Airports · Rail & Bus Terminals · Hotels · Stadiums & Arenas · Hospitals · Shopping Centres · Universities · Convention Centres · Events
Lost and Found by TBH
Your guests remember two things: the experience, and what happened when something went wrong. We make sure the second one goes right — at no cost to you.
76%
of lost items never returned — industry average
144%
return-rate uplift from verified chain of custody
$0
net cost to the operator
2 wks
74% of returned items claimed within two weeks
The problem in plain language
What people actually say when they lose something
Seven real complaints. Seven different locations. One consistent failure pattern.
Intercity bus
"Left my laptop on the bus. No one answered the lost and found line for three days. When I finally got through, they said the bus had already been cleaned."
Trustpilot review
No intake record. No photo. No accountability.
Intercity bus
"Their lost and found is a black hole. Filed a report online. Got an auto-reply. Nothing for six weeks. No one could tell me if my bag was ever logged."
Reddit — bus travel forum
Digital form with no human follow-through.
Sports stadium
"Lost a jacket at the game. They told me to check back in person. Went twice. Nobody could find any record of it being handed in."
Yelp review
No chain of custody from point of discovery.
Hospital
"My mother left her hearing aids at the ward. We called the day after discharge. They were gone. No one had logged them and no one knew who cleaned the room."
Patient survey response
No intake. No photo. Disposal presumed.
University campus
"Handed my phone in at the campus lost and found. Came back two days later. They said they had no record of it. Someone walked off with it."
Student forum post
No staff accountability. No claimant verification.
Shopping centre
"Left my glasses case at the food court. Security told me to email. I emailed four times over two months. Never heard back. They just don't care."
Google review
No proactive contact. No disposal protocol.
Transport terminal
"Our reception staff were spending 20 minutes per shift on lost property calls. It was pulling them away from passengers who were actually in front of them."
Front-of-house manager
Staff time spent on lost property is time not spent on guests.
Why things stay lost
Five failure points. Every sector. Every time.
The gap between lost and returned isn't a storage problem. It's a chain-of-custody problem.
01
No intake record
Items arrive with no log entry — no description, no location, no timestamp. If it wasn't written down, it didn't happen.
02
No photo at point of find
Without a photograph, matching a claimant's description to an item is subjective. Disputes are unresolvable.
03
No chain of custody
Items pass through multiple hands — cleaner, security, reception — with no transfer log. Nobody knows where it is or was.
04
No proactive contact
Even when a claimant's details are known, no one follows up. The burden falls entirely on the person who already lost something.
05
No disposal protocol
Unclaimed items sit indefinitely, get discarded without record, or disappear. No defined holding period. No audit trail.
The TBH model
How Lost and Found by TBH works
A staffed desk. A verified record. A closed loop — from intake to claim or disposal.
01
Staffed intake desk
A TBH team member receives every found item at the concession point. Photo taken, weight logged, location and time recorded — at the moment of handover, not hours later.
02
Digital chain of custody
Every transfer within the location — from finder to desk to secure storage — is logged. Nothing moves without a record. Bailee's liability insurance covers the operator.
03
Claimant verification
Optional ID check on release. The claimant describes the item; we verify against the photo and weight log before releasing. Prevents false claims and internal theft.
04
Return shipping
Claimants who cannot collect in person pay return shipping directly — cost-neutral to the operator. Items are dispatched with proof of postage and tracking.
05
Holding period & disposal
Items are held for 90 days. Unclaimed usable items and cash are donated to charity. Electronics are wiped and destroyed. ID documents and bank cards are securely destroyed. Hygiene-risk items are disposed of immediately. Every outcome is logged.
The data
Return rates — what the research shows
Three data points. The same conclusion: a chain-of-custody system closes the gap.
Major international airport — 2024 (27,815 items logged)24%
Urban transit network — FY 2022–24 (avg. 255K items/year)21%
Rail operator — before digital chain-of-custody system10%
Same rail operator — after QR-verified intake scheme25%
Data drawn from public annual reports and Freedom of Information responses, 2022–2024.
Your staff handle your business.
We handle lost property.
From the moment an item is logged to the moment it's returned — or responsibly disposed of — TBH manages every step of the guest-facing process. Your front-of-house, security, and reception teams field zero lost property enquiries.
Who we work with
Every location where things get left behind
If it holds people, it generates lost property. We work across all of these.
Airports and rail networks report the highest global volume. Hotels rank third — and are among the most accessible entry points for a managed lost property service.
Aviation
Airports
The highest-volume sector globally. Airside, landside and multi-terminal complexity spans airlines, lounges and retail concessions.
Commonly forgotten: phones, laptops, chargers, jackets, passports, headphones
Transport
Rail & bus terminals
Tokyo's rail network logs 3.5M+ items per year. London TfL handles 300,000+ annually. Volume is high; return infrastructure often isn't.
Commonly forgotten: phones, bags, umbrellas, laptops, books
Hospitality
Hotels & resorts
Guests check out and discover losses miles away. Estimated 40M+ items left behind in US hotels annually.
Commonly forgotten: chargers, clothing, toiletries, phones, jewellery, medication
Stadiums & arenas
Sports locations
High footfall, alcohol on site, rapid exit. A single major event can generate hundreds of lost property reports.
Commonly forgotten: jackets, phones, wallets, keys, scarves, hats
Healthcare
Hospitals
Vulnerable patients discharged without all possessions. High emotional stakes, regulatory exposure, and chronically underreported volume.
Commonly forgotten: clothing, phones, glasses, dentures, hearing aids, medication
Retail
Shopping centres
Common areas with no single tenant accountable. Security teams untrained in bailee obligations.
Commonly forgotten: glasses, keys, phones, bags, clothing
Education
Universities & colleges
Libraries, sports halls, lecture theatres. Distributed campus with no centralised property function.
Commonly forgotten: laptops, headphones, water bottles, books, keys
Events
Festivals & graduations
One-off footfall peaks with no permanent lost property infrastructure in place.
Commonly forgotten: phones, jackets, bags, cameras, tickets
Conventions
Convention centres
Large transient crowds, multi-day events, international attendees. Items left across sprawling floor plans with no single accountability point.
Commonly forgotten: chargers, lanyards, laptops, jackets, phones
The commercial model
Net cost zero to the operator
TBH operates as a concession. You earn a revenue share. We cover our own operating cost.
TBH operates as a concession inside your location. We bring the staff, the intake system, the insurance, and the process. You provide the space and direct people to the desk. In return, you earn a share of the revenue generated at the concession point — no capital outlay, no additional headcount, no operating cost. The service pays for itself, and your guests get a named, accountable place to report what they've lost.
Common questions
What operators usually ask
How does someone claim a lost item?
Claimants contact TBH directly — not the operator — at support@thebaghotel.com. We verify ownership, cross-reference the intake log, and arrange return or collection. The operator is kept informed but doesn't need to manage any part of the claim process.
Does this work alongside our existing security or front-of-house team?
Yes. The TBH desk operates as a concession point — a named location your team directs people to. We don't replace security or reception; we take the lost property function off their plate entirely.
What happens to items that are never claimed?
Items are held for 90 days from the date of intake. After that, our standard disposal protocol applies: usable items and unclaimed cash are donated to charity; electronics are securely wiped and destroyed; ID documents and bank cards are shredded; hygiene-risk items are disposed of immediately on receipt. Every outcome is recorded in the audit log. The operator approves the protocol at contract stage and receives a copy of the disposal record.
Who is liable if an item goes missing from the TBH desk?
TBH holds bailee's liability insurance. The operator is named as an additional insured. Our chain-of-custody log means we can account for every item's location from intake to release or disposal.
Do you operate at events only, or permanently?
Both. We can staff a desk for single events, match-day rotas, or operate a permanent concession point for locations with daily footfall. We'll structure the arrangement around your calendar.
How will guests know to contact TBH?
As part of the partnership agreement, we ask operators to list TBH on their lost property page or FAQ — a short line directing guests to contact us at support@thebaghotel.com. We provide the copy. This means guests who didn't make it to the physical desk can still find us, and the operator doesn't field any lost property calls.
What kinds of items do you handle?
All categories — phones, laptops, chargers, clothing, bags, wallets, keys, glasses, jewellery, medication, travel documents, and high-value electronics. The most commonly forgotten items vary by location type: airports and rail terminals see the most phones, laptops, and travel documents; hotels see chargers, clothing, and medication; hospitals see glasses, hearing aids, and dentures. We handle every item with the same intake process regardless of value — photographed, logged, and secured on receipt.
How quickly can you get started?
For event-based deployments, we typically need four to six weeks from signed agreement. Permanent installations take a little longer to configure — we'll give you a clear timeline on the call.
Start a conversation.
Tell us about your location and we'll be in touch within one business day.
Get in touchOr email us directly at partners@thebaghotel.com