Reach out and return it. Anyone who has to think more than a split second about whether or not they should take any of the contents inside probably is a bit misguided in life.
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If you found a wallet...
- Thread starter mobilehaathi
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I would return it as found and hopefully the owner would pay it forward. Unless, he/she was a douche.
Last week two smart phones belonging to customers were found in the office and returned to their respective owners. Which gave me hope for humanity.
Last week two smart phones belonging to customers were found in the office and returned to their respective owners. Which gave me hope for humanity.
I'd make a decent effort to return it. Look for something with an address, if not maybe give it to the bank the cards refer to. If I really couldn't return it I'd probably destroy everything like cards etc so nobody could steal the person's identity.
Now this is quite separate from the moral reason to return, but many countries (the UK included) have laws/torts of restitution and/or unjust enrichment. This could mean that if the true owner of the wallet found you they could claim it back, and perhaps any cash you spent out of it. In an extreme case it could even be theft. It's a very complex area of law, but the point is 'finders keepers' is a bit simplistic.
Now this is quite separate from the moral reason to return, but many countries (the UK included) have laws/torts of restitution and/or unjust enrichment. This could mean that if the true owner of the wallet found you they could claim it back, and perhaps any cash you spent out of it. In an extreme case it could even be theft. It's a very complex area of law, but the point is 'finders keepers' is a bit simplistic.
If I find a wallet, I'd do what I would want someone to do if they found mine, this being I would do what I could to return it to its owner. Should I not be able to find an owner or address, I'd hand it into the Police.
All cash would remain inside the wallet.
All cash would remain inside the wallet.
I've found wallets and returned them. Fortunately they both had drivers licenses in so I just posted the wallets through the doors of the addresses.
I've seen people drop money and picked it up and given it back to the person.
I've also been stood behind people at ATMs when they've walked away before the money came out. One time in London, near Brick Lane, a bloke walked away and £500 came out of the machine. I took it and called after the guy. He looked over his shoulder and kept walking then sped up. We ended up running. I finally managed to grab his shoulder and turn him around. He went very pale and muttered something about not wanting any trouble. When I showed him the money and said he'd left it in the ATM he was visible shocked that'd I was returning it. He couldn't say thank you enough, shook my hand for about 3 minutes. He was happy and I felt good.
In another situation a guy left £30, I tried to return it and before I could explain he said "******* off you c**t!!" so I kept the money.
EDIT: Wow auto censoring really sucks on MR these days. Replacing an f and 3 asterisks with 7 asterisks is a bit of over kill...
I've seen people drop money and picked it up and given it back to the person.
I've also been stood behind people at ATMs when they've walked away before the money came out. One time in London, near Brick Lane, a bloke walked away and £500 came out of the machine. I took it and called after the guy. He looked over his shoulder and kept walking then sped up. We ended up running. I finally managed to grab his shoulder and turn him around. He went very pale and muttered something about not wanting any trouble. When I showed him the money and said he'd left it in the ATM he was visible shocked that'd I was returning it. He couldn't say thank you enough, shook my hand for about 3 minutes. He was happy and I felt good.
In another situation a guy left £30, I tried to return it and before I could explain he said "******* off you c**t!!" so I kept the money.
EDIT: Wow auto censoring really sucks on MR these days. Replacing an f and 3 asterisks with 7 asterisks is a bit of over kill...
A few years back, I found a wallet containg what was obviously a full weeks pay, and a couple of credit cards.
I't had no name and address details, but was able to contact the issuing bank and to track the owner down.
He collected his wallet, said thanks and went on his way...I wasn't expecting more, and would do the same today if confronted with the same scenario. Put yourself in the shoes of the unfortunate loser....In the UK the law says if the wallet or whatever is found has not been collected after a period of 2 years, then the items are returned to the finder. In practice they end up in the Police drinking fund I fear.
I't had no name and address details, but was able to contact the issuing bank and to track the owner down.
He collected his wallet, said thanks and went on his way...I wasn't expecting more, and would do the same today if confronted with the same scenario. Put yourself in the shoes of the unfortunate loser....In the UK the law says if the wallet or whatever is found has not been collected after a period of 2 years, then the items are returned to the finder. In practice they end up in the Police drinking fund I fear.
I know in New Zealand any items handed into the police that are unclaimed after 3 months get sold at auction unless they have no or negligible monetary value, in which case they are "destroyed". Any unclaimed money and proceeds from sold items end up being deposited into a Crown bank account.
So you are better off attempting to find the owner? Failing that would your conscience rest easy, safe in the knowledge that you had made all reasonable efforts to track them down? I guess mine would.
that saying is for when you do something bad 'intentionally' or 'planned' not when you 'find' something by chance, there is a difference but alot of people mix the two...
In 1972 I was home on leave getting ready to go to the Canal Zone for 18 months. I went for a bike ride around my city. When I got back my dad told me that someone had called saying that they had found my wallet and given my dad their phone and address. I had my Military ID, my RI drivers license and $100 dollars in there. Losing the 2 IDs would have been a pain. $100 bucks was a lot of money back in 1972. Went over to the guys house. He gave me my wallet and all my stuff back. Funny thing was he had just got out of the Army and he been in the Canal Zone too. The odds of that happening are rare. His kindness has always stayed with me. I've never found someones wallet but if I ever do I will do all I can to return it.
FWIW I found a $20 bill ina parking lot, nobody in sight - so I kept it.
If I found a wallet, I'd return it, hoping (but NOT expecting) a little cash ($5, $10?) for a reward.
If I found a wallet, I'd return it, hoping (but NOT expecting) a little cash ($5, $10?) for a reward.
I'd rather find a wallet than a mobile phone.
Trouble with mobile phones, is when someone phones a lost phone, they instantly assume you've stolen it. During my student years, I worked at a cinema, and we had lost items appearing all the time in the draw in the office. One time, a phone rang, and I answered. I was given a heap of abuse (f... thief, I'm going to find you etc). I told the caller I was a cinema employee and it was found in a screen and is being kept within the office. But since the caller was being a dick, I told them if they wanted it back, they'd have to go through the legal system and get in touch with the police, because I was handing it in at the local station for them to deal with (was on the walk home).
Trouble with mobile phones, is when someone phones a lost phone, they instantly assume you've stolen it. During my student years, I worked at a cinema, and we had lost items appearing all the time in the draw in the office. One time, a phone rang, and I answered. I was given a heap of abuse (f... thief, I'm going to find you etc). I told the caller I was a cinema employee and it was found in a screen and is being kept within the office. But since the caller was being a dick, I told them if they wanted it back, they'd have to go through the legal system and get in touch with the police, because I was handing it in at the local station for them to deal with (was on the walk home).
Especially if it were some poor person who needed the money.
Charley Varrick once took some money that was not his.
Got him in a whole lot of trouble with some "people".
^ This.
If, OTOH, I could find the person to whom it belonged and they were a total ******, I would not make it easy to return it to them. I'd give it to the police and let them book it in and have to come and get it and prove its theirs and whatever other bureaucratic hurdles were present.
This happened to me about 6 months after the first iPad came out. Big deal still, worth $500-$1000 USD. One was left behind at my work location. Lock Screen was on. I managed to play with it enough to get into some identifying info and able to leave a message at the owner's office.
Owner strolled in a couple days later and just accepted it and left. No sign of relief, no urgency at getting it back, no thank you for the effort to reunite. Nothing. Later I figured out through other experiences with him that he is just a Jack Hole. I wish I had turned it in to the police instead, he sure didn't seem to care about it much.
I'd be pretty pissed if someone returned my wallet and the money was gone. violence would follow.
sounds like you could get your a** kicked by a good samaritan
A Good Samaritan wouldn't remove the money.
sounds like you could get your a** kicked by a good samaritan
maybe think about the whole good part a bit next time... cards are easily canceled, so those could be obsolete in minutes. drivers license is replaceable, among many other things inside my wallet. other than that, the money is the only thing that would make a good samaritan, well, good... hmm..
A year and half ago I planned a two week camping trip to photograph the fall foliage in northeastern US (White Mountain Forest, northern NH and Acadia National Park, ME). I had my little tent and a little over $300 in cash - camp sites cost about $20/night. The idea was to commune with nature, hike and rough it, no computer or barely any cell phone coverage). Anyway, I was paying night to night and I dropped my wallet near the pay station (put money/cash in an envelope with site number in a pay station tube). Later that day I went to town to buy some food and realized I lost my wallet. I searched for about six hours backtracking every move and finally, at nightfall ended back to where I camped and on my last try I asked the camp grounds guy, who lives in a trailer, if anyone turned in a wallet. Someone did, and he returned it to me.
Then, as I walked away, happy that someone did the right thing, I opened it and all my cssh was removed (a credit card was there). I immediately went back and asked the guy if it was turned in with money and he said, "oh, I noticed there was no cash..." I was 90% sure he was the one that took it, not the person that turned it in. The way he hesitated and tried to fake his response spoke volumes but what was I to do.
Well, my trip was cut short but I could fill my tank with gas. I know a wallet full of money is an easy temptation but I just could not understand how someone, in this case a fellow outdoorsman, would take ALL my money knowing that I was camping and needed to pay in cash. If the person would have taken a few hundred and left me with a $100 or even $50 to get buy I would have understood. But, leaving someone in the wilderness without money was just a low thing. I am relatively poor these days, but could never do that to someone.
Then, as I walked away, happy that someone did the right thing, I opened it and all my cssh was removed (a credit card was there). I immediately went back and asked the guy if it was turned in with money and he said, "oh, I noticed there was no cash..." I was 90% sure he was the one that took it, not the person that turned it in. The way he hesitated and tried to fake his response spoke volumes but what was I to do.
Well, my trip was cut short but I could fill my tank with gas. I know a wallet full of money is an easy temptation but I just could not understand how someone, in this case a fellow outdoorsman, would take ALL my money knowing that I was camping and needed to pay in cash. If the person would have taken a few hundred and left me with a $100 or even $50 to get buy I would have understood. But, leaving someone in the wilderness without money was just a low thing.
I am relatively poor these days, but could never do that to someone.
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