If some people found an ownerless iPad on a plane, they would just figure “finders keepers.” But not Consumerist reader Jeffrey, who has tried several times to provide relevant information bout the device’s likely owner to United Airlines, but who just keeps getting the same useless auto-reply.

Jeffrey tells Consumerist he found the iPad back in June while on a flight from San Francisco to London.

“I considered turning it into United, but simply didn’t trust them to do it,” he explains. “I was hoping it would have one of those remote camera utilities and I was going to tape my email address to the wall and aim the camera at it, but it didn’t seem to be configured to associate with an open wireless access point. It was never registered with Apple and they didn’t know the owner, but I opened a support case with my contact information inviting the owner to contact me so I can send it back. I called Verizon, but the MEID number was never registered.”

With a little detective work, Jeffrey thinks he was able to figure out which flight and seat the iPad was likely lost on. He says he has made multiple attempts to provide United with this info but only receives the following in reply:

Thank you for contacting the United Airlines Baggage Resolution Center.
I apologize for the delay in responding. We have experienced a high volume of correspondence and we must answer each inquiry in the order it is received. I hope this issue has been resolved. At your convenience, please let me know.
Best regards.

“It seems that United isn’t interested in helping, which only reinforces my first instinct not to trust them,” says Jeffrey. “I’m still happy to mail this thing back to its owner. I have enough electronic crap cluttering up my house.”

If you think this might be your iPad, send us an e-mail at tips@consumerist.com with HEY THAT’S MY LOST IPAD in the subject. In order for us to pass your info on to Jeffrey, you’ll need to provide the following for verification:
-Date of flight
-Flight # and seat #
-Originating city
-Anything on the iPad that would identify it as being yours

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