Taxi lost property - rewards what to do?

H2G2

I left a bag in taxi (Dublin city centre) on Saturday afternoon, but as I had roof sign number I phoned the carriage office and they phoned the driver and he has the bag. Great !

Now here is my (small) dilemma... I asked the carriage office if they would get the driver to leave the bag in their lost property room and they said it would be best if I contact the driver directly and gave me his number. I rang the driver and asked if he could leave it in the carriage office lost property room for me to collect and he says its too difficult for him to do that, and wants to meet me tomorrow.

I can only presume (maybe wrongly) that he is looking for a reward... but what should I do? The bag isn't valuable (shop paper bag) and the contents are worth exactly 19.99. So I am not inclined to give a reward for return of my property as its worth so little. Plus I gave what I think is a good tip... rounded a 41 euro fare to 45.

In the grander scheme of things its only a small dilemma, but I really don't known what to do. And I am not being mean... its just a new Dunnes Stores 20 euro jumper, but I would like it back, so I could actually wear it at least once!

corktina

my immediate thought was it might not be a reward he is looking for! I'm probably being unfair as you have his number...if you arent happy ask him to leave it for you somewhere around the area he picked you up....maybe thats easier for him than the carriage office.

Ham'nd'egger

I can speak here with both hats on; both as a driver who finds stuff in my taxi from time to time and as a passenger who left something behind me once.

If and when I do find stuff in the car, if I can work out whose it is (I could have dropped you to a house, office or pub say) then it's actually easier to return it ASAP where possible. If not then a trip to the carriage office is the only obligation with lost property. Now it's easy enough for me personally to pop in any lost property to Dublin Castle as I live in town so it's a quick run in not every driver can make it in during their opening hours due to distance/school runs/working hours.

As to a reward, no you are not obliged to give one but bear in mind that without him finding the item you are down €20 and the goodwill shown to you; it is nice to be nice

corktina

a non-monetary gift or a thank you card might be the answer....

Terrontress

Pay him the fare it takes him to come to you. If that is more than the cost of the jumper then put it down to experience. It's only fair if he has to come to you.

Mimikyu

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VERYinterested

How about a thank you card with a ticket for the Euromillions? Won't cost you the earth, it'll acknowledge your appreciation and he will look forward to Friday night's draw with anticipation!

foggy_lad

when bus drivers hand in lost property do people try to find them and reward them for doing their job? any taxi driver is legally obliged to hand in any property found in their cab to the lost property office and they are not entitled to any reward, but there are so many unsavoury carachters driving taxis nowadays people are more likely to have their property returned only if the driver is expecting a reward!

Victor

I left my phone in a taxi once. He was in Thomas Street and I was in College Green. I agreed to pay him his fare and when he arrived I paid him a tenner.

To be honest, €2-4 is better in the drivers hand than spending it on a card / lottery ticket.

Ham'nd'egger

Victor wrote: »

I left my phone in a taxi once. He was in Thomas Street and I was in College Green. I agreed to pay him his fare and when he arrived I paid him a tenner.

To be honest, €2-4 is better in the drivers hand than spending it on a card / lottery ticket.

Good point to make here, Victor. In the time it took him to locate you and your phone and to run it down to you, he could well have lost a fare in that time so it was a very good call to make good his time and effort.

oisindoyle

foggy_lad wrote: »

when bus drivers hand in lost property do people try to find them and reward them for doing their job? any taxi driver is legally obliged to hand in any property found in their cab to the lost property office and they are not entitled to any reward, but there are so many unsavoury carachters driving taxis nowadays people are more likely to have their property returned only if the driver is expecting a reward!

Why are you assumeing that taxi drivers are unsavoury,you cannot make assumptions.What proof have you that taxi drivers will only return goods for a reward.You're making a huge generalisation.

Spook_ie

foggy_lad wrote: »

when bus drivers hand in lost property do people try to find them and reward them for doing their job? any taxi driver is legally obliged to hand in any property found in their cab to the lost property office and they are not entitled to any reward, but there are so many unsavoury carachters driving taxis nowadays people are more likely to have their property returned only if the driver is expecting a reward!

How many bus drivers would have to drive to a centralised bus depot on their own time and hand over lost property?

Yes I know taxi drivers are legaly obliged to hand goods over to the C.O at Dublin Castle but often dropping something off to someones house when in the area or to a mutaly acceptable place is far better for the driver who may live in Drogheda and normaly work the North Co. Dublin area or such like. Myself I see no problem handing it the nearest Garda station where you either picked them up from or dropped them off at ( but we aren't allowed to do that "legaly" and it depends on the desk sergeant's mood as to if he accepts it or not )

As to the reward side of it, do whatever feels right, if it merits a reward offer one, if it doesn't then at least be thankfull and say so

Ryansarah

Lost my bag in a taxi last night with my phone and driver licence in it I'm on the north side off Dublin . I didn't ring the cab just got into one and don't know the branch what can I do

oisindoyle

Ryansarah wrote: »

Lost my bag in a taxi last night with my phone and driver licence in it I'm on the north side off Dublin . I didn't ring the cab just got into one and don't know the branch what can I do

Why not ring your phone ?
Did you get a printed receipt from the driver after you paid ?
Where did you get the taxi from ,what rank ?