Money Moral Dilemma: Should I take cash left in the self-service machine?

duchy

As most of these machines are covered by CCTV the supermarket if they have a reason to check the recording (like the owner of the money contacting them) will be able to see who took the money - and if you shopped in the store and paid by card could probably identify you. Would that influence your decision on what you would do ?

paulaschute

I found £100 someone had left in a cash-point (not the same situation, but still a moral point) once. I handed it into the customer service desk at Tesco. Later found out it belonged to a woman with 3 kids, and was all the money she had left. She had to walk home in the rain without her shopping because she thought she'd lost it.

gocurlygirl

I found £40 ,2 x£20 notes rolled up together outside a small supermarket-Mr T ,the money had not been there when I went in a few minutes previously. At the time I was really,really broke but went to hand it in to the amazement of the assistant.Then I noticed a really old man in a motorized chair searching his pocket ,he had lost it so it was returned to him.(he thought he had lost just £20).

I would hand it in -have been in the position where £10 makes a big difference.

Have found small amounts of money on street and kept it(I was horrified by the title "Roadkill" until I realized it meant loose coins not animals!:o)

jsrees

slightly off-topic, but I once found a muddy £20 note in my path while cycling slowly up a steep hill - it could have been there for ages as neither drivers nor pedestrians on the pavement would have been able to notice it. When I got home, I found that it wasn't mud but dog poo. Still worth washing & using though, but it set me thinking, what's the lowest value contaminated note or coin that you would knowingly pick up and wash?

marich

Anything found should be taken to the Police Lost Property department . If unclaimed it will , eventually , become yours to legally dispose of as you will .

I certainly would not hand it over the counter at the shop , library etc. . The idea of supermarkets playing at CSI/Snoops is ludicrous .

Pocketing it straight off is plain wrong . You should make a point of telling the shop staff what you are doing so that the absent-minded shopper knows to go to the police .

razzie50

I've been the person that left the money in the bottom of the machine before. It was about 9.30pm and I woke up the next morning realising what I'd done and panicking about it. I called Asda at 7.30am and they explained that if a colleague had spotted it, they would have printed off the last receipt from the machine and kept it locked in the customer service desk. Lo and behold they called me back later to say it had been saved, asked me to verify what I'd bought and gave me it back.

Definitely always hand in the money, you never know how much that person needs it. It was pretty much my last £20 till pay day!

bzd

Last year when putting some milk in my basket in a local co-op I was surprised to see a small cash bag with a roll of notes in it. I assumed it had gone stray from a till. You can't help thinking "quids in" in that situation, but it's definitely not yours, so there's NO QUESTION that you SHOULD hand it in.
I took the bag to a till person (still assuming it belonged to the store) and they immediately said there'd been an old lady asking about her weekly money being lost 5 minutes ago. NEVER assume you're not stealing from the vulnerable! She couldn't find the old lady outside so took took my details and took the cash to the manager's office and so I thought they could sort it out next time the old lady was in.
I'd like to say the old lady got her money but I was surprised 4 months later to get a letter from the police saying the money had been handed in in my name (the co-op staff must have done that) and no-one had claimed it so if I didn't pick it up it would go to police coffers. A bit disheartened that it hadn't found its way back to its rightful owner I went and picked it up. Turned out to be £100. I couldn't bring myself to spend it so gave it to the local (independently run) Age Concern hall which is really active and maybe even would find the right old lady. Hope so anyway.

LeaLea89

i once left behind £10 of cash back in one of the self serve machines. I went back to the store and they had the lady behind me (also behind me in the queue) on cctv as taking it and putting it in her pocket! The store could do nothing.

aquarius02

What kind of person actually needs to ask this? It is not your money, therefore if you keep it you are stealing it. Hand it in! This could be someone's last £10. How would you like that to happen to you?

aquarius02

If that hapened to me I would phone the Police!