Southwest Trains - Lost Lost Property

[brett48]

Does anybody know the email addresses of any of the big cheeses at Southwest Trains?

 

I sent an email to customer services a few weeks ago regarding my mobile phone going walkabouts from lost property but have not even had the courtesy of a reply and I would now like to take my complaint higher.

 

The story so far is that my phone dropped out of my pocket while I was running between connections at Clapham Junction station last month. The first I knew about the loss was when my wife told me that a member of the Southwest trains platform staff phoned home from my mobile to report that a member of the public had found my phone and handed it to the staff member. Initially, he asked my wife for our address to post the phone back to us. When my wife refused to provide our address on identity security reasons, he informed her that the phone could be picked from lost property at Waterloo.

 

The trouble is that the phone never arrived at Waterloo! Despite a visit to the lost property office, several calls to the office, and conversations with disinterested platform staff at Clapham Junction, my phone has disappeared without trace.

 

Interestingly, one member of the lost property staff told me that several people had recently also reported lost phones going missing between Clapham Junction and Waterloo and another informed me that the correct procedure when a lost phone is handed in to a staff member is for the phone to be switched off and then sent directly to Waterloo lost property.

 

So it seems that I may not be alone in my predicament and some Southwest trains platform staff may not be strictly playing ball when it comes to lost property.

 

Any help in taking this further would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Brett

[dreadpiratesteve]

Hi Brett,

 

I can't comment on South West trains procedure for finding/ returning lost property but it doesn't sound right. That said, I've heard of Railway staff being dismissed for interfering/ not following Company Procedure in regards to lost property. However, the Managing Director for South West is Tim Shoveller so you could try [email protected]

 

Or you could send a letter (I'd advise recorded) for his attention at

South West Trains

Friars Bridge Court

41-45 Blackfriars Road

London

SE1 8NZ

[Old-CodJA]

Does anybody know the email addresses of any of the big cheeses at Southwest Trains?

 

I sent an email to customer services a few weeks ago regarding my mobile phone going walkabouts from lost property but have not even had the courtesy of a reply and I would now like to take my complaint higher.

 

The story so far is that my phone dropped out of my pocket while I was running between connections at Clapham Junction station last month. The first I knew about the loss was when my wife told me that a member of the Southwest trains platform staff phoned home from my mobile to report that a member of the public had found my phone and handed it to the staff member. Initially, he asked my wife for our address to post the phone back to us. When my wife refused to provide our address on identity security reasons, he informed her that the phone could be picked from lost property at Waterloo.

 

The trouble is that the phone never arrived at Waterloo! Despite a visit to the lost property office, several calls to the office, and conversations with disinterested platform staff at Clapham Junction, my phone has disappeared without trace.

 

Interestingly, one member of the lost property staff told me that several people had recently also reported lost phones going missing between Clapham Junction and Waterloo and another informed me that the correct procedure when a lost phone is handed in to a staff member is for the phone to be switched off and then sent directly to Waterloo lost property.

 

So it seems that I may not be alone in my predicament and some Southwest trains platform staff may not be strictly playing ball when it comes to lost property.

 

Any help in taking this further would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Brett

 

 

I'm sorry that I have to be extremely pessimistic on this one.

 

What proof is there that the person who called your wife was actually a member of SouthWest trains staff?

 

For example, did s/he give a name that has been confirmed as an SWT employee?

 

I recently lost a mobile and had a similar occurrence, albeit not involving rail staff. The caller to my home advised that he was a 'Council street cleaner and found the mobile near a bench'.

 

He too wanted our address to return it, but when our details were refused for security reasons the 'phone was switched off.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Old-CodJA

[firstclassx]

A Train Company will only be liable for any loss or damage to luggage, articles, animals or cycles in its trains or on its premises if the loss or damage was caused by the fault of a Train Company or a Rail Service Company staff or agents. A Train Company’s liability in respect of any item will not exceed the limit laid down in the EU Rail Passengers’ Rights & Obligations Regulation (EC No. 1371/2007).

 

Even if SWT did lose the item, I suspect they can rely upon the above clause to state that they are not liable, because you were the one that lost the item initially, i.e. the initial loss was not the fault of a TOC or their staff.

 

Personal injury, loss or damage to property:

 

If you wish to make a claim against a Train Company for personal injury or any loss or damage to property, you may write to the Train Company or alternatively contact:

 

CAHA Registrar Ltd

1 Eversholt Street

London

NW1 2DN

[brett48]

Thanks all for your help

 

I agree that we can't be 100% sure that the person who called my wife was a Southwest trains employee. My wife said that he sounded genuine but it could possibly be a fellow passenger chancing their luck. However, no further calls were made from the phone which I would expect if it was a member of staff who made the call home.

 

I am resigned to not seeing my phone again but I would just like to do my bit to try and prevent a similar situation happening to someone else if indeed the correct procedures for handling lost property are not being followed.

 

I will try forwarding my complaint to top man Tim ,although I am not optimistic of a favourable response.

 

Brett

[brett48]

As expected, not a dickie bird from top man Tim or even a minion's acknowledgement since I emailed him last week - I guess it's par for the course with passenger complaints

[Grotesque]

Whoh did you email?

 

[email protected] .uk*

[email protected]

[email protected]

 

.......?

 

*Note a space at the end of this email address, so if you didn't remove that, it would not have arrived.

[brett48]

It was Tim.shoveller

 

As expected, my complaint was passed to one of his minions who eventually replied with apologies but offering no assistance.

Their take is that no lost phones were reported handed in on the day in question and therefore the mysterious caller to my wife must have been Joe Public trying their luck. My wife, who is normally a good judge of voices, thinks that the caller sounded like a member of staff but of course we cannot prove anything. I am considering this as case closed. Thanks everybody for their input.

 

Brett