The Embarrassing but True Story of My "Lost" iPhone...and How Continental Airlines Came to the Rescue
In my hand is the record of a Continental Airlines captain's efforts to help me find my lost iPhone last week.
The moment I boarded my Continental flight from Newark to Houston on Thursday, panic set in: I couldn't find my iPhone.
I had spent the past hour working on my laptop at the gate--and unpacking, using, and repacking various accessories, cords, battery chargers, and other gadgets--so I assumed the iPhone had somehow slipped out of my bag of gear and been left behind. Immediately after arriving at seat 16D and stowing my wheelie in the overhead bin, I begged the flight attendants to let me off the plane so I could go back to the gate area and search for the phone. They did but, alas, the phone was nowhere to be found.
Seeing the look of dismay on my face when I reboarded, the flight attendants could not have been more sympathetic. One spent about ten minutes suggesting Continental employees I could speak to at the Houston airport who might be able to help. Another suggested I write down my name, contact info, and the details of where I thought I'd left the phone, saying she'd take my note to the captain. Pictured above is the note that the captain sent back to me, showing that he'd made three calls to Newark, asking them to be on the lookout for the lost phone.
When the flight landed and I was allowed to turn on my Palm Treo -- yes, I'm such a geek I carry two mobile phones -- an email popped up from my husband: "iPhone found!" Turns out it had mysteriously slipped out of my bag of tech gear before I'd even left the house. (There's a chance it might have been lifted out by the itchy fingers of a 5-year-old enticed by its purple Mophie case.)
You can imagine my huge sigh of relief. And my deep embarrassment. But I felt I should swallow my pride and share this story with you, as that Continental 737's flight crew deserves recognition and thanks for going above and beyond the call of duty to help out a passenger.
The moral of the story? I've put an "If lost, return to" sticker on both my mobile phones. And, next time I board a plane, if I think I may have lost anything at the airport, you can bet I'll let the gate agent know, leave my contact info with him/her, and get his/hers in case I need to follow up from the next airport.
Anyone else have a surprisingly-helpful-airline-flight-crew story? If so, please share it below.
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No helpful crew stories, but LOTS of stories about small people, sticky fingers, and iPhones...
One of mine recently muted my phone in order to sneak some games and I missed an important work call.
Argh.
Posted by: jamiepea | October 13, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Wish I had a good story. Here's one. On a trip late July American Airlines Rome to JFK, in business class, as soon as I got out of customs, I realized that I left my glass case with prescription Prada sunglasses and prescription Bebe reading glasses (one case) in the seat back. Of course, they would not let me back through to go to gate as I didn;t hold a boarding pass! So, I called AA Advantage Platinum line, and they referred me to a NY number to call which was an answering machine asking item lost, seat # flight number and date. It said "we will only call you IF we find the item". I put in 3 calls no call back. This is the second time this has happened on an American flight with items never returned. AA knew who was sitting in the seat so if it was turned in (ha ha) they could have returned it to me anyway. REally bad customer service. Obviously the items are being taken wouldn't you say?
Posted by: calypso | October 14, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Waiting in the BA lounge in Nairobi for my flight to London, I realized I had left my jacket in the closet at the Norfolk Hotel with a credit card in the pocket. I alerted the hostess, who radioed BA operations - there was no phone. Minutes later she said they had located my jacket and, if I would pay the taxi fare, they would send it to the airport. Just then my flight was called, I left $20 with the hostess and boarded the plane with minimal expectations. Before the flight departed, an agent boarded the plane and handed my jacket to me. The credit card was in the pocket.
Posted by: jeanwalden | October 15, 2009 at 02:50 PM