ter1230_4

I recently had the trip from hell. I was supposed to return to HNL from RIC via ORD on November 28, but after a 4 hour delay my RIC-ORD flight was cancelled for mechanical reasons. Suffice it to say that when your flight out of a regional airport is cancelled on the busiest travel day of the year you're screwed. Not only couldn't UA get me to HNL that day, they couldn't even get me to ORD, LAX or SFO. Finally I agreed to go to DEN via ATL on Delta and take the nonstop DEN-HNL the next day. Of course the ATL-DEN flight ended up being delayed for 5 hours due to mechanical problems, so it took me 20 hours from the time I entered the RIC airport to get to DEN.

My lost and found problem started the next day. I boarded Flight 43 at DEN at Gate 39 on time and everything seemed fine. After boarding there was an announcement that a man's watch had been found, but I didn't pay any attention. After the tribulations of the prior day I wasn't exactly at my sharpest so I didn't check to see if I had my watch. Why should I, it was on my wrist when I got into the boarding line. It was only after the aircraft started to push back from the gate that I checked my watch to see what time it was and discovered that I no longer had a watch. I informed the FA, who went forward to check for it, and then came back and informed me that they had given the watch to the DEN GA. I subsequently spoke to the Purser, and she said that the pin had come out of the wristband, which is why it fallen off of my wrist without my knowing it.

Now you might think that I would have had a pretty good chance of getting my watch back. After all, an employee of UA (the GA) had been given the watch. Other employees of UA knew the name of the person who had lost the watch, and they had my frequent flyer information. I was given a telephone number to call when I arrived in HNL, which ended up being the Lost and Found for the entire DEN airport. When I called the number I was surprised that it was an automated voicemail mailbox which instructed me to leave a message, and said that they might or might not return the call. Suffice it to say that my call (and a subsequent call) have never been returned.

I am extremely unhappy with UA over this, because it seems very likely that an employee of UA decided to pocket my watch. I suppose there is some possibility that the DEN GA dutifully turned the watch over to Lost and Found, and then the watch disappeared, but I think it is far more likely that a UA employee stole it. I contacted UA's customer service via e-mail, and after an exchange of e-mails a real live person finally called me. Although he was very nice, he made it clear that UA had no intention of contacting the GA who was on duty that day or anything else. I finally settled for a $350 travel voucher, but I remain very unhappy about the experience.

cordelli

I may be wrong, but I believe your watch may be at United's lost and found in the airport, not the Denver airport lost and found. The airport lost and found is only for stuff found in public areas, not at the gates, on the planes, etc. I think you need to get hold of somebody in baggage services at the airport for United, I think what's what they use for their lost and found.

WineCountryUA

While you are understandingly upset about the trip and lost watch, you have no basis for your accusations. A short read of the many lost & found threads and understanding that there are mountains of lost&found items and that in a given day at Denver I would suspect dozens/hundreds of items are lost / forgotten might give you a better appreciation of the lost & found situation.
Sorry for my dash of cold water but I find it troubling when folks make unfounded accusations.

Welcome to FT!, ter1230_4
I hope you find the community useful

palmetto86

I know IAD has a similar setup. Anything lost at security checkpoints goes to the TSA Lost and Found, anything lost in the terminal goes to the IAD Lost and Found, and anything lost at a UA gate/jetbridge/plane goes to the UA Lost and Found.

deniah

while it wont console you, i dropped something in a RCC @ ORD and after a couple of phone call (hadto leave messages), emails, to both UA and ORD, i was never ever returned a response.

it wasnt until my next return to ORD that i confirmed -- what i had already accepted -- in person that the item was as good as gone

ter1230_4

Originally posted by cordelli: I think you need to get hold of somebody in baggage services at the airport for United, I think what's what they use for their lost and found.

I specifically asked UA's Customer Service Rep what their procedure was supposed to be in this situation, and he said their procedure is supposed to be to turn the item over to DEN Lost and Found. He told me that UA does not handle lost and found items through baggage services. But if anyone has any idea how to contact UA's Den baggage services directly I'd love to try.

Originally posted by WineCountryUA: While you are understandingly upset about the trip and lost watch, you have no basis for your accusations. A short read of the many lost & found threads and understanding that there are mountains of lost&found items and that in a given day at Denver I would suspect dozens/hundreds of items are lost / forgotten might give you a better appreciation of the lost & found situation.
Sorry for my dash of cold water but I find it troubling when folks make unfounded accusations.

Actually, I found your post to be more like a pile of bull you-know-what than cold water. Dozens/ hundreds of items lost at DEN every day? That seems more than a little bit unlikely. And I have read some of the lost and found threads, and there is a pretty common theme, which is if you lose something valuable on UA you're probably more likely to get hit by a meteor than get it back. And there is a major difference between my situation and most of the lost and found threads, which is that I KNOW for a fact that my watch was in the possesion of a UA employee, and yet somehow never ended up in the DEN Lost and Found. How would you care to explain that? Maybe my watch just sprouted wings and flew away!

GoPUBoilers

You're the one that lost the watch. They even made an announcement which was your best possible chance at getting it back. Had you lost it anywhere else (street, parking lot, etc), you would have never seen it again anyway. I understand the frustration but you got a $350 voucher and there is still a possibility that it is hanging around somewhere if you care to keep digging. Otherwise...c'est la vie.

ter1230_4

That sounds like the kind of rationalization the person who pocketed the watch would engage in. Up to a point you're right, it fell off of my wrist without my noticing it and I should have been paying better attention when they made the announcement, but that still doesn't explain how the watch disappeared after having been in possession of the UA GA at Gate 39 in DEN.

FriendlySkies

DEN has three large terminals, as well as a very large main terminal building. With thousands of passengers passing through every section of the airport every hour, many items do get lost..

While you believe that a UA employee "pocketed your watch", you honestly have no clue who has it. Perhaps UA does have it, or maybe somebody in the airport Lost & Found office stole it? Don't just be so quick to blame United employees. You had your chance to check your wrist when they made the announcement, and since you decided against that... It's highly unlikely that you will get anything else from UA. Sorry, but things happen.

ter1230_4

You're wrong, I do have one clue. The watch was in possession of the GA, who is a United employee. I think that I acknowledged the possibility in the original post that it could have disappeared after being turned over to DEN Lost and Found. So you're right, I don't know for a fact who has it now. But I live in the real world, and spin it as much as you want, it is still most likely that it was taken by a UA employee.

WineCountryUA

Well I doubt we will agree but concerning DEN lost & found, my statement is based on a discussion with them concerning a cell phone. They state they had many cell phones every day and many more other items.

Also as another source of info Laptops Lost Like Hot Cakes at US Airports ... that's an average 40 laptops a day (and Denver is far from an average size airport)

so bottom line, I stand by my statement ... interesting the usefulness of facts

cblaisd

St. Ignatius: "Exhaust all possible positive interpretations of every person, statement, event, or occurrence, before assuming a negative one."

That's the pono thing to do here.

Not a good decision, as it turns out. Stuff, indeed, does happen.

trooper

I'm confused...

You didn't actually talk to anyone in the Lost and Found right? (Rang twice, calls not returned?)

..and yet you have determined that your watch is not being held, but has in fact been stolen?

How did you work that out???? What am I missing here? Who told you the watch is NOT in the Lost and Found?

..and why do you seem to think you hold zero responsibility for the loss?

Hell.. it was found by an honest person who handed it to UA staff (or by an honest UA staffer ) and they cared enough to make an announcement looking for the owner!!! How lucky was that?

Honestly...I'd be blaming myself in that situation... YMMV of course.. and clearly does.

holtju2

OP has unrealisting expectations. If I leave something behind I don't expect to ever see it again. Unfortunately this is the way of life. Just accept it and move on.

FlyingNone

================
I would have to concur......I work at a large, busy airport and today, inside of four hours, three different passengers checking in left a passport, a credit card and a wallet on the ticket counter. (the credit card and wallet were retrieved within minutes), the passport was not noticed right away as it sat on the counter 4-5 feet away from me. I searched the name in the passport and the passenger was on one of our Chicago flights (already airborne). I noted that information plus address and phone from the MPLus number account and handed it to my supervisor. They in turn will be contacting the passenger by phone and putting the passport in a safe until it is mailed or retrieved by the passenger (if returning to this airport). I would say, on average, at least 3-4 people a day ask for a gate pass to go back and retrieve items they've left on their flight. None of this helps the OP but just saying how easy it is to not notice we've lost, dropped, left something while focused on checking in, boarding and all the other things "swirling" around us.