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

[Erzengel]

But I remember quite a few years ago, on another messageboard, someone posted how they found an iPod and they were so excited.

There was a lot of "cool" but a good amount of "hey, did you try and find the owner?".

I posted how easy it would have been to plug the iPod into a computer, load up iTunes and find the serial number and make one call to Apple. If Apple didn't have any record, then he didn't have any additional obligation.

After a while, the person had enough and said, he deserved the iPod because this happened and this happened.

Recently, I recently found a gift card that had $25 from Starbucks in the middle of a parking lot. Outside looking around, and waiting in the parking lot for someone who looked like they found something, I'm not sure what else I could have done.

 

[Lilsia]

Some people register their gift cards now, so if you take it to a Starbucks, they might be able to find the owner. Other then that there is not much you can do about gift cards. Stuff like Apple products, I would just take it to the local Apple store and have them find the owner. I work in a restaurant and people leave things all the time. If it is valuable they usually call for it. Stuff like gloves or small kids toys are usually never claimed. If someone leaves their shopping bag we give them a couple of days to call for it and then we take it back to the store in the shopping center to see if they can trace them through their credit card.

 

[amcnj]

It depends on the item, it’s value and where it was found. Money in a public area, not much you can do. Who knows where it even came from, as it could have been deposited there by the wind. Money or other items found in an establishment, turn it in and hope the person who lost it checks back there. Some items might be traceable . A gift card I would have assumed couldn’t be traced, but after reading the above now see that people might be able to register them. Some things are of nominal value but may be sentimental to an owner, so then I try to place it as near to where it was found, but in a spot where it might be more noticeable. But even then I wonder if I should have just left it where it was as that might be the exact and only place where the person will look for it.

 

[LYSE]

If finding the owner is relatively strait forward I'll do it myself ..if not then it's to the lost and found....the only exception might be cash, if I didn't see where it came from and there's no one looking for it I may decide to keep it..I mean what are the chances that will make it through lost and found anyway.

On our last trip to the magic kingdom I found a $500 point and shoot camera, we looked at the pictures on it and kept an eye out for the owners and eventually found them talking to the cms at City Hall about it. (We were headed there to turn it in)

 

[sam_gordon]

But I remember quite a few years ago, on another messageboard, someone posted how they found an iPod and they were so excited.

There was a lot of "cool" but a good amount of "hey, did you try and find the owner?".

I posted how easy it would have been to plug the iPod into a computer, load up iTunes and find the serial number and make one call to Apple. If Apple didn't have any record, then he didn't have any additional obligation.

After a while, the person had enough and said, he deserved the iPod because this happened and this happened.

Recently, I recently found a gift card that had $25 from Starbucks in the middle of a parking lot. Outside looking around, and waiting in the parking lot for someone who looked like they found something, I'm not sure what else I could have done.

Agree with it depends on the item and where and when it was found.

When walking through a Walmart parking lot, I found a debit card. I brought it to a bank branch and turned it in.
When walking from a concession stand back to my seat at a HS soccer game, I found two dollar bills on the ground. Plenty of people around, but no one who obviously dropped them and no one looking for them, so I pocketed it.

An iPod/iPad/Phone, I would try to return to the owner.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My aunt is an aide on a school bus, and you would not believe what kids leave behind/lose/forget. They are required to post a notice and wait for thirty days for the owner of whatever was lost to come forward, but hardly anybody responds. Parents don't respond either when their kid comes home without something. Once, my aunt found an iPod too, and after the requisite 30 days it was given to her-I took it and plugged it into iTunes and it came up as "Rebel's iPod." A further notice was posted, but nobody with that name or nickname ever came forward. We surmise that it was stolen in the first place maybe.

 

[Skellingtonj]

Agree with it depends on the item and where and when it was found.

When walking through a Walmart parking lot, I found a debit card. I brought it to a bank branch and turned it in.
When walking from a concession stand back to my seat at a HS soccer game, I found two dollar bills on the ground. Plenty of people around, but no one who obviously dropped them and no one looking for them, so I pocketed it.

An iPod/iPad/Phone, I would try to return to the owner.

Agree with all this.

 

[smokeyblue]

If I found something (purse, phone, etc.) at a business, I would turn it in. If I found something at a park or out in the open, I'd probably just leave it. When I have found cash, I've donated it. When on vacation I found a $20 on the ground at the Santa Monica farmer's marker. I asked the people around me if they'd dropped it, nobody had. I donated it to one of the charities that was there. My then BF and his brother thought I was crazy for not keeping it; I kind of believe in karma and I couldn't have that hanging over me while I was on vacation. If it was a large amount of cash, I'd turn it in to the police.

 

[Squirlz]

We found a 16 year old boy's wallet in the street in front of our house. He lived a few blocks away so we took it over there. No one was home so we took it to a neighbor who phoned the parents and left a message. Left it with them with our business card but never heard anything back.

 

[wenrob]

I try to find the owner if it’s feasible or turn it in. Cash, there’s not a lot you can do if you’re not in some type of establishment or there aren’t people around. My DS (the king of finding coins and cash since he was like two) found a $100 bill at a Christmas Light event type place. We were on our way out so I had him give it to an officer stationed there. In retrospect I wish we had walked back in and turned it in to the establishment itself where it would have been more likely to be claimed. Last week DS found a folded up $20 in the street, no way to know where it came from. I let him keep it.

The iPod would have been super easy to find the owner, that person wasn’t trying hard enough. I’ve had things returned to me so I try to pay it forward as much as I can. A few years ago in our previous neighborhood there was a rash of car break ins. Kids looting cars and throwing stuff they didn’t want in the street. Our neighbor kid across the street found older DD’s knife case (about $300 worth of good knives) under a dumpster. She cried when he showed up with it and baked the kid his weight in homemade cookies the same night.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I found a gift card in the middle of a street. Kept it. $25, no body around.
Found a wallet in a parking lot. Walked into the food store and they called the person over PA to the service desk ...one happy guy!
I found 2 cells recently. One at a store, on a shelf... went to customer service and dropped it off. No idea what result was as I left the store.
Another in the middle of a street ( in an Otterbox ) that was clearly run over. Yeah, otter box.
It rang.. it turned out to be a worker who had bought coffees and put it atop the truck. The kid was so scared to lose his job!!!The boss , who was the caller was very thankful I answered when it rang lol. We met up a few blocks away and I gave it to him. I shoulda asked for a discount at that pool store, lol.

Yup... if you lost it and I’m around.. it ll prob Be found and you ll get it back.
My hubby just shakes his head cause I tend to see things...

 

[barkley]

I posted how easy it would have been to plug the iPod into a computer, load up iTunes and find the serial number and make one call to Apple. If Apple didn't have any record, then he didn't have any additional obligation.

After a while, the person had enough and said, he deserved the iPod because this happened and this happened.

for someone like this who lacks integrity i would hope apple has a similar mechanism in place to what barnes and noble had several years ago with their nooks that were lost or stolen. a simple call to barnes and noble customer service to verify ownership and the physical nook went into a lock down mode that even the brick and mortar stores couldn't undo. if i remember correctly from when dh's was stolen and we had this done they set it up so that if the unit was returned to us we could walk into a store, present id and then go through a phone conversation with their customer service facilitated by the store, answering some security questions we established at the time of the theft/loss report. when we ended up replacing the unit they auto transferred all of the old unit's materials.

most valuable thing i ever found was someone's day planner (pre cell phone popularity days)-had all their business appts for months written out. thankfully they had actually filled out the personal info page at the front so a quick call reunited it with a VERY relieved owner (it must have sat in the parking lot for a couple of days before i picked it up).

 

[jo-jo]

I once found a $200 gift card in a BJ's parking lot. I brought it back into the store and gave it to customer service. Have no idea if it was active or just a dead card some kid carried out of the store.

Twice at disney I found tickets...once an AP and once a mult-day ticket. Turned them over to CM , not knowing you could get replacements for AP. Not sure about mult-day tickets.

 

[dotfurio]

If I found something (purse, phone, etc.) at a business, I would turn it in. If I found something at a park or out in the open, I'd probably just leave it. When I have found cash, I've donated it. When on vacation I found a $20 on the ground at the Santa Monica farmer's marker. I asked the people around me if they'd dropped it, nobody had. I donated it to one of the charities that was there. My then BF and his brother thought I was crazy for not keeping it; I kind of believe in karma and I couldn't have that hanging over me while I was on vacation. If it was a large amount of cash, I'd turn it in to the police.

I love that idea! We turn in cash to security or customer service, but we always wonder if it's just going to get pocketed. In fact, one time at an amusement park the kids found a $20. There was no one around. I put it in my pocket, thinking I'd give it to someone at the front later. Then, after discussing, we figured let the kids keep it, because whoever we gave it to probably would keep it. Later that day when I went to pull it out of my pocket it was gone - I had lost it somewhere in the park. I figured it was my karma for deciding to keep it and not setting a good example for the kids - Easy come, easy go!

 

[Funfire240]

I don’t recall ever finding anything but I’d like to think I would do the right thing. The only item I lost one time was DS’s beloved blankie at our local zoo. Luckily we retraced our steps and someone had picked it up and folded it up on a bench near where it must have been dropped

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I tend to turn things in.

Here's good things that have happened to us.

• I left my Kindle on an airplane. I called the lost and found, but didn't have high hopes. They found it and returned it to me a couple of months later.
• I left my little iPod at a campground called Housekeeping at Yosemite. It's black and I left it on a black shelf. Didn't see it when I was checking around before we left. I considered it to be lost. I got a call a few weeks later that their housekeeping staff had turned it in. They asked me to ID it and I did, so they returned it to me.
• My daughter and I were at the Magic Kingdom at WDW a few years ago. Her money fell out of her pocket while shopping in a store. We were at the turnstyle leaving when she realized it. We ran back to the store - just in case - and someone had turned it in. The cashier had it.
• Dummy me left my whole wallet at the fastpass machine at Disneyland. It showed up a couple of days later - everything intact, including cash. I had already canceled my credit cards, but glad I didn't have to get a new drivers license

Not so nice things.

• 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
• Someone stole my movie camera at Caribbean Beach Resort. We were returning to our rooms and my hands were full. I put it down on the chair outside our room, unlocked the door and we all entered. When I went outside to retrieve it, it was gone. That was a sad day.
• We were celebrating my daughter's graduation and she was given a lot of money. She had it in her purse and someone (probably one of her friends - not a worker, I'm sure) stole all of her money. She was heartbroken.

So, I've seen the good and bad. I like to be part of the good for someone else.

 

[brockash]

It would really depend on what/how I found it etc. I don't/won't really pick something up if I know it's not mine, so most of the time it's not an issue, but if I found something that was easily able to identify the owner, I'd obviously contact them, if I felt it was something important/valuable to them I'd go through more trouble to find them than if not.

 

[wenrob]

for someone like this who lacks integrity i would hope apple has a similar mechanism in place to what barnes and noble had several years ago with their nooks that were lost or stolen. a simple call to barnes and noble customer service to verify ownership and the physical nook went into a lock down mode that even the brick and mortar stores couldn't undo. if i remember correctly from when dh's was stolen and we had this done they set it up so that if the unit was returned to us we could walk into a store, present id and then go through a phone conversation with their customer service facilitated by the store, answering some security questions we established at the time of the theft/loss report. when we ended up replacing the unit they auto transferred all of the old unit's materials.

most valuable thing i ever found was someone's day planner (pre cell phone popularity days)-had all their business appts for months written out. thankfully they had actually filled out the personal info page at the front so a quick call reunited it with a VERY relieved owner (it must have sat in the parking lot for a couple of days before i picked it up).

Old iPods (ones that were basically portable storage devices) there really isn’t much to be done because people don’t have to connect them to the internet in order to use them so there’s no way to really lock someone out. Nowadays we have iCloud with multiple ways to shut down, lock out, wipe an Apple device. Problem there is there are still people who do not utilize this. A couple years ago I was talking to a mom at the bus stop and she was devastated because she’d had a garage sale, her iPad “walked off” and all her kids photos were on it. She didn’t even KNOW about “Find My Phone” or iCloud and had never backed up her photos. The systems in place for any device are only as good as the people using them. Know your device and know how to basically make it a doorstop for anyone who might want to steal it. (And for the love of Pete, BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS!)

 

[PollyannaMom]

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.)

 

[CT Yankee]

I actually had a similar situation last week at my place of employment. I work in a 22 story building and found some cash (a $10 bill and some singles) on the floor in the stairwell. I picked it up, went back to my desk and made a couple of signs with a note about finding the cash, where I found it, and gave my number to call. I posted the signs on the doorways to the stairwell on the floor where I found the cash. I left the note up for a couple of days but didn't get a call so I kept it. I did the same thing a couple of years earlier when I found some cash near the elevator on our floor. The owner claimed it pretty soon and was very grateful. It was not a lot of money, but more than a buck or two.

I also found an iPhone in a bathroom stall at Walmart. I took it with me as I was leaving with the intent of bringing it to customer service. I was holding it out in front of me as I was walking out and a woman with a panicked look came rushing into the bathroom and recognized it right away. I asked her, "Is this yours?" and she said yes so I just handed it to her.

Cash that I have found on the street with no reasonable way of determining the owner, I keep. I come across cash on the ground from time to time while walking the dog. I have probably found close to $50 in all of my years of dog walking.
I would add, however, if I found a significant amount of cash on the street, I would notify the local police.