Railway Lost Property issues - ongoing discussion, merged posts

[whole diary]

[Penzance-Paddington]

It's not as if we aren't told at every station stop "please take a moment to check that you have all your personal belongings with you before leaving the train".

I agree.

[JayMac]

Last time I left something on a train I'd had my headphones on the entire journey, bar the ticket check. I'd not have heard the reminder.

Also I think it had been proven that people tune out repetitive messages.

As for charges for storing and returning lost property, I have no issue with that provided they are reasonable, reflect only the actual cost and are not profit motivated.

[Penzance-Paddington]

I'd say ^14.80 per item would be a fair price. Obviously I'd want more money for larger items (if it was down to me).

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'd say ^14.80 per item would be a fair price. Obviously I'd want more money for larger items (if it was down to me).

Purely as a matter of idle curiosity on my part, Penzance-Paddington: how did you arrive at such a precise figure of ^14.80 as being "a fair price" for you to charge?

[JayMac]

I'd say ^14.80 per item would be a fair price. Obviously I'd want more money for larger items (if it was down to me).

I'd say that was excessive for a bunch of keys, jumper, ticket wallet/railcard...

[Penzance-Paddington]

I'd say ^14.80 per item would be a fair price. Obviously I'd want more money for larger items (if it was down to me).

I'd say that was excessive for a bunch of keys, jumper, ticket wallet/railcard...

By the time you have added up the staff, administration costs etc it adds up to around the ^15 mark. If you employ 2 members of staff in one office to deal with it for example, that could cost around ^180 a day just in staff wages.

[ChrisB]

Not only that, the property had to be securely transferred from wherever its recovered to the LPO. That costs money too.

[Chris from Nailsea]

If you employ 2 members of staff in one office to deal with it for example, that could cost around ^180 a day just in staff wages.

^11.25 an hour?  Wow! 

[ChrisB]

Including employer NI & pension...not so wow!

Try & get similar level staff from an agency & you'll get an idea of gross staffing costs

[readytostart]

If you employ 2 members of staff in one office to deal with it for example, that could cost around ^180 a day just in staff wages.

^11.25 an hour?  Wow! 

About right if a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) is doing their own LPO using staff on a general station grade salary. Guessing external companies will pay closer to the minimum wage for staff in thier left-luggage / lost-property offices (such as Excess Baggage).

[IndustryInsider]

In most station, even up to quite large ones, nobody is specifically employed to deal with lost property, it is just part of the job description of, for example, a member of platform dispatch staff.  Of course there are costs involved, but only the very large stations have dedicated staff employed.  Personally I feel a small charge is warranted for items and that charge should raise depending on how long the item has been kept (and its value), but to charge ^15 to pick up a brolley or bunch of keys is frankly absurd and fortunately the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) think so to.

[Penzance-Paddington]

In most station, even up to quite large ones, nobody is specifically employed to deal with lost property, it is just part of the job description of, for example, a member of platform dispatch staff.  Of course there are costs involved, but only the very large stations have dedicated staff employed.  Personally I feel a small charge is warranted for items and that charge should raise depending on how long the item has been kept (and its value), but to charge ^15 to pick up a brolley or bunch of keys is frankly absurd and fortunately the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) think so to.

How much would you charge for small items and how much would you charge for large/designer items like laptops and tablets?

[JayMac]

In most station, even up to quite large ones, nobody is specifically employed to deal with lost property, it is just part of the job description of, for example, a member of platform dispatch staff.  Of course there are costs involved, but only the very large stations have dedicated staff employed.  Personally I feel a small charge is warranted for items and that charge should raise depending on how long the item has been kept (and its value), but to charge ^15 to pick up a brolley or bunch of keys is frankly absurd and fortunately the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) think so to.

How much would you charge for small items and how much would you charge for large/designer items like laptops and tablets?

No doubt you Pen-Pad would find a way to criminalise losing property on the railway and charge accordingly.

[John R]

In most station, even up to quite large ones, nobody is specifically employed to deal with lost property, it is just part of the job description of, for example, a member of platform dispatch staff.  Of course there are costs involved, but only the very large stations have dedicated staff employed.  Personally I feel a small charge is warranted for items and that charge should raise depending on how long the item has been kept (and its value), but to charge ^15 to pick up a brolley or bunch of keys is frankly absurd and fortunately the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) think so to.

How much would you charge for small items and how much would you charge for large/designer items like laptops and tablets?

No doubt you Pen-Pad would find a way to criminalise losing property on the railway and charge accordingly.

I find that question uncalled for. I know many of us (myself included) had good cause to disagree with the posters view on another subject. But to effectively raise the issue again, on a completely different topic, and in response to a perfectly reasonable question, seems to be goading Penz - Pad to respond.   

[IndustryInsider]

How much would you charge for small items and how much would you charge for large/designer items like laptops and tablets?

I think the ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies see - here) sliding scale of ^3, ^5, ^10 and ^20 is probably about right, though I'd probably reduce the payment by half if the item is collected quickly, say within 3 days.

It's a customer friendly act by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) if it's waiving all charges, but I'd have no qualms personally about paying those amounts of I'd been silly enough to leave something behind.

However, if the item concerned causes a security alert, perhaps the person collecting should be charged for the delay minutes they cause.