Money Moral Dilemma. Would you hand in a camera you found on a beach?

JohnAnt

I would always want to hand it in. I'd not be interested in keeping it.
First of all, where's the 'abroad'?
If it's a north-western European country, e.g. Holland, Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia, Finland, I'd hand it over to the police, just asking for an incident number or receipt, and asking how they'd normally trace the owner.
If it's in France, Spain or Northern Italy, I'd ask at the town hall/municipality, not the police station. I might double check with the tourist office and leave a written declaration of deposit there as well, just to guarantee there's a record.
If it's anywhere else, frankly, you might as well sacrifice to the god Neptune.
By far the best way to ensure it gets back to its owner is to phone the local newspaper, give a full description and tell them you've left it with the police.

saveralot

JonUk what a good idea. I will do that. I couldn't keep it, if I really thought the police were like that I'd try and find the person another way - if it was a small resort (eg Santo Tomas Menorca, a handful of hotels), I'd try and find the person by looking at the photos.

sad_woman

Having had a camera stolen and lost precious family pics myself I would do whatever it took hand it in to the local authority and leave details at the nearest beach bar/caf!. The pics are prob worth far more to the owner than the £100

beans

I found a classic 35 mm professional en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_M3 Leica rangefinder camera with lens, I believe it was worth around £3k [long before digital]. The type used by en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson and many other C20th famous photographers. I handed it in at the local cop-shop. I got a nice thank-you letter from the owner, an impoverished photography student and a small reward.

A bigger reward would have been nicer, but I'd do it again.

ConsumerWarrior

Keep the camera, put it on the web site with a picture. note the serial number and wait. Anyone who owns it will know their serial number ...wont they?

In fact, wont the makers know who bought the camera, most owners register for a guarantee, I know thats no good if secondhand but it does introduce some traceability and would help in the L&F website.

ConsumerWarrior

The owner is usually behind the lens.

Jengagill

Yes I would still make the effort to hand it in. The world may appear to be a selfish place but one small action can restore the faith in human nature.

pennypinchUK

I'd write a note on a piece of paper saying I'd found the camera and the address of the hotel I was staying at, maybe even some form of contact in the UK (not sure I'd go as far as leaving my full address details though, for security). Then I'd leave the note where I found the camera, stuck on a prominent stick or as obvious as I could make it. If they found my note I'd hand them the camera.

While I'm impressed so many MoneySavingExperts would hand in a camera my experience suggests this would not generally be the norm. You only have to bear in mind the common use of the phrase "finders keepers" to know that many people will accept the camera, no further questions asked.

P.S. If I was to go in to any police station, hotel lobby, tourist rep, etc. to hand in a camera, in the UK or anywhere else, I'd require a receipt from them. No receipt, no camera handed over. I don't know the morals of each country's police forces, but I know there are good and bad people in every profession - this just seems to be a sensible precaution.

Meanwhile, thanks Martin. I'd not thought of it before, but I've just taken one of those Able-Labels that has my address and attached it to the base of my camera! Simples.....

TaBunny

These dilema's are getting more and more about people's honesty. Anyone who is honest would hand it in to the local police with a note of where and when found anyone else is a stealing by finding.

TaBunny

Utterly amazing how many racially oriented comments there are on here so sad and pathetic.