How To Retrieve Lost Item at IST Turkish Airlines Domestic Terminal After Leaving Tur
 

How To Retrieve A Lost Item (cell phone, small camera) at IST Turkish Airlines Domestic Terminal After Leaving Turkey?
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I dropped a small item on an International TK flight. It was located. However, now I cannot figure how to get it sent back to the US.
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Apparently all such items found on a plane at IST are sent to the Domestic Terminal Lost and Found Office and not held at the International Terminal for even a brief time.
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TK or the Lost and Found folks will not assist in any way in having it sent back to me in the US. L & F provides a list of 3 shipping companies via email. However, none of them, UPS, TNT, nor DHL will pick up the item from the Domestic Terminal. Nor do they provide any contact information for a courier service to assist in this. Shipping costs quoted to me, once these companies receive a less than 1 pound small item, would be over $100.00 and take 2-7 business days, back to the US.I I
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I do not have anyone to assist me in this in Istanbul, so any advice / assistance would be appreciated.
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I think I need a courier to get the item and hopefully find someone who gets a good discount with a shipping company so the item can be sent back to the US. Getting back a small camera, cell phone, etc., should not be this much trouble, but oh well….
Thanks in advance

NOLA1

other details:Folks at the CIP Lounge told me not to go back to the gate as no one could help me there at this point, about 30 minutes after the flight landed. They made some calls and the item was retrieved and sent to the Domestic Terminal Lost and Found Office, about 1 hour after the flight landed. However my connecting would take off in less than 1 hour and I did not have enough time to:-get a Turkish visa stamp
- go through passport control
- get to the Domestic Terminal (from International)
- get the item - and go back through all the security and passport controls before the next flight

Sounds amazing but i believe you, after all it's TK's infamous ground service. I would probably try to call them and hope that some sensible person picks up the phone. You would like to think that lost items are daily occurence and there would be simple and clear procedures to get them back

Thank you for the reply. I do not know how US, Canadian, other European or Asian airlines, etc,, handle such matters. I suspect part of my predicament has to do with cultural differences. I assume the cleaning staff found the item and sent through the "system". At least they were honest - but no way for me to reward the finder with a tip. It makes absolutely no sense to move the item to a different and inaccessible terminal. Just bad management or a hidden desire to keep the lost items for profit. TAV, the airport management company, but not TK might have its own lost and found at the International Terminal. However, I do not know on which side of security and passport control it might be located. Why no shipping service can pick up a small item, nor refer me to a courier to do this suggests far greater issues. I suspect this relates to security matters, but still crazy. I am currently seeking assistance from friends of friends. After numerous phone calls over multiple days, I have pretty much given up otherwise. To their credit, most Turks answer the phone after a few rings and do try to speak at least some English. However, many simply could not understand what I was trying to do.

The lost and found solution at Ataturk is very weird and I still don't fully understand how to properly use it, but I did manage to get something back once so let me tell you how it went. I was flying Int-Int with my wife and on the way to Ist she left her tablet on the plane. She realized that when we were in the lounge. We talked to the lounge desk, they made some calls and told us that the tablet is in the lost and found in the domestic terminal and we need to pick it up ourselves. So we went to the land side and then to the domestic terminal. In the domestic terminal we learned that the lost and found is on the air side near baggage claim, but we had no way of getting there since we didn't have domestic tickets and there is no procedure to let the international passengers get to the lost and found. Eventually we went to the exit gate from the baggage claim and after long convincing of a security guard that almost didn't speak any English he let my wife thru and I stayed with him as a collateral. Eventually she got her tablet back but there must be a better way to do it than what we did. Thankfully I booked long layover to enjoy the lounge so we had enough time for this adventure.

I don't believe they are selling your lost possessions for profit, in fact if you don't pick it up it creates a cost for them because they have to store it. It's just a typical example of poor organization on TK's behalf.

I am flying IST - MIA on Jan 12th. I can go to the airport early and try to have your lost item. If you send me a prepaid posting label, I will leave the package to my hotel in Miami for them to post. I cannot promise to post it myself as I will embark to Costa Delizoasa next day from Ft Lauderdale.

Edit on Jan 7th
I guess the OP is not interested. So be it.
I really don't understand people that asks help but not interested in reading the replies and be kind enough to answer them.

Edit on Jan 9th
Now in contact with nola1.
Hopefully, he will have his mobile on Friday in FL.
🙃🙃

I had a similar case, but I had no problems with the guard - you just tell them "lost and found", they know the drill.

In any case, smellme, if nobody picks it up for you, send me PM.

Thank you folks for the replies so far and the information provided :) :)
Rozy, I have just sent you a Private Message (I hope).
potjernik, as Rozy is traveling in a few days I will make direct contact. Are you in Istanbul ?

Another PM sent to rozy from nola1. :)

The lost phone reunited with nola1 in Miami.
😎

What can I say: THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! sağ olun (beyond) Teşekkür ederim

rozy is a superstar and deserving of the highest praise.

I am also extremely thankful for the assistance provided by others in Istanbul.
Unfortunately for someone not physically present in the city, this is indeed an uphill slog. Likely needlessly impossible for someone without friends, colleagues, family, nor forum members in Istanbul.
(See: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turk...-istanbul.html)

It might take someone at the level of the airport manager or head of Turkish Airlines to alleviate this difficult means of handling lost items.
I also have no doubt that are various cultural and possibly security issues at play here as well. However, there should be a means to address these and provide relief to a customer. As noted in the above url, I was also told by many folks that they cannot physically retrieve lost items from the Domestic Terminal, which is where they are sent.
For lost items from International flights, having 2 offices to handle such items, one perhaps near the CIP lounge, inside the secure perimeter, and 1 perhaps near a Ticketing or baggage claim desk along with someone who can be paid a small amount to get an item from 1 place to the other would be ideal. Perhaps this can be incorporated into the new airport design. Similar strategy for Domestic flights would seem appropriate.

Yes, rozy is very helpful. He offered to help me out, but my student managed to get the Turkish Airlines manager of the Tokyo office to go and retrieve her 'lost' MacAir. Thanks to the Flyertalk members that offered suggestions on this matter.

Hello! I am having the same issue - it seems as if no couriers can get to the lost & found because it is restricted access. Is anyone else flying through Istanbul that could help? This is the weirdest lost and found setup -- I was first told that Turkish Airlines would send it on the next flight and then that I could send a prepaid mailing envelope. According to the lost and found office, neither of those are true. Giving up soon, but thought I would try out my luck here.

Thanks!

I did not find a way to get my electronics shipped to me ... all couriers refused so I flew back to IST and picked them up (last month) ... The lost and found is not in a restricted area ... anyone can get to it ... e.g. if you had a friend in Istanbul ...

I am in LAX at the moment but flying back to IST on June 2nd. I have a contact who works in TAV Airports. If you write me details, I would do my best to help on Monday.

Lost Phone
 

Dear Rozy, just as you saved the Original Poster, please save me too..
Today on the 31.05.2018 on the flight TK606 from Entebbe to Istanbul, I forgot my phone, Samsung Galaxy S7 (black phone, with a dark pink case). Unfortunately I had only two hours transfer, and I remembered that I didn' have my phone, when the connecting flight to Munich, Germany was making it's last call.

After reading how not so easy the process is, especially for connecting flights, I am reaching out to you, investing my trust in you, to please check out for me, when you get to Istanbul, I will meet all my shipping costs. I was seated at the seat 05F, with a baby boy, under the names, Nakakawa Haliya Fichtner. Also I forgot my baby's T.shirt and sockings, but that's not very important😄

please contact me under +4915112008348.. In case I don't answer here.