Article: 20051105
Losing It
...and how to set about finding it again
Dateline: 11:00, Friday, November 4th, 2005.
Whilst hurriedly gathering my "stuff" (which is to say the myriad little things that everyone picks up and checks before leaving the house - keys, money, keys, wallet, keys, diary, keys, ...) I suddenly become aware that I have not seen my mobile 'phone since setting off on my journey home the previous evening. I try ringing it - not answering. I search all the places where I would normally leave it, and all the places where it might have disappeared (the prime candidate, as with all things, being down the back/side of the sofa) - no joy. It is officially lost.
Contrary to popular belief, I am something of an optimist, so I've decided to see if I can't get the 'phone back. However, one thing that is abundantly clear is that there is no one place to commence one's enquiries. Here, then is all the information I could gather for places to enquire when seeking out lost items in London.
NB: If there had been credit/debit cards amongst the property lost then the very first priority would be to have them suspended/cancelled, never mind trying to find them again. Being an optimist, with attendant hopes of recovering the mislaid items, does not mean one has to be foolhardy into the bargain. The last thing one needs is the loss to be compounded by the finder abusing them. I am lucky (in a sense). All that has gone missing is a beaten up old mobile 'phone, albeit one that I have had for nearly 6 years and am quite attached to.
- Property lost in buses, on the London Underground, or even on board one of London's famous "Black Cab" should, if found by someone honest (aye, there's the rub), eventually end up at the appropriate Transport for London [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/] (TfL) Lost Property Office [https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ph_lost.shtml]. Visit the Lost Property Office (LPO) situated at 200 Baker Street (not 221B, although their lost prperty database is called Sherlock!) near the Underground Station (between the hours of 09:00 and 14:00, Monday to Friday except bank holidays), use the online enquiry form [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ph_lost-enquiry-form.shtml] or telephone 020 7918 2000 (between the hours of 09:00 and 16:00, Monday to Friday except bank holidays). Pages on the different sections of the Tfl web site covering lost property on the various transport services provide varying contact information and times, but they all seem to end up back at this one office but with conflicting details of telephone numbers and availability times. Experience shows that the 'phones get very busy - having had my call turned away several times then waited for over 20 minutes when I did eventually get through. TfL probably won't thank me for mentioning this, but I found that whilst calling on the 0845 number mentioned further down resulted in my call being deflected and being asked to call back because lines were busy, calling the direct London number got me straight on a call queue. Once answered I was dealt with very courteously and efficiently. At present the enquiry form seems to have been disabled, and doesn't get a mention in the recorded telephone messages. There is no publicly available e-mail address which whilst annoying is entirely understandable. The most efficient means of contacting the LPO appears to be in writing, the full postal address being Lost Property Office, 200 Baker Street, LONDON, NW1 5RZ. For amusement and to keep your spirits up, it's worth a quick visit to the statistics page to see just what they have to handle.
- Property lost within the last two days on London Underground trains or stations may still be at the station or in the depot where it was found. Property lost within the last four days on London buses or bus stations may still be at the station or garage where it was found, or in the depot from which the route is managed. Use the TfL enquiry form [https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ph_lost-enquiry-form.shtml] or they can be telephoned from the UK at local rates, after the appropriate number of days have elapsed, on 0845 330 9882 (between the hours of 08:30 and 16:00, Monday to Friday except bank holidays), although - as mentioned above - 3 calls to this number all got answered by a machine and politely turned away with a recorded message asking me to call back another time because the office was too busy.
- Property lost in a licenced London Taxi will (should) have been handed in by the driver to a police station. It may remain there for anything up to seven days. Use the TfL enquiry form [https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ph_lost-enquiry-form.shtml] or call 020 7918 2000 (between the hours of 08:30 and 16:00, Monday to Friday except bank holidays). Property lost in a Private Hire cab should be dealt with by the operator's office, where they should have a log of all property found in their vehicles. You should contact the office directly to make enquiries.
- Property lost aboard suburban or main line surface rail trains
is the responsibility of the respective train operator.
To find contact details for the appropriate company consult the
National Rail Enquiries
Train Operating Companies.
[http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/tocs/]
For London, the some appropriate companies are:
- Southwest Trains. [http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs/SW.html]
- Southern. [http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs/SN.html]
- Thameslink. [http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs/TL.html]
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