I had a similar experience to Paralytic's: a few years ago at DUS, I was waiting for my bag on the belt, and I waited, and I waited. The belt stopped and there were no bags left. I spoke to the guy in charge who couldn't have been more helpful. He was mystified and took down my details. An hour or so later when I was speeding down the Autobahn, my mobile rang and it was the BA man. Someone else had taken my bag my mistake and returned it. BA brought it to the small village in which I was staying a few hours later - very good service!

(And to stay on topic: the bag had no tags at the time. Not sure if that would have made a difference!)