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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Aibu to ask if you lost a solid gold bracelet in Selfridges last week?

134 replies

Lostandfoundwoman · 27/12/2017 16:31

On 19 December, I found a solid gold bracelet (hallmarked) in one of the concesssions of Selfridges on Oxford Street. I took it to the concession's till where staff said they would take it to Lost Property on the fourth floor. When I wrote down my details so I could have confirmation it had made it there, they decided they were too busy to go to the fourth floor after all. So I was going to take it up myself.

A name-badged member of the concession's staff then approached me and said she would take the bracelet straight to the 4th floor. I gave her my details so that I could have confirmation of safe receipt by LP.

The next day, having heard nothing, I emailed Selfridges with a photograph of the bracelet to check it had found its way to Lost Property. They replied 2 days later at 10pm saying the store was closed so they couldn’t tell me.

I emailed again a few days later, and this time they emailed back saying they couldn’t tell me about the bracelet because of data protection.

I pointed out I was not asking for personal information, just whether the bracelet had safely made it to Lost Property and whether it had been claimed. I also said that if it was not claimed, then I expected it back as I was the next rightful owner. Actually, I am not very interested in having it but I do want to ensure it has not disappeared along the way.

This afternoon, Selfridges wrote back one line: “We would not be looking to release the item to yourself.”

Would it not be easy for them to tell me if the bracelet is in Lost Property and/or whether it has been claimed? Is there any good reason I haven’t thought of for them to be so evasive? AIBU to find their communications strange? What do stores usually do with valuable unclaimed Lost Property?

Anyway, if any MNer lost a solid gold bracelet in Selfridges last week, I can match your description with my photo and let you know where it should be!

OP posts:
BigStripeyBastard · 29/12/2017 20:02

I am security supervisor in a large department store.
I can assure all the people who assume we are thieving scrotes who nick all the lost property that this is not the case.
It all gets logged, kept for a month and then destroyed if not claimed.
If it is obviously valuable (and that is really quite rare) then we do our best to find the owner by whatever means possible.
The only, and I mean only, item of lost property I have taken home after it went unclaimed was a very old atlas of the world. It was battered, it was scruffy and it is worth nothing in monetary terms. But I couldnt bear the thought of it going in the bin so I brought it home and put it on my bookshelf where it remains to this day in the vague hope that the owner might return for it one day.....
Lost credit or debit cards get kept for 24 hours and then sent back to our central lost cards processing centre.

RatRolyPoly · 29/12/2017 20:06

How can you lose a large, old ATLAS in a department store?? I presume it was rather large anyway.

fastfrank · 29/12/2017 20:07

I'm not sure why you care so much. You did the right thing by handing it in but then surely your "responsibility" ends there. Why were you immediately suspicious of the staff? Surely you'd hand it in, they'd say "thanks, I'll take it to lost property" and then you'd go on your merry way? If I was the staff member I'd have done my best to get rid of you ASAP so I could carry on with my job, and then I'd take it to lost property.

brizzledrizzle · 29/12/2017 20:10

The employee will have handed it in but if they haven't Selfridges will almost definitely have noticed.

How are they gong to notice? A bracelet is lost, somebody hands it in and then leaves. Unless there is a reason to check cctv, assuming it's on the shop floor, how will they know ?

SandyDenny · 29/12/2017 20:22

But bigstripey you can't know if an employee puts the lost property in their pocket. I didn't think the OP was suggesting that Selfridges were stealing things, rather that the individual employee might have kept it

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 29/12/2017 20:28

Why shouldn't OP care?

She wants to know if the owner is found, otherwise she gets to keep the bracelet.

Nothing wrong with that.

Original poster
Lostandfoundwoman · 29/12/2017 20:29

Selfridges tweeted my DD to say they can’t look into this until Wednesday when Lost Property re-opens as it is not accepting phone calls over the busy period. So I will wait and see what happens. I’m not sure why they bothered with the DPA line in between.

Why am I invested in this? Because dishonesty upsets me and I can think of no valid reason why Selfridges would not confirm that the bracelet was either in LP or had been returned to the owner. Or why they would not tell me their policy on unclaimed items.

Yes, I was a bit confused by the woman who took it from me saying she was going straight to the 4th floor for LP as firstly they had just said they had no time to take it up, and so I was going to, and secondly, she immediately headed off in the opposite direction from the escalators and when I looked a bit bewildered said something about how she was first going to see if it belonged to any of the stock pickers which is reasonable enough but the exact opposite of what she had just said to me. We will find out on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the replies.

OP posts:
BigStripeyBastard · 29/12/2017 23:23

There is probably only a handful of staff employed by the W[edited by MNHQ] concession in that branch of Selfridges.
You are very publically accusing one of them of theft, or at least heavily implying it, with no real evidence. You have also had this thread retweeted. It might be seen by any number of people.
On the random chance that the staff member you gave it to sees this and is completely innocent, how do you think they will feel, knowing a bunch of people are publically questioning her honesty?

SandyDenny · 29/12/2017 23:44

You make a good point, maybe MNHQ could remove the name of the concession to avoid any identification of a specific person.

Poll5sue147 · 29/12/2017 23:54

Update in Wednesday m!

brizzledrizzle · 30/12/2017 00:11

they can't edit every mention! best to get the thread deleted I think.

notapizzaeater · 30/12/2017 00:12

Glad they looking into it for you, I'd have been upset if it hadn't been handed in.

DreamyMcDreamy · 30/12/2017 00:16

You involvement stops the moment you hand it in to a member of staff. Let it go.

This! You find something, you hand it in to a member of staff.Job done.
Why all the suspicion and over invested in it?!
Oh,and are you heck as the next rightful owner just because you found it. Is that why you're obsessing over it because you want it for yourself? Hmm

GlitteryFluff · 30/12/2017 00:26

Interested to see what they say.

PixieXox · 30/12/2017 01:55

Clearly obsessing because you want it back for yourself. You are not the rightful owner, let it go.

FrivolouslyFancifulFannie · 30/12/2017 02:09

Yes because all these min wage shop assistants are thieves. Do you honestly think the staff would steal money handed in at the till in toys r us, tills usually have cameras.

If the bracelet has been handed in i hope someone apologises to the assistant it was given to as shes now all over social media with people claiming she stole it.

fastfrank · 30/12/2017 04:58

A normal person would have forgotten they'd handed a bracelet in by now. What a mundane thing to obsess over. Unless of course you're looking for recognition that you didn't nick it yourself. Well done, now let it go Smile

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 30/12/2017 05:42

I would imagine that any reporting of lost property is rather fluid; and probably requires lost property to be open to access, which may well be why they can't confirm whether it was "checked in". I know the bullring only used to check in LP if nobody had collected it within three days anyway.

The legal ownership part is legally complex; but as you handed it over to the store, I think that's null and void. I believe you'd have had to deliver it to the police yourself for any chance of a valid claim if it remained uncollected after a period.

wherethevioletsgrow · 30/12/2017 08:26

What I don't understand is why the person replying to your emails would be colluding with the bracelet thief. They won't be the same person- Selfridge's employs hundreds of staff. Therefore, there is no real incentive for the person replying to lie to cover up a theft. I understand your concern but it's probably quite unlikely that the lady from the concession stole the bracelet even if she did walk off in the opposite direction. Maybe the bracelet did in fact belong to someone who worked there- who knows? I also agree with others that it's quite identifying especially if the DM gets hold of this.

As for ownership, I agree with another person who said that you have now relinquished it back to the store and I don't think you have a case for having the bracelet returned to you. I suspect that the person you are emailing thinks that you are angling to have it for yourself, hence the emails fobbing you off.

speakout · 30/12/2017 08:30

*I am security supervisor in a large department store.
I can assure all the people who assume we are thieving scrotes who nick all the lost property that this is not the case.
It all gets logged, kept for a month and then destroyed if not claimed. *

stripey I am gobsmacked at this.

Surely you must report some finds to the police. In the case of a high value item r a wallet with cash but no ID- potentially costing several thousands of pounds or a wallet with cash but no ID- your really " destroy" after a month??

LavenderDoll · 30/12/2017 08:47

I'm still confused as to why the OP won't let this go. It's Christmas- busiest time of the year and you are harassing a shop over a bracelet.

Ohhdear · 30/12/2017 09:15

I’m sure the shop has far more important things to do at the moment. I imagine they get loads of lost property. Assuming that they are being dishonest because they aren’t replying to every request with a whole load of information is shocking. Get a grip, you handed it in, leave them to deal with it.

SandyDenny · 30/12/2017 09:15

Presumably a solid gold bracelet is worth a lot of money, I don't see why the OP wouldn't want to make sure that all possible attempts are made to get it back to the owner. She's not saying she's had her Christmas ruined or anything but someone else's might have been if they can't find their valuable bracelet.

It wouldn't have occurred to me that something I hand in at a lost property might end up being mine, I'd have no interest in random lost items and it would feel like stealing to be given something worth a lot of money.

SequinsOnEverything · 30/12/2017 09:22

I understand the op not letting this go until she has had a proper response. Her instinct has obviously told her something wasn't right here and how often on mumsnet are posters told to trust their instinct?

Why would you say you were going to lost property then decide actually you would check if someone out the back had lost it first? Way more likely a customer has lost it than a member of staff not on the shop floor surely?

MNHQ
HebenotafraidMumsnet · 30/12/2017 09:49

Morning, folks. Just popping in to let you know we have edited the OP and two other posts to remove the name of the concession within Selfridges. We had to agree with the posters and reporters who expressed concern that probably only a small handful of people work in that named concession, so to say one of them might be a thief seems a bit unfair on everyone who works there. Hope you don't mind, OP, but we don't think it takes anything away from the thread in general to lose that detail.