Help! Lost Purse in Hong Kong Taxi
 

After the taxi left my parents at the Hong Kong airport last Monday, my mother realized her purse was left behind in the taxi.

Another driver gave her a number to call but it was a general lost and found and they had to board their plane for Dallas without contacting the taxi company itself or even finding the name of the exact taxi cab company.

The only item she really wants to recover--that can't be replaced--is the memory card in her digital camera with all the photos.

We have called that number for the lost and found for taxis but they have not been all that helpful.

Does anyone here have suggestions? I have done some internet searches but I cannot find any email addresses of Hong Kong taxis and when I try to call taxi cab companies direct, it is difficult to get someone who speaks English (and expensive).

Thanks.

Did you call 2385 8288? That's the only number I can find. Taxi cabs are owned individually in Hong Kong, and there are over a dozen dispatch companies. It's indeed very difficult to find lost items on a cab.

If they've gotten on the cab at a hotel, the cabbie may have dropped the purse off there. Worth a call.

Thanks for the response to this. Sorry for the duplicate thread. I'm not all that great at doing this but I am trying to do whatever I can to help my mother recover her photos.

Any ideas are appreciated.

There's a private company that will make a broadcast to all the radio cabs in Hong Kong, whoever they belong to, for a fee. The Hong Kong police have the name and number of this company. You are given instructions to deposit a sum in an HSBC account, and then to call back with the receipt number. After this the broadcast is made giving details of your loss, and asking the cab driver to call in.

If the cab was not a radio cab then you are stuck. If the next passenger pocketed the wallet without saying anything to the driver you're also stuck. If the driver happens to be off duty by the time the message goes out, you're stuck again. So it's up to you whether you think paying the fee (about HK$300, if I remember correctly) is worth it.

In a case of (all too frequent) monumental stupidity, I left a bag containing a laptop, iPod, MD recorder, and digital camera in the back of a Hong Kong taxi, and using this system had the lot back about three hours later.

So begin by calling a major Hong Kong police station, and ask them for more details. The one I used was the main police station in Kowloon.

Peter N-H
http://peternh.blogspot.com

Hi
If you got the cab from a hotel, the cabbie may have returned the purse to that location. I left a bag once in the cab and went spare - calling lost and found, the police etc. But then I thought I'll go to where I was dropped off and sure enough, the driver had returned the bag there. Also is there a lost and found at Hong Kong airport?
good luck