Calle Lanzarote

My first experience of the Lost Property Office in Arrecife airport

Check-in desks at Arrecife airportOn my last visit to Lanzarote I managed to leave something behind – my SIM card that I had swapped over during our stay so as to use one that offered cheaper internet access.  Either I left it behind in the flat that we were staying in, or it dropped out of my hand luggage when I was sorting out our flight tickets.  I only realised when I got back to Germany.

Having deactivated the card and ordered a replacement, I was still curious to know if I really had lost it in the airport at Arrecife, so I tried to call the lost property office.

I started by looking for a number to call on the airport’s website.  Just calling a number in Spain can be a linguistic nightmare.  I’m usually quite happy to talk to the person on the other end in Spanish, but they see an incoming call from Germany and detect a British accent in my Spanish into the bargain.  So they usually attempt to answer in German, only to move to English a couple of sentences in, resorting to Spanish only when they don’t know a particular word.

To add insult to injury, the number of the website couldn’t even be called using my Skype flatrate!

The first person that I spoke to gave me a different number to call.  That at least had a Lanzarote STD code for a normal landline.  However when I called it, the number diverted to the mainland.  After going through the voice-controlled computer system I actually spoke to someone who tried to put me through to the airport, but failed.  So they gave me a different number to called.

The next number took me to the same computer system, and again I answered the questions and ended up with someone who was at least in Arrecife.  They took down my details and wanted to ask if the SIM card had been found.  Then the line went dead.

So I called again, went through the computer, only to discover that they were not actually in the lost property office, but were going to ask there for me.  Except that they couldn’t reach anyone.

Guess what?  They gave me another number to call that would go straight to the lost property office.  Only they told me that there is usually no-one there, because they are out around the airport, and I should just keep trying.

And try I did.  Eventually I managed to speak to someone.

No, they hadn’t had a SIM card handed in on my day of departure.  Oh well, it was good Spanish practise!

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One Response to “My first experience of the Lost Property Office in Arrecife airport”

  1. Midge Collins Says:

    I’ve tried without success to find a contact number / web site to try and a trace an item I lost on my ingoing flight. Hopeless

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