Several times in the course of my life I’ve left my cellphone somewhere - on the train, at a bar - and have had the good fortune of a kind stranger finding it and making the effort to get it back to me. I’ve always wondered if I should offer some kind of “reward” to them. On the one hand, it’d be an expression of very sincere gratitude, but on the other, I’m afraid it might seem insulting. I know that if it were me returning a phone to its owner I most certainly would not want nor expect any kind of reward, but I don’t know if everyone else thinks the same way. What say you?
I would find being offered cash a little insulting, unless a kid found it and was returning it, maybe.
If someone found my phone at the bar and returned it to me, I would definitely ask to buy them a drink to show my gratitude though.
That’s very classy, I think. It’s different from just offering cash. If I found and returned a phone, I wouldn’t expect any kind of payment. It’s just nice to do someone a favor without expecting compensation.
Last December, I left my phone on the commuter rail, and the woman who found it was kind enough to call for my address and mail it to me, priority. I sent her a holiday card with a Starbucks gift certificate. As mentioned, cash seemed sort of insulting, but I wanted to do *something * nice for her, because she really did go above and beyond the call, and I know that there’s a Starbucks at her commuter rail stop.
Teens or younger, then yes.
Except in my friends case. He got his phone back, and gave her some money. Then found out she’d been trying to sell it! Her Dad caught her and made her give it back.
I bartend, and people leave their phones behind on a daily basis…customers and staff are constantly finding them.
On the occasions when a customer has found the phone and both are still present, I tell the owner; generally this results in a “get that guy a drink on me!”
Nobody’s ever offered cash.
If the owner doesn’t turn up by closing time, inevitably the lost phone rings. I like to answer it and try to convince whatever drunken person is calling that their friend left their phone at a bar, and no, I am not playing some kind of joke, and no, So-and-So really ISN’T here.
That’s all true except for the part where I said “I like” it.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Someone at my workplace found my phone two weeks ago. I picked it up from him and thanked him profusely. Then I dropped a Christmas card in his mailbox at work; I slipped a $20 in it and wrote that I hoped he’d use it for a little joy for himself or someone he loves. I figured it was less gauche than trying to hand him a $20 and couldn’t let myself not give him something.
But would you take it as an insult if someone offered you a reward?
I would say a small gift is not amiss in this circumstance.
I personally wouldn’t expect a cash reward but I also wouldn’t be insulted by one. In fact, if I had gone out of my way to get the phone to that person (met them at Starbuck, for example) then i would feel free to accept after the first round of “Oh, no you don’t have to”. If all I had done was carry the phone from the bathroom to the bar, then a reward would be out of place, but still not an insult. Maybe if the offer were from my boss or a friend, that would be odd.
I wouldn’t be expecting a reward, but I definitely wouldn’t be insulted. I might play the “Oh, no, I couldn’t” card for a few moments, because I wouldn’t want them feeling obligated to give me a reward, but if they then continued to offer I’d eventually accept.
I like the gift certificate for $20-25 idea.
I think I’d do that, too. Funny, this is one scenario where the initial refusal seems to work. (I’m thinking of the thread about not accepting food after the first few offers.)
Like others, i wouldn’t *expect * something, but wouldn’t say no. Something like a starbucks card is kinda thoughtful actually. If I don’t like Starbucks, I’d regift it to someone who does.
I’ve returned two phones in my life and didn’t expect, nor would I accept, any compensation other than a genuine “Thank you.”
If it were someone I knew, I’d feel insulted–returning someone’s property is just something you do. If it were my phone, I’d thank them several times and I’d tell the story to everyone we both knew about how I was an airhead and they were a hero. But I’d never offer or except a reward for simply returning property.
The “insuted” feeling would be much, much stronger if I knew they made/had more money than I. That would seem very condecending.
If it were someone I didn’t know, I’d give them a gift if it was a good situation to do so–at a bar or a Starbucks, but I wouldn’t offer cash (tacky), nor would I ask for contact information to send a gift (creepy). They’d have to settle for thanks.
Yeah, what **sugar and spice ** and **Sierra Indigo ** said.
I wouldn’t feel at all insulted by any offer of compensation, even cash. (Hell, I don’t even have a problem receiving cash gifts instead of having someone hazard a guess and get me something that I might not need or want, or even like.) Rather, I’d think it was classy of the person to offer. Or, at the least, revealed an awareness of the rules of social lubrication. And, of course, I’d refuse any compensation (and I have) until I got tired of the no-yes-no-yes back and forth.
There was the time, though, a few months back when I found the Georgia driver’s license of a young lady on the street in New York City. I tracked her down on myspace (she was 17, so I figured that she just might have a myspace account), told her that I’d found it, and mailed it to the address on the license (I reckoned that she was a tourist). While I didn’t expect (or want) a reward, a brief note of thanks (my return address was on the envelope primarily in case of delivery problems) would’ve been nice. But nothing. Very classless, if you ask me.
(Yes, I realize that she was a teenager, but don’t parents teach their children this kind of stuff anymore?)
I can change the text on my t-mobile phone to say whatever when it boots up on the front LCD screen. It says “leave vmx @ cell#, reward if found”. I figure $20-25 bucks is resonable to avoid the hassle of getting another phone. The key though is hoping they shut if off then back on to see it. Otherwise I’d hope they just call someone in my recent calls list.
The one phone I called, I did just that. On the other, I scrolled through their address book and found a “Mom.” I figured that would work. 