“Losers Seekers Finders Keepers.” Well, Not Really…
As me and my workmate stepped on the beach, suddenly she saw a mobile phone lying in the sand. she picked it up and began to scan the phone’s menu in the hope of finding its owner. She was wondering how to get in touch with the person who owned that piece of technology when it rang. The caller identified himself as the owner of the mobile phone.
He told my colleague to stay where she was while he returned to pick it up. My colleague obliged. After a 30-minute wait, a new car pulled up. The owner of the lost phone rolled down the car’s window and literally snatched the mobile from my friend’s hand. He then revved up and drove away in a huff.
Strange. No thank you for finding the phone, no thank you for waiting.
Is it embarrassing to make public an act of gratitude? The person who lost something never thought twice about making a public cry for help. At the most, a hushed and mumbled thank you is what the finder receives. Except, in rare instances when honesty and generosity can mean more than just good deeds and mere words.
A family friend and my boy friend went to watch a movie at a multiplex in a mall. After enjoying a couple of big names on an even bigger screen, the friend dropped by an ATM to withdraw some money.
She got the shock of her life when she saw the balance in her account $42,400.
She was sure that she did not have more than $1,000 in her account, as she was paying off a couple of loans.
My boy friend told her that it could be a goof up and directed her to another ATM. The friend then proceeded to withdraw a few hundred dollars.
When the account statement popped out, it showed a balance of more than $40,000. Some folks would have accepted the windfall without any question and thanked their lucky stars, but not this honest woman.
She immediately called up the bank and informed them of the discrepancy. The bank told her to sit tight while they investigated the matter.
The next day, the bank telephoned and informed her that it was a wayward deposit and the matter had been taken care of. The friend checked her account balance all those wonderful thousands had vanished and the figures were back to the lowly hundreds.
Later in the day, imagine her surprise when a gentleman called to thank her profusely for her honesty. He said his employee had deposited his rent cheque in the wrong account!
The gentleman said the gesture of returning such a large sum of money was very rare to find in this day and age. The friend said she was glad to help and the matter ended there.
Actually it did not. The next day, the woman’s account increased by $2,000. It was the gentleman’s way of saying thank you very much.
I dont think he could have made a deposit to her account unless he had a copy of the deposit with the wrong account number on it.
Thanks for the fascinating story, Thel.
When I was in San Jose, CA, there was this little pizza joint next to where I used to work, and every evening a rather elderly lady would come in to clean the place and throw away the garbage.
Once she found a packet in the dumpster, and it contained $3000, cold cash. Everyone presumed it could be some drug money or something like that, stashed away in a hurry, and we advised her to keep it.
But she turned it over to the cops. And what she did she get? A “Thank you” and a rose from the police department.
I don’t know if it made her happy or not, but I guess some people do things just because they believe it’s the right thing to do.
Generic deposit slips are used all the time and the person making the deposit could have (must have) put the wrong account number on the deposit slip.
While it was very considerate and appropriate to call and notify the bank of the mistake, I really don’t think the good samaritan could have spent the “found money” like it was her own. In the first place it was not her money, only a mistake. Second, I would guess the true owner could have called the bank and with a little search the bank would have discovered the error and corrected the misdirected deposit. The good sam would have had to come up with any expenditure of funds not her own or be subject to a claim and hassles. If this is the case, it is the landlord in this case that is the generous one since he could probably have gotten his money returned through the bank at no real expense and relatively minor effort. This is not to under appreciate the good samaritan’s time and efforts, just to clarify.
I think sometimes people are just so distracted by what they almost lost, they don’t remember to say thank you. I remember I once lost my purse with $1,000 cash in it. I had just sold my car and the money was supposed to pay off my car loan. I did not realize I did not have my purse until someone called me to come get it. They had found my number in the purse. I was so relieved, I went and picked it up and left never even thinking to offer a reward. When I realized later that I should have offered a reward, it was too late. I had no way to get back in touch with my Good Samaritan. To this day, I still wish that I had given that person a reward, but all I can do now is hope that karma rewarded them in my place.
I am a bank teller and things like this happen, although rare. Usually with a deposit that large we need approval and there is a hold on the payment, and we check out the account closely. The bank would likely be held responsible for any fees if it was a check. It would have been caught by backshop if the name on the check didn’t match that on the account.
All in all, this is quite unlikely.
I’m very much a person that has faith in human beings as a default until I am proved wrong. This is a nice story and gives me even greater faith. Unfortunately, events like the mobile phone incident shown here happen all too often, just last week I walked 5 miles across town (I have no car) to give some mail to the proper recipient. I told him where I’d come from, and I got a decidedly unappreciative grunt as a reply. I was very put out, to say the least. Then I walked back.
Good blog, keep it up.
Man Arrested After N.Y. Bank Lets Him Withdraw Millions
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331536,00.html
Read the above story. The guy tried to be honest, he told the bank there was an error, the bank told him there was no error and the money in his account was his to spend, he did, he gets arrested.
That must’ve been a hell of a rent payment! What? Like $39,000.
$3,000 cold cash? The last thing I’d do is hand it over to the cops…finders keepers…and it’s not about honesty or “doing the right thing.”
Cops keep it and they don’t need it.
Reading these postings reminded me of the time after I came home from a long spell in the hospital. I was recovering from surgery, my business was wound up, I was broke, and I owed the tax people.Then I got a letter telling me that a deposit had been made in my account, I was confused as to the origin of this so I waited for a day or so and then I got a letter with an ATM PIN number, then I got another letter asking me to attend a meeting at the bank’s head office, and then another PIN arrived, so out of curiosity I went to the local ATM put in my business cash card, and the new PIN and lo and behold I was rich. What do I do now I thought? someone was going to be out of pocket. So once again I waited until the end of the month and it’s off to the ATM again, my balance had gone up by another £1000 !. At this stage I had a visit from my brother ( a retired detective at Scotland Yard) his advice was to go to the loal branch of the bank with all the paperwork I had amassed and explain to them what had happened, So off I went and handed everything over to a manager, no thanks, absolutely nothing and never heard a word about it from anyone again. But at least I can still say I am an honest man, but I was tempted.
finders keepers???
at first we attempt to keep it and its natural coz we are only human..
but the values we taught from our parents and school says that if it not yours give it to the rigth person like cops,, or rather go to church and give it as an offering
I recently experienced a payroll snafu of about 420 dolars in my favor to my direct deposit, I did not seek a reward for doing the right thing I just wanted the damn issue corrected so it wouldn’t screw up my finances why the hell should I pay taxes on money I didnt earn? I dont care about rewards
years back, i went to make a withdrawl at an atm outside of my bank, to discover that somebody had left their card in the machine and the account open to anybody…..
i was tempted for about 1.5 seconds, but then closed the transaction and went inside the bank to give the card to the lone teller on duty. she was talking to a woman, and when i gave her the card, she read the name on it and gave it to the woman she was talking to…it was her card…talk about good luck?
the woman thanked the teller for returning her card, gave me a short icy glance, and left to go about her business.
some people are so ungrateful to honest folks
the other day I was at Disneyland. I was horsing around with some friends in line for a ride when one of my rings flew off my pinkie finger. Not just any ring, but my boyfriends’ father’s Eagle Scout ring (his father died about 15 years ago), so it’s a pretty special ring. It was dark, and the line was not well lit, so I used my cellphone to try and find it. The line started to move, so I let people pass me. Some people passed, but many people got their cell phones out as well to help me look. Eventually the ring was found by a young man who was a level down from me. I was so greatful to those who helped me look, even just opening your cellphone to cast extra light is such a simple thing you could do, but it meant so much to me, knowing that others try to help people out, because I try too as often as I can.
David - you gave the money back to avoid paying tax on it? What are the taxes like where you’re from, over 100%?
Reply to John’s Feb 28th posting.
Tax was not the issue for me, it is deemed to be illegal to use the funds even if they are deposited in your (or mine in this case) account.People have been jailed in this country for similar events, but can you imagine what is is like to be broke and all that happens ? Sure puts a strain on your honesty.
I consider the stupid Bank was at fault and they should have been made to pay their customer for the error made.
Bad deposits happen all the time. My parents regularly received money belonging to another bank member with the same last name, and vice-versa. They eventually left the bank after one such screw-up resulted in bounced checks and NSF fee’s, which were eventually refunded, but the principle remained.