Ooooh, this happened to me once, at GVA.
I was headed back to the US and had a paper ticket on LX. I got to the airport on time, I checked my bag, got my boarding pass, then went to the RELAY convenience mart to spend my last few francs on candy.
I then got in the security line and... could not find my boarding pass! I retraced my steps all the way back to the ticketing counter with no luck. I went back to the same agent who had just checked my in and explained my situation. She said that since it was a paper ticket, I could not get a new BP. She would have to charge $250 for a re-ticketing. (Or euros? Point was, no small fee!
)
I ran back upstairs to again retrace my steps, desperately looking all over the floor of RELAY and rifling through the garbage cans. A young woman who was emptying the trash bins asked me if I needed help and I explained (in my rudimentary French) what happened. She sprang into action. She helped me poke through the trash bins and found it unjust that it would be $250 to re-ticket. We went back to the ticketing counter and she argued with the ticketing agent in French, but the LX ticketing agent wouldn't budge.
Then the young woman said, "Follow me, my friend is the police supervisor." So we went down to the police HQ of the airport and she explained the situation. They didn't have my ticket and said there was nothing they could do about LX rules. Realizing time was getting short for me to catch my flight, I thanked the woman and the police and decided that I would have to fork over the $250.
I went back to the check-in area and with just about 30 min till take-off, I defeatedly told the agent I was in a huge hurry and needed a new BP. I had my credit card out, but to my surprise, see handed me the BP and told me to hurry to the gate. No payment needed!
So, happy ending
but I will never do that again!