Who owns a pound left in supermarket trolley?

[Zippyzoppy]

My son has a part-time job at weekends with one of the major supermarkets. One of his tasks is to round up any stray trolleys and put them back in the trolley park.

Apparently, from time to time ( maybe one/twice per day) people can’t be arsed to put their own trolleys back and so leave the £1 coins in the trolley. If this happens, he keeps the pound and puts the trolley back as required. When he first told me about this, I was quite pleased for him and thought it was a nice way for him to make a few extra quid.

However, when I mentioned this to a friend, she was aghast as she thought that he was cheating /stealing from his employer as the money is rightfully theirs.

Who is right?

I used to work at a leisure centre. We had a cleaner who made a small fortune collecting pound coins from lockers. Shame she didn’t actually spend that time cleaning (honestly she was terrible).

Just in case anyone doesn’t know, there’s a little catch on the right side of the locking mechanism on the inside of the locker that will release jammed coins 😂

Not too sure about this @Dinga591
The £1 is a deposit/incentive so the person returns the trolley to the right place rather than abandoning it.

Clearly, a trolley costs more to replace than £1.
So the supermarket is going to incur a loss overall, as there will be more lost trolleys than £1s.

It really does belong to the supermarket because if it's left in the handle, it means (presumably) the trolley has been abandoned in the car park or the nearest hedge (and someone like this lad it being paid to collect it.)

He should really offer up his 'catch' or there should be a charity box/ local cause where these £1 coins go.

But the point is that we don’t know that it was deliberately left. The police aren’t going to be involved but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the OPs son could have a disciplinary over it or lose their job because ultimately it isn’t their £1 to take.

Different circumstances but they lost their job over a £1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-58904606

I'd say it depends. It sounds silly but I worked in a supermarket from 2019-2021 and it was written into our contract that we were not allowed to accept tips under any circumstances. They were quite strict about it so anyone caught doing this would've been fired. Just the same as their waste, I believe somebody was fired for taking an individually wrapped sweet from a burst packet that was going in the bin anyway. Sometimes customers would try and give us a small tip for helping them pack their shopping. I would refuse to accept it but if they were insistent then I'd take it and put it in the charity tin once they'd left. It sounds ridiculous but they can be oddly strict about these things. Honestly I'd probably tell him to.continue but just ensure nobody saw him and keep quiet about it.

How is it stealing?? Your friend is silly and would probably be the type to jump off a cliff if the government told her to.

Agree with the many saying to ask what the policy is. In general I would say finders keepers if there is no way to know who the owner of the money is, but when you’re working it’s different.

Generally speaking when it comes to money and employment you should advise your DS to take the conservative approach. Anything that could be seen as dishonesty or taking advantage for monetary gain has the potential to get him fired on the spot.

Your friend is very odd. Of course it isn’t stealing. Technically it’s abandoned property so laws of finders keepers applies. Same as if he found £1 on the floor, it’s his.

Also, that’s a special level of lazy that people would rather throw away money than walk a couple of metres to put the trolley back 🤦‍♀️

Stealing? Your friend is a twat, perk of the job.

Well I've worked in a supermarket and I know that if you are found with cash on you whilst working (even your own) it will lead to a disciplinary.

Perhaps the police need to consider looking at their officers that are nick named the rapist, who then goes on to murder a young woman?

Fucking disgrace!

Finders keepers 🤷🏼‍♀️

There is a difference. A £10 on ground, in carpark or shop floor is lost money. The coin in a trolley is fair game. Ridiculous rules re trolley money. If I found a tenner I would hand it in, a coin in a trolley probably not as they are 2 completely scenarios.

Your friend who is aghast is a bit of a dick. Would she chase people who took their pound back, claiming it belonged to the supermarket? What an idiot.

Personally I'd stick them in a charity collection rather than my pocket no matter who owned them

Of course you would. But then I’m guessing you’re not pushing supermarket trollies round a car park in the rain all day for minimum wage.

Yeah right oh!

She was a total cow.

If she was going to go "by the book", she should have made a note in the "Found property" book (most large shops have something like this), with the dat, where found, and the finder's name. If it isn't claimed in 6 months, then it becomes your son's property. She had no right to make him put in in the charity box.

Usually it is only large notes, or items of jewellery, wallets etc which are reclaimed - no way would anyone have gone back for a £2 coin. It was your son's.

It’s not stealing exactly but it does show a weakness of character.

Shows they are on rubbish wages, more like.

If you find a tenner in the car park it’s yours of course!

Zzz

I once left £60 cashback in a supermarket self checkout till. I went back the next day with zero expectation of getting it back, but they had filed it away neatly by date order in a plastic wallet and checked my debit card to verify it was my money.

Keep the money and advise him to keep his mouth shut.

It's the same as finding a bottle and returning it for the deposit. He's doing the work so it's his money.

Why does he need to keep his mouth shut if he’s doing nothing wrong/entitled to the money. If you’re a member of the public and you find a trolley with a £1 in it then it’s fair game but if you’re employed to collect the trolleys then unfortunately the situation is different. If it was up to me I’d say perk of the job, let him have it but he works for whichever supermarket and they make the rules here. Personally if it was my child I wouldn’t have thought of it being a nice way to make some extra money, I’d have told him to speak to his manager. Now whether he would have taken my advice is another matter.