Money Moral Dilemma: Should I return a lost £65 jumper and keep the cash?

Owain_Moneysaver

July15moomin wrote: »

If any person in the company I'm employed by found lost property and then decided to take said article from the building would quite rightly be instantly dismissed .

Likewise. Except food (we didn't have much fridge space) which if not claimed by the end of shift was eaten by staff.

And that case of beer that we found was too heavy to carry to the loft property office ... :rotfl:

MalF

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well I guess that's one excuse for blaming the poor victim I suppose:eek::eek:

What excuse would you find if you murdered someone then? - in order to make out it was their fault that you chose to do so?

If the thief's reputation was "ruined" = good!!!! Serve them right for being a thief and trying to make excuses to themselves as to why it would be okay to thieve (apparently..).

So, let me get this straight. You know what most people would do if they found (say) £50 in a cash machine because you are so quick to judge this individual with no further information. You would not do this, of course, as you have such sympathy for the "victim" who lost it.

However, in that situation, wouldn't you rather the rightful owner got their hands on the money, rather than the next scrote along the road? That would require taking the money from the cash machine and making efforts to find that rightful owner. It would be a time-sensitive thing, as the next person could come and take it moments after you left the machine (having not collected your own cash, as the other person's cash is still in the slot).

So, you pick up the money and take it into the bank. But what if it's after hours? You pick up the money and take it to the police station, maybe? But what if your local cop shop closes early (blame the Tories). You have to take it home for safe keeping until your busy schedule allows you to do the "victim" a favour by taking time out of your day to try to get the money back to him/her.

Meanwhile, your picture is splashed across the front page of a local paper as a thief, even though there is no proof of intent to permanently deprive anyone of any money. Is that not a little unfair?

Only last month, I found a sum of money in a supermarket car park at the height of Xmas shopping. I picked it up (THIEF!!!!!) as I knew that it could well end up going into someone's arm if I'd left it there, and the owner would really be missing that sum at that time of year.

I took it home (THIEF!!!! Quick, call the Daily Mail!) and the very next day, I walked a mile and a half to the local police station to hand the cash in. They refused to take it, but took a note of the amount and requested me to keep hold of it for 28 days and, if left unclaimed, to do what I want with it. It was never claimed.

I assume if you'd been in that car park, you would have judged me a thief for trying to do a stranger a favour.

Many people have good intentions and busy lives. That does not make them thieves.

Owain_Moneysaver

MalF wrote: »

So, you pick up the money and take it into the bank. But what if it's after hours? You pick up the money and take it to the police station, maybe? But what if your local cop shop closes early

Banks have 24 hour call centres.

The police have 24 hour call centres.

Even emailing the police saying you had got the money and would hand it in to them or the bank when possible would protect you against an allegation of theft.

MalF

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Banks have 24 hour call centres.

The police have 24 hour call centres.

Even emailing the police saying you had got the money and would hand it in to them or the bank when possible would protect you against an allegation of theft.

You appear to have missed the point quite spectacularly.

Red-Squirrel_2

ska_lover wrote: »

I saw an article recently on a guy who went to a cash machine, and the previous 'user' had left some cash in - the chap took the cash

Those machines swallow the cash back pretty quickly, if he was there in time to take it he was there in time to shout to the person who left it, or catch up to them and give them their money back.

If by some bizarre circumstances he couldn't do that, he could have just let the machine take the money back in, instead he stole it.

No sympathy.

wondermouse

"If you return the jumper and receipt to JL, they would doubtless be able to trace the purchaser and reunite them with their property."

Paid for with CASH in a busy store? I think you'll find although good, JL staff can't do fortune telling or perform miracles. Even if by some heavy persuasion you were able to get someone to look back at the relevant CCTV footage, all you would have is a picture of an unnamed and unidentified jumper buyer.

I know that they can do this on US crime dramas, but in real life, not so much. :j

gaving7095

Wow an actual moral dilemma for once - sort of xD
Refunding and keeping the money would be morally wrong IMO, but I believe once 3 months have passed it becomes "yours", if you (still) want it, so at that point feel free, although I expect too much time would have passed for a refund to still be available :-/

Red-Squirrel_2

gaving7095 wrote: »

Wow an actual moral dilemma for once - sort of xD
Refunding and keeping the money would be morally wrong IMO, but I believe once 3 months have passed it becomes "yours", if you (still) want it, so at that point feel free, although I expect too much time would have passed for a refund to still be available :-/

Ah but, it was found in the pub where they worked. Which of the pub's staff does it belong to? Should they share the jumper? Why should one of them get to decide for all?

Ianf

The best thing to do is take it to the police lost property office. If it is unclaimed after three months it becomes your property, so you can do what you wish with it then. A friend of mine is a taxi driver and a bag with a lot of cash was left in his taxi and he claimed it after three months. You can be accused of 'theft by finding' otherwise.

Marvel1

ska_lover wrote: »

I saw an article recently on a guy who went to a cash machine, and the previous 'user' had left some cash in - the chap took the cash


Next thing the police are splashing this guys photo all over facebook as he has commited 'Theft' - I was pretty shocked, this could ruin a persons reputation, lose them their job etc, all started off because of some idiots stupidity of leaving cash in the cash machine.


And if you were pretty skint, kids to feed, the week before Xmas, who would look a gift horse in the mouth? The alleged 'theft' had happened two days before the police decided to post the photo, maybe the guy had not had time to do anything about it or maybe he kept it, its hardly crime of the century

If it took 2 days, the bloke in question obviously attempted to keep it.