Can happen to anyone

Panic is over and we are sharing this because it can happen to anybody. 

When we finally arrived Wednesday evening sometime after 9 pm we were tired, very tired and eager to just go to bed  Getting ready for that James could not find his phone. I helped and we found all the obvious place … all pants pockets, pockets in other clothing he had worn, backpack, between sofa cushions we had set briefly …

When I remembered “Find my” and clicked on “devices” on my own phone (because we are linked to each other) it clearly showed where James’ phone was  

In Philadelphia we did not have a super-long layover. We arrived with AA in Terminal B and of course had to walk first to immigration. Then we had to claim our suitcases and walk through customs to “transfer” to drop them off again. Then another long walk and standing in line to go through security again for our connecting flight. Might this be were it got lost? After emptying all our pockets again?

After that we had to take a bus to Terminal F. The screenshot clearly shows that is was list in Terminal B.

As soon as we realized what happened, where James’ phone was we were really worried though. The big question: was it lost or stolen? Yes, I am very paranoid about internet safety. I calmed down after a while when I noticed that the phone didn’t move when I checked the “find app”. 

After googling to find out what to do we learned that we can lock the phone long distance and we did that from James” iPad. You can put a message on the screen of the phone and which telephone number to call (mine!).

But how to get the phone back? Searching on the internet I found a telephone number for the airport but only reached a robot. After more searching I found a number and got a real person advising me to go to https://aa.com/lostandfound/ and make a claim there. I was first very sceptical because I thought that it would only be about checked luggage which didn’t  arrive. But no, there was a section about item lost in the airport. I was impressed and filled it out. 

Next day at lunch time I received the text that the lost phone had been found. James and I were so relieved and happy. 

An email told us that the phone would be mailed. We filled something out and payed the FedEx fee. As soon as that was done we got a tracking number. 

Unbelievably the package arrived a day early. When we came home Sunday from church we found it. 

That was unexpected too and we felt like little children on Christmas morning. 

Look at James’ face!

And this was the rest of the story. 

I decided to write about it because the moment we had realized what had happened we felt so helpless not knowing what to do. Finding out that there is actually things one can do was such a relief. I just wished I had known what I know now then. And now you know what I learned!