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?

If you put a coin on the wall of someone's garden and walk away, who owns the coin?Is it the owner of the wall?Is it the person who finds it there?

£1 coin in a trolley is the same. The lazy person would rather lose a pound than return the trolley.It certainly is not the S/mkts!It is an abandoned coin.

@Dinga591 They are completely separate things. You can't compare.
Why would someone put a coin on someone's garden wall? What would the purpose of it be?

The purpose of the £1 coin in the trolley is to release the trolley for use, and have your £1 refunded when you return the trolley. it's a deposit.

If you forget it, then by law it's the supermarket's. It's their trolley on their land. You gave it as a deposit. It's your fault if you forget to retrieve it.

It does not belong to the staff member who finds it unless this is specifically part of their contract 'You can keep coins left in the trolleys.'

Legally and morally it ought to be handed back to the store.

The point someone else made about the store making enough money by putting up prices is not the point. Following that logic, we could all steal from shops and be justified in doing so!

@DeliciouslyDecadent...
Are you sure of your facts regarding the law?
Having worked in a S/mkt, albeit for only 3 months, I would argue the case.
I would also argue that the laziness of the person not returning the trolley is almost equal to the coin dropped on the wall

You need to ask yourself this.

If you reported the ‘crime’ to the police would they prosecute or caution the ‘offender’. The answer here in both cases is no.

I'm 100% sure there isn't a line in the supermarket P+L for 'trolley coins' 🤨

Leftover ones will go into the pocket of whoever finds them, or a charity tub probably. It's hardly the crime of the century.

Your wall analogy is just wrong. Can't you see the difference?

Why would anyone leave money on a wall for no reason?

The coin is there as a deposit. It belongs to the company if the shopper forgets to retrieve it. It doesn't belong to any member of staff who happens to find it.

Now of course, it's unlikely there would be a prosecution because it's a small amount of money. But the moral principle is the same- taking something that doesn't belong to you.

Just because staff are on a low wage or food prices are high doesn't give them the moral high ground to pilfer money left by customers.

@DeliciouslyDecadent The laziness of the shopper is what I said. Nobody forgets to return the trolley.
They are just TOO idle to do so.
Thus they are giving up any ownership.
And the shop cannot claim on it as it wouldn't be there if the shopper wasn't so lazy.

Your lack of logical thinking is shocking.

The fact the shopper doesn't retrieve their money is not the issue.

How can you not see the obvious?

The money is a deposit. Blaming the shopper for not putting the trolley back and saying the money is for staff who find their trolley is wrong.

It does not belong to the young lad doing his p/t job.

He should hand it in.

A store manager should have this covered and have a charity box for these coins.

😂

I'd question my choice of friend if they were aghast at such a thing. She sounds annoying.

People certainly have higher expectations of entry level supermarket staff now, compared to when I worked in Tesco 25 years ago.

The rightful place of the coin is in the trolley when in use around the store and carpark, and in the pocket of whomever returns it to its station. You put the trolley back, you take the coin. There is no moment when the coin should be handed over to the supermarket. The function of the coin is to encourage people to return trolleys. If they don't, they relingquish their coin not to the supermarket, but to the person who returns the trolley. The act of doing this, earns you a coin.

Also why is your friend having a go at your lovely son who has got himself a job! Your DS sounds great and she sounds awful!

Also why is your friend having a go at your lovely son who has got himself a job! Your DS sounds great and she sounds awful!

This!

Imagine actually trying to argue the point that multi million pound corporations who have in the last week been caught over inflating fuel prices are the good guys hard done to if their staff take pound coins left in their trolleys.

Some people really have skewed moral compasses.

There is not a contract of sale with the trolley's - you can even use tokens that are not currency to release them - therefore it is not the supermarket's money or property - it is that of the person who left it. The only person you could be classed as stealing from is the person who left it there.

I hope if anyone on the supermarket's side ever accidently leaves their bank card or purse/wallet at a a checkout never goes back to retrieve it as it's obviously now the supermarket's property at this stage...

And "gross misconduct ". Please.😁

If anyone who is a Manager would sack a young lad for doing it should take a hard look in the mirror at themselves.

It will be in breach of cash handling procedures, so yes, gross misconduct.

It will be in breach of cash handling procedures, so yes, gross misconduct.

Any monetary dealings within business follow strict protocol and breaking them will lead to dismissal.

@sunglassesonthetable I got fired for "gross misconduct" from a well known (but no longer in existence) department store for £5!
I used my staff discount to buy something for another member of staff who hadn't passed her probation. It was technically against the policy but I had worked there for 9 years with a completely clean record and several awards for going 'above and beyond'. I expected if anything a verbal or written warning but was suspended and then dismissed!

*It will be in breach of cash handling procedures, so yes, gross misconduct.

Any monetary dealings within business follow strict protocol and breaking them will lead to dismissal.*

And you "know" this?

You probably know lots of procedure and protocol and rules but when a supermarket giant fires a Saturday boy for GRoss Misconduct for keeping some £1 coins please sell it to the papers OP.

I think the word we're looking for here is
" proportional "

for keeping some £1 coins from a trolley

At the supermarket I work at keeping anything, of any value, you find in the course of doing your shift - whether that's £1 from a trolley, a bunch of flowers left behind at self scan or a bank card found on the floor - is classed as gross misconduct as there are policies in place for what to do with something that doesn't belong to you and how it is handled.

I am a union rep and I have been in meetings where people have been sacked over taking items that have low (or no) monetary value because it's not just the value of the item it's about the fact they have broken multiple policies in being dishonest.

whether that's £1 from a trolley, a bunch of flowers left behind at self scan or a bank card found on the floor

@melj1213 have you ever seen the trolley £1 coin issue actually come up?

A bank card is a totally different and much more serious scenario!

You can put in a foreign coin or a plastic token so the coin that has value surely isn’t classed as being a pound but it’s the token you put in the trolley. He could ask his manager what he should do in the case of finding tokens/coins in the trolleys. If the shop takes them back what is the procedure?

Yes, I know this. Any money you have at all during your shift is in breach of cash handling procedures, so you would be fired for it.

Cash handling is extremely serious, from £1 to £5000. The amount doesn’t matter, it’s the act.

It’s also why the majority of retail jobs don’t allow their workers to have pockets in their uniform.

But it is not cash that is in the supermarket's system! The coins in the trolleys don't make it to the account books. They are completely separate to anything that might go through the tills.

There is very obviously a difference between someone working on a checkout or on the shop floor having cash on them compared to a porter outside pushing trolleys about.

As has been said, it is in no way proportionate to fire someone for finding a quid in a trolley and not handing it over. It's not even the supermarket's money in the first place.