Hand luggage taken by someone else - please help

[Urmasellsavon]

Oh wise mumsnetters, please help. Flight today with Easyjet and when boarding (front steps only, rear doors not open) the flight attendant, when we were about half way down the plane to our seats almost at the back - told us to put our bags anywhere up the plane as there was no room down the plane.

When landed, again they were making every one get off from the front while rear doors not opened so we had quite a wait to get even out of our seats. When got to where we had placed our bags, one was there while the other bag gone.

I’m wrecking my brains and I don’t think I put name or contact detail in or on the bag, silly me.

We told the airline attendants on board who were disinterested and told us to go their carrier in baggage hall. The carrier said nothing to do with them as it’s hand luggage. Airport police office shut so couldn’t even report it.

I have travel insurance but would like the bag and contents back.

At a loss what to do, would just like the bag back.

however really annoyed that Easyjet so unhelpful given they had told us to put the bags so far away from us.

Any help / guidance appreciated

Post on Lostbox on Facebook. They have a great track record of reuniting things.

Doesn't hand luggage have a tag from the airline?

Annoying. Hopefully it will get handed back to the airport but sounds like it might have been stolen. Fingers crossed for you OP.

Doesn't hand luggage have a tag from the airline?

Generally hold/checked bags get properly tagged and you’ll get a receipt but I’ve never seen that done for carry-on. I have to admit this is a bit of a nightmare of mine and my carry-on case is festooned with coloured tags and ribbons....

Fingers crossed it was a genuine mistake and it gets resolved in the next day or so.

P.S. OP- did Easyjet register your details at all?

Sorry for delay in response everyone, only one charger between two sorry

hand luggage doesn't get a tag.

Easyjet didn’t register our details, I offered our name to the cabin crew and easyJet’s handler wouldn’t take details (we went to their desk twice)
Also went to the information desk at the airport without any success.

I’ve since emailed Easyjet, their handler and the airport - firstly with my contact details should my case be returned and complaining to Easyjet about their lack of help along with he responsibility I think they have given the cabin crew had instructed us to place the bags so far away from us.

It’s a real pain for sure

The hand luggage was festooned with coloured wool

What a nightmare. This has also happened to people putting their hand luggage through security x-ray and finding when they get through that the bag has been taken. We forget how vulnerable to theft our property is when it's out of our sight. I had all my duty free stolen on a flight once. Some people are total shitbags.

Hope you get your case back. Good luck.

OP. I am sorry to hear this.

I’m not promising this will work, but try to get contact details of the airport’s operator and contact them. There will be CCTV of everyone leaving the aircraft.

Sadly, this sounds more like theft than a mistake.

It might also be useful to try and track down the contact details of easyJet’s Chief Executive, Johan Lundgren and email him.

Finally, horses and stables and all that but if you are travelling as a couple and 2 bags, it’s always worth mixing the contents.

Please let us know how you get on.

Oh dear, given the bag was tagged in the way described this does sound horribly as if it was a deliberate act rather than it being a case (sorry) of somebody having a daft moment.

I suspect most airlines T&Cs are silent when it comes to liability to damage/loss to hand baggage carriage carried in the cabin and I can think of at least one reason why that might be so.

Not sure what else to suggest the OP can do other than at least for a few days keep checking in with “lost property” at the airport in the remote hope that it was picked up by a mistake and somebody hands in. That does occasionally happen with checked baggage despite the tags.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Can your insurance help?

On the off chance somebody had picked it up by mistake surely their own bag would have been left behind - people can’t forget that they only have one bag and take 2 by mistake. Which definitely leads to the conclusion it was taken deliberately. 😱😰😡

Tweeting might help - both to easyJet, head of easyJet, the airport, any handlers/support services. But also maybe local police and local town asking if anyone was on easyJet flight xxxx as you had your bag (notable because lots of wool) taken by mistake or stolen - anybody see anything that could help?

Was there anything valuable or nice in bag that might have made a dodgy security person or other traveller note it and grab it? Guessing the wool might have been easy to take off.

But what a miserable start to your holiday - hoping that you manage to track down who took it and get it back.

Keep an eye out on your return trip - if it’s the sort of flight that people take one out and a paired one home a week later there’s a very small chance you might spot it again...

people can’t forget that they only have one bag and take 2 by mistake

I’ll just offer one tiny sliver of hope here, which is if you spend much time around airport arrival area baggage belts you begin realise a significant number of people get genuinely confused about how many suitcases that they checked in and/or their colour...If you watch groups getting bags out of the overhead lockers you’ll often see/hear discussions about who had a bag, where did it go, and often a degree of confusion along the line “is this one of ours”...and wool around handles is not that uncommon.

I’m still going to be slightly optimistic and still maintain there is a very very slight chance that somebody made a genuine error and it might turn up (in one instance I know of the error only got realised when the bag was opened in a hotel room day after arrival)...

However I think if “lost property”/ground bagged handling at the airport haven’t got good news for the OP by cease work today sadly I would suspect the bag has gone for good.

Thank you all for your replies and words of wisdom, I do appreciate it.

Still no sign of the bag. I’ve made a report to the police (who very very nice and efficient), tweeted Easyjet without much joy but I’ll keep on at them, I’ve also emailed a complaint to Easyjet, emailed and phoned their handlers and contacted the lost nd found at the airport.

I do hope and pray that it was a genuine mistake, he bag is a cheapie from amazon bought mainly because it’s light and folds flat for storage. Nothing flashy about it. There were expensive clothes inside it though but no one could have known that from the outside of the bag.

It’s only things and they can be replaced, it’s just a hassle but I suppose that’s life.

Will try to get the CE of easyJet’s details and contact him, thank you and thanks again to everyone for your nice messages.

Maybe share which airport /flight? Chances are someone on here could potentially know someone on that flight? Longshot but stranger things have happened

Thanks managedmis

It was Belfast to fuerteventura, 22 February

Poor you OP. Don't company's respond quickly to tweets when it's bad publicity?

“the cabin crew had instructed us to place the bags so far away from us”

This is the crux of the hand baggage problem. How could they advise you to do anything else once the bins above your seats and at the back were full?

Hand baggage needs restricting to the size of an exact fair share of the bins above the seats and no more.

I am really sorry this happened to you, it’s a wonder it doesn’t happen more often, tbh. I would guess that people feel safer nicking hand baggage as it has been through security, less chance of picking up someone’s drugs or smuggled cigarettes and alcohol than in checked bags.

I'm surprised someone would steal it when they have usually have to queue to go through passport control and you might have easily caught up with them but they could just say it was a mistake I suppose. Were there any bags left in the lockers once everyone had departed. If not it probably was theft rather than a mistake.
The flight is only twice a week so I would have thought the passenger is likely to be returning in 7/10 /14 days. I'm not sure how that helps you though if Easyjet won't do anything. They must know who was sitting in the cluster of seats closest to your bag.
Good luck but I wouldn't hold out much hope of getting any help from Easyjet.

OP I've sent you a PM

Well if it’s BELFAST get in touch with BELFAST Live on Facebook and have them do a story and that might bring it up to someone.

Sorry, don’t know what Belfast was all in capitals!Good luck with the bag.

Are you still in Fuertaventura? There's loads of groups on Facebook that you could post in that are for people who live or on holiday in Fuertventura.

I am pretty sure I had a passport stolen at Belfast airport on 22nd too. 3 in my handbag and only 2 when landed. EasyJet did not give a monkeys.

Update - we’ve got the bag back

Whoever took it had dumped it in the airport somewhere probably realising it wasn’t there’s
Faith in humanity resorted
Thanks all for the messages