🔍 rest-ops

Lost & Found

Lost & Found logs every item a guest leaves behind — a phone, wallet, keys, jewellery, clothing, bag, glasses, umbrella or document — with where and when it was found, tracks each attempt to contact the guest, and moves the item through a clear status lifecycle from Found to Claimed, Donated or Disposed, with alerts when something has sat unclaimed for 30 or 90 days.

📍 Menu path: Operations & Compliance → Lost & Found

👤 Who uses it: All roles with the Customers feature enabled — front-of-house staff log items, management handles disposition

Overview

A found item records its Description, Category (Phone/Tablet, Wallet/Purse, Keys, Jewellery, Clothing/Scarf, Bag/Backpack, Glasses, Umbrella, Document/Card, Other), the Table it was found at, date/time, the staff member who found it, a Storage Location (Manager's Office, Front Desk, Security Room, Safe, Lost Property Shelf, or Handover to Police), and the guest's name/phone if known.

Status moves through Found — Awaiting Contact → Guest Contacted → Claimed, or alternatively to Donated or Disposed for items nobody claims.

A Contact Log records each individual call or message attempt made to reach the guest, with its date and outcome, so you have a clear trail of effort made before an item is donated or disposed of.

Two alert strips flag ageing items automatically: unclaimed for 30+ days, and a stronger prompt at 90 days suggesting it's time to donate or dispose.

This is distinct from the Service Recovery Log (service failures and resolutions), Guest Book (visit history) and Guest Profiles (preferences and occasions) — Lost & Found is specifically about physical belongings.

Before You Start

You must have the Customers feature enabled on your plan.
Agree on your Storage Location options and disposition policy (how long before donate/dispose, and to where) before staff start logging items, so the process is consistent.

Step-by-Step Guide

1 Log a found item

Click "+ Add" and select the item's Category.
Enter its Description, the Table it was found at, and the Storage Location it's being kept.
Add the guest's name/phone if known from the booking or a receipt, then save — the item starts as "Found — Awaiting Contact".

2 Contact the guest and update status

Open the item and log a contact attempt (call/message) with its outcome.
Update the status to "Guest Contacted" once you've reached them.
When the guest collects the item, mark it Claimed and print the item receipt to give them.

3 Handle a long-unclaimed item

Watch the 30-day and 90-day unclaimed alert strips.
For an item unclaimed past 90 days, follow your restaurant's policy — mark it Donated or Disposed accordingly.

4 Review unclaimed items for the month

Open the monthly unclaimed items report.
Use it to review your Lost & Found process and confirm items aren't sitting past your intended disposition window.

Every Field & Button, Explained

Field / Button	What it does
`Category`	What kind of item it is (Phone/Tablet, Wallet/Purse, Keys, Jewellery, Clothing/Scarf, Bag/Backpack, Glasses, Umbrella, Document/Card, Other).
`Status (Found/Contacted/Claimed/Donated/Disposed)`	The item's current position in the lost-and-found lifecycle.
`Contact Log`	A record of each individual attempt to reach the guest, with date and outcome, distinct from the item's current status.
`Storage Location`	Where the physical item is currently kept — Manager's Office, Front Desk, Security Room, Safe, Lost Property Shelf, or Handover to Police.
`30-day / 90-day unclaimed alerts`	Automatic banners flagging items that have sat unclaimed for 30+ or 90+ days.

Tips & Best Practices

Log the item the moment it's found, not at end of shift — the date/time recorded is what the 30/90-day alert clock runs from.
Always log a Contact Log entry for every attempt, even an unanswered call — this is your record that reasonable effort was made before eventual donation or disposal.
Print the item receipt at the moment of claim as your record that the item was actually returned to the guest.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

An item is stuck showing as unclaimed even though the guest picked it up.

Check its status was actually updated to Claimed — items only stop counting toward the unclaimed alerts once their status changes from Found/Contacted.

I can't find an item I logged last week.

Use the search box (searches by description) or the status/category filters — if it was already marked Claimed, Donated or Disposed, make sure your filter isn't excluding those statuses.

The 90-day alert is showing for an item we already decided to keep longer.

The alert is purely date-based on when the item was found — if you're intentionally holding an item longer (e.g. an expensive item awaiting a specific guest), that's a manual judgment call outside the automatic alert; consider noting it in the item's record.