Interesting! I've briefly done a test of what big supermarkets - do to lost property.
A year or so ago I found a set of expensive-looking keys (including a modern Toyota key - they are £150 to replace, aren't they?) on the canal towpath in central Birmingham, a stone's throw from the Convention Centre.
The keyring also had a Tesco Clubcard keyfob on it, so I called Clubcard to report it. I said please could they check their records and notify the Clubcard owner, and gave my own contact details so he could get in touch with me.
Clubcard said they weren't able to do that because 'data protection'. I said that's ridiculous, I'm not asking for the owner's details, I just wanted them to know mine, so they knew the keys were safe and we could arrange their return.
Nope, said Clubcard. They suggested I hand them in to a Tesco store or the police.
So I went to the central Birmingham police station, reported it, and the policewoman behind the counter just held out what they called a 'key bucket' and said 'put it in there.' They make no effort to contact the owner.
I refused, and said I would try to trace the owner another way.
She then threatened me with 'theft by finding'!
I just ignored her bluster, and left. I then rang a big Toyota dealer and asked if they could track down the owner from a car key. No, they said!
I then went to the nearest Tesco store, and asked them.
They said they didn't know what happened, but offered to take the keyring anyway. I was tired of traispsing around, so gave it to them. I bet it went into a black hole.
So to test the system, I put my own Nectar, Tesco Clubcard and Waitrose loyalty card fobs, and put each on old keys/keyrings I still had. I then walked into the customer serviced desks of their respective bigger stores and reported that I'd found the keys 'just outside', and 'could they return the keys to their rightful owner?".
In all cases, after two weeks I heard nothing. I returned to each, and none of them had made an effort, but all of them still had the keys. Waitrose had put them in the back office, but Sainsbury's and Tesco still had them on the counter.
In Tesco's case, the lady at the counter was able to scan the card and bring up my details instantly in front of me, something they said on the phone was not allowed. But she could have easily done it when the keys were handed in, and given me a quick phone call or email, surely? The data was there straight away to store staff.
Maybe there's a good reason for data protection , but not reuniting lost property with its owner, when the information is already there so readily, is stupid.
To argue keys aren't valuable property is ridiculous too. Car keys can cost £150 or more, house keys are a worry when you lose them, and a keyring can cost £10 a key and lot of money running around to replace.
In the case of the original poster of this thread, when you have jewellery that's not registered or reported, that's an invitation to pilfering by back office staff if there's no 'paper trail' for lost property. They won't necessarily think of it as theft, they'll simply say "Oh, it'll never be returned, so better for me to have it than for it to be thrown in the bin and go to landfill."
The whole 'data protection' excuse for lost property is absurd, especially keys. My recommendation is to put your own name and phone number on everything. And even putting your address on your house keys is probably less hassle in the long run than trusting your keys to the police!
Andrew