I recently left a bag on a bus by mistake and partly by luck and partly by persistence managed to get the bag back. Having realised that the bag had been left on the bus (travelling from Heathrow to Norwich) I phoned the help line (08717 818 178). They told me that I should phone 0208 754 7662 which was, apparently, the base for the bus. By this time it was after 10 p.m. on a Friday and the answer I got, after phoning the number, was: "This is an answering machine. Please phone back later". Due to the lateness I assumed that the office was now unmanned. I phoned up several times over the next two days and got the same response as before. I guessed that the office was unmanned over the weekend. On the Monday I phoned up again and yet again got the same response. I phoned the help line again and explained the situation but they replied that the number they had given me was the only one they had and I should keep on trying. Several unsuccessful attempts later I emailed the "contact us" address and explained my problem. The next day I received an answer stating that there had been problems with the telephones and I should keep on trying. After more unsuccessful attempts I phoned the help line again and explained the problem. They said that they would try to find an alternative number. They later phoned back with an alternative number (0208 754 7344). This number worked and I told them about my lost bag. After searching through the records of left luggage they said that my bag had not been handed in but suggested I try again the next day because it may still turn up. The next day I phoned the number again, this time speaking to a different person. He said that the bag had still not been handed in but then studied the route the bus had taken. He noted that when the bus called at Stansted Airport there was a change of driver and therefore it was possible that the new driver would have handed in any left luggage at his depot at Stansted. He gave me the phone number of the Stansted depot (01279 659 108). When I phoned this number I was told that the bag had been handed in and I could collect it. The lesson to be drawn from this episode is that persistence pays off and that it is worth pursuing alternative routes of enquiry whenever possible.