When cruise passengers lose a personal item, they should never feel like their belongings have vanished, said Ervin LeMand, vice president of business development at Lost Returns (pictured above).

“Guests must know what’s happening, what to expect and feel taken care of. Our end-to-end approach ensures guests understand that they can get their items back and know all the steps that are taken in the process.”

LeMand said that Lost Returns assists multiple industries in returning personal items to travelers, including working with cruise lines to manage the entire lost and found process.

When an item is found onboard a ship, the crew logs it into a structured workflow that keeps it traceable. Lost Returns continues a chain of custody on land by managing the housing, guest communication, claims and returns.

The company integrates with UPS, FedEx and USPS and minimizes handling time to ensure fast and reliable return processes. The customer can track the item throughout the process.

It has now been offering its services to the cruise industry for over seven years.

“For cruise, we turn lost and found from this antiquated back-office burden into a guest experience asset,” he said. “We focus on delivering transparency all the way through the system so that the guest has trust. (We give) a much clearer, specific workflow of the behind-the-scenes.”

Tailored for Cruise

“We were approached by Virgin prior to Covid to develop a new concept on how guest services and lost-and-found can be married,” said LeMand.

Virgin wanted a “Sailor-specific” process and, according to LeMand, what they learnt from the collaboration helped them to customize their product. Lost Returns also leaned into new post-cruise escalations and land-based returns technologies.

The company is currently working with Virgin and on six MSC ships based out of U.S. homeports.

More recent contracts include Explora Journeys and working with the company to manage high-value lost items and guide guests through the return process.

While each cruise company may have its own tailored call center, guests can call Lost Return’s center directly when looking for a lost item.

“You’re not having to retrain the staff and guest services. We take that over and do that work,” LeMand said.

LeMand noted the significantly positive response coming from port agents to the offering.

“These people are doing an amazing job handling literally thousands of items, taking them off and putting them back on the ship. They’ve said, ‘I’m so glad I have this solution now. Where were you guys before?’”

AI Development

“We’ve been embracing AI on our platform. Everything using AI gets more detailed; it gets more information. Every single word and description can be pivotal in making sure that the item is returned to the guest,” LeMand said.

He also highlighted the company’s new technology called “asset tagging.”

“We believe that there’s a way for guests to actually register their personal property,” he said. The solution is designed to help items be matched with the owner immediately.

“Our system automatically starts connecting to the guest, letting them know the item has been found. We call it ‘proactive matching’, where an actual item can be found before the guest even knows they lost it,” LeMand said.

“Our (offering) is something we think the industry doesn’t yet know is available,” LeMand explained, and said that it is changing industry standards and is a much better approach for guests.

A Vital Touch Point

LeMand said that when guests leave the ship, the majority of lost and found processes are not communicated properly to them, leaving them unsure of what’s going to happen.

“They don’t understand that process of going through customs, of having it handled by a port agent, of it being sent to a processing facility. So, we’ve really tailored and focused on that: to be guest-centric. When people are really upset about losing something, this is no longer a logistics issue; it is a guest touchpoint, a feeling. Those are really emotional situations, and what we’ve done is try to turn that into a wheel instead of some back-end logistics program,” he explained.

The Logistics  

“Cruise ships aren’t always returning to the same ports when they have found an item, so guests might have disembarked and then the ship could be in a different country. It’s on us to support these companies by making sure the items properly go through customs, and are stored and warehoused properly,” said Le Mand.

In a case of a repositioning ship, for example, the company is able to effectively locate and contain the items, find all required port agents, communicate a timely, effective process for moving the items through customs and a courier, and then have the items returned to the owners.

An Added Touch

LeMand noted that there are cases in which items are not reunited with their owners due to incorrect tagging or the owners’ loss of interest.

“We’ve organized a donation program. Currently, we work with Ronald McDonald House in the U.S.; they are a great charity that we’ve worked with for many years now,” LeMand added.

Clients can also select their preferred charity, and the company collaborates with them on the delivery process.

“This makes our ethos a little bit stronger. The company aims to exceed expectations and not just manage inventory,” he added.