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

[Deleted User] · 7 October 2009 at 9:26AM

I'd probably leave it there - in the hope that they would retrace their steps (which is what I'd do if I lost something). It sounds like the best way of increasing the odds that they actually get it back ...

Alternatively, if I was on a package holiday (which I rarely am) then I might take it and ask the rep to deal with it.

One point I would like to make is - if you hand it in to the police and they keep it, then THEY are the thieves (you're not). You can't be responsible for (or answer for) other people's behaviour, just your own.

baddebtbob · 7 October 2009 at 9:41AM

I would look at the photos on the camera and if i spotted the person on it i would hand the camera back to them. If they were not around the or any nearby beach shop would probably be best to hand it in to.

Amontylado · 7 October 2009 at 9:43AM

Definitely hand it in - at least to the nearest beach bar/cafe as that is where I'd ask if I lost something on the beach. Also I'd hate to think of someone losing their precious and irreplaceable holiday photos.

little_acorn_2 · 7 October 2009 at 9:55AM

Having once lost a camera, and more importantly all the pictures on it, I'd definitely hand it in.

We actually found one Ugg boot (!) while walking above the downs on Rhossili Bay recently. We carried it to Rhossili village where someone had obviously found the other one and had hung it in a bag on the footpath gate. We reunited the two boots but wonder whether they were ever reunited with the owner?!

SouWestsaver · 7 October 2009 at 9:56AM

I would hand the camera to the Hotel reception,Police Station or Town Hall/Civic Building and leave my name and address so if it was not claimed perhaps they would send it on to me!!

ladyclaire_2 · 7 October 2009 at 10:01AM

I would always go to the nearest bar and ask if someone had handed something in if I had lost it, so perhaps leaving a note (not the camera itself) at the bar saying 'camera found, contact Hotel ...... for details' should do it. In fifteen different languages, of course.

gmgmgm · 7 October 2009 at 10:02AM

Does no-one WRITE THEIR NAME on the camera?

My name, phone number and email is written on the camera and memory card- I'd sincerely hope if it was lost it would come back to me.

You can easily write in small letters on the base, or inside the memory card door.

hellywelly5 · 7 October 2009 at 10:07AM

No I'd keep it.

I mislaid my husbands camera ( the whole family had clubbed together and bought it for him for his 50th birthday) in Turkey, it also contained all my 40th birthday party piccies and it wasn't handed in

When I reported it to the Police, (which took all of the following morning) they were very angry with and said 'no Turkish people steal anything, it's against our religion'....I hadn't said that at all..... just that I'd mislaid it on a trip.

thriftystudent · 7 October 2009 at 11:19AM

Two years ago I was on a walking holiday in North Wales with my dad, when I found a very new looking Sony camera, in it's camera case and with a spare memory stick on the floor propped up by a tree.

We checked the photos to see if we recognized the people (chances are they had left it that day, and there was a tiny chance we might have seen them on the hills). There were no photos of a hotel or anything to indicate where they might be staying, so we left a note on the tree saying we were handing the camera in to the local police station at the end of the day.

The lovely Welsh police officer took the camera and all of the details about where it was found and who I was. She said if nobody claimed it within 6 or 8 months (I forget which, but it wasn't very long) then I could claim it.

A few months down the line I got a call from the lost property department to say that nobody had claimed it, and that if I sent them a cheque for P&P, which was about £2, they'd send it to me.

So there you go. I handed it in because it wasn't mine, and if I lost my camera it's what I would want someone to do. I would be annoyed at losing the camera, devastated at losing the photos. You have to try and return it, and in the end I was legally allowed to keep it, and with a clear conscience that I tried to give it back.

kevanf1 · 7 October 2009 at 11:20AM

Easy one to answer for me. I would absolutely not hand it in. However, before you all go throw your hands in the air and say I'm a bad person.... I would use my own skills on computer searching to try to find the owner. I have no need of another camera as I own a couple of decent ones anyway so keeping it for the value of it just would not enter my head. If it was a film camera (unlikely but you never know) I'd even go as far as having the prints developed with the proviso that I made sure the developer knew that I had found the camera and that I had not taken any pictures with it.

Ultimately I would probably rather donate the camera to a charity to sell on than hand it to foreign police.

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

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