Passenger discovers airline employee stole their AirPods by using “Find My”, airline refuses to help, passenger takes matters into their own hands: ‘I blast the wearer’s ears out’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Feb 24, 2026 12:00 PM EST

If they can't get their AirPods back, at least they can ensure no one else's gets stolen by the same person.

Have you even managed to retrieve something you know was stolen from you? I have, and let me tell you, it was not easy. A few years ago, I accidentally left my phone in an Uber, and by the time I realized where I left it, the next passenger already claimed my phone and taken it with them. It wasn't long before charges from my Amazon and Uber Eats accounts came flooding into my email inbox, and I was forced to cancel everything I could to keep them from getting me into so much debt. 

They didn't consider the fact that when they ordered food from my Uber Eats account, I could see exactly to which address the food was going. At first, I tried reporting them and having someone else fetch my stolen belongings back, but since no one was willing to help, I decided to do it myself. 

I drove over there, along with a few friends to back me up, knocked on the thief's door, and demanded my phone back. And you know what? They were so shocked that I was there, they gave it right back to me, and even apologized. 

While this could have gone in a hundred different ways, I am happy I had the chance to confront this person and get my phone back. But even if I couldn't do that, there are still ways to teach someone a lesson, like the one in the story below…

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  • A Close-up Shot of a Woman with Airpods on Her Ear
    via Karola G

    A Close-up Shot of a Woman with Airpods on Her Ear.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • When this passenger discovered they left their AirPods on the plane, they immediately contacted the airline, hoping they would be able to track the AirPods down. The airline management, however, refused to help the passenger find the thief, which led them to do it themselves, using the Find My app.

    Since the passenger does not live in the same state as the thief, they couldn't really show up at their doorstep and demand their AirPods back. But they still managed to ensure this person learned their lesson, using whatever means they had at hand.

  • The airplane cleaner stole my AirPods.

    About six months ago, I had a layover in Houston. After deplaning and going through security, I realized my headphones had fallen out of my pocket.
    via jadewildaz
  • I submitted the lost item claim with United and gave the description of the color of the silicon case they had on them, plane info, seat number, the whole thing.
    via jadewildaz
  • I also set it to lost mode and included my phone number to call me. I emailed United a few times, stating I could see they had moved from the plane to what seemed to be the United office space.
    via jadewildaz
  • I now realize, it was probably employee lockers. After about 24 hours, I saw them go to an apartment building.
    via jadewildaz
  • I watched them go from the apartment building to the airport, back and forth, and tracked the schedule.
    via jadewildaz
  • I gave United the address of the employee, their schedule, and what days they had worked.
    via jadewildaz
  • Surely the home address and schedule was enough to pinpoint who it was, so they could at least deal with it internally.
    via jadewildaz
  • Person Holding a Case with Airpods
    via Karola G

    Person Holding a Case with AirPods.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Wasn't exactly excited to get the AirPods back if they had been wearing them. United told me that because the AirPods had left the property, they wouldn't do anything and I had to file a police report with Houston PD.
    via jadewildaz
  • I live in Arizona. They closed my claim. I use "find my" a lot for various AirTags and things.
    via jadewildaz
  • So, for the last few months, whenever I see my lost headphones with the earbuds out, I hit "play sound" on the earbud and blast the wearer's ears out.
    via jadewildaz
  • I see them quickly go back into the case. If they would have called me when they found them, I happily would have sent them a reward, even enough to buy their own basic pair.
    via jadewildaz
  • I understand they are expensive and not everyone can swing a pair. I am slowly working toward making them go deaf, so no one else loses a set of headphones to them.
    via jadewildaz
  • I think this is the pettiest thing I've ever done...
    via jadewildaz
  • Roadgoddess My sister literally tracked her AirPods to the person's house and went to the door and demanded them back, lol, and the person looked so guilty and handed them over
    via Roadgoddess
  • jadewildaz Original Poster's Reply If I lived in Houston, I 100% would have done this lol Maybe if I have another layover there I'll make a little pit stop and have an epic update
    via jadewildaz
  • Necessary_Baker_7458 If you use find my device on apple, you can select stolen or lost and it will render the device useless.
    via Necessary_Baker_7458
  • jadewildaz Original Poster's Reply That's what I did and what I thought would happen, but they are definitely using them. They're being charged and taken out of the case often. Weird, right?
    via jadewildaz
  • koolman2 When you play that sound it starts off soft and gets progressively louder specifically to avoid deafening someone. Why don't you connect to them yourself and start playing death metal at full volume? I'm sure it still annoys them. Amazing that they never figured out they can just hold the button down for 15 seconds to reset them.
    via koolman2
  • why_now10 A friend of mine lost his AirPods on a plane. Based on location/adress he could find names of suspects. A little. googling/searching on IG he found the culprit (Holiday pictures in same location as AirPods). Sends a message to this guy that he will inform his employer. Gets the AirPods in the mail.
    via why_now
  • auntwewe I think apple needs to create a tone called "these missing items are in the possession of someone I dont know" - really fi ing loud
    via auntwewe

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worker employee stealing airport work airpods petty revenge passenger airline find my
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