Ticket Touts and beggars

Had to deal with a few ticket touts last night, we had a few of our regulars who search in the bins for discarded tickets, and a few other touts trying to flog tickets for the local concert halls, as well a young lady screaming at the top of her voice for people to give her money.

BTP were duly called and soon cancelled as the touts left the station before they arrived.

We almost had an evacuation when a customer reported a black case "hidden" under a bench. Using the official "HOT" (Hidden, Obvious, Typical" procedure, and as the case was locked, I decided to call for an evacuation, when my colleague in the Ops room got a call from Heathrow. The owner had reported leaving his case at our station and was panicking as his airline tickets, passport etc were inside. So, the evacuation was called off before it started. An hour later a very apologetic Chinese gentleman turned up to claim his case, after confirming his identity and ensuring he was the rightful owner (he had the key for the padlock) he left to go back to Heathrow with a lecture and a warning that next time the Police will blow his bag up.

We no longer charge for returning items of Lost Property on the stations. It used to be £3 before Ken scrapped the charge. Also, the lost property database which we use for helping customers be reunited with their belongings is being scrapped at the end of May, so any customers looking for stuff, will have to either write to Baker Street Lost Property Office, or call in person to the office or fill a form online. They do have a number that customers can ring, but I don't know how successful they have been at locating lost items.

http://http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/contacts/lost-property.asp