MP criticises First for £2 charge to man who lost wallet (P'mouth News 23/03/14)

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

From The News:

PORTSMOUTH North MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Penny Mordaunt has described a bus company^s decision to charge a man ^2 to reclaim his wallet as ^poor customer service^.

She now intends to write to the government asking whether changes can be made and restrictions can be put on travel operators.

The MP said she sympathised with Carl Paddon, who was shocked to be told of the administration charge when he went to reclaim his wallet, which he had lost on a First Bus service in Portsmouth.

^It^s shoddy and an example of poor customer service,^ said Ms Mordaunt. ^I don^t see what costs would be incurred that would require extra revenue to cover it.^

Other travel operators charge for lost property.

If something is found on a Southern train bound for Portsmouth Harbour, the conductor keeps it safe in case it is claimed on board. If it isn^t, the conductor will hand it to staff at Portsmouth to take care of.

If something is lost on a Southern train bound for Victoria from Portsmouth Harbour, the same procedure applies and if not claimed during the journey, it will be handed to the Excess Baggage Company, a firm Southern uses which handle lost property.

Passengers would then have to go to where the company is based, at London Victoria station, to collect their property, and depending on the size of the item, will end up being charged between ^3 and ^20.

All lost property found on a South West Trains service, or at one of its stations, is logged and sent to its central lost property office at London Waterloo.

Charges apply and start from ^2. A spokeswoman said fees go to the cost of storage and staffing lost property.

Stagecoach Bus charges an administration fee.

However, Wightlink Ferry doesn^t charge. An item, if found by staff, gets dropped off at wherever the service is headed before the company tries getting in touch with the owner to arrange for them to collect it, or it^s alternatively sent out by post.

Both options do not require any payment.

[bobm]

As someone who has left property on a train (and been re-united with it) I don't have a problem paying for my carelessness.

The recent Channel 5 documentary showed the amount of property that has to be dealt with at FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s Lost property office at Bristol Temple Meads and that comes at a cost.

As for Wightlink not charging for items left on their ferries I suspect the amount of property left on their limited number of ferries is much less in quantity that most bus or train fleets. It might cost more to administer a charging scheme for the amount of property they collect than the money they would take in.

[Lee]

I lived in Portsmouth North for much of my life, and Penny Mordaunt has always had a reputation as a bit of a crusader in the area (both before and since she became MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)) with a good eye for the media opportunity thrown in. Not just locally, but nationally too, as her appearance on the TV programme Splash (for example) testifies.

To be fair though, she is genuinely good value as an MP (certainly IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) compared to the very much less effective Labour MP we were stuck with before she got in) and genuinely makes a good job of getting things done for her constituents.

I for one would like to see more like her coming through the ranks, and not just because she is rather easy on the eye...

[trainer]

She may well be a good constituency MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) but...

said Ms Mordaunt. ^I don^t see what costs would be incurred that would require extra revenue to cover it.^

...this shows a lack understanding of a large business operating in her constituency.  Populist, yes: in touch with facts, no.

[Network SouthEast]

Beware of upsetting organisations that handle lost property. They could just hand in lost property at wherever the local police station is.

Anyone who thinks getting lost property back from a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) is difficult will be in for a real shock when they try and get lost property back from the police! Yes, the police don't charge a fee, but obviously they have priorities more important that lost property!

[thetrout]

Considering the time, effort and costs involved had the wallet not been recovered such as:

• New Drivers License*
• Bus Pass/Season Ticket*
• Discount Cards/Gym Club Card**
• Credit, Debit, Store Cards

* Fee payable for reissue - usually at least ^10.00
** Fee may be payable

I think ^2 is a rather good trade off and the chap perhaps should just cut his losses and move on. I for one would seperate with ^10 to have my wallet back if it meant not needing to cancel all my cards and re apply for replacements which could take weeks to arrive.

Without sounding ignorant/arrogant I can't actually see what the fuss is here?

This is written from someone who is always losing things... I don't go ranting to the press each time I lose something whether it has value or not...