If you were to lose your $250 AirPods while on a tiring international flight, you may simply decide to give up and buy a new set. But for this woman, her mantra is probably "never say die."
A wife of a soldier from Washington state lost her AirPods. According to The Straits Times, she diligently searched for her missing device for 12 days before eventually tracking them down at the house of an airport worker.
Benchmark of Perseverance
Alisabeth Hayden realized she left her denim jacket on the seat of the United Airlines aircraft as she was leaving San Francisco after a nine-hour journey from Tokyo in early March. She had her AirPods stashed in one of the pockets.
She said a flight attendant refused to let her go back inside to get her jacket, but he promised to provide it to her before her next trip.
The jacket was indeed given to her, and she carried it as she slid into her seat for the trip to Seattle. She grabbed for her AirPods, but they were nowhere to be found. Her pockets had been emptied, and her AirPods had vanished.
Realizing her AirPods were gone was the spark that ignited her tenacious pursuit of reclaiming the earphones.
Hayden began using the Find My app on her iPhone to keep tabs on her AirPods even before touching down in Seattle. She saw that the headphones were in transit from the San Francisco airport.
She was in United's cargo area when the AirPods popped up on her phone.
As soon as she touched down in Seattle, she also sent an email out to United officials, the San Francisco airport, and the police department.
"I hit every avenue I could find, and used every possible form of communication, and got the same response: 'I'm sorry that happened to you,'" she stated, explaining United's inadequate reaction.
She told the airline that she did not lose the AirPods and that an employee would rather not let her retrieve her things.
Determination That Bore Fruit
Hayden told CNN that the sentimental value of her AirPods was more important than the price she paid for them. It had helped her get through tough times as she adjusted to life as the spouse of a US serviceman. AirPods made it easier for Hayden to communicate with her spouse when the latter was stationed abroad.
"Maybe they look like AirPods to normal people. But it's my lifeline to my husband and means something different to me," she asserted.
Later on, she had a San Mateo police investigator stationed at the airport look into the terminal's records to find out where her AirPods were pinging from. They were in possession of a contractor working at the San Francisco Airport who provides food aboard flights.
According to United, the "vendor" who took Hayden's headphones was not an employee. The airport worker first denied possessing the AirPods, but subsequently altered his story, saying he was given them by a janitor.
Hayden was relieved that her perseverance had paid off, and she wished the same for others. United compensated her with $271.91 to purchase a replacement pair and future free flights up to 8,000km.
