if I forgot them. She assured me that many, many get turned in, but without any name inside, they can't be returned.

I had a really good if not hectic experience at ORD. I left a gift on my inbound flight. When I realized it I started returning to my original gate when my cell phone rang. They called to tell me that they had it and were sending to my connecting gate. When I returned to that gate it was there. Great service!

It all depends on who you get. Lost glasses on a flight to LGA which never turned up so I batting 2 for 1!

Peace!

hope
 

I have posted this story once before when someone lost there ipod.

I was flying with my family coming back from a trip to EZE on the DFW-STL segment. My mom left a large bag in the overhead compartment in Y (row 9). It contained - 4 ipods (family members and hers) 2 digital cameras, and an assortment of other not-so-valuable things. Same process that you had to get it back, but no luck. ~ 5-6 weeks later, we get a call from the STL airport that they have found our bag. I go to pick it up, and it contains everything. Not 1 item missing.

Not good enough? You want them to pay you for YOUR carelessness?

The only thing they didn't do, that they might have done, was to call the gate the plane was going to.
However, If your name was on the item, and IF someone found it while it was enroute to Montreal, and IF they turned it in, then it wouldn't matter if you called the gate or not. Surely you didn't expect the airline to give you the contact information for another passenger, or did you?

I don't see anything they did wrong.

None of the errors, whether comedic or not, was caused by AA or any of the employees. The seatback pocket is not an approved stowage space for carry on items.

D'oh! I've never even thought about doing this despite the amount of travel that I do. Hope everyone takes a few minutes to label their portable devices today. It won't stop a dishonest person from taking stuff that you leave behind, but it will help the honest ones find you.

Mike