Forgot rucksack on train - Thameslink (St Pancras-Bedford)/LU

[mq90]

Good morning all,

Hopefully this is the right place to post.

I got a late train yesterday, the 23:51 from London St Pancras International and alighted at St Albans City.

5 minutes after leaving the train, and to my horror, I realised I didn't have my workbag with me.

I called Thameslink's number and reported it orally and filled in the online form as soon as I got home.

There might be a slight possibility I also misplaced it on a osuthbound Piccadilly line train between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross St Pancras too - TFL form has been filled in too.

Do you know whether there are any numbers worth calling (i.e. Bedford station or such) that could expedite the process?

 

[sad1e]

Good morning all,

Hopefully this is the right place to post.

I got a late train yesterday, the 23:51 from London St Pancras International and alighted at St Albans City.

5 minutes after leaving the train, and to my horror, I realised I didn't have my workbag with me.

I called Thameslink's number and reported it orally and filled in the online form as soon as I got home.

There might be a slight possibility I also misplaced it on a osuthbound Piccadilly line train between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross St Pancras too - TFL form has been filled in too.

Do you know whether there are any numbers worth calling (i.e. Bedford station or such) that could expedite the process?

It would be good to check the Terminal stations of that service (Northern and Southern Termini) to see if any cleaning staff have picked it up there and handed it into Lost property.

 

[mq90]

That was my thinking.

I have been trying to find a number for Bedford station or City Thameslink lost property office but all I find (mainly 0800 058 2844) is automated systems where you can't get through to the station specifically.

Any pointers to where I could find those? I suppose Bedford, City Thameslink and Brighton as southern terminus might be my best bets?

 

[Haywain]

I have been trying to find a number for Bedford station

You won’t find one but the station is operated by Thameslink so will be part of the same lost property reporting process that you have already engaged with.

 

[mq90]

Well, I called the same number I did yesterday this morning. Helpful chap said he could put me on hold and call Bedford. He did and confirmed bag matching the description was there. So I am now in Bedford reunited with said bag and saved myself a very awkward conversation with my employer!

 

[Blaine]

Fantastic! Now invest in an AirTag

 

[Horizon22]

Good result. Dealing with lost property - as a customer and staff - is honestly like playing cat and mouse because there are so many potential eventualities. The sooner it’s reported, there’s a better the chance of being reunited with it, with the chance rapidly declining after a few hours.

 

[ainsworth74]

Well done on getting it sorted and to the staff on the ground making it happen! I recently witnessed a passenger being re-united with their suitcase at Darlington. They'd gotten off a Northern service that was heading to Bishop Auckland and left the case behind. I believe station staff were able to arrange for the conductor to keep it safe in their cab until the train came back to Darlington an hour or so later. Which I thought was good work from all involved!

On the other hand I'm aware of another Forum member who recently lost an item in the Paddington 1st class lounge and couldn't find anyone who was even willing to call the lounge to see if they had it. Lost property will always be tricky but gosh it feels like its something that fails far more often than it should do right now...

GBR to the rescue?

 

[jon0844]

If you don't want to put an airtag or similar in the bag, at least put something inside with a phone number or email address*. There's a reason why people label their luggage when flying, but don't see the same need/benefit for a train (or bus, or even leaving something in a pub or coffee shop).

Staff can then contact you, as they know where the bag is, rather than you have to try and remember where you last saw it and contact loads of different people - possibly at an hour where other people aren't reachable.

* It's probably not wise to put a home address, but if you're really worried then there are services that will let you put their details on - and that company will contact you.

 

[DarloRich]

Well done on getting it sorted and to the staff on the ground making it happen! I recently witnessed a passenger being re-united with their suitcase at Darlington. They'd gotten off a Northern service that was heading to Bishop Auckland and left the case behind. I believe station staff were able to arrange for the conductor to keep it safe in their cab until the train came back to Darlington an hour or so later. Which I thought was good work from all involved!

I left a personal item on the train at Euston and the guard saw me get off leaving it behind. Knowing me from my regular commute he took the item into safe keeping and kept it thinking he would see me the following day. That day I got an earlier train and then he went on leave so I didn't get it back for over a fortnight all the while cursing the incompetent lost property system!

I only knew it had been found when complaining about lost property to another guard acquittance he said, don't worry "Dave" has got it!

On the other hand I'm aware of another Forum member who recently lost an item in the Paddington 1st class lounge and couldn't find anyone who was even willing to call the lounge to see if they had it. Lost property will always be tricky but gosh it feels like its something that fails far more often than it should do right now...

There should be a centrally run regionalised lost property system but the problem is it is an easy activity to sell off.

So I am now in Bedford reunited with said bag and saved myself a very awkward conversation with my employer!

if there is anything confidential or sensitive in thier you should probably still report it, if only for completeness. Afterall we don't want to see a story in the Daily Mail about naval secrets left on a train

 

[BazingaTribe]

Good result. Dealing with lost property - as a customer and staff - is honestly like playing cat and mouse because there are so many potential eventualities. The sooner it’s reported, there’s a better the chance of being reunited with it, with the chance rapidly declining after a few hours.

Good result.

In my most recent case I couldn't have got out of the station without it as it was my work phone (business travel) and it had fallen out of my pocket. I was just in time to see some conscientious lad leave the platform with it on his way to lost property at Basingstoke.

 

[duffield]

I once left a work colleague's personal laptop on a train to Nottingham (I was fixing it as a favour), so it had a nice little day trip from Nottingham to Skegness and back and I collected it the next day.

Lost property tried to charge me £20 but I pleaded with them that it was a half-broken piece of crap and they agreed that the email tucked in with it confirmed that, so they knocked it down to £10!

 

[Tetragon213]

Very glad to hear you were reunited with your bag!

I remember once leaving a work bag behind on an XC service, and whoever checked the train at Man Picc evidently didn't do a good job, as he completely missed it. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to put some contact information on some of my belongings in there, which led to a 7am phone call the next morning from the wonderful folk at Reading Station, to inform me they had my bag. One in-and-out later, and I was reunited with it much to my relief. Putting in an email address, a phone number, or even a Work Office Address can make all the difference in getting back lost property, and it costs very little to do so.

 

[riceuten]

The bag - if handed in - would have made its way to the Lost Property Office at City Thameslink eventually. Glad to hear it's been located.

 

[Bald Rick]

i once left my phome on a Thamelink train that was heading to Bedford. I realised approx 2 seconds after the doors shut. So cross. Then I remembered I had been sat with a colleague who was going to Luton. Brilliant! I’ll just give him a call so he can keep it safe until tomorrow. Now where’s my phone to call him? D’oh.

 

[riceuten]

So far I have, in the last 20 years of working in London, "rescued" 4 different phones left behind - including some very tasty models that would have no doubt fetched a fair price at some of the less reputable phone shops in the capital. But in the spirit of doing as you wished to be done to, I have returned all of them to their owners, though I remember some chancer asking me to come to Wembley to drop it off - er, no babes, you're coming to London Bridge if you want it back.

I bought a load of books in a charity shop in Huntingdon (where I worked at the time) and was buying a complex ticket and left the plastic bag behind. I immediately rang the FCC customer services line and they rang the station who retrieved the books and I was able to pop in the next day and retrieve them. I imagine this would probably be more challenging nowadays.

 

[Mattplans]

i once left my phome on a Thamelink train that was heading to Bedford. I realised approx 2 seconds after the doors shut. So cross. Then I remembered I had been sat with a colleague who was going to Luton. Brilliant! I’ll just give him a call so he can keep it safe until tomorrow. Now where’s my phone to call him? D’oh.

... how does the story end?