Finding and returning things

Surveyor11

So, I've managed to reunite owners with things this past while. The reception goes from appreciative to MEH. I don't care either way. reunited 2 owners with lost sets of keys recently. Missus thinks I'm mad even bothering.

Found a phone while back going through Trinity - ring 'home' and the guy is like meh, whatever, sounded liked I'd woke him out of bed and he couldn't be ar$ed about his phone. Wanted me to jump through all sort of hoops to get the phone back to him. I wrapped it in a piece of paper, put his name on it and left it in the first post box I found on the campus.

I was discussing reuniting people with lost phones, keys etc the other day and a work colleague recounted a story. Her dad finds a phone outside Lidl, looks around to see if anyone obviously has lost it. Puts it in his pocket, rings 'Home' or the like when he's home to try and get the owner. She proceeds to tear into him, saying he should have left the phone where he found it, that it's now a total inconvenience to collect it 3 miles away, etc etc. In this case, I would have binned the phone on the ungrateful b!tch.

Anyone share other experiences?

Vinz Mesrine

I would always try and reunited a phone with its owner. A friend of mine lost a phone recently and it had loads of pictures of her recently deceased father on it, she still hasnt found it and hadnt backed up the photos.

mathie

I found a phone a few years back and the guy was very appreciative. He offered a reward but I declined.

I found a Prada bag and Samsung Galaxy S3 in the babies change room about a month ago.
I handed it into the reception and was told by the lady "Oh thats a very, very expensive bag"

I kind of wished I'd rang 'home' on the phone to ensure I got it back tot he owner.
I couldn't be sure the receptionist didn't just stroke it herself.

But if I find something of value I hate having it on me.

The Backwards Man

I found a straw hat once. The owner contacted me and wanted me to return it to them. . . to Montana!!

I think the DHL plane that I sent it on must have crashed or something, she never got it.

fathead82

When I was in college,I found a lost dog dodging traffic on the roundabout.I rang the number on his collar & the woman told me she had no car & couldnt walk up cos it was raining & she was minding 2 small children.
I walked a mile & a half in heavy rain holding onto the dogs collar,got to her door soaking wet & aching from walking bent over holding onto the dog,she said "thats him alright,will you put him in the side gate & close it",she didnt even say thanks.
Thought I was doing the dog a favor but after meeting the owner I understand why he bailed out.

riclad

I usually find 1 phone every year, i ring the owner,
or else, i leave it in with lost property ,gardai .
if the batterys not charged,.
if you cycle alot you,ll see alot of things on the edge of the road.
eg tools, bits of phones , etc.

I WAS on my bike in september, ,phone was on the ground,near the road,it rang , i answered ,
and i gave it back to the owner ,
she dropped it on the ground.about 30 minutes earlier.

Lando Griffin

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Found a phone while back going through Trinity - ring 'home' and the guy is like meh, whatever, sounded liked I'd woke him out of bed and he couldn't be ar$ed about him phone.

Silly person not to have a password on their phone and allow people to access it like so.:mad:

hoodwinked

i was parked in Harvey Normans once, when i got back to my car i just by chance saw an iphone just under the tyre of my car,


as i picked it up i couldn't turn it on to phone the 'home' number,

i was about to bring it in to the store when i saw a man frantically searching around the car park so i put the phone in my hand behind my back and asked him what it was he lost,

he told me he must of dropped his iphone and he couldn't find it and it wasn't ringing, so i handed him the phone, (it had no cover or other identifying features) im not sure if it was his but it probably was, either way he thanked me and left with it

Smeggy

Found a brand new i-phone at a festival, the owner was very glad to be reunited with it!

Also re-united a woman with her extremely full purse one night in Oz, actually drove to her house with it after finding her address inside, she was over the moon.

Feels good bro

TheSegal

Always return phones I find if I can contact the owner, otherwise I drop it into the guards or if it was lost in a niteclub or pub i'll drop it in the next day when i'm sober. Never know what sort of info is on the phone that the owner might need.

gg2

I was at a nightclub when I was about 16, was kissing a guy and we had arranged to meet in the nightclub, went to check my bag at one stage - phone was missing!!! Cue utter devastation!! Didn't bump into the guy, was cursing myself and phone. The next day my best friend gets a call from some girl who says she woke up with my phone in her bag, can't remember how it got there but reckons she was drunk and put it in her bag to return it - my friend was the last number dialled. My friend gave her my address and she posted it to me. I thought I'd never get it switched on to check my messages. Not a thing from the fella. I like to think losing it was in my favour

DublinArnie

Found a credit card still in an ATM a few months ago, spent like an hour walking around searching for the woman who forgot it (I saw her use the ATM and presumed it was hers). Didn't find her sadly.

JP85

I must be blind cause i never seem to find anything

massdebater

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Silly person not to have a password on their phone and allow people to access it like so.:mad:

I purposely don't have a password so it can be returned if someone found it. Why would you want a password on it?

krudler

massdebater wrote: »

I purposely don't have a password so it can be returned if someone found it. Why would you want a password on it?

So someone doesn't pick it up and rack up a massive bill that you'd be liable for? Seen it happen many a time

kneemos

riclad wrote: »

I usually find 1 phone every year, i ring the owner,
or else, i leave it in with lost property ,gardai .
if the batterys not charged,.
if you cycle alot you,ll see alot of things on the edge of the road.
eg tools, bits of phones , etc.

I WAS on my bike in september, ,phone was on the ground,near the road,it rang , i answered ,
and i gave it back to the owner ,
she dropped it on the ground.about 30 minutes earlier.

Finding tools is quite common when cycling,I tend to find money quite often as well,fivers and tens most commonly.

Pumpkinseeds

I found a passport on the footpath once, it belonged to someone living in the town so I put it in their letterbox as nobody was home.

Gannicus

I used to work in a nightclub. The amount of phones I'd find in any given weekend was stupid.

I'd always ring the "home" number or "mam" or "dad" or something. Some of the other staff held onto them and either kept a nice phone for themselves or sold them to mates etc.

Like other posters have said. Some people would be nice and kind even got the odd cash reward (never asked but never declined)

However I found a Galaxy S3 & a wallet for two separate people down the side of the same seat on the DART a couple weeks ago and wallet had a name and number in it so I rang them and they collected it. Got a €50 reward was well chuffed.

I rang the owner of the phone and told them they could collect it and I was told they weren't getting the DART back to get it off me and told me to bring it back to them. Told them no they had to collect it and I didn't get so much as a thank you from them when they did collect it.

massdebater

krudler wrote: »

So someone doesn't pick it up and rack up a massive bill that you'd be liable for? Seen it happen many a time

Really? You've seen it happen many times? I've never heard of that happening and I've probably lost 10+ phones and so have my friends. The phone can be cancelled if it has been stolen anyway. Far bigger chance of someone trying to return the phone than making prank calls to Japan/Australia etc

skywalker

Picked up an annual train pass off the train floor on the way home the other day.

It was the final stop & no one was sitting near that seat so no point in leaving it at that station, as the owner must have gotten off at an earlier stop. I brought it in the next morning & left it with the station master at the other (city center) end of the line, as 99% of people using that line would start their journey there, so seemed like the best place to leave it.

He was quite appreciative of getting the lost card. Must ask him if it was collected.

myfriendtom

I've returned phones, the odd time you get slipped a few bob for your troubles. On separate occasional I've had a lost wallet, drivers licenses and gym membership card returned to me by post. Karma!

dr strangelove

massdebater wrote: »

Far bigger chance of someone trying to return the phone than making prank calls to Japan/Australia etc

But just think of all the personal information that's on the phone, all your emails, all your texts, pictures, online logins, etc.
That's a hell of a lot of sensitive information to have absolutely no protection, and to be lost.

Also, yes, sure, you can report your phone stolen, and get it locked - but that's when you notice it missing - 8 or 10 hours later.
What's to stop someone phoning their auntie in Australia at your expense, you might get someone who call you to return it, but what if you don't?

It's a hell of a risk to take all for the sake of adding a screen lock.....

Hoop66

I found a wallet a fw months back, outside an industrial unit in Bluebell. Went in there to ask if anyone there was that name. Nobody there. There was a bank card in the wallet along with about €100, so I rang the bank and told them that I had found the card, and could they give their customer my number to return it.

Never heard another word from them, or him. It's still sitting on the bookshelf in my living room.

blaze1

Found a wallet with about $500 in the Mgm in vegas. It had a drivers license I checked with the hotel and no one with that name was booked in, so I handed it to security.

I Heart Internet

Hoop66 wrote: »

I found a wallet a fw months back, outside an industrial unit in Bluebell. Went in there to ask if anyone there was that name. Nobody there. There was a bank card in the wallet along with about €100, so I rang the bank and told them that I had found the card, and could they give their customer my number to return it.

Never heard another word from them, or him. It's still sitting on the bookshelf in my living room.

6 month rule for cash I'd say - if you haven't found a home for it by then (having genuinely tried), it's yours. It's in hte bible somewhere, towards the back.

I'm reminded of this story, they're still looking for the old lady.

http://www.carlow-nationalist.ie/2013/08/13/lost-engagement-ring-found-in-potted-plant-after-15-months/

I was with a lady once who lost her virginity. Try as we might, we never did find it.

DeanAustin

I Heart Internet wrote: »

I was with a lady once who lost her virginity. Try as we might, we never did find it.

My missus found mine and gave it back to me months ago. Try as I might, I cant lose the f**ker again.

minotour

DublinArnie wrote: »

Found a credit card still in an ATM a few months ago, spent like an hour walking around searching for the woman who forgot it (I saw her use the ATM and presumed it was hers). Didn't find her sadly.

My wife left her card in the machine a few months back. Bank said it wasnt there at the end of the day. Was it up by baggot st perhaps? If only to put an end to the mystery.....

who_me

Found several items, always make an effort to return it, though sometimes I wonder if it's better to leave it. For instance I once found a Spanish ATM card, and picked it up and handed into the nearest Garda station - but afterwards wondered if I left it there would have been a better chance of them finding it. Especially after my own experience.

I lost a wallet in Douglas last year. Luckily enough, the finder went into all the local businesses giving his name, number and telling them he'd drop it into the Garda station. Called (in person, and via phone) the Garda station several times during listed open hours, closed/no answer. Finally got through, and they said nothing had been handed in. Said to call back during a different shift, they tried again, nothing had been handed in. Called the finder and asked - as politely as I could - if he was certain it was that station, and who he'd given it to. When I called the station again, this time with a Garda's name, this time they had the wallet. Without having the name, it was as good as lost.

I was going to my sister's wedding the following weekend so had a few hundred euros in there, which was intact. Obviously gave the finder a decent reward (even though he'd declined) for making such an effort. Fair play.

seamus

Found a phone at a gig in the RDS once. The only reason I picked it up is because I thought it was mine. Texted a couple of numbers on it saying that I'd found it, and to ring it. But this was 2003 so the phone network had basically collapsed with 50,000 people wandering around Ballsbridge trying to make calls. He got through once, said he was about to get a bus back home north and then the call dropped. I wasn't going to hang around searching all the busses, so I went home and texted his mother my number to ring me to get the phone back.
She rang a few hours later and couldn't have been less enthused about it, just gave me their address and hung up, not a thank you or anything. I posted it back anyway, and heard nothing back. Ungrateful cvnts. They probably tell the story of the time some Dublin knacker stole his phone and his Mum rang up and scared them into giving the phone back.

polydactyl

A friend found a wallet last year, 500 cash, cards, pics of children etc etc. rang every number in the wallet including child's old crèche wifes work etc.Two days later he turned up at her work " eh you have my wallet" like she had stolen it. Not even a thank you the ungrateful git. Two days later however a bunch of flowers arrive for her from his wife apologising for her husband... I'd say he got an earful when he got home.

SusieBlue

I work in a nightclub and we're not supposed to touch any phones handed in. We're supposed to put them in the lost and found locker and if someone comes in for them, they come in. But we're not supposed to actively seek out the owner (by calling "home") or answer the phones.

I always answer them though. I suppose I could get in trouble for it, but its pretty obvious when the same number is ringing the phone for an hour straight, its obviously the desperate owner trying to locate the phone, so I'll answer it and tell them its in the club.

A shocking amount of phones are never reported missing or sought the next day. I suppose most of our customers are drunk and wouldn't know if they lost it before, during or after the club, but you'd think they'd check anyway!

There are about 40-50 smartphones in the locker right now that no one has come looking for. Its crazy.