So, wwyd if you found cash in a parking lot?

[rafiki]

.

[Tammy]

nt

[WTMCassandra]

If it was in a large anonymous place like that and was less than $10, I would probably just keep it. If it was a large amount of money, I would try to find the owner like you are doing.

[Blessedfamily]

I would put it in my pocket and call it my lucky day!

 

I knew someone was going to make this suggestion! :lol: :lol:

[Kate in Arabia]

I would have left it at the security desk. To me it depends somewhat on the amount, but I wouldn't be able to keep it for my own use, even if I had left word at the desk and no one contacted me after a set length of time.

[nutmeg]

This week dd11 and I found a $10 bill in the middle of a busy department store. I figured my lucky day would be someone's else unlucky day, so I turned it in to an employee. Maybe she pocketed it, I don't know....but I felt like I did the right thing.

[stephanie]

I would let the place of business know that I found money, leave my number if anyone reports it lost. If no one claims it after a week then I'd call it a blessed day! Things like that happen. As long as you do your best to do the right thing then there's not much you can do about it. Now if it was hundreds of dollars then I'd probably contact police, but that didn't seem to be the issue.

[Blessedfamily]

.... I turned it in to an employee. Maybe she pocketed it, I don't know....but I felt like I did the right thing.

 

My real estate agent left some of the contents of her purse on the counter at a department store after fishing around for her keys. Among the contents was a bank envelope with a few hundred dollars.

 

When she went back a few minutes later and asked for her stuff, the sales clerk handed her everything but the envelope. My agent says, "Ummm... my money?" The clerk gets on the phone and calls another employee and says, "Bring it baaaaacccck" (in a sing-song voice.) She didn't even have to say what "it" was to the employee on the other end.

 

I guess they were planning on splitting the take later. How nice.

[Catwoman]

When she went back a few minutes later and asked for her stuff, the sales clerk handed her everything but the envelope. My agent says, "Ummm... my money?" The clerk gets on the phone and calls another employee and says, "Bring it baaaaacccck" (in a sing-song voice.) She didn't even have to say what "it" was to the employee on the other end.

 

I guess they were planning on splitting the take later. How nice.

 

Those employees should have been reported to the store manager. What little weasels!!! :glare:

 

Cat

[Blessedfamily]

Those employees should have been reported to the store manager. What little weasels!!! :glare:

 

Cat

 

She did. The manager said, "Ma'am, you have your money back. I think you're over-reacting."

 

I say those who steal from customers will steal from employers too.

[OhM]

I turned in $50 to the service desk of a grocery store. Imagine my surprise a month later when they called to tell me it hadn't been claimed, so it was mine!

 

To the original OP - a small amount I would keep, a larger amount try to turn in. But what the cut-off is, I'm not sure. I thought someone would miss $50 and make an effort to back-track and find it. Probably not if it were a $10.

[Catwoman]

I didn't leave the amount I found, just my info incase someone comes in looking for lost cash. If they can identify what it was in, the amount, and denominations I would like to find the owner.

 

 

I think you did the best possible thing. If you'd turned the money in to the security office, chances are good that the original owner never would have gotten that money back, even if he or she had reported the loss. The way you did it was much better. The security people might have been honest, but you just never know.

 

I once found a watch outside the supermarket, and it looked brand new. It was only a few days after Christmas, so I'll bet it was a gift. It was worth a few hundred dollars (probably $100 if the person bought it on sale,) and I turned it in to the customer service desk. The woman at the counter admired it, and my first thought was that the watch would find its way into her pocket. She said that if the watch wasn't claimed within 10 days, I could come in and get it and I could keep it.

 

The ten days passed and I happened to be in the store, so I stopped at the counter and asked about the watch. The same woman was at the counter and she said no one had picked up the watch, so it was mine to keep. I have to say that I felt very badly that I'd suspected her of being dishonest. I had no use for the watch, so I asked the store manager if it would be ok to give the watch to the customer service woman, and he said it would be fine, so I gave it to her. She still wears it, two years later, so I'm really glad I didn't keep it and stick it in a drawer somewhere.

 

OTOH, once I was in the self-checkout line at the store and I found some bills on the edge of the counter, so I chased down the guy who'd been in front of me in line and asked if he'd lost it. He said yes, thanked me, and went away. I was quite pleased with myself for having done my good deed of the day... until a few minutes later, a woman ran up to me, frantic that she'd left her money on the edge of the counter after she'd paid. The guy I'd chased was a liar, and he took money that wasn't his. I felt so badly for the woman who the money really belonged to. I told her what happened and we tried to find the guy, but he was long gone. Fortunately, the woman in line behind me had seen what happened with Liar Guy, so no one suspected me of having taken the cash. But I still think about that guy. He was so dishonest, yet entirely convincing when I asked him about whether he'd lost the money.

 

Cat

[Blessedfamily]

......

OTOH, once I was in the self-checkout line at the store and I found some bills on the edge of the counter, so I chased down the guy who'd been in front of me in line and asked if he'd lost it. He said yes, thanked me, and went away. I was quite pleased with myself for having done my good deed of the day... until a few minutes later, a woman ran up to me, frantic that she'd left her money on the edge of the counter after she'd paid. The guy I'd chased was a liar, and he took money that wasn't his. I felt so badly for the woman who the money really belonged to. I told her what happened and we tried to find the guy, but he was long gone. Fortunately, the woman in line behind me had seen what happened with Liar Guy, so no one suspected me of having taken the cash. But I still think about that guy. He was so dishonest, yet entirely convincing when I asked him about whether he'd lost the money.

 

Cat

 

 

How do thieves sleep at night?

[lilbean05]

I was responsible for a pouch of snack bar money from our office years and years ago. I went to the wholesale store, with the pouch of money (roughly 400ish bucks) to unload and stock up on our stash. Turns out that I had to leave quickly to take care of something else and accidently (good golly--what a huge mistake) left the pouch of money in the cart where the kiddos sit, put the cart in the cart claim in the parking lot, and left. I realized my mistake about 2 hours later, ran back to Costco, and someone had turned it into lost and found. Blessings were with me that day and I am so thankful for integrity of the person who turned the money in. I used to pocket a buck or two found, but from now on, I turn every little bit of money into the store/front office. You never know if it was the dollar a kid needed to take the subway to get home that day, or who may come back looking for it.

 

My first thought, in your case, is that someone stuck the money under the tire for the person who was inside at a doctor's appointment, sort of like leaving a key under the mat at your house. Not the brightest idea, but in your case I might have just left it, thinking someone put it there for a reason. Or I would have written a note explaining that I turned it into the office just inside.

[KingM]

How do thieves sleep at night?

 

On big, fluffy pillows, stuffed full of cash. ;)

 

I found two or three hundred dollars in an unmarked envelope in the street once and it just so happened that I was next to the police station, so I turned it in. I was a poor college student at the time and admit that I was more than a little tempted.

 

But my honesty was rewarded as nobody claimed the cash and ninety days later they gave it to me. Best of both worlds. :D

[katemary63]

I would have no problem keeping the money I found AFTER I had done everything in my power to find the rightful owner and waited an appropriate amount of time. I would not feel guilty about it.

[Ginevra]

If it was a small amount of money and I had no way of guessing to whom it might belong, I would just pocket it and call it my lucky day. This happened to dd one day outside of a grocery store. There had been a big snow storm and as the kids climbed on the "snow mountains", dd found a $10 in the snow. Truthfully, it wouldn't even occur to me to turn in such a small and non-identifiable amount.

 

If I found a deposit pouch stuffed with hundreds of dollars in a bathroom, that would be different. I would assume if I lost something like this, I would at least attempt to find it. But a $10 bill? If I could even be certain I had truly lost it and not spent it or misplaced it, I would never go back to stores where I had been and ask for it.

 

I was at Costco checking out when a very nicely dressed man came frantically back to the check out and asked if anyone had found a bank envelope. Can you believe the cashier gave him the envelope but it was empty?! He opened the envelope, looked at the cashier a moment, she looked back at him and he said, "Figures!" and left. She never said another word. If that episode didn't have guilt written all over it...

[Tap]

I would report it over $10 or so like you did. Maybe I wouldn't go looking for $10 I lost, but if someone has lost it and does go looking, you can bet they really need or want it back if possible.

 

I found $450 dollars in cash, when I was 18 in front of the post office, the day before I was going on vacation to Hawaii!

 

I did like you and was able to give it back to a little old lady who lost it on her way to buy money orders to pay her bills.

 

I have also found a signed, blank company check on the floor at Costco. I turned it in to Costco, because I didn't want the liability of holding on to it. I can't imagine going back to your employer and telling them I had lost their blank, signed, check :svengo: . (Figuring the owner wouldn't presign their own checks :0) )

[hsmom3tn]

If it was a wallet or purse, something that may be able to identify the owner, I would turn it in. If it's just money, I don't touch it.... although I am tempted :( My kids get so frustrated sometimes when they see money on the ground and I won't let them pick it up. I just tell them that whoever lost it might come looking for it, so we should leave it right there. That may not be the best thing to do, but if there's no way of knowing who lost it and I figure someone else will probably just pocket it if I turn it in, I just leave it alone.

 

I remember going to a Walmart a few years ago and being in line at the layaway counter... I'm sure some of you remember how long that took! Anyway, I had to use the restroom and it was right there next to me, so I left the line and went in. I came back out, took my place back in line, and a minute or so later I realized that I had left my purse in there. I went back to get it and it was still hanging right where I left it. I didn't really think it would be gone, though, as no one else had gone into the bathroom besides me except for one female employee. I was right there outside the bathroom so I would have seen anyone else go in. It was really less than 2 minutes... Anyway, I finished my shopping and got to the check out, and guess what???? My money was gone. I told the cashier what happened and that it must have been the female employee that I'd seen come out of the bathroom, but honestly, if they'd lined up all of the female employees for me to point out which one, I wouldn't have been able to distinguish her from the others. I didn't really pay any attention to her face when she came out of the restroom, and they were all pretty much dressed alike....

 

I didn't go back into that Walmart for years after that. It made me feel sick to think about it :(

[Sebastian (a lady)]

She did. The manager said, "Ma'am, you have your money back. I think you're over-reacting."

 

I say those who steal from customers will steal from employers too.

 

That manager had an opportunity to make his store seem like a font of responsibility. He chose otherwise. I would personally have a hard time shopping there again, especially if it involved the use of a credit card. A management who sees theft of money from customers as an over-reaction is less likely in my mind to be taking proactive measures to prevent identity theft.

[ChristusG]

It would all depend on the situation, the amount of money, if it was in anything, etc.

 

One time I was walking through the middle of a very crowded Busch Gardens. I looked down, saw a bill, and picked it up. It was $20, my lucky day. I knew I would NEVER find the owner in a place like that.

 

Now if I had an idea of whose money it may be, such as if I was standing in line somewhere and saw some money on the ground, I would point to the ground and ask if that was anyone's money.

 

As for your situation, if it was in a purse/wallet, I would turn it in. If it was just some bills, I would pocket it. Unless it was a crazy amount of money. Because if I ever lost a crazy amount of money, I would hope someone would return it to me.

[Desert Rat]

Hmmm....ethics are so tricky with this. If were in a wallet or purse, I'd turn it in. Envelope of cash? Turn it in. Loose bills just flying in the breeze or stuck under a tire, etc. is mine. The likelihood of anyone going to a lost and found counter and requesting the $5 they lost in the parking lot is slim. I'd say, it's my lucky day!

[RoughCollie]

If I were to find something valuable, I'd turn it in. Otherwise I'd leave it there in case the true owner went looking for it. Including cash -- but not coins (such as a quarter, not a *valuable* coin).

[Karen sn]

When I lived in Alaska - which is VERY different than the lower 48 - I would cash my 2 week paycheck and write my phone number and name on the bank envelope in case I lost it. People there are very honest. I had all faith that if found it would be returned.

I miss Alaska.

If only the it were sunnier there.

[Rita]

We were in a huge city attending a Globetrotter basketball event. I went into the bathroom at a nearby restaurant and found 2 folded $100 bills lying there. I went to the cashier/manager and told them I had found a significant amount of cash and left my phone number. No one ever called to claim it. DH figures it was drug money. We gave it to a charity cause a couple of months later.

As for the store where the manager said the poster was "over reacting"...I wouldn't be shopping there again, and I would tell the district manager why.

 

Rita