Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Who owns a pound left in supermarket trolley?

500 replies

Zippyzoppy · 03/07/2023 21:15

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?

OP posts:
Reugny · 04/07/2023 10:14

sandgrown · 04/07/2023 06:47

My cousin used to be a road sweeper. He made lots of money from dropped coins. He found lots round bus shelters on Sunday mornings after the Saturday night drunks had dropped them. Not sure he ever declared his “income”

A road sweeper like several other roles I can think off are allowed money on them while working to buy refreshments when they have a break. Lots of retailer workers on the other hand aren't allowed to have money on them.

Reugny · 04/07/2023 10:15

Pressthespacebar · 04/07/2023 10:12

I always leave my trolley with a pound in so someone else can use it, I didn’t think of the person who collects them taking it 😂

Or my now 4 year old.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/07/2023 10:17

Whoever finds it is allowed to keep it, as far as I’m concerned. I’d just hope it’s usually someone who needs to count the pennies.

IamnotHWhittier · 04/07/2023 10:17

if it belongs to the supermarket then a coin found on the street should technically belong to highways.
would be all be handing that money into the local council.
No
I think it’s your sons to keep.

SimonsCow · 04/07/2023 10:19

I’ve left my £1 several times at our local supermarket when I had a small baby and a toddler as the trolley park bits are not in sight of the parent and child spaces.

I would much rather the money went to the poor person who has to tidy the trolley away rather than the idiots who have a car park designed like that.

Carpediemmakeitcount · 04/07/2023 10:20

Your friend sound cuckoo

Pressthespacebar · 04/07/2023 10:20

Reugny · 04/07/2023 10:15

Or my now 4 year old.

Show quote history

lol doesn’t bother me.

I have babies so park in the parent and child spaces. When I see a trolley right next to my space that’s been left there I’m always glad as it means I dont have to leave my babies and toddlers in the car while I go and get one. If I do then my 3 year old will smash his head against the windows and even manage to get out of his seat (asd)

I suppose I leave it there in case someone else is like me and it makes it easier for them.

shiningstar2 · 04/07/2023 10:21

The pound didn't belong to the supermarket in the first place ...it belonged to the person who left it there ...who can't be identified. Just like a pound you find lying on the pavement. A wallet left lying in the bottom of a trolley ...of course he would hand it in. A mislaid pound ...it's his.

SOBplus · 04/07/2023 10:21

I would say its a tip because the person didn't want the bother of returning the cart and paid £1 to whoever returned it for them.

lilacsinbloom · 04/07/2023 10:22

ProudToBeANorthener · 04/07/2023 07:00

We have always encouraged our children to put any money that they find into a charity box if it isn’t possible to find the owner and we do the same. It sends an awful message to let them keep anything that they find. It’s £1 today but if they find more will they keep that too without thought for the owner? It seems a shabby way to behave; how would you feel if the boot was on the other foot?

But this money hasn't been lost. It has been abandoned, written off.

sunglassesonthetable · 04/07/2023 10:22

*The policy will be in his employee handbook which he will have been told to read. That is his responsibility to do so, so if it’s in there he’ll be expected to know it and follow it.

Ignorance is no excuse.*

So " Gross Misconduct " it is. 😁Like I said please sell that story to the Daily Mail OP.

shiningstar2 · 04/07/2023 10:23

I agree with @SOBplus ...it's a tip.

Annonymiss123 · 04/07/2023 10:24

CakeBeautifulCake · 03/07/2023 21:17

That's his little bonus for doing a tedious job! Whoever left it has basically tipped him it to take his trolley back imo! Nothing to do with his employers. Would love to see Asda chase down Janice for stealing a quid she found in a trolley!

This! ^^

The £ was never owned by the supermarket in the first place, so how can he be stealing from them?

Emeraldrings · 04/07/2023 10:24

I doubt any of the supermarkets would give a toss. They make millions, they aren't going to care if someone who is probably on minimum wage takes a £1 from the trolley.
If he was talking it from a till then he'd be stealing but the £1 from the trolley isn't given to the supermarket anyway, so finders keepers.
Just as an side I used to work at Aside and all the trolley attendants did this.

Emotionalsupportviper · 04/07/2023 10:26

chocolateisavegetable · 03/07/2023 21:17

Of course he’s not stealing! What a crazy suggestion.

This!

Strictly speaking the money still belongs to the person who left it - it should be recorded and the date and time made a note of in case someone comes back for it.

In practical terms no-one is going to come back for a quid. No reason why your son shouldn't keep it.

If your friend found a pound in the street (or in a supermarket aisle) would she hand it in? I'll bet she wouldn't - sanctimonious c0w.

CharlieRight · 04/07/2023 10:27

FabFitFifties · 03/07/2023 21:47

Your friend is an arse - don't tell her anything else.

this

Iwasafool · 04/07/2023 10:27

I think the main thing is not to be discussing what your son does with random people. It is his business so leave the poor lad alone. If it was my pound he's welcome to it.

RedToothBrush · 04/07/2023 10:27

PeachesOnTheBeaches · 03/07/2023 23:15

The supermarket will likely have a policy on this.

Cash handling procedures will mean he cannot have money on shift, particularly money that isn’t his (a lot of retail jobs have a no tips rule anyway, not that people really tip in retail but just in case), so if he is caught and it’s against their policy they could fire him for gross misconduct.

So whether we think it’s finders keepers or not, he needs to play this carefully with his employers.

This

I personally thought the unofficial rule was that if you fine a trolley with a pound still in, you use it then put it back but don't click it in so that the next person doesn't have to faff about with coins and the poor bastard who gets there and finds they've got no change can get a trolley.

I have a trolley coin on my keyring to avoid the issue. I've left one before by accident so there was one very disappointed 'finders keeper' that day...

Absolem76 · 04/07/2023 10:29

The supermarket doesn't need the money. It's fine for him to keep it. Like someone leaving a tip on a table in a restaurant, they wouldn't give it to the restaurant owners

Mooselaurels · 04/07/2023 10:31

When I worked in retail (many moons ago) the rule was that any money that you got "given" (people buggering off who didn't want their change, etc) had to be put in the charity tin.

I suppose if the supermarket was a stickler for the rules they could argue that keeping the £1 from the trollies is theft by finding, but I think it's unlikely.

Absolem76 · 04/07/2023 10:33

tend to think legally it's the supermarket's money
I'm not sure legally it does belong to the supermarket doesn't it belong to the person who left it in the trolly? It's not a payment it's a deposit and has never been the supermarkets property

BezMills · 04/07/2023 10:37

definitely a pocket job, 100%. Back in the 80s, the Fine Fare (remember them?) had a 20p scheme for trolleys and a couple of entrepreneurial teens would patrol the car park bringing trolleys back, making quite decent money (considering 1989 in a low income town)

deets · 04/07/2023 10:38

I would say it belongs to the person who puts the trolley away. My children loved to put away my trolley as sometimes I forgot to ask for it. Though on one occasion when they went to put away a trolley, a woman offered them a pound for it. As they had been taught, they refused the money from a stranger. She waited until I came out and, believe it or not, complained to me that they didn't do it. I praised them for doing as they had been told and then explained that in this case it would have been alright. Don't think she liked my response

HunkaMunkasslipper · 04/07/2023 10:43

I'm in the 'Finders keepers losers weepers' camp on this one.

Just make sure he doesn't tell anyone 😄

Bringonthesunforthewashing · 04/07/2023 10:46

When my ds12 was about 4 he found a £2 coin on the floor in Superdrug, he was over the moon.

The shop assistant saw him find it and made him put it in the charity box.

He started to cry, I couldn’t believe she had made him do it, very cruel.

She went on to tell him that the money belonged to the shop as found in the shop and taking it would be theft.

Swipe left for the next trending thread