Help! I've done something stupid!
May 24th, 2007, 05:08 AM
#1
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Help! I've done something stupid!
I got in around midnight last night from a 17day trip to the Caribbean. I took pictures of the sunset from the plane and apparently forgot to put my camera back into my bag and I just discovered this morning that it is missing.
I've called the American Airlines lost & found at the Hartford Airport and left a message. Have not been able to get a live person on the phone. Now I'm hoping that one of you might have a suggestion for expediating my search.
Yes, I know it was a stupid move and I feel as if I've been kicked in the gut. By all means, tell me what a careless person I was to lose it, but please do offer suggestions.
If it helps at all, I was on flight 1312 from San Juan to Hartford, seat 4A, on Wednesday 23 May.
Thanks in advance!
I've called the American Airlines lost & found at the Hartford Airport and left a message. Have not been able to get a live person on the phone. Now I'm hoping that one of you might have a suggestion for expediating my search.
Yes, I know it was a stupid move and I feel as if I've been kicked in the gut. By all means, tell me what a careless person I was to lose it, but please do offer suggestions.
If it helps at all, I was on flight 1312 from San Juan to Hartford, seat 4A, on Wednesday 23 May.
Thanks in advance!
May 24th, 2007, 06:14 AM
#3
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In my experience, going to the airport is your only option. That aircraft is on its way back to San Juan.They had plenty of time to servic ethe aircraft and just maybe someone found it.Best of luck.But dont beat yourself up.You are NOT the Lone Ranger!
May 24th, 2007, 07:26 AM
#4
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Unfortunately I will have to give you the bad news. In my years of flying AA I left 3-4 items and only once did I get it back. 3 possible reasons for your camera never to be found:
1) cleaning services are outsourced to local airport crews. If they did a good job cleaning the plane and did find the camera, you have to hope that the lowly paid cleaner is honest enough to turn it in to AA.
2) the cleaning crew did not find the camera but the passenger sitting in your seat did. Don't forget, these planes are turned around in ~1 hour. Again, you have to hope that the passenger is honest enough to turn it in after deplaning. (try to find out where the plane went next after your flight and call that station lost and found)
3) and finally. Assuming the camera was turned in by the cleaner or the passenger, usually to the nearest available GA, then once again you have to hope that the GA is honest enough to turn it in to the lost and found. Also, one never knows which station the camera has been turned into. What if a passenger on 5th flight after yours was the one that found it? How is AA suppose to know who left it? It's assumed (at best) that it was the flight just prior to the last one but since nobody is claiming it than at some point it gets donated to some charity so they could sell it.
You have to remember that the same plane could be flying to 5 different cities on the same day.
There is little hope you may get it back, but I wouldn't get too upset if you don't. Too many variables that work against you in situations like this.
Good luck!
1) cleaning services are outsourced to local airport crews. If they did a good job cleaning the plane and did find the camera, you have to hope that the lowly paid cleaner is honest enough to turn it in to AA.
2) the cleaning crew did not find the camera but the passenger sitting in your seat did. Don't forget, these planes are turned around in ~1 hour. Again, you have to hope that the passenger is honest enough to turn it in after deplaning. (try to find out where the plane went next after your flight and call that station lost and found)
3) and finally. Assuming the camera was turned in by the cleaner or the passenger, usually to the nearest available GA, then once again you have to hope that the GA is honest enough to turn it in to the lost and found. Also, one never knows which station the camera has been turned into. What if a passenger on 5th flight after yours was the one that found it? How is AA suppose to know who left it? It's assumed (at best) that it was the flight just prior to the last one but since nobody is claiming it than at some point it gets donated to some charity so they could sell it.
You have to remember that the same plane could be flying to 5 different cities on the same day.
There is little hope you may get it back, but I wouldn't get too upset if you don't. Too many variables that work against you in situations like this.
Good luck!
May 24th, 2007, 07:42 AM
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Betweeen us, DH and I have lost 2 cameras, a cellphone, prescription sunglasses, and an MP3 player. We got back my pair of sunglasses.
Yes, you'd think "we" would learn not to leave "our" stuff behind, but in 2 cases, it was a matter of slipping out of a hip-pocket unnoticed. Have begun to check hip-pockets and, generally, to put everything in ziplock bags in carryon, taking inventory before we leave the plane.
Generally -- it's not your fault that there's really very little available to passengers who leave things on planes. We went through the same things you did, trying to find numbers for lost-and-found for both airport and airline, numbers for airports down the itinerary for the aircraft, etc. etc. They don't make it at all easy.
Consider things left on an airplane lost in a black hole.
Yes, you'd think "we" would learn not to leave "our" stuff behind, but in 2 cases, it was a matter of slipping out of a hip-pocket unnoticed. Have begun to check hip-pockets and, generally, to put everything in ziplock bags in carryon, taking inventory before we leave the plane.
Generally -- it's not your fault that there's really very little available to passengers who leave things on planes. We went through the same things you did, trying to find numbers for lost-and-found for both airport and airline, numbers for airports down the itinerary for the aircraft, etc. etc. They don't make it at all easy.
Consider things left on an airplane lost in a black hole.
May 24th, 2007, 08:19 AM
#6
If it makes you feel any better (and why should it?) my wife left a pair of glasses on an AA SEA-JFK flight. We discovered them missing within two hours of getting to our hotel, phoned AA's JFK lost and found, and was told they have many pairs of glasses, to come to the L&F the next day (not super convenient, so we waited till the day we were going home.)
She ended up in line behind a man who had just gotten off a Paris-NY flight and who had left an antique print he'd bought in Paris - in its leather carrying tube - in the overhead. Told the AA person that it was worth $5000 and had been the purpose of his trip.
"Ummm... and you... <i>left it on the plane?</i>"
"Er... uh..."
"Next."
(No specs.)
She ended up in line behind a man who had just gotten off a Paris-NY flight and who had left an antique print he'd bought in Paris - in its leather carrying tube - in the overhead. Told the AA person that it was worth $5000 and had been the purpose of his trip.
"Ummm... and you... <i>left it on the plane?</i>"
"Er... uh..."
"Next."
(No specs.)
May 24th, 2007, 08:23 AM
#7
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Tip for the future.
I once found a camera on the curb in a mall parking lot. It had a small sticker with the name and phone number of the owner. I called the number and even though the owner was travelling through town, we arranged a meeting and she got her camera back.
So I now do the same. I have a number of stickers that I put on all sorts of things I might misplace -- cameras, computers, cell phones, even sunglasses.
Here is a link to the company from whom I purchased the stickers. http://www.mavericklabel.com/id-my-stuff.html. One order for $9.95 gives you a number of different size labels.
I once found a camera on the curb in a mall parking lot. It had a small sticker with the name and phone number of the owner. I called the number and even though the owner was travelling through town, we arranged a meeting and she got her camera back.
So I now do the same. I have a number of stickers that I put on all sorts of things I might misplace -- cameras, computers, cell phones, even sunglasses.
Here is a link to the company from whom I purchased the stickers. http://www.mavericklabel.com/id-my-stuff.html. One order for $9.95 gives you a number of different size labels.
May 24th, 2007, 08:26 AM
#8
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Ouch! Good luck.
I once managed to leave a camera in the gate area at the Las Vegas airport. Amazingly, I got it back...with about a dozen shots that the Southwest gate agents took of each other before putting it on the next flight to Phoenix
I once managed to leave a camera in the gate area at the Las Vegas airport. Amazingly, I got it back...with about a dozen shots that the Southwest gate agents took of each other before putting it on the next flight to Phoenix
May 24th, 2007, 12:42 PM
#9
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Oh, I love the label idea!
But why spend that much, can't regular address labels be used? Just hand-write anything you want/need. I use the labels on small bottles of vitamins, shampoo, etc...
And if you fly somewhere, you can use one label to the destination, another coming home.
But why spend that much, can't regular address labels be used? Just hand-write anything you want/need. I use the labels on small bottles of vitamins, shampoo, etc...
And if you fly somewhere, you can use one label to the destination, another coming home.
May 24th, 2007, 05:33 PM
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Ouch! I feel for you! I hope you are able to get it back. I hope you had a couple memory cards so that you'll have some of the photos of the trip at least (that's why they say it's better to have 2 - 1gb cards rather than 1 - 2gb card ).
I've gotten to the point that I only take one item out of my carry-on at a time during transport (ground vehicles, in the airport, on the plane, on a boat, etc.).
If I take out the camera, I put the book back in; if I take out the iPod, I put the camera back in. That way I only have to worry about remembering one item at any time - instead of trying to keep track of multiple items.
).I've gotten to the point that I only take one item out of my carry-on at a time during transport (ground vehicles, in the airport, on the plane, on a boat, etc.).
If I take out the camera, I put the book back in; if I take out the iPod, I put the camera back in. That way I only have to worry about remembering one item at any time - instead of trying to keep track of multiple items.
May 24th, 2007, 11:18 PM
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Whatever the airline, I've only once got anything back. Glasses, books, jackets, whatever: no-one's ever found them.
Except when I left a file, containing employee appraisals, on a plane. From the airport to the office was a 20 mile, 45-minute, drive. By the time I'd got to the office:
- the file had been found
- the airline had contacted the company's HR supremo
- who'd contacted my boss
- who was waiting for me with one of those "gotcha!" grins
- all before I'd even opened the briefcase to discover the damn things weren't there
Except when I left a file, containing employee appraisals, on a plane. From the airport to the office was a 20 mile, 45-minute, drive. By the time I'd got to the office:
- the file had been found
- the airline had contacted the company's HR supremo
- who'd contacted my boss
- who was waiting for me with one of those "gotcha!" grins
- all before I'd even opened the briefcase to discover the damn things weren't there
May 25th, 2007, 04:57 AM
#13
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Well, no joy so far. I've tracked down the next few stops that the airplane made and nobody has turned in the camera so far. No real surprise there, but one does like to hope!
Good advice from the others, especially a label on the camera.
FWIW, I did have multiple memory cards and they were all full. They also happened to all be stored inside the little camera case, along with an extra battery. Again, will learn a lesson from this not to pack everything together. I still feel sick over losing those photos--the camera itself isn't a big a deal. But one large memory card was just of photos of my volunteer work in Grenada and I have no hope of recreating those in the future. Shots of sunsets and beaches and villas are nice to have, but you get to the point of "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." <sigh>
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll post again if I happen to get a happy ending. Do you suppose it's worth it to make reward posters and ask AA to post them in their baggage claim area in case an employee did make off with the camera? I'd gladly pay more than the camera is worth to get the memory cards back...
Good advice from the others, especially a label on the camera.
FWIW, I did have multiple memory cards and they were all full. They also happened to all be stored inside the little camera case, along with an extra battery. Again, will learn a lesson from this not to pack everything together. I still feel sick over losing those photos--the camera itself isn't a big a deal. But one large memory card was just of photos of my volunteer work in Grenada and I have no hope of recreating those in the future. Shots of sunsets and beaches and villas are nice to have, but you get to the point of "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." <sigh>
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll post again if I happen to get a happy ending. Do you suppose it's worth it to make reward posters and ask AA to post them in their baggage claim area in case an employee did make off with the camera? I'd gladly pay more than the camera is worth to get the memory cards back...
May 25th, 2007, 08:12 AM
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I don't have labels on my camera, as it's unlikely I'll leave a 2lb dSLR with lens behind; but I do write on each CF memory card my email and "$$$ Rewards $$$".
CF cards are large enough to write on, while SD and others may be too small.
CF cards are large enough to write on, while SD and others may be too small.
May 25th, 2007, 10:14 AM
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OK, the title to this posting was "I've done something stupid."
Then I chime in with my idea of labels, which is a good idea if you use them.
Yesterday, however, I flew from Dallas to Phoenix and left my new paperback on the plane. OK, it only cost $7.95, and I will just go buy another one, but I had no label on it, so no hope of even a call to my cell phone.
Then I chime in with my idea of labels, which is a good idea if you use them.
Yesterday, however, I flew from Dallas to Phoenix and left my new paperback on the plane. OK, it only cost $7.95, and I will just go buy another one, but I had no label on it, so no hope of even a call to my cell phone.
May 25th, 2007, 09:09 PM
#17
DD left sunglasses at the Louisville airport (she thought but wasn't sure) last year and the next time I was flying I decided to check. I was told to check the airline counter (not there)and the airport lost and found. Lost and found needed a date and description and then had to go check in the back. They brought out a box full of glasses for the date I gave. None of them were my daughter's, but then she wasn't even sure which airport she left them in. If it's not too much trouble, you might as well go to the airport. YOu might get lucky.
May 28th, 2007, 10:12 AM
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I'd finished a paperback so left it in the seat pocket - working on the principle someone might be able to use it.
But the flight attendant came running off the plane and onto the bus and asked "Who has left behind this book?" I felt like a child in front of a teacher!
But the flight attendant came running off the plane and onto the bus and asked "Who has left behind this book?" I felt like a child in front of a teacher!
