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Lost property

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ASharpe

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I feel like an idiot.

I must have dropped my telephone on a Virgin East Coast train today, my phone is currently between Newark and Doncaster on 1D31. I'm tracking it online.

It's almost certainly under seat B51. I've tried twitter and phoning East Coast but they have just referred me to Lost Property.

I'm going to get my phone to ring just after arrival at LDS.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for getting it back?
 
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Romilly

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Stating the obvious, but getting the phone to ring while there are still passengers on the train may result in the phone being found and handed in (or, of course, found and purloined). Or if you are anywhere near a station, and especially a station with an East Coast presence, it can be worth seeing if you can find someone who can contact the station staff at the next station the train concerned will arrive at.
 

ASharpe

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Stating the obvious, but getting the phone to ring while there are still passengers on the train may result in the phone being found and handed in (or, of course, found and purloined). Or if you are anywhere near a station, and especially a station with an East Coast presence, it can be worth seeing if you can find someone who can contact the station staff at the next station the train concerned will arrive at.

Coach B is the quiet coach, so I'm going to wait until it gets to Leeds before calling it. It's on silent so my only option online is to make it ring full volume.

I don't want to disturb a coach load of people just due to my carelessness.
 

Deerfold

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I feel like an idiot.

I must have dropped my telephone on a Virgin East Coast train today, my phone is currently between Newark and Doncaster on 1D31. I'm tracking it online.

It's almost certainly under seat B51. I've tried twitter and phoning East Coast but they have just referred me to Lost Property.

I'm going to get my phone to ring just after arrival at LDS.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for getting it back?

Good luck.

I had a similar incident a couple of years ago where I left a bag containing £200 of rail tickets on a train at its last but one stop. I asked East Coast if they could try and get a message to the depot to look out for it so it wasn't thrown away - they refused to try. I went to Leeds lost property the next day to be told nothing had been found on the train - if it was a small bag it had probably been thrown away...
 

Romilly

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I don't want to disturb a coach load of people just due to my carelessness.

But if you made it ring on full volume 5 minutes ahead of arrival in Leeds when anyone left on the train is probably getting ready to get off (or needs waking!), that might maximise your chances at minimal disturbance.
 

Crossover

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Hope you get lucky. A colleague must have dropped his phone the other week at Stevenage station and collared me online as I was still in the office - they'd had someone try and ring it and I also gave it a go (whilst simultaneously trying to get the network to block the SIM). To my amazement on the third attempt someone answered it and said he would hand it in at Stevenage on his way to work the morning after. Speaking with my colleague the day after, he advised me it had been handed in at Stevenage and arrangements were made to get it back to us up in the North :)
 

rg177

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I dropped my phone on a London bus (On getting off at Trafalgar Square) and having rang it, amazingly, a woman had found it and spent the next half hour awaiting me at Oxford Circus in the 33 degree heat to reunite me with it! This was nearly a year ago and I still think about how damn lucky I was that i was reunited with my phone in such a place!
 

Mag_seven

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It's almost certainly under seat B51. I've tried twitter and phoning East Coast but they have just referred me to Lost Property.

What fantastic customer service from VTEC, NOT. Can't they ring the allocated guard (or whatever VTEC choose to call them)?
 

ASharpe

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Been trying to ring it in different ways for the past 15 minutes.

My fiancée is making fun of the the situation - and I've already found a new (and therefore better) phone online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiLNN1NhQ&list=RDWlBiLNN1NhQ#t=0
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What fantastic customer service from VTEC, NOT. Can't they ring the allocated guard (or whatever VTEC choose to call them)?

They said the line had to be kept clear for emergencies - sounded reasonable to me. I did ask about sending an email to him/her.
 

PHILIPE

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Don't lose anything on an FGW train. You have to go through an Indian Call Centre to enquire about it. The number of the LPO at Bristol TM is kept a secret.
 

gray1404

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Just sent them a tweet myself saying how I've read this online and how bad their customer service is! Shame on them!
 

Mag_seven

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They said the line had to be kept clear for emergencies - sounded reasonable to me.

What utter tosh! How long does it take to tell the guard there is a lost phone under seat whatever - a 30 second call if that. This stinks of "can't be bothered" on the part of VTEC. Maybe Branson should be told about it?
 

ComUtoR

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What utter tosh! How long does it take to tell the guard there is a lost phone under seat whatever - a 30 second call if that. This stinks of "can't be bothered" on the part of VTEC. Maybe Branson should be told about it?

Not sure about Guards but I'm not allowed my mobile on. That includes the work one.
 

reb0118

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They said the line had to be kept clear for emergencies - sounded reasonable to me. I did ask about sending an email to him/her.

What utter tosh! How long does it take to tell the guard there is a lost phone under seat whatever - a 30 second call if that. This stinks of "can't be bothered" on the part of VTEC. Maybe Branson should be told about it?

I concur - utter pash!, however VTEC do regularly contact their staff via the Tyrell system with lost property enquires. As a guard I also receive the odd telephonic message with regard to lost property - yes we may be involved in a safety critical task when the call comes in, however we don't have to answer immediately and can call back if required - guards can and do apply common sense from time to time.

I was involved with a lost property saga today myself. It all ended up fine in the end - the lady got her bag (inc. passport, money, & tickets) back and will hopefully be half way across the North Sea as I write this.
 

ASharpe

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I've tried ringing my phone and tried with Android Device Manager. But I think the battery has probably died now. I'm a bit disappointed as I've only had it about 6 months, it was an S4 mini.

I can get an S5 mini for a bit over £200 (I don't do contracts). I'll try lost property tomorrow and if no luck I'll get a new phone.
 

455driver

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They could always text the guard on the train, to say they cannot contact them is male cow manure!
 

Jonfun

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It's almost certainly physically possible to contact the Guard by telephone, whether the rules allow it to be done outside of emergency situations is a different matter entirely - the idea of the Guard having a phone is so they can call out, not receive. With the best will in the world, it's hard to see a mislaid mobile as an emergency.

Paging it out on Tyrrel has been mentioned - I couldn't see this as being a problem. Would be surprised if it couldn't be arranged.
 

Starmill

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I wonder if it's just that the East Coast twitter people are considered very very low down the pecking order?
 

158747

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Been trying to ring it in different ways for the past 15 minutes.
They said the line had to be kept clear for emergencies - sounded reasonable to me. I did ask about sending an email to him/her.
What a load of b******t!
They could have easily contacted the guard if they could have been bothered to do so. Even if this was true that the line had to be kept clear for emergencies I think if a passenger has lost their phone then that is an emergency to them. Very poor customer service.
 

ASharpe

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I tried phoning Leeds lost property and they have nothing yet.

I've ordered a new phone which I should receive tomorrow.

I'll try them again over the next few days and the other lost property offices, it would still be worth a bit on Ebay.
 

Jonfun

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What a load of b******t!
They could have easily contacted the guard if they could have been bothered to do so. Even if this was true that the line had to be kept clear for emergencies I think if a passenger has lost their phone then that is an emergency to them. Very poor customer service.

I don't doubt losing something is distressing, and inconvenient. But it isn't an emergency, unless it's your gran's critical heart medication, or a limb, say.

If the rules say they can't ring the train while it's on the move, then rightly or wrongly they're the rules, and they're in place for a reason. It's a shame they couldn't page it out, but perhaps there's reasons they can't. I don't know.
 
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