How I’ve had to turn detective to find my Columbo coat
Toby Walne discovers lost property is now a costly business (and his mac’s still missing)
LOST and found departments are busy at this time of year, but you still often need the skills of a detective to recover any mislaid personal items. I recently lost the coat religiously worn through rain, hail and occasional snow storms for the past decade – and one I had grown rather attached to. For the life of me, I could not remember where I had left it.
To make matters worse, the £120 Austin Reed raincoat, which friends say turned me into a deadringer for TV detective Columbo, also contained my passport.
Tidied away at home by my long suffering wife? No. Hiding in the black hole that is my car? No. On a coat hanger in the office? No.
Next step was Whole Foods Market in Kensington, West London, where I recently had a quick lunch. There was no lost and found department – just a cardboard box under the stairwell containing gloves, scarf and a hat. But no coat.
Now panicking, I called Greater Anglia, the train company I use to get into work. All train operators have their own lost property departments.
But all it was able to find was a corduroy jacket left at Cambridge station.
Transport for London finds 1,200 items a day on London Underground, trains and buses. Its lost and found address is 200 Baker Street, London – just a few doors away from the address of fictitious sleuth Sherlock Holmes.
But it will not help with any detective work as you must complete an online form – providing a detailed description of items lost and where.
Sadly, I lose all hope as it requires a specific date for the loss of my battered coat – one I cannot provide.
I give up, like most people. Less than a third of the items lost at air- ports, on t rains or buses are returned to owners. Indeed, after three months, most lost property departments start auctioning off unclaimed items.
The police recently stopped accepting items found in the street by law- abiding members of the public as part of a cost- cutting drive. But some counter staff at police stations still accept mobile phones and other accessories that contain private data – and will contact the owners. But not battered, coffee-stained coats.
For the majority of lost goods it is now necessary to use websites such as the police-accredited ReportMyLoss. Yet this service charges users £4.95 to scour a database of ‘lost and found’ items and provide a print-out of what has been lost for insurance purposes. A handful of police forces, including Devon and Cornwall, Dorset and Greater Manchester, allow locals to use this service for free.
You should still visit the website of the local police authority where your item was lost in case other services are offered. For example, Essex Police has a website link on the photo sharing service Flickr with pictures of lost and stolen items.
The Excess Baggage Company runs website LostProperty. org. This provides details of lost and found items at Luton, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports. It also collects lost goods from major train stations. These include Birmingham New Street, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central.
In addition, it looks after valuables found at London train stations, including Charing Cross, Euston, Liverpool Street, King’s Cross, St Pancras, Paddington and Victoria.
Another lost property operator is Bagport UK. This deals with items mislaid at airports Heathrow, Bristol and London City. Some airport and train station depots may apply an ‘administrative fee’ for handling lost goods – starting from £3 for the return of keys, rising to £20 for a mislaid laptop.
Greasby’s, of Tooting in South London, auctions up to a hundred pieces a week of lost property – including ‘ lucky dip’ suitcases picked up from airports where the contents are not revealed until the buyer hands over their cash.
Online lost and found auctioneers include ‘police property disposal website’ Bumblebee Auctions and trader Flogit4U.
Back to my coat. In desperation, I contact Mr Memory – eight-times World Memory Champion Dominic O’Brien – to see if he can help me recall what I did with it. His advice? ‘Stop being stressed – it only makes your memory worse. Take yourself away from the situation. A hot relaxing bath will help. Try to use images in your mind to help you track back on your previous movements.’
Sadly, Dominic’s advice is met with a wall of fog in my head. I have to face the expensive reality that my coat and passport – £85 to replace – may never be seen again. To fend off the cold, I buy a replacement from a charity shop for £20. It is like the one I lost, minus the passport.
Friends remind me that TV detective Columbo never gave up on a case. Yet I am unable to take a leaf out of his book or be inspired by his tenacity. My coat is lost and never to be found again.