On March 15 we flew British Airways from Bologna to Heathrow, and my husband left his iPad on the plane (don’t ask). He realized it when we were in the T5 Heathrow Express station, but of course we could not go back to the plane. Once on the train he used “Find my iPad “ to confirm that it was in T5C where we landed. I asked on FlyerTalk what to do, and the answer was to connect to the Heathrow Lost Property office via a link on the BA website.
https://smartecarte.co.uk/services/lost-property/
You can search for lost property there but no iPad like his showed up. We had a flight home to the US 2 days later, so we decided to go to the airport early and ask at the Lost Property office ( it is in T5, domestic arrivals area). In the meantime we repeatedly confirmed that it was sitting somewhere in T5.
On the morning of the 17th, we went to the Lost Property office and showed the agent there the Find My IPad screen showing that it was nearby. She asked that we activate the location signal and she walked around the office trying to hear the signal to no avail. Apparently it was not in their office, but still in the possession of the cleaner staff. She said it was not yet registered in their system and there was nothing more she could do. So we went to to check in for our flight and then to the BA lounge. While there, we watched it move from T5 to T3 where the main Lost Property office is located.
Our flight to SFO was 4 hours late departing (A380 maintenance issues) and it was very late when we arrived, so we went straight to bed. In the morning, I checked the lost property website again, and there it was—the only iPad Pro 11 listed as found on 3/15. We “claimed” it on the website, providing details like the flight where it was left, seat numbers, etc. plus details such as serial number and distinctive features ( it is in a Keyboard case with tape covering a tear). And then we waited.
It was 3 days before we heard back, asking for more details to confirm the iPad identity. We had placed it in “lost” mode so it displayed our phone number, but we also proved the serial number (again) and sent a photo from the day we picked this iPad up at the Tokyo Ginza Apple Store in 2019. (That is another story). Within minutes we had a response, with a link to provide payment for the shipping, insurance, and their service charge.
It cost £180 but today the iPad arrived via DHL and we are grateful that the system worked.
I would advise everyone to note the serial number of their tablet, phone, or other device, in case you need it. With Apple devices you can find it from them, but I don’t know about other brands. There were people looking for their lost Kindle when we were in the Lost Property office, and they had no joy at all because they did not have a serial number or other confirming identification. The agent said she had 94 Kindles and could not go through them all to find theirs. And today I checked the Lost Property website and there were 31 iPads lost on 3/15, and still waiting to be claimed.