Sad daughter...lost items not turned in at lost and found

[DancinMama]

We have a sad daughter today because mommy managed to leave our HP shopping bag with her wand, her brand new Owl and our chocolate frogs in the bathroom at Islands of Adventure. When we ran back to find it, it was no where to be found. We checked with the staff around the area in case someone nice had turned it in and we went to Lost and Found but by 8pm still nothing turns in.

Makes me so sad that someone would be so unkind and steal a bag full of stuff. Does anyone know if Universal ever does “magic” moments like Disney does to help people out when things like this happen?

We’re planning to splurge and repurchase the items if they don’t show up by morning since we leave tomorrow, but it’s the principal of the thing plus my daughter is sad because it’s her special wand she chose two years ago and her brand new sweet owl. Sad that you can’t accidentally leave something for a couple of minutes without someone stealing it.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just upset for her even though she’s taking it all in stride and was a big girl about it

 

[FoxC63]

Sorry to hear this happened. I would go speak to Guest Services in the park and see what they can do for you. They did some special things for our son.

Please report back!

 

[smitty0705]

I’m so sorry to hear that! My son left his new Disney backpack with his camera on the ground in Diagon Alley. It was turned in and we were able to retrieve it at Lost and Found. It’s probably not good news if you checked at the end of the day and it wasn’t there, but here’s hoping it might find it’s way back to you.

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

We have a sad daughter today because mommy managed to leave our HP shopping bag with her wand, her brand new Owl and our chocolate frogs in the bathroom at Islands of Adventure. When we ran back to find it, it was no where to be found. We checked with the staff around the area in case someone nice had turned it in and we went to Lost and Found but by 8pm still nothing turns in.

Makes me so sad that someone would be so unkind and steal a bag full of stuff. Does anyone know if Universal ever does “magic” moments like Disney does to help people out when things like this happen?

We’re planning to splurge and repurchase the items if they don’t show up by morning since we leave tomorrow, but it’s the principal of the thing plus my daughter is sad because it’s her special wand she chose two years ago and her brand new sweet owl. Sad that you can’t accidentally leave something for a couple of minutes without someone stealing it.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just upset for her even though she’s taking it all in stride and was a big girl about it

Sad to read this....good luck....keep checking with LAF hopefully you’ll recover these items, we have lost things 3 different times including a bag of money and 2 different hats of my sons, we never recovered my oldest boys Supreme hat.

 

[bumbershoot]

Found items rarely make it to lost and found on the same day.

Definitely talk to management tomorrow about your sad plans to rebuy.

 

[AJA]

So sorry! I would also follow up again tomorrow, it never hurts to ask if there is anything they could do, especially for the stuffed animal or for the wand?

I left my sunglasses sitting on the bathroom sink in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel a few years ago. I literally walked out, looked at my husband and said “oh wait I left my sunglasses” turned around walked back in and they were gone! It HAD to be on of the couple of women in there but when I asked no one said anything

 

[macraven]

One year I left my hat in the park restroom and reported it and checked with lost and found that evening

I was contacted on day 3 it was found

Guess it took that long since I did not inquire until 2 hours prior to park closing

Was told park employees have to clear all areas of the parks after closing and found items are sent to list and found

Once items are logged in with that department, and reports checked before peeps are notified their item was found
That’s why it was day 3 before I was able to pick up my item

If you are no longer in Orlando when your item was found, it can be mailed to you

 

[FoxC63]

Yes! My son then 5yrs lost his wallet. State ID, gift card and cash - it was in our mail box when we arrived home!

 

[FoxC63]

We’re planning to splurge and repurchase the items if they don’t show up by morning since we leave tomorrow, but it’s the principal of the thing plus my daughter is sad because it’s her special wand she chose two years ago and her brand new sweet owl. Sad that you can’t accidentally leave something for a couple of minutes without someone stealing it.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just upset for her even though she’s taking it all in stride and was a big girl about it

Please give Universal time and give them your address, email & phone number. We plan on being there Nov 26-Dec 3, please feel free to PM I will do what I can to help your daughter.
Thia

 

[bchbetha]

I am sad that your stuff is missing but don’t jump to the conclusion that someone stole it!! If it was in a bag, it could have potentially looked like litter and just been tossed. Doubtful but possible. It certainly takes time for things to get to lost and found too.
I know I wouldn’t ask customer service for anything (replacements...). If they offer, great. I hope it shows.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

If you purchased on a credit card you may be covered by the insurance for purchases that comes with it.

I am so sorry that this happened. My daughter has never forgiven me for forgetting to pack her teddy bear when returning from DLP. The hotel didn’t locate it and even now, 22 years later I still find myself searching for an identical bear.

 

[schumigirl]

So sorry! I would also follow up again tomorrow, it never hurts to ask if there is anything they could do, especially for the stuffed animal or for the wand?

I left my sunglasses sitting on the bathroom sink in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel a few years ago. I literally walked out, looked at my husband and said “oh wait I left my sunglasses” turned around walked back in and they were gone! It HAD to be on of the couple of women in there but when I asked no one said anything

That is so dreadful!!! And so blatant......some folks are shameless!

 

[GamingBuck]

We have a sad daughter today because mommy managed to leave our HP shopping bag with her wand, her brand new Owl and our chocolate frogs in the bathroom at Islands of Adventure. When we ran back to find it, it was no where to be found. We checked with the staff around the area in case someone nice had turned it in and we went to Lost and Found but by 8pm still nothing turns in.

Makes me so sad that someone would be so unkind and steal a bag full of stuff. Does anyone know if Universal ever does “magic” moments like Disney does to help people out when things like this happen?

I lost a pair of Ray-Bans at the studios a couple trips ago. I have a pretty solid idea of where and what time. They weren't brand new or anything either. I checked lost and found the next day, and called multiple times after and it never showed up. I was pretty surprised.

Note, however, that you can call lost and found for quite a while (I think up to 30 days after it's been lost). Like the other poster said though, if you go to guest services and tell them the situation they may be able to make it at least partially right. I would think if you have receipts (or have them look it up using your card) that could only help the situation.

 

[DancinMama]

Thanks for all the info and support. We’re on our way to check with lost and found and then guest services now so I’ll keep you updated if they’re found.

 

[Disxuni]

As others have stated it might take awhile. In the cases things are not returned, sometimes I believe it's sometimes lack of communication, or not following the right protocol (or there's lack of)

This is technically not Universal related, but Disney related.

We once had drinks and a snack at Nomad Lounge. We left and we were in the queue for FOP. We were in there for awhile when my father realized he left his hat and at this point it's technically after closing (as we slipped on right before closing). It had been about an hour in total from when we left, on the ride, and walked on our way to Nomad again. It was closed, but we were able to open the door and someone was there. We glanced at where we sat and there was nothing. The person up front then went onto look under his desk for a brief moment only to say there was no hats. I almost wanted to ask if any wait staff was in the kitchen still who would have known anything, or if it could be anywhere else (as he barely looked), but I didn't want to push. He informed of where Lost and Found was and suggested whoever waited on us should have dropped it off there.

We went to Lost and Found and I have to say, quite disappointed in that experience. Spoiler alert, never got the hat.

I do not know how things work at Universal in terms of how to identify and how they keep track of things, but, I was honestly disappointed that all they could do was tell us to "give a detailed description of the item" and that was only way to identify it. The thing about it is, is that this hat is a typical big sun hat and beige. So, no way to really identify it to make absolutely certain my father would get his. Other than the fact that it's wider than most hats within that category, but I do not think that would work as a valid description. I was disappointed there was no way to give more detail on at least where it was left and/or discovered, roughly when it was discovered, and what time it was turned in to better keep record, or to identify objects. Or at least that's what they told me I asked if it was identified by where, or when it was found / turned in. I asked if either of them remember anyone returned anything resembling what I was talking about, or if a CM had even recently returned anything within the hour. I essentially got "I don't know".

I understand that people come and go and people do not pay attention to everything, but when I was there it seemed dead (we were actually the last tram of the night) and there were only a couple of CMs working the counter. I understand people not remembering everything, but they really came off as not motivated, nor caring at all. If anything I'd remember a co-worker stopping by to drop something off, as that's more specific. Anywho, didn't get it back, as once again could not write a well defined description to identify the hat so I didn't do it as there's no point in more than likely getting another person's hat.

I'm just glad it was something relatively unimportant. Sentimental and protected my father, but better a hat than a wallet. While this is not Universal, but Disney where this happened, I only share this story to the OP and others know that it definitely can be something other than someone stealing and could be a combination of issues when you do not find something, as I personally doubt that stealing was the case as we were one of the last guests since it was a few minutes before closing.

I hope OP's merchandise is discovered, as while that is a lot of money that went into those purchases, that is also memories being made too.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Our DD6 at the time had a hole form in her wand bag (It wasn’t in a box) and it fell out in line for HE. After several frantic minutes of searching we asked the TM there for help. He helped us look for a while and then sent us over to olivanders with another TM who authorized a replacement.
I hope your bag turns up at lost and found tomorrow.

 

[smitty0705]

Thanks for all the info and support. We’re on our way to check with lost and found and then guest services now so I’ll keep you updated if they’re found. ❤

I hope they find it! The Universal employees also directed us to a website where we could enter information about our missing item so that if it turned up after we left, we would be notified.

 

[DancinMama]

The bag hasn’t turned up yet but I did talk to Guest Services just to see if there was anything more we could do. Since it was our last day I was planning to repurchase the items but I just didn’t want to do it if there was any other route to go in finding our bag.

The woman there was super helpful and gave my daughter a gift card for the amount that the wand and owl cost so she could go back and get new ones. (She wasn’t able to replace the 3 chocolate frogs but considering I didn’t expect anything from them since leaving the bag was our fault in the first place, I was completely fine with it)

The best part of this whole thing was that when we took our daughter back to the Magical Menagerie to get a new owl, she sat down in front of the shelf with the owls and started looking them each over and pushing their fur around to see if they looked just like hers. (She was adamant that her “Rex” had kind of long fur in one spot) When an employee saw her doing this she started up a conversation with DD about what the owl was supposed to look like and went into the back of the store to get some more for her to look over. It was the sweetest thing and very thoughtful of the girl in the store!

Anyway, I am very thankful to Universal for their kindness to our DD. Our whole trip was amazing and like we talked to our DD about, stuff is just stuff. We need to enjoy our time together and be thankful no matter what the outcome.

Thanks for all the caring and support disboard members!

 

[macraven]

Outstanding guest services !

Happy that your vacation ended on a high note and good feeling

 

[schumigirl]

So glad to hear Universal Orlando TM made a difference.

Their customer service had been outstanding, good to hear you and your daughter got some sparkling mummy dust