If you found something, how thorough would you be to try and return it?

[Jillpie]

If I found cash, anywhere else but the street (thinking store, or their parking lot), I would notify the front desk (not telling them the amount) , but not turn it in. I would give them my phone number, and if someone is looking for it, I'd ask about how much did they lose. Then, I would return it. Otherwise, if you hand over a load of cash, it most likely will go into their pockets! Why do that?

 

[amberpi]

About 3 weeks ago we were at WDW, the kids found a phone, which is funny, they can't find anything of ours, I was turning it in to concierge and a guy very close by at the desk was trying to find it. The same night as my avatar pic was taken, but the kids were SO proud. I was proud of them too!

 

[NFLDERS]

After mall shopping, and upon entering a bus stop shelter my son then 10ish found a bag. In it was a watch, and Birthday card. We went home, and Dh & I explained to our son that we would place an ad in the city's lost and found section of the newspaper. After a week with no ligitimate replies he could do with it whatever he chose.

No legitimate claim was made. Unfortunately, he learned early on about PEOPLE.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I found a woman's purse in a cart in the parking lot of a supermarket. The strange thing is that the cart was already in the corral with two or three other carts pushed into it. Nobody else noticed before me?

I called DW asking what to do and she said to turn it in to customer service inside the store. When I did, the CS associate said the woman had already called the store asking if it was turned in.

As it turned out, the woman who lost the purse was my step-daughter's co-worker at a bank.

 

[Marchand63]

Have done it many times.
Wallet - found his FB and messaged him with my phone number. He called I told him where to pick it up.
Phones, no password, I look for Mom in the directory or who is first on Fave list. Let that person no where the phone can be found.
Cash, well haven't found that much. I look for someone searching. I have never found anything bigger than a 20 but I would turn it in to the nearest PD if it was substantial.

Last but not least I have found lots of lost kids. They are usually easy to return.

 

[Shanti]

If I found money, I'd keep it, as there is really no way to trace it back to the correct owner. I don't think a store owner or the police have any more right to it than the person who finds it.

For debit cards, credit cards, or electronics that are identifiable to a particular person, I'd call the company with the info. Ordinary items would be turned in to lost and found.

I don't tend to find valuable things just lying around, so this is basically a hypothetical issue for me...

 

[Marchand63]

If I find money or a gift card, I keep it, as there is really no way to trace it back to the correct owner. I don't think the store owner or the police have any more right to it than the person who finds it.

For electronics that are identifiable to a particular person, I'd call the company with the info.

The police don't keep it, they take the name of the party turning it in. If it goes unclaimed in a specific time period it is then given to that person.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...finds-bag-cash-and-does-unexpected/349856002/

 

[Shanti]

Left my first ipod at a hotel many years ago at WDW. I called as soon as I realized after checking out. It was gone - Housekeeping never admitted to seeing it.

They probably didn't see it. iPods are small, and housekeeping has a lot of rooms to turn over quickly. It might have been on the bed and ended up in the laundry, or somehow accidentally ended up in the trash.

Once after HDDR, I realized I'd left my phone on the table inside. I knew exactly where I'd left it, but I wasn't allowed back in, and the HDDR person I spoke to said that no one could find it inside. A few days later, lost & found said they had it. It had been swooped up with the table linens right after the show, and was found in the laundry.

 

[stephk1981]

No matter what I find, I have to turn it in. I found $36 folded in the Publix parking lot a couple of years ago. I turned it in at the desk. If that associate kept it, so be it. At least I tried and my conscience is clear.

DS found a $10 bill last month in our neighborhood on the sidewalk. We went door to door asking if someone had lost it, and if they did, what amount. We found the girl 3 houses in.

 

[OhhBother]

Our most interesting "find" was at the airport. We were walking through the TSA pre-check line entrance and for whatever reason, my husband noticed a white card on the ground. Picked it up, and it was a driver's license. We were getting ready to hand it to a TSA agent when I saw a frantic man with an airport rep across the way. He was about to miss his flight. I quickly explained to the TSA agent in front of me what was going on, scooted through the line and handed the ID to the guy. He was completely shocked but relieved.

And not too long ago, we found an iPhone in a movie theater. It wasn't locked, so I went in to recent calls and called a number that came up a lot. It was the son of the woman who owned the phone. He called his dad, who was with her, and they met up with us at the theater and got the phone.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I haven't really found stuff out and about unless you call spare change stuff lol (even then as my dad subscribed to if it was a penny only pick it up if it was heads up, leave it if it was tails down).

When I worked retail every now and then we'd find cell phones or credit/debit cards. Those were kept in a locked drawer awaiting the owner (don't know if after X amount of time what they did with it). If it was a cell phone we would try to locate the owner by looking up contacts inside it.

I do know though when people lose stuff in my neighborhood or neighborhoods in the area people will post on Nextdoor or for my neighborhood only eNeighbors and there's a decent amount of sucess rate for return. People also post things on there if they've lost stuff.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I was on NCL Epic during a Caribbean cruise I saw on the floor what I thought was a 1 dollar bill, it turned out to be a 100 dollar bill. I handed it to the barkeeper to see if the owner came for it.

 

[jrmasm]

IF it’s not mine, I don’t keep it.

 

[WDWJDS]

Once found a cell phone at one of those “only in town for a few days” pop-up carnivals. Honestly, I didn’t want to turn it in to the carnival folk, knowing that they would be leaving town soon, so I looked in the phone and found a contact number for “Mom”. Called her, told her what happened, she contacted the group that her daughter (who lost the phone) was hanging with at the carnival and told her to meet me at a designated spot to get it back. Got there, girl (teen) and her friends walk up, I hand it to her outstretched hand, she scowls at me and walks away - no thank you or anything. I guess she was gonna catch it from mommy.

Found a wallet at my job. It contained several CCs (including Amex) and over $150 cash. I suppose I should have handed it in to security, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that the owner received EVERYTHING in it. So I tried to find the owner’s info online (had her name on CC but no license or address) but wasn’t successful. Decided to use Facebook and bingo! Sent her a message, exchanged numbers and met up at my job for the exchange. She was extremely greatful and brought my lunch. She admitted that she thought it was some sort of hoax at first because she didn’t even realize her wallet was missing yet.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I will not keep something that was not given to me or I did not earn. If I found an ipod, a gift card, or a wallet with $1000 in it I would report it to a store nearby, or take it to the police. I may be poor, but I'm not willing to take that kind of hit to my karma.

 

[tinatark]

I once lost my 3+ carat wedding ring... was getting a manicure, took it off and tucked it inside my purse. Put my sunglasses in there and apparently when I took my sunglasses out the ring came out as well. Backtracked, couldn't find it, then called my insurance agent (friend) who said a police report was required. Called the police, and it had been turned in to them! I talked to the lady who found it (I actually saw her coming into the nail salon as I left). She was not comfortable handing it over to the nail salon people. * Whew!* Note, a couple of years later, hubby picked up my ring from the jeweler, stopped at the bank, then home. The ring was missing. We backtracked, looked at cameras, etc... it is just gone. We are convinced it somehow fell back behind the ashtray (change compartment) of our car into the dash compartment and now our car is worth $20k more! Thankful it was scheduled on my homeowner's policy.

This week, my hubby dropped $575 from a cash withdrawal. Backtracked our steps and the bank courier had found it in the parking lot and turned it in! We wrote a nice note to him along with a meal gift card, and emailed the bank president (we are shareholders of the bank and the president went to school with my hubby) a note about the honesty of the courier.

 

[ronandannette]

I'm generally a "turn-it-in" person. A buck on the sidewalk wouldn't be worth it, but I'd make an effort for big things, or things that seemed sentimental. (I love those stories where a kid loses a stuffed animal or something and the finder turns to Facebook and they get it back!)

We've been lucky a few times when nice people found things we'd lost:
DH left his Kindle in the seat pocket on a flight once - and it was turned in to the airline and came back a few weeks later!
DS dropped his phone once at Great Wolfe Lodge, and it was turned in to the desk!
He also lost a wallet in a restaurant booth when he was little, and another patron mailed it back. There wasn't even much in it, but it really made an impression on him that it was returned! (And yes, he wrote a thank-you note / reimbursed the postage.)

I've never found money or anything really apart from at places that had a customer service desk. Turning the items in seems like a no-brainer because that's the first place someone will go when looking for them.

Years ago, on our first trip to WDW, my DS left a very beloved stuffed animal in the washroom at MCO. It was only about 15 minutes before we realized and returned asap - the bear was gone. It was never turned in to lost-and-found; we checked repeatedly during the course of our stay in Orlando. I always wondered what happened to it - obviously someone picked it up and either discarded it or kept it. Why?

Our story does have a pixie-dust ending of sorts. When we checked in to AKL we took a shot at asking the CM if they had any ideas. They tried at least once to contact MCO on our behalf and checked with us for several days to see if anything had turned up. We returned one evening to find a stuffed Simba and a sweet little note for DS.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I always wondered what happened to it - obviously someone picked it up and either discarded it or kept it. Why?

I wonder if it could have been possible that it was lost in route or forgotten about.

Like maybe someone didn't know where Lost and Found was or was pressed for time and could have given it to a gate agent instead and maybe it never made it to Lost and Found.

IDK just something that popped in my head.

I would so hope someone didn't just keep it to themselves or throw it away

That's a really nice ending though and a win for Disney

 

[eileenjez]

found $20 in the parking lot with no other cars around. Found a sapphire and diamond ring in front of a store one night. Placed ad in paper and watched lost and found. No one claimed it. Since there were several stores around didn't know which one to take it to. Found a couple of DSL cameras, turned into place where found. Had a purse still hanging on the chair at a restaurant , turned in. Found a couple of wallets in shopping carts. Found a purse in one turned in to front desk. Lady sent a check to me for finding it. I still have the check never cashed it. I have a tendency to find things. Credit cards, debit cards, store cards. Outside bank cards I take to bank branch, inside store I take to front desk. If it's not mine I don't want it.

 

[java]

I found a purse on my front lawn- Id inside called owner. Police showed up at my door. Her car had been broken into and I guess they wanted to make sure it wasn’t me