Childs coat binned!!!

[lol69]

My daughter plays netball at the local Sport for all Centre, aka Ball Hall.They are a large company and have at least 24 centres nationally. She forgot to pick her jacket up after a match on a Sunday and we reported it missing the following Thursday. At this point we were told ALL the lost property had been disposed of within the previous day or two. Initially we were told by the member of staff who removed the lost property that the jacket was not in the 3 big bags of lost property she removed (what a remarkable memory she must have) and that it had all been there for months. Several weeks later another staff member confirmed that the jacket had been in the lost property and that she vividly remembered it. The centre management are now saying that because there is a disclaimer in their handbook (not visible on walls etc in the centre) stating they aren't responsible for lost items, they aren't willing to do anything about it. My question is since they accept lost property which is then kept supposedly for safe keeping in their office, shouldn't they have a procedure for dealing with it e.g. disposal after 14 days, a log book etc. Is 2 or 3 days a reasonable period of time to allow for lost property to be claimed?

If I'd have been told the jacket had not been handed in, I would not have pursued it but to think that this woman has disposed of property without any thought of its cost or respect for other peoples possessions makes my blood boil!

It's your daughters fault - I wouldn't expect anywhere to keep a jacket for 4 days.

Why did you wait 4 days to report it missing? If you had reported it missing the following day then you would of been able to get it back.

i have kept jackets for years that kids have left behind in places i've worked. seems a bit strange for them to dispose of something so quickly!

She forgot to pick her jacket up after a match on a Sunday and we reported it missing the following Thursday

I think the clue is in the OP really. She made a mistake by forgetting to bring it home. Then a further mistake in not reporting it for 5 days.

I don't think they have done anything wrong at all, but I agree it would be a good idea for them to have a policy, setting out that they will keep items for X number of days before disposal to protect them from spurious claims like this

I think, by the sound of it, they keep all stuff until the lost property is full and have a clear out. The OP was unlucky to leave it when they had the clear-out.

Clearly they do keep lost property for a while if they had 3 bags of it. I would be livid too... it sounds like she's kept it to pass it onto someone else or sell it :(

I would be furious, many DCs do weekly clubs and would go looking for kit a week later 14 days latter if ill.
I'd expect anywhere to keep lost property at least that long.
Someone liked it an nicked it!

They have mountains of stuff at those places, I'm not kidding. My DD left her Ipod Shuffle at our local Leisure Centre once, and I had to describe it in minute detail because they had over half a dozen of the same kind of thing left in a week! The lady said to me then that they hand over bags of the stuff to a charity every month, they just couldn't store it.

Was the coat labelled, at all?

From what I remember reading they have a duty of care to look after other peoples property as in they cant sell it on ebay the next day, but if there are terms and conditions of using the sports hall which say exactly how long items are kept and you use the hall accepting those conditions, I guess they are in the right. Having said that a few days does not seem reasonable and they really should have 'reasonable' time spans for this event. Look up their T&Cs for starters.

I'd be amazed to get anything back after 5 days TBH, although if it was named, I'd like to think they'd make some sort of effort to locate the owner, it depends what sort of foot-flow they get as to whether that's realistic.

As for weekly clubs, DS left his coat at cubs - I was there to next day to get it. I would have expected it to be long gone if I'd waited till the following week. They meet in a school, but not ours.

I agree with DSTW. I think it's pretty normal for sports centres, community halls, etc., to empty the 'lost property box' when it's full, and when they have someone with the time to do it. It's unlucky it was just before you phoned, but, it's your dd's fault for leaving it, and then yours for not phoning / going back that evening or the next day, not the centre's fault for not knowing you were going to come back the day after they had a clear out.

Although your daughter hasn't helped matters, there should be a time limit and notice given about disposal. It's usually six weeks.