Found money

[KBecks2]

My five-year-old found $33 in the store parking lots today. We turned it into the store is that what you in to the store.  Is that what you would've done?  A lot of elderly are shopping today.  Would you go back to see if it is claimed?  Or write it off?

[mxt0133]

I think that was the right thing to do in front of your child it teaches them to try and return things that is not theirs.

If I was by myself I would look around and ask if anyone lost some money.  Otherwise if no one is around and its obvious that they left then the rule 'finders keepers' apply.

[gimp]

Unless you saw someone drop it, and unless it's a ridiculously large sum, it's your money.

What do you think the lost-and-found at the store is going to do? It'll get pocketed.

[KBecks2]

Yes, it's likely or possible that the store will pocket the money. But what if 10 minutes later a little old man or lady walks up to the register and they don't have their money with them? What if it was their money in the parking lot? Then at least they get a chance of getting it back from the service counter.

[AH013]

In the future, I'd recommend going to the lost and found and telling them you found some money and drop them a business card for whoever says they lost it to call you.  If/when someone calls, ask them how much money they lost (to make sure they really lost some amount of money close to what you found) and then offer to send it to them.

Otherwise, as others have mentioned, it went right into the pocket of whoever you handed it over to.

[clarkfan1979]

This happened to my uncle except it was a wallet full of 100's on the floor in a grocery store. He claimed it was close to $5,000. There was no ID in the wallet so he turned it into the service desk. He was hopeful that if no one claimed it that he could keep it. He never saw the money. I think it went to the police.

[viper155]

In the future, I'd recommend going to the lost and found and telling them you found some money and drop them a business card for whoever says they lost it to call you.  If/when someone calls, ask them how much money they lost (to make sure they really lost some amount of money close to what you found) and then offer to send it to them.

Otherwise, as others have mentioned, it went right into the pocket of whoever you handed it over to.

This is the way to handle this...no question

[Goldielocks]

I once found a 24K gold necklace left on the washroom floor (broken clasp).  I reported it to the cashier, left my name and number in case anyone asked about it.
Then waited.   Had it appraised at over $2k... and waited.

About 1 year later, we came across someone we saw and had talked to often, who lived in our building, who was in a horrible financial position. As a new immigrant within the past year, she left a very abusive former employer and needed to wait 2 months to get her work visa cleared for a new work situation.  Money had completely run out.

We donated the necklace to her, for her to sell as she needed.  We saw her often after that, and although she was embarassed to take the offer, we know that it made a world of difference to have people that cared.

Best decision ever.

[MayDay]

I have found money in front of my kids. We taught them that if it a small amount, they can have it. If it's larger they need to try to find the owner (but as stated, probably by keeping it and reporting it lost, not turning it in).

This has backfired somewhat as my six year old will "find" "lost" money on H's nightstand or bathroom counter.

[drunken buddha]

stash it, un-sheathe your scabbard - yell out aaaa-aaar, to the liquor store!!!

[arebelspy]

In the future, I'd recommend going to the lost and found and telling them you found some money and drop them a business card for whoever says they lost it to call you.  If/when someone calls, ask them how much money they lost (to make sure they really lost some amount of money close to what you found) and then offer to send it to them.

Otherwise, as others have mentioned, it went right into the pocket of whoever you handed it over to.

This, or giving it to the local PD.  Lost and found may not be so reliable.

Previous "what would you do" thread on finding money/valuable things: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/found-watch-wwyd/

[MgoSam]

Sad part with returning a lot of money, is that there is a chance that the local police department will keep it.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/04/05/attorney-moorhead-waitress-to-keep-12000-tip/

tldr: A Minnesota waitress found $12,000 in a take-out container. Thinking that it was left behind she brought it to the police station, who after "investigating," said that it smelled of marijuana so was to be confiscated as drug laundering. When she hired a lawyer, poof the police said that they just made a mistake and gave her the money.

[red7]

As someone who works at a customer service counter, I will tell you what happens to the things you turn in to Lost and Found (at my company, and in my state, so keep that in mind). YMMV

We have to log, in an official binder, anything and everything that is turned in to us. This includes the date, finder's information, what it was, and any details about where it was found. If you (the finder) want to make a claim to the item(s), we write that down too. If it is cash, we have to add it to our register and record it as "found money" in our accounting system. (We have an exact procedure we must follow to do this, and our corporate office will see records of this.)

Anything less than $50 has to be held for 90 days, at which point the person who made a claim on the item can come and pick it up. (Again, there is a specific procedure we must follow to record the payout in our accounting system, and corporate will see the records.)

Anything more than $50 (or worth more than $50) has to be turned over to the police at the end of the 90 day period.

Anything that is not cash (and worth less than $50), has the same 90 day hold period and, if not claimed during that time, has one of three things happen to it: an employee claims it after 90 days, someone throws it in the trash because they're sick of looking at it in the L&F, or someone drops it off at a local charity/donation center (this one is the rarest because it requires effort outside of work).

When an item is claimed, the person claiming it must sign and date the official log, indicating that we gave them the item.

Our store is audited regularly by higher-ups, who come in and review all of our records and match them to camera footage for verification. They literally pick a week, pull the records for that week, and sit and watch tapes of every minute of every day. So, in this case, if the camera shows a customer turning in a wallet, they check the L&F log to verify that an entry was made.

If anyone was caught pocketing something meant for L&F, they would be fired for theft. I have yet to see an item turned in to L&F that is worth losing my job over, and I'm 99.9% sure my colleagues would agree. This includes untold numbers of iThings, other phones, wallets, purses, checkbooks, toys, etc. I also have yet to see any of the expensive/personal info items NOT be claimed within 12 hours. (And no, we don't just hand it over to the first person who says "oh yeah I lost an iPhone"-- What's the password? What's your home screen? Can you name some apps that are on it? Is there an app that has your name in it, that we can access to verify against your ID?)

You have every right to follow up on any claim you put in, and if it's a store you regularly shop at, it's totally worth the 2 minutes it would take to stop by the CS desk and inquire. I would definitely follow up if I were you. An extra $33 would be great to have!

Also, I'm disappointed to see the pessimism about customer service workers in several of the posts here.