Great Western Coffee Shop

i've only ever lost something on a First Great Western Train once in my entire life, sadly said lost bag was not recovered which caused me much pain and stress because it contained all my college course work in it which i needed, i was actually commuting to college that day and had everything in the bag that i needed. (nothing valuable, thank god!)

i put the bag at my feet thinking that when i got up i would feel it there and pick it up when i got off the train, somehow i managed to get up and get off the train without picking up my bag. it was only when i got off the train that i discovered that i had not picked up my bag that i started to panic, which caused me to completly forget which coach and seat i was sat in. 

with the train literally seconds from departing Chippenham station i literally had 30 seconds or so to try and calm down and remember which coach and seat i was sat in so that i could get back on the train and get my bag and get off before all the doors where closed and locked trapping me on a train bound for London Paddington now without a ticket valid for the rest of the journey.

unable to calm down and think fast enough i was not able to get back on the train to collect the lost bag, so i went to the nearest available member of staff and told them what had happened and asked them what i needed to do to get my bag back.

i was told to ring two lost property numbers, unfortunatly they weren't very helpful with recovering my bag and at one point gave out false information which resulted in me paying for a return fair to Swindon which i was told my bag would be. when i got there this was unforunatly not the case and at this point i was quite cross. (worth a try eh)

i rang the number again and explained the situation to the person on the end, baring in mind i have now probably rang these two numbers like 20+ times trying to get my bag back. one of the times i was told that the bag wold be at London Paddington Lost and found, so i rang their number serveral times to be told that someone was going to go and look for my lost bag and then call me back, that of course never happened and i was certainly not prepaired to pay for a fair to London in case the same thing happened to me that happened when i went to Swindon lost and found. 

many calls were made to the numbers i was given but no one seemed to know where it went, so i can only assume that someone either saw me leave without my bag and then nicked it or saw that it had been left un-attended and then pinched it someway down the line after i had gotten off the train and Chippenham station.

since this happened to me i am now more careful about where i put my bag down when i get on public transport, if i can i will try to put the bag down on the seat next to me if it's empty. obviously i will move my bag if someone wishes to take the seat in which case i will probably but the bag on my lap where i definitely can't loose it. god help me if i do manage that somehow :D

sorry for typing so much, but i'm sure i'm not the only person who has lost baggage on a train and not been able to get it back. i know this isn't entirely First Great Westerns fault that they couldn't get it back, it's all down to if a member of staff spots the bag and intercepts it before another passenger does :D

Firstly - I would have jumped back on regardless & gone & found my bag. Then dealt with the train manager or staff at the next station when trying to return home with it.

In my experience, train staff aren't ogres and things like this do happen. I've never known anyone refuse travel for free in these circumstances....

But it's no one's fault but yours unfortunately. If you hadn't left it, you'd still have it....

this is true, i suppose i could have got back on the train and then spent the time between Chippenham - Swindon looking for it and then got off at Swindon and then gone back to Chippenham... yes i absolutly agree it was my fault, after all i was the one who put the bag down on the floor and clearly was't paying any attention when i got off the train.

and yeah, the staff aren't all that bad, i've only come across one member of FGW staff that i abolulty hate now which is linked to a completely different incident commuting to Chippenham which couldn't have really been my fault convidering the circumstances. i generally find the staff to be very friendly and helpful when i need help with something.  :)

i am also disabled and find train travel to be quite scary and sometimes difficult, so i find nice helpful members of staff to be a releaf as i do become quite stressed if i am in unfamiliar surroundings or know where i need to go but can't work it out.