Finding the owner of card off receipt details

Wail

Hello

This is rather ambiguous due to the value of what has been found.

We have a certain high value item with receipt in our care. We have a receipt for a debit card for the shop from where it has been purchased. The shop has not been helpful to us saying that they cannot trace the high value items owner because they don't log the details of customers (we do not know if they are talking out of their rear passage or not)

Can we present the details to the card company or bank where the card is based and ask them to inform the card holder that a high value item is in our care?

Is it possible? Has it been done?

Saturnalia

The bank/card company would certainly be able to trace the cardholder from the details on the receipt so I'd give that a try.

Lovely to see someone so honest, hope karma rewards you for your efforts!

meer53

Why not hand it to the Police ? What are the first 4 digits of the card number ? You will be able to identify which bank issued the card but only the seller of the goods will have the full number. Their merchant bank might be able to trace the card details used and contact the cardholder.

dollywops

No bank will give out any information, whatsoever, on any of their customers.

If you know which bank to write to, I would suggest you write a 'To Whom It May Concern' letter saying you have this item and would like to re-unite it with its owner. Put this in a window envelope, leaving room for the bank to write the customer's details in the window area, leaving the envelope unsealed and putting a stamp on the envelope. Then write a letter to the bank, asking them if they would be kind enough to forward the enclosed letter to their customer. HTH

shamac

If i had bought say, an Ipod, then lost it somewhere still in the carrier, the first thing I would do would be to go back to the shop I bought it from and ask if I had left it there or if anyone had handed it in. Why not just give it back to the shop it was bought from?

dresdendave

shamac wrote: »

If i had bought say, an Ipod, then lost it somewhere still in the carrier, the first thing I would do would be to go back to the shop I bought it from and ask if I had left it there or if anyone had handed it in. Why not just give it back to the shop it was bought from?

How would the OP be sure the shop would attempt to contact the purchaser? It could end up being kept by an employee or a prize at their staff christmas party etc.

The police option sounds better, If not collected after a certain time I believe it would be given back to the OP, who could then regard it as a reward for their honesty or sell it and give the proceeds to charity.

[Deleted User]

I'd just keep it.

No, but seriously, handing it to the police is probably the best idea. If nobody claims it in a certain period of time, then I believe it's yours.

Wail

meer53 wrote: »

Why not hand it to the Police ? What are the first 4 digits of the card number ? You will be able to identify which bank issued the card but only the seller of the goods will have the full number. Their merchant bank might be able to trace the card details used and contact the cardholder.

The police will just hold on to it placing it into their storage. The police are aware. We have the ability to investigate.

dollywops wrote: »

No bank will give out any information, whatsoever, on any of their customers.

If you know which bank to write to, I would suggest you write a 'To Whom It May Concern' letter saying you have this item and would like to re-unite it with its owner. Put this in a window envelope, leaving room for the bank to write the customer's details in the window area, leaving the envelope unsealed and putting a stamp on the envelope. Then write a letter to the bank, asking them if they would be kind enough to forward the enclosed letter to their customer. HTH

We don't know which bank to write to (or whether we should go through the card company). We know that the bank will not give us their details. Thank you for the inspiration for contacting the cardholder.

shamac wrote: »

If i had bought say, an Ipod, then lost it somewhere still in the carrier, the first thing I would do would be to go back to the shop I bought it from and ask if I had left it there or if anyone had handed it in. Why not just give it back to the shop it was bought from?

We hope that is what they do. The item has only been lost recently so there is a lot of potential for that to be a case and we can avoid going through this process. Unfortunately, this may not be the case and we are trying to prepare for the eventuality that this does not happen.

Wail

dresdendave wrote: »

How would the OP be sure the shop would attempt to contact the purchaser? It could end up being kept by an employee or a prize at their staff christmas party etc.

The police option sounds better, If not collected after a certain time I believe it would be given back to the OP, who could then regard it as a reward for their honesty or sell it and give the proceeds to charity.

This is exactly our issue. The police are aware of the object in our position. We gain more (particularly PR and recognition) if we get it to the owner.

billbennett wrote: »

I'd just keep it.

No, but seriously, handing it to the police is probably the best idea. If nobody claims it in a certain period of time, then I believe it's yours.

Due to the processes in place, the object would go into a central pot for auction and the contributions go to charity (AFAIK)

Saturnalia wrote: »

The bank/card company would certainly be able to trace the cardholder from the details on the receipt so I'd give that a try.

Lovely to see someone so honest, hope karma rewards you for your efforts!

Just not falling over in the coming cold weather would be good enough but some good PR and positive customer service responses would be nice.

So based on these replies, I should contact the bank. Has anyone got a definitive list for which numbers apply to which bank?

For example, 0001 relates to Halifax, etc

meer53

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bank_Identification_Numbers

Look at the first 4 digits of the card number on the receipt then find the details of the issuing bank from this list.

Sagz_2

Maybe your local paper will run a story?