Losing Your Keys and Finding them again
Do you know what a real nightmare in practical life is? Losing your wallet to pickpockets. True, it leads to very many problems, headaches, costs, time waste, etc. Think about losing your keys. Upon loss you will be locked out of your apartment… This article will give you some hints about what to do if this worst-case scenario comes true.
First thing to do is to answer for yourself these questions: Where did you consciously have it last? Don’t refuse to think. Try again! What were you doing with the keys just then? What were you about to do at all? Walk back to where you last consciously saw them and then search this location and go back to where you noticed them missing.
No success? Too bad, but there are still chances. Go to the Lost & Found of your city. You will find it by searching its web presentation with the word “Fundbüro (German equivalent for lost & found)”. If you are lucky, you can search online.
Do you travel at home using public transportation?
Try their website and search with the word “Fundsachen (lost property)”.
Were you traveling with Deutsche Bahn?
Then call 01805 / 99 05 99 (0.12 Euro/min. from German landline phones), Monday to Saturday 8.00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. You can download a form with further information and instructions to apply for their search and submit it after completion.
If you were traveling with your car, go for a grand cleaning.
You will be amazed at what you will find – even if it is not your keys.
Maybe somebody threw them into one of those yellow mailboxes.
Call 01802 / 25 25 50 to Deutsche Post to apply for a search.
If you live in Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt/ Main, Leipzig then you can call PIN AG to enquire if your keys were thrown into one their green and blue mailboxes. You don’t know PIN AG? Well, they are the greatest competitor to Deutsche Post, the former monopolist and formerly state-owned company in mail services.
The next most important question is: Do I have to change the locks to the apartment?
If you have your name on the keys, stay at home or get there ASAP and call a key service to have your locks changed immediately. If you fail to do so, no insurance will cover that risk, as it is gross negligence. By the way, it is the least intelligent thing to have your name and address on the keys. If your keys have no identifying details, then changing the locks is a question of personality and chances are that they might have not been lost in front of the door. If you are a more timid person, call the key service and have more than your night’s sleep secured.
There are at least three inexpensive possibilities to register your keys in the case they are lost and found.
German Red Cross Key Protection, Der DRK-Schlüsselschutz, for the members of German Red Cross only.
How do these services work?
All providers generally have the same approach. You will receive some kind of identification tag for your bunch of keys that will tell the finder where to send the keys and some kind of code for the company to identify you. The honest finder is expected to throw the key into the next yellow mailbox. Deutsche Post will now forward the keys to the relevant company that they might contact you. In other words, your keys will find you… Expect fees around EUR 5 for registering and for forwarding your keys.
While all above mentioned companies only help you to have your lost keys returned (one fine day). KeyStorage will bring you on short notice your deposited keys.
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