Is This What Happens to Items You Leave Behind on Flights?
Jennifer Billock December 30, 2018
A man who accidentally forgot his laptop on a Delta Air Lines flight had it stolen from the plane; he was ultimately able to track the computer down to the home of the person who allegedly took it and get it back, but he has concerns now about how this was able to happen so easily in the first place.
Robert, a passenger on a recent Delta Air Lines flight who declined to share his last name, accidentally left his laptop on his flight when he boarded—and later discovered it had been stolen. Robert alleges that someone on the cleaning crew took it. Ultimately Robert was able to track his computer down and luckily had the laptop returned to him.
“I was not hopeful. I was not expecting to actually get it,” Robert told WSB-TV Atlanta. “I called Delta, tried to get them to track it down. They just put me through to lost and found and I left a voicemail.”
The laptop was found at a home less than 10 minutes from the airport. Robert found it by using the Find My iPhone app on his phone.
“When you go in there, it shows you all your devices and you can zoom and see where they are,” Robert told WSB-TV.
The person at the residence where the laptop was found confirmed that he cleans Delta planes and eventually admitted to stealing a laptop from one and selling it for $500. The police had the man call the person he sold it to, buy it back, and return it to Robert.
“Probably a lot of people after a long day of travel forget phones, laptops, whatever—and the fact that it can be so brazenly taken right out of an airport is frustrating and I think a little bit scary in the bigger picture,” Robert said.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
Week before last flew into PDX on UA, left my tablet in the seat back (3E as we were lucky and got the upgrade from DEN.) At baggage claim talking to the agent about some damage to a bag from the previous flight earlier in the week and up walks the flight attendant and hands me my tablet! A few years ago I came in on UA from Tokyo through SFO to PDX. Left my phone charger in the seat back (You can see where I tend to forget things in the seat back!) and realized it when I got to the club lounge. Agent called and they found the charger, but could not get it to me in time. I said, can you hold it as I'll be back through next week. No problem and i simply went out to pick it up a few days later (leaving my carry on with my wife.) and was back through security in less than 30 minutes!I I have consistently found that UA does a pretty good job even if occasionally things do get truly lost.
Not everyone is as organized as Carl so some of us leave things behind now and then. But it is ultimately your responsibility and your own fault if you lose, leave behind, have something slip out of a pocket, etc. something and the finder decides to keep it. Delta doesn't lose the device you left behind, maybe their employee, or another deplaning passenger steals something you left behind, but that's not on Delta. Employers in some states can do background checks and sometimes they can fire union employees, but it isn't their fault when an employee or passenger steals something you left behind.
Left my brand new Microsoft Surface Pro in the seatback pocket while disembarking from a Brussels Airlines flight in Bilbao, Spain. Realized at the aircraft door but was not allowed back in for a so-called security reason. I had to contact lost-and-found but of course my laptop was never recovered. Very frustrating...
I forgot a pair of glasses on a Swiss Air flight, they were at the desk when I checked in for my return flight.
I left a G-Pad on a Delta flight. I left it in the pocket in front of my seat, which was 1A. I realized I'd left it within minutes of getting off the plane and I went back to the gate. The plane was still at the gate but it had been "cleaned" and the pad was gone. I reported it on Delta's "lost and found" website, which is the only option and you don't get to speak to a human. I left a comment saying I did not "lose" it, I know exactly where I left it: Delta "lost" it. Nothing was ever done about it and I never saw it again.