Whether you’re rushing to board a plane or you’re exhausted from a long night, a stressful day, or a long flight, it can be easy to leave something behind.
William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) recognizes that effective Lost and Found services can make a very favorable impression on a customer’s feelings about an airport. With that as a major factor, Hobby opened a Lost and Found storefront to provide better and more immediate value to customers who need the service.
Hobby is constantly working to take customer service to the next level, and Traci Rutoski, Interim Manager for International Services, teamed with Trai Hicks, Assistant Customer Service Manager, and led the effort to create a storefront where passengers can go and talk to a “real person” about their missing item.
Hicks said that hundreds of items are lost and returned at Hobby each year, and the storefront wlll improve and increase the immediacy of people getting their property back more quickly.
In the month of August, 30 items were reported lost at Hobby, while 209 items were found. Fifty-five items were matched with their owners and 54 were successfully returned. The HAS Lost and Found website received slightly more than 17,400 visitors in August.
Hicks said that lost items are often typical - cell phones, identification cards, keys, iPads, medicine, jewelry, wallets, purses, clothing, and much more.
Rutoski added that many times items are lost because people are in a rush and forget the item. “They might set their items down and walk away, or items can fall out of their bags and they just not know,” she said.
Hobby, as do many airports, actually has three separate lost and founds. The HAS Lost and Found is one, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Lost and Found is another, and the separate airlines have their own Lost and Founds within the airport.
Each entity makes a genuine effort to assist customers who lose items. The Hobby storefront is already making a difference and customers have already expressed appreciation at being able to talk face-to-face to a “live person” and applauded the personal service.
Cheryl Barber is HAS’s Customer Service Representative, and she takes great pride and satisfaction in helping customers in need. Barber recalled a recent experience with a Louisiana businesswoman who lost her portfolio and IPad on a recent trip and reached out to Barber. Barber recovered her belongings and after considerable back-and-forth, through conversations and a signed letter of permission from the owner, was able to pass her items on to a friend going through Hobby.
Prior to the storefront, Hobby’s Lost and Found services ran through Landside Operations. “We’re trying to take as much of the lost-and-found responsibility from them as we can,” Rutoski said, “so that they can focus on regulations and airport inspections and corrective actions’ activities.”
The storefront is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. On weekends, Landside Ops continues to assist passengers. The storefront took less than six weeks to get up and running, and it is located near Baggage Claim, an ideal spot because many people misplace or lose items in that vicinity.
Barber stressed the importance of two-way communication in the process. She receives a lot of calls and makes it a point to reach back out, even if their items haven’t been found. “Hobby makes every effort to try and help,” she said.
Losing valuables during travel is no fun, but Hobby is making every effort to create happy endings as much as possible!
Connect with the Hobby Airport Lost and Found.