As if it’s not bad enough to forget a valuable item on a flight, U.S. Airways is showing just how unhelpful it can be in the case of one Consumerist reader who left her iPad in the seat back pocket recently.

Kate B. wrote in asking Consumerist to call attention to her situation, after she put her iPad in the pocket to await the time when she could use it. After promptly falling asleep during the early morning flight, she was in such a rush upon waking that she plumb forgot her iPad. She acknowledges that while it is her own fault for leaving it, the response she’s gotten from the airline thus far is far from acceptable or helpful.

On her blog she details her story, and the subsequent actions she’s taken to try to communicate with U.S. Airways.

I recognize that it’s my fault that I left behind such a valuable item. Still, I’ve never been so frustrated in my life by the customer service I’m received – or not received – from US Airways. People complain about them, but I’ve never had a problem before – cheap tickets, smooth flights, friendly staff. But as soon as you go behind the scenes, past the everyday faces of the airline, it’s a different story. The guy I spoke with last night at US Airways’ main office actually had the gall to tell me, “You know, you’re not going to get it back.” Hey, thanks, man, for your sunny disposition and for all the help.

Every one of the dozen employees I’ve spoken with has told me to do something different – call the Charlotte lost and found office, call the Jamaica lost and found office (where the plane went next), call the airline’s main office, call the airport’s main office, email the airline’s lost & found “warehouse.” There seems to be no actual process for locating, retrieving or returning lost items of value, which is especially frustrating because I strongly feel that no one stole my iPad – that it’s just floating around in the US Airways abyss, waiting to be located by someone who gives a damn & will take the time to notice that my ticket is in the case, making its owner easily trackable.

Kate notes that she’s filed an official claim with the airline, contacted every person she’s been directed to there, had a friend at the airline check for her and used all social media resources she can find to contact U.S. Airways as well as blog and tweet about her story and checked with her insurance company to see if renters’ insurance covers the loss.

Battling US Airways for My Lost iPad [Suburban Sweetheart]

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