Its True

I was prepared for a call at two in the morning. This was to let me know that they have landed in the Doha airport. I had planned it well and slept early. I would have little time to sleep after picking them up in the middle of the night. But my wife woke me up at 11:30 with a call from an unknown number. This was to let me know that she had lost her phone at the Dubai airport and I was not to expect any call when the plane landed in Doha. My immediate grief was that I will no longer have the luxury of sleeping till they landed, but have to go early and wait in the arrival lounge. 

The loss of the Samsung galaxy made us sad. The realization of losing those pictures of our last vacation made us sadder.  Early in the morning I went to Vodafone store and blocked the number temporarily, stopping any misuse of the phone number. We had heard and read a lot of stories of people getting back stuff from various parts of Dubai during our stay there. These were firsthand accounts that were published in the local newspaper by the grateful souls conveying their gratitude after getting back their belongings. We were hopeful that we will get the phone back by some miracle.

The other thing she had to do was to change passwords of various websites and accounts like FB, emails etc. 

So I had to get into action right in the morning. First decision was not to lose hope. So I went and blocked the SIM card without taking the option of a duplicate SIM card of the same number and the balance transferred. 

Next step was to log into Dubai airport lost and found department and make an online application. I called the airport too but got directed to various other agencies including Dubai police airport division.

We were reflecting on statements like “why this happens with us" and "why it does not happen with us" and “How I could not check this”etc.  It was like the pain of a child losing his favourite toys than anything else. All of a sudden there was this one phone short in the house.

But all this while they have kept me engaged. I have been asked to provide details of the item lost and followed by the model of the phone, colour of the phone, the colour of the cover, so on and so forth. After three days I received the following email: 

“Good day,

After checking of our system records, we are glad to inform you that this item is with the custody of the Emirates Lost and Found Department under reference number 8795 (Date of received 27Aug) Please advise where to forward it so we can prepare documents and advise flight details.

For further assistance or clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact Emirates Lost and Found at +97145057538

Note: we are keeping the found items only for thirty days from the date of received.

Thanks and Regard,

*****                        

EMIRATES LOST AND FOUND

Emirates Airlines - Dubai International Airport Terminal 3

Tel: 00971 4 5057538         

Fax: 00971 4 2200104 "

That was one of the happiest emails that my inbox have ever received. However this wasn't the end of it. We were then requested to furnish detail and specific information related to the phone. For example we were asked provide at least five names and numbers from the phone’s contact list, records of last few calls made and received if we could, etc. 

Finally the phone arrived at the emirate airlines office at the Doha airport on an evening flight. We went there without wasting any time and collected the phone by filling up a form. Before handing over the packet the officer asked my wife ...........“Did you expect to get it back?"

"No! Just hoped", I replied. 

After a month our neighbour lost her iphone in her school bus but never for it back. The moral of the story is not to lose your phone and if you happen to lose it at the Dubai airport, do not lose hope. The people at the Emirates are too good.

This post is to express our thank Emirates Airlines and all people at the Dubai International Airport.