Same here.
Henceforth, you shall be known as warmfuzzyTOJ…
Around Christmastime, my girlfriend and I head to the ATM. The car in front of us left their card in the machine. We go home, I look them up online, call them, tell them about the card and how we got it and how we can get it back to them, so they play some phone tag amongst themselves (no cell phone, but someone in the car did have a cell phone) and we find where they are. We bring it over there and drop it off at the restaurant at which they were eating.
So they ask if we want to stay and have something to drink. We declined and wished them a happy holidays and went back home.
The idea of asking for a reward never even crossed my mind or my girlfriend’s mind. What’s wrong with getting someone’s property back to them quickly? Is that not reward enough in and of itself?
To ask for a reward, even to joke about it, is patently rude and boorish. Regardless of the circumstance.
If I had lost the thing, I would probably offer to buy the person a drink or something (especially given that you were in a bar). No cash reward, though - that’s not refined. To not offer some kind of token reward if the situation warrants it, or to be less than zealous in your praise (not genuflecting, but not a cursory “thanks” either), isn’t the best thing to do.
Thus, as the returner, I may think you rude if your thanks is insufficiently presented, and, given the right circumstance, I may be a bit miffed that there was no offer of some kind of token reward (again, though, cash is inelegant). I would accept non-monetary offers of reward.
However, making the returner wait or go through extra travails (no comment on whether the 20 minutes here is unreasonably extending your trip), regardless of your financial situation, is just as bad. Being a cheapskate and trying not to inconvenience yourself in your endeavors to recapture lost property, and consequently inconveniencing another, is poor form.
Person A was tacky in the extreme. You return lost things because it’s the right thing to do, not because you expect a reward. It’s not like a tip!
Sure we all think “wouldn’t it be nice”? but that’s not (or shouldn’t be) why we’re honest.
What is this, a Bioware RPG?
I would hope for a reward but I certainly wouldn’t expect it and I wouldn’t dream of asking for one in the scenario you described.
Would not expect a reward, and would not accept one if offered. This has actually happened to m. I have found and returned a wallet full of cash and cards, and declined the offer of reward. That would take all the feelgood out of it for me.
Not sure if it is still true, but when I lived in Berlin there was a law requiring a reward for anything you turned in (at least on the subway).
You turned it in, with your name and address.
If it was not picked up in a certain amount of time, it was yours.
It it was picked up by the owner, they HAD to pay a percentage as a reward and it was sent to you. Over the years, I got a few bucks from things I found - nothing huge, but hey - kept me (and most people) honest about turning stuff in.
I always thought that was fair.
But in this case - hey, lots of people are hurting now, and maybe the guy really didn’t have any money to give as a reward. I would have accepted the thanks and hoped someone would have done the same for me. Better than running up your cell phone bill and then tossing it.
That’s exactly what it is. I once watched a “sting” operation with the local cops where this is exactly what happened. A patron at my place of employment lost a cell phone. Someone found it and when the patron called her cell phone, the guy told her he’d give it back for $50.00. She told the guy to meet her and then called the police. When he showed up, the police were waiting in the shadows and as soon as he took the $50, he was arrested.
I don’t remember what all of the exact charges were, but possession of stolen property was one for sure. There was a number of charges filed.
Ask for a reward? Certainly not. As the handover took place in a bar I’d happily accept a drink if it was offered, but I’d mostly be relieved to know that someone got his valuables back, as I would wish to do if it were my stuff that was lost.
Whether I’d tip or not if I were B would depend how flush I was feeling. A guy from a bike garage came and fitted a new battery for me one time, and as I was earning a lot more then than I am now I cheerfully tipped him a ten-spot for the time he’d saved me. These days, I’d say a polite thank-you but reason he was doing what he was paid for.
I found a wallet on a bus recently and tracked the guy down before he even knew his wallet was gone - he was a firefighter and his warrant card was in the wallet, so I called the number on that and they passed on my number to him. He stopped by my house after work to get it. Reward offered and declined. Extra fuzzies for helping out a fireman.
I also found an Oyster card(sans wallet) on a bus, which I handed in to the driver on the assumption that they can find Oyster users.
Unless the efforts I’ve gone to are extraordinary and costly, I wouldn’t expect a reward for this sort of thing.
I would never offer a reward, because I would consider it rude to imply that the other person is angling for a reward. If politely inquired however I would probably give him something for his trouble. Politely, of course, being the key word.
As for the situation in the OP I’m a little confused why someone who finds a phone in a taxi would take it with him instead of just handing it to the cab driver… I’m not sure if that signifies extra effort on his part or just him hoping for a free phone.
Is there any benefit to stealing an iPhone? Don’t all those smartphones have the phones details recorded when you buy it, and when reported stolen they just become useless lumps of plastic?
I think it’s more tacky to be asking for a reward.
No, Apple and AT&T don’t automatically wipe or brick stolen iPhones. They can’t. If you call them, they’ll refer you to Law Enforcement and your insurance. AT&T can close or suspend your account so that the thief can’t use your account, but that’s about it.
If someone steals an iPhone, restores it to factory settings and puts a new SIM card in it, viola, free iPhone - but you’ll need to activate an AT&T account to use it or add it to an existing AT&T account.
I have never found a phone but I have a bad habit of losing them. The first time the finder looked through the numbers in it and called my mother who called me, so I just collected it at an office in the building I lived in with many a profound thank you.
The last time it had been found by a bus driver who answered it when a friend of mine called. When I ran into my friend later that day he told me about it and gave me the finder’s number so I could arrange a meeting next day when his route took him to my present neighbourhood. Another couple of profound thank yous and that was that.
I would neither expect or accept a reward, so I pick option D.
I found a cell phone in the road. Looked to see who the person had last dialed - it was “Food Lady” so I thought it was possible he was now on his way to get his lunch. I was just about to dial the number and ask her to check if her customers had their phones when the dude came careering around the corner. Cussed me off for looking through his phone, snatched it and drove off. Oooookay. Reward? I was lucky to escape with my life!
I’ve been on the opposite end of asshole lost and found:
I worked out on the ramp (tarmac) at an international airport. I found an ID, around three loose $100 bills blowing on the ground, and a wallet with more cash, bringing the total to $700.
I won’t say I didn’t think out keeping it, I was BARELY able to pay my rent and eat at that time. But I thought that this would be a great chance to do the right thing and make someoe happy.
So I showed the ID aroud and someone recognized the girl and said he was her friend, and he’d give her stuff back. No way. I told him to have her come to me to pick it up. Friend was PISSED I didn’t give him the wallet and money (I didn’t trust him because I barely knew him, and didnt know the girl).
Eventually a girl comws stomping up to me. “you the one whose got my wallet!!!” I was taken seeeriously aback by this, but said “Yes, here…” and handed her the wallet. She RIPPED the wallet from my hand, turned on her heel and stormed off without a word.
I told my close coworkers about this, and word of how tacky and ungrateful she was spread so bad that eventually she came up to me, wouldn’t look me in the eye and mumbled some lame apology. I just turned my back and continued working, ignoring her. Un-effing-believable.
If she had offered a reward I would never have accepted, i was mad as HELL about the lack of a thank you only. Still get pissed thinking about it.
Good grief!
You, bamboo gut and a few others here have certainly meet some “I lost it but” assholes for sure!
If I were Person A, I wouldn’t have asked for a reward. I would’ve been a bit peeved if I didn’t get a “thank you”, but I would never have expected compensation.