I found $150 on exiting the toilets, and handed it to the receptionist. She sent out an email to the whole office, and the owner was found.
From where I come from, if you lose something, and someone else finds it, and returns it, you owe him 10% of the value.
Well, this guy did not even thank me.
Although I know it's illegal and partly immoral, next time I find money in the office, I'm even more tempted to keep it.
Could be something to do with the OP's personality in the office
that's the vibe i got as well. my condolences to his suffering co-workers.
Plot Twist
The OP stole the wallet and wanted to give it back for a reward, but he got none, now he's irate and b!tching on ozbargain lol
You've got a miserable live ahead if you're just thinking about what you can get. It doesn't matter where you're from. Can't you just do the right thing, feel good about it and move on like most heroes?
I admire the replies in this thread but if I'm honest with myself I'd probably feel the same way as OP. Knowing this, I would probably have kept it if I was sure there were no witnesses. Sort of makes up for the money I've dropped / will drop - just keep what you find and in the end it's all fair and good.
When I first read OP's post, I thought he is trolling/sarcastic. Then further down the comments, I realised he meant what he said.
It is quite a revelation to see honesty being monetized and stamped in the law.
Nope dont expect reward.unless I incurred cost like postage. Then id just expect postage cost. But i dont consider walking over to receptioniet as major cost
The young me would have pocketed the cash and pissed it up with my mates. The old me would give it all back instantly. What goes around does come around.
I find it stupidly bizarre that you expect a reward for returning something at your office. What kind of office would you have to work at to not expect your colleagues to return lost property without expectation of reward? I've returned countless objects found in common areas - its the bare minimum of politeness.
Actually, how about just doing a good deed.
Not attempting to find the owner - Oops, that is actually theft. You can go to prison for it.
As for your statement: "Well, this guy did not even thank me."
Ever thought the receptionist didn't mention you to the finder to enable a thank you?
"Although I know it's illegal and partly immoral, next time I find money in the office, I'm even more tempted to keep it."
Yes, it's immoral - and illegal. It may not be a lot of money to you personally, but $150 is still someone's rent, housekeeping for the week or enough to pay a bill.
I try to be nice, my usual thought is, that eventually - What goes around comes around!
Talk about living in an age of entitlement - this is a prime example.
Found a USB stick in a car park. Plugged it in, was one of those encrypted locked ones. Found persons contact details loaded in the login / password thingo. Government email, pood a little. Sent an email off and a lady came and picked it up and was super gracious and happy as it had very important data on it. Gave me a box of chocolates, winner.
The sense of entitlement is strong on this one.
Found a wallet, valuables gone just ID, loyalty cards and a gift card left
Found owner on Facebook and offered to post cards
owner pretty much just says ok, no thanks or appreciation
Wallet was ruined, posted just the cards, no thanks as predicted
Was super nervous spending the gift card but it worked and no regrets at all!
(well actually I bought a game I didn't end up liking so kind of regret but eh)
How did you know the wallet had valuables to begin with? ;)
Because my friend montorola found it first and gave it to me :>
"You found my dog! great, have a leg!"
As for the money, it may be money he's minding (eg office birthday party kitty) so it's not his to decide to part with a finder's fee.
One should not put a price on honesty.
Disappointing the guy did not also do the right thing by at least a thank you!
Ugghh have to wait 24 hours before I can neg 5 more of cameldownunders entitled posts :(
Why do I have to wait?
I found 2 wallets [at different times] i paid for a envelope and postage and sent it back to the owners D/L address shown
Did not want a reward, all anon.
You should have demanded 100% as a reward. At gunpoint.
What a load of crap.
Don’t ever expect a reward for a good deed.
Only idiots lose their wallets and money. It shows how irresponsible you guys are :P
You dreamers who talk about a world full of good Samaritans are only wishful thinkers who can't except reality. That's why people lock their cars, houses, etc. Keep dreaming! I like it when people make their own rule up of 10 percentage finders fee? Might as well go the whole mile 100% LOL. They expect you to do the right thing.
Only idiots lose their wallets and money.
Anyone can do it. It might happen to you once in ten years, but you were distracted or unwell or not yourself and you left it behind.
You chose to waste your time reading and replying. Have a nice day!
People lock their cars and houses because of people like you, and it only takes one.
Honestly? You hand it in because you are a good person. You don't expect a reward.
If you expect a reward, then you aren't really as good a person as you think.
I'm glad that in Australia, the majority of people do not share your mentality and will do little things to help out other people with no expectation of reward. I return peoples' money and other items and hope they will do the same for me if I lose mine. I like to think that those are values that we commonly hold in this country.
I found an ipad pro once in the food court. waited where I found it for 30 mins. was deciding to keep it. went to the customer service area and sure enough, there's this inconsolable kid crying. I asked if he lost ipad, and he said yes. I gave it back to him but asked him to unlock it first as proof he's the owner. he did, I smiled and walked away.
My kids found an iphone on their way home. They only told me at night. sure enough, the lost phone was bombarded with desperate text messages when i checked the phone. curses, and threats galore! i called the number on the text message, he was hysterically desperate. i told him the situation and that of course i'll return the phone (which i did). but with all those shitty messages he was sending, i was really tempted to just hammer his phone and chuck it in the bin. he didn't even thank me, but i'm happy that he got it back.
When I was jogging I dropped my driver's license somewhere, and only realized it in the evening. While I was retracing my route, I met a lady who was actually going to my house to return my license that she found. Thanked her profusely.
Found a wallet once in Westfield, had lots of money in it. Went to customer service immediately. Sure enough, the owner was there. She just glanced at me, quickly grabbed the wallet and walked away. Me and the receptionist was a bit stunned. But I'm glad she get her wallet back.
unfortunately there are lots of ungrateful people out there.
When I was in uni, once I found a wallet with like $200 in it, it was 20 years ago so it could've been someone entire week's living expense + rent.
Posted it on the uni message board, the owner called and said he will come and pick it up at such and such time, ok no probs, see you then.
I waited at home for hours until he finally rocked up (it was the pre-mobile days), apparently he was having a few beer with mates, maybe I should've just thrown the wallet in the bin and kept the money……….
I wouldn't expect people to give you any money. It's all about doing the right thing.
I recently found a wallet at the local mall. Had over $500 and a uni ID. I handed it in to the mall staff with my name and number. Didn't hear anything from them but I hope they got it.
the mall staff probably had a cracking night out!
Lol, that did pass through my mind too.
Well, done. Did the staff at least thank you? If you would have left the wallet on the floor, the owner would have had a chance to find it.
The mall was very busy. It's one of the Westfields. It would have been grabbed quick regardless. School holidays too so lots of kids. I waited for 5 minutes and nothing so decided to hand it in to lost and found. She did say thanks but only the cursory type.
You did a good thing. Must be worth at least $20 or a couple of beers at the pub, after all it's Friday lunchtime.
Bloke is clearly not grateful, probably the kind of person that would have kept the money himself.
I've returned 2 wallets (one even has a passport inside) and a mobile phone to other people in the last few years. In none of the three incidences was I offered (nor did I expect) any financial benefits. A "thank you" from the owners who I did meet/ speak with was more than enough.
You get nothing but the joy of a good deed. There is no finders fee.
How old are you? Because you sound very immature.
The person you gave the wallet to had no obligation to give you a cent.
What a stupid thread.
It's a bit rough that they didn't thank you. But I found 300GBP in work one day. Took it to reception who tracked down the owner. Got a phone call to say thanks but no reward was offered, or expected.
In Australia we don't have a law that demands a finders fee and in all honesty I find that concept somewhat mercenary in it's approach.
That said, with regard to your comment about being screwed over in Australia…
Well I got screwed over, insulted and laughed at when on holiday in Basel many years ago simply because I did not speak German very well.
Being screwed over happens all over the world. I agree in this case that a little gratitude would have been appropriate but your comments about Australia most certainly are not.
Have a great day.
I wouldnt be comfortable taking anyones money let alone 10%.
A coffee or cake would be nice if offered but not essential at all.
I'd just return it as its a good deed and you would hope people would do the same without any expectations.
Does "finders fee" also work if you hook up your mate with his current girlfriend? Do you still get 10%?
To expect something in return is morally wrong for doing what is right. But they definitely should have thanked you as a courtesy.
I would have got you a Toblerone and then thought better of it.
..
I found an iPhone 7 in a park brought it home, charged it up and within 20 minutes someone called it.
Long story short within 2 hours the guy who owned the phone's dad was here to pick it up, he thanked me profusely and then took my number assuring me that the son would call me.
I never heard anything from the son, it ticked me off he couldn't be bothered to say thank you but he didn't owe me anything and I didn't do the right thing to get something in return. It quite simply wasn't mine to keep.
You are owed nothing. You did the right thing and that's it.
Found a mobile phone on a tram stop in Bundoora. Surprisingly no lock, so I gave the owner (a girl in her twenties) a call to pick up and gave my address. What pissed me off, she argued that I MUST met her half way out of my way which I politely declined and offered her to come to my local police station as I was happy to drop it off there the next day.
She ended up coming to my house with an older male, quick thanks and go away. Understandable that you cannot be too trusting in this day and age, but a thank you and a smile would be nice.
Still cannot get rid of the feeling like I was treated like a thug for trying to get her phone back.
Another time, Same stop and I found a wallet of an older lady, gave my address again for her to pick up, this time smiles and thanks, she even offered me a bottle of wine which I politely declined as I understand how stressful it must have been to lose a wallet with all your cards and ID. Made my day.
I wouldn't be comfortable giving strangers my address. Always meet at a public place, or tell the owner that I will hand their item to station staff, lost and found, etc if it is not possible to meet in person.
I better not ask you where I parked my car OP.
When I was 7, I found a wedding ring in the rotating hand towel machine in the toilets of the Isle of Man airport. I was with my granddad and we handed it in.
I few weeks later my Granddad showed me a letter he'd got from Ireland, a man had claimed the ring. The letter contained some heartfelt gratitude and a one pound note. I would've almost certainly blown the lot on lollies or buns.
It's depressing that people who do nice things expect to be paid when they do nice things.
I guess if you have that perspective, you aren't doing a nice thing, you are doing a paid menial task.
Help and do not expect anything back - if you expect it is not a help, it is a service.
Do your best, help others and one day someone will help you.
This is the soul of the mateship!
I assume some people there (in Switzerland) have full time jobs looking for lost wallets. And why not? If you find 20 wallets with rewards of $20 each, you are earning $400 daily.
Brand new career path! Where are the application forms for employment?
What sort of a person does something good and ethical and then expects to be rewarded for it? Seriously, your moral compass is way out of whack.
‘from where you come from’…means it’s not Australia. That person might have forgot to say thank you for some reason maybe too emotional or something like that…Or maybe the place where that person came from, they practice a good deed and expect nothing in return. Sometimes feeling that youve done something good is enough because doing the right thing is enough eventho theres no words we’re uttered like saying thank you. From the comments it seems youre from Switzerland…..did you practice everything the way Swiss do in Switzerland here in Australia??? I guess not. If you think that 10% of the money belongs to you then why you just did not deduct it before you returned the money or send an email to receiptionist and say something like ‘from i came from that person owe me 10% of the money I returned’ eventho you did not incur any expense to return the money. By looking further In you post like ‘next time You will tempted to keep it’ or karma isnt there because you waited for half an hour for the train says a lot about your personality…it seems doing the right thing is not enough for you and you feel you should be compensated or the universe owe you something in return it’s just sad.
My opal card annoyingly fell out of my bag once as I was sifting through it en route to the train station. Although my name and phone number was very visibly plastered across it, the finder decided to keep it and use it. Sucks to be them that they only got to use it once to get to Kings Cross station the hour it took Opal to disable it. Good on you for returning the cash!
I am a bus driver and found lots of things left in the bus. New iphones(worth thousands dollars) and wallets etc… But I never expect reward but am happy thinking the happy owners. That is all I want.
Where I work we have a lost and found section with items including laptops, ipads etc. Our staff never expects any rewards for this but one thing I do agree with OP is that a simple thank you would do just fine.
At least a thankyou.
A thankyou at least. A coffee or something to eat should've been offered.
age of entitlement is over red rover
Heck. I remember finding some guys wallet and going through hoops to give it back to the guy. It was at a busy intersection (I was on a motorbike) where I found it and there was about 150 flying around the ground.
I managed to contact him and drop it off at his, he offered me a 100 and I refused to take it. I appreciated the offer of the money but I said just today its you and tomorrow it might be me.
Think about if you lost that $150 and how youd feel with someone who had the mentality of 'im just tempted to keep it'
You should feel good for doing the right thing and not expect anything…
F@**#*#ing whaaaaaaaat? Ha, you're crazy. Keep the money next time. Enjoy what comes your way.
Jesus christ.
Moral of the story is dont keep too much cash in your wallet and Roger Federer must be good at finding lost wallets
Sucks no thank you. But what if you’d gotten one or even better public recognition and or $. Anyway Receptionist knows and the big guy in the sky is smiling down on you. Blessings…
I drive uber in the weekend, i found phone many times. But whenever i return it, they don’t give anything back.
It's disgraceful how often the finders fee isn't honoured.
They should at least give you the case or screen protector!
I think the micro sd with the sexy pics is enough.
the sense of entitlement in this post is just astounding. how do you know the owner really needed that money? even when i was working, every cent counted. i have 2 disabled kids and saving for therepy sessions and equipment as well as even just a night out with my wife is hard. $15 (10%) could be the difference between having milk in the fridge at the end of the week or not.
Oh dear that's terrible. Have you thought about posting on other forums or doing a YouTube video? How about sharing your ordeal on Facebook? What did your parents say?
Did you do the same for your car and solar rants?
Your not where you came from anymore, if you wish for society to uphold those values where you came from why don't you go back to that society instead?
Ok, Pauline Hanson
What a whinger! If you don't get the concept of honour and maintaining good values in society then just keep it. Finders fee is your little rule it doesnt apply to anyone
Actually it's a rule of his home country.
Why would anyone care about the rules of his home country? What if his home country doesn't allow women to drive, still allows the death penalty? This guy is just plain greedy, you do something in life you know is right giving back something that isn't yours. I have never heard of a 10% rule sounds like something backward from a money driven Asian country where money is valued more than pretty much everything else.
Hmmm racist much.. the OP is from Switzerland. but he could be Asian too.
If you don't get the concept of honour and maintaining good values in society then just keep it.
That argument is stupid. Why should he keep it. You are encouraging him to commit theft, purely because he expects a reward. By your logic, he wouldn't have to abide by any other laws or regulations too then?
He should just leave the money where it is, is more appropriate.
Should have just kept the money if you expected a reward.
So this is the dregs that surfaced to the top for the week, op cracking the sags for not getting a finders fee for finding money and "Do You Wash Your Hands After Toilet?' in the other thread… What has society come too¿ Oh brother.
The next thing will be, should toilet paper be over or under.
(The correct answer is over).
Or folded/scrunched. Haha.
Forget where you come from, that must not a place good enough if you decide to leave anyway, so, do not keep thing not yours, return to the owner or find the way returen ASAP, I found workmate's mobile, hand straight to the boss so he can find the owner, also, I lost my mobie in car park, my workmate found it and return to me, that is Australia way, if you are the citizen, please do it and if you can , do it better, this way, and if everyone do it, Australia will become better place than anywhere else.
If I lost my wallet and if all but the money was returned I’d be happy.
The inconvenience of Getting replacement credit cards, Medicare card, licence etc is worth the cash in my wallet.
It might make me look after my things better too.
Lol the reward is doing the right thing lots of people are pretty rude. I found someones expensive mobile phone and she didn't even say thanks when she came to pick it up just took it and walked off. I didnt expect a reward but even a smile and thanks for finding my $1000+ phone would have been nice.
I found $300 at my work parking lot, we have basement 1 and 2 parking. I saw a couple of women standing, approached them and asked if they lost anything. One person checked their pockets and said "my money!"….. I asked "how much?" She said "300", gave it back. She asked for my employee ID and I said "nah, no need to, I get nothing out of it"….
Next thing you know it, next day, she asked around the building if anyone knew a guy that looks like me, verified me in the employee ID database and my state manager gave me $50 voucher for JB HI FI….
That was a nice day. Nice lady. Thanks
OP: Where do you come from where 10% of the findings goes back to you?
The vibe here from the OP's responses isn't positive at all. Could be something to do with the OP's personality in the office that could deter the cash owner from showing their sincere gratitude.
Returning the cash should be closure of the situation. Anything that comes after should not be an expectation, anywhere in the world.