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Finder's keepers, right?

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  • Finder's keepers, right?

    This has been bothering me all day, and I have to get it off my chest...this happened on early in my shift today.

    EG: Electronics Guy
    Me: At the guest service desk
    TL: My manager, pretty easygoing but the newest team lead so often looking to established team members for confirmation that he's doing things right.
    SC: Not just sucky, but...well, you'll see.

    I first became aware of this when EG walked a guest up to me. Mid-30s, had a kid with her, really fake tan but nothing unusual to look at. Until I got this story.

    EG: Uh, LadyA, this guest found something...
    SC: Yes, I want you to make a page and have whoever dropped this come to claim it.
    Me: *I manage to catch it and hold it steady so I can read it...it looks like a Western Union check, for $180, not made out to anyone* Oh...actually, we don't page here, what we do is log it in and have the manager drop it into our safe. *lets go and pulls out the lost and found book*
    SC: NO! I know what you're up to! You'll just take it and spend it! *yanks it away from me*
    Me: *exchanges a look with EG - we both know exactly what she means* No, Ma'am, we put it in our safe until it's claimed.
    SC: You make a page right now! If they can describe what they lost, I'll hand it over, otherwise I'm keeping it.
    Me: *at a loss for what to do, pages TL over...I tried to get the LP guy over too but he got distracted*
    SC: I demand you make a page about this!
    TL: *easygoing* Oh, we don't do that, we put it in our safe.
    SC: But it's like finding a wad of cash, or a blank check!
    Me: *resigned, knowing what she really wants* We can put you down as the finder, Ma'am...
    SC: *cuts me off* I'M NOT WAITING 30 DAYS FOR MY MONEY! *clutches the paper close, despite both me and the TL trying to coax her to turn it in* I'm not leaving it with you! I'll be in the store about an hour, if they miss it have them call me!

    EG, TL, and I watch as she runs off with her kid, just staring. She didn't leave a contact number, or even pass by my counter again that I saw.

    TL: Uh...
    Me: *puts the book away* Well...we can't log anything, we don't have it on hand...
    EG: *sighs* That's why I brought her over here, she gave me that rant and I asked her "do you want to turn it in or not?"

    That was just...argh...I had NO clue what to do about it! She was stealing and trying to act like she wasn't by making a token effort to find the owner. And she got so pissy about it, because we weren't saying 'finders keepers'. It ws so obvious she wanted to keep it and use it. I couldn't even get a close enough look a it to determine if it was real or someone's receipt or something. (I've never used Western Union.) That comment about 'a wad of cash' is what got me really angry at her, because I know if I'd found it (or a wad of cash) I would have turned it in immediately.

    *sigh* I feel like I helped her steal it, but short of ripping it out of her hands, I don't know what I could have done...
    It's little things that make the difference between 'enjoyable', 'tolerable', and 'gimme a spoon, I'm digging an escape tunnel'.

  • #2
    There really isn't anything you could have done. You had no way of knowing that she was going to rip it from your hands. You did not help her steal it. The only thing, in hindsight, that I would have done was follow her out to her car and take down the license number. Then log what info you have into your book; check amount, description of woman, plate number, direction of travel, etc.

    You are guilty of nothing and it's not your fault (or the fault of any other store employee involved) that she was a thief, though I would still document everything in case the rightful owner comes by.

    By the way, I believe Western Union checks are bearer bonds and are cashable by whoever presents them, much like lottery tickets BUT Western Union will have a record of what check number was on what check. If your unlucky user comes in to the store, have them contact the sender of the money to see what can be done.
    This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

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    • #3
      You should've coached another customer to say they lost it so she had to give it to you, then put it in the safe All kidding aside, what a thief, how terrible for the person who lost it. Thats a lot of money to drop. There's really nothing you could do.

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      • #4
        IF she was going to keep it anyway then why did she bother notifying you about it? Had that been me, i would have turned it in. Finding cash is one thing BUT finding a check? I would never cash a check that I just found.

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        • #5
          LadyAndreca, you're right. It does sound like she wanted to keep it.

          Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to her. I hope karma bites her butt really hard.
          Unseen but seeing
          oh dear, now they're masquerading as sane-KiaKat
          There isn't enough interpretive dance in the workplace these days-Irv
          3rd shift needs love, too
          RIP, mo bhrionglóid

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          • #6
            Could you have offered to call the police to make her feel more 'comfortable' with leaving it behind?

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            • #7
              It should have been turned over to the police and then if it was not claimed she could recieve it.

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              • #8
                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearer_bond

                Bearer bond's are illegal in the USA.

                I would've honestly called the police about it and got the serial number off the money order before she left. Called Western Union and let them know the check was found in your store without being signed and such. They have procedures for things like this (thank god I've never had to deal with it) and can make sure she doesn't get anything if she tried to cash it.

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                • #9
                  Quoth Crazeyal View Post
                  It should have been turned over to the police and then if it was not claimed she could recieve it.
                  That's why I wanted the LP guy over, so I could try to get her to turn it over to a uniformed security guy. I'm not authorized to call the police...nobody but LP is, and we can get in serious trouble if we do.

                  She went from 'can you make a page' to 'I don't want to wait for MY money' over the course of that conversation. I mean, yeah, maybe it sounds suspicious that we wouldn't make an overhead page for her, but then we can't do that for any reason anyway. *sigh* It's just going to bother me for a while, I guess.
                  It's little things that make the difference between 'enjoyable', 'tolerable', and 'gimme a spoon, I'm digging an escape tunnel'.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Namrepus221 View Post
                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearer_bond

                    Bearer bond's are illegal in the USA.
                    There are still a few floating around...from bond issues that originated before 1982. They won't be around much longer--they'll either mature, or get refunded with newer bond issues.
                    Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                    • #11
                      I had a story similar to this happen once at my theatre, only it was with a purse. A couple found it in their auditorium and came up to Box Office, where another manager and I were standing. They started to turn it in but apparently didn't trust the two college-age girls, despite our managerial (is that a word?) status, and changed their mind and wanted to take it with them. However, since we knew the purse wasn't theirs, either, we weren't about to allow that, especially because they had already pretty much (though not in these exact terms) accused us of wanting to clean out any cash inside as we took it upstairs to lock it in the office, where we put anything that has money instead of leaving it in the lost and found downstairs. Eventually we settled on calling the woman from a number and having all four of us wait for her to return. Then the couple had the gall to come back just a few days later when that other manager happened to be posted in Box Office. According to her, they couldn't meet her eye as they paid for their tickets.
                      "Shield eaters and SC'ers have many likes alike."

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                      • #12
                        When I wrote that it is a bearer bond, I didn't mean it as an actual bond. I meant only that it was able to be cashed by the person bearing it, like lottery tickets. Lottery tickets, even the winning power ball ticket, if lost by the original purchaser, can be claimed by anyone, the same with that Western Union check, since neither document has an intended recipient printed on it.
                        This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.

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                        • #13
                          Lottery tickets, even the winning power ball ticket, if lost by the original purchaser, can be claimed by anyone, the same with that Western Union check, since neither document has an intended recipient printed on it.
                          I think what thats called is a Bearer instrument. Yeah Cash, Lotto tickets stuff like that if you loose it pretty much kiss it good bye. Its gone.

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                          • #14
                            Oh, I think that lady was really delusional. I would've turned it in, but then again, I'm just an honest person. Imagine that....

                            I once found three $100 bills on a street in Vegas. Now, I know that law is that anything on a casino floor is the property of the casino. So, for example, if someone drops chips on the floor, you can't really pick them up and claim them. The casino technically owns them. However, I found the money on the street--literally on a crosswalk in front of Ceasar's Palace with dozens of people crossing with me. I'm evil. I kept it and used it that weekend. I don't feel bad about it though....
                            Do I dare
                            Disturb the universe?
                            In a minute there is time
                            For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

                            T.S. Eliot

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