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:
AllyCart · 04/07/2023 10:48

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

It's fine for him to keep it on the grounds that the supermarket doesn't need the money? Is this how some people's thought process really works? Perhaps he should help himself to other stuff, too.

It's not ok for him to keep it if his contract or other rules say he can't keep it. It's nothing to do with the profitability of his employer.

They are well within their rights to dictate what happens to money left in the trolleys which he's collecting whilst performing the job they are paying him for.

Plasticplantpot · 04/07/2023 10:48

Sounds like the plot of The Terminal.

Minikievs · 04/07/2023 10:49

Tell him not to tell his supervisor etc.
But 100% it's his to keep.

I still remember going round all the lockers at the swimming pool when I was little-the joy of finding a forgotten 10p!!

Absolem76 · 04/07/2023 10:49

keeping money found on the floor of the store.
I think that is different though in these cases the customer has probably dropped the money and might come back for it Money left in a trolly is left deliberately not lost.

MissChanandlerB0NG · 04/07/2023 10:49

DS deserves the tip.

Tell him to keep quiet about it at work to other colleagues. We all know that one person who'll make an issue out of it.

Twoscotcheggsandajarofmarmite · 04/07/2023 10:50

I am a manager in a supermarket and I would be very disappointed in any staff member I found pocketing trolley coins. The accepted thing here is that any coins are handed in to be put in to the charity box. It’s not stealing exactly but it does show a weakness of character.
Staff are handling money on a daily basis, I need to know they are scrupulous about it. What if they found a tenner in the car park? Or on the shop floor? Where does ‘finders keepers’ end?

m00rfarm · 04/07/2023 10:51

It would end up in the charity box as I imagine it would not be straightforward for the supermarket to account for it in the shop

burnoutbabe · 04/07/2023 10:52

WelshNerd · 03/07/2023 23:23

I worked in a supermarket 20 years ago and any money I found I would have to be handed in to a supervisor. Lost property and would typically end up being donated to charity if unclaimed. I should imagine things are stricter now if anything. I'd be incredibly surprised if the policy is for the staff member to keep it. He should definitely check with a manager.

Yes I agree it should be handed in, same as £5 found on The floor in the store

CornishGem1975 · 04/07/2023 10:56

Keep it schtum but pocket that quid!

Blossomtoes · 04/07/2023 10:58

burnoutbabe · 04/07/2023 10:52

Yes I agree it should be handed in, same as £5 found on The floor in the store

Show quote history

It’s not the same though. The £5 is on the floor by accident; the £1 in the trolley is there by the owner’s choice.

PeachesOnTheBeaches · 04/07/2023 11:00

CornishGem1975 · 04/07/2023 10:56

Keep it schtum but pocket that quid!

This is also why a lot of retail places don’t have pockets in their uniform at all.

DemonicCaveMaggot · 04/07/2023 11:02

He needs to ask his supervisors. I suspect they will say he can keep it.

I found a pound coin in Tesco and tried to give it to an employee at the self service tills. He just looked at it in disgust and waved me away. I think it would have been more trouble than it was worth to add it to a till and put the total out at cashing up time. I think your DS's managers will feel the same way, but I have read stories of supermarket workers (in the US though) being fired for keeping money they have found lying in the supermarket. In those cases though the customers had clearly lost the money and were likely to come back for it, this is a bit different, but it would be good to know.

Rachykins · 04/07/2023 11:04

itsmylife7 · 03/07/2023 23:33

100% this.
She sounds the type to inform the supermarket about your son....don't trust her.

Show quote history

Exactly this! Your friend sounds like an uppity righteous do gooder and I’d be cautious of her being the type of person to inform about your son just because she feels she has some superior duty to.

if I found a pound in a trolley- I’d just pop it in my pocket too as would the majority of people. I’ve never seen anyone on crime watch for stealing pound coins out of trolleys 😂

SquirrelSoShiny · 04/07/2023 11:07

Your friend is a plonker.

Rachykins · 04/07/2023 11:09

Twoscotcheggsandajarofmarmite · 04/07/2023 10:50

I am a manager in a supermarket and I would be very disappointed in any staff member I found pocketing trolley coins. The accepted thing here is that any coins are handed in to be put in to the charity box. It’s not stealing exactly but it does show a weakness of character.
Staff are handling money on a daily basis, I need to know they are scrupulous about it. What if they found a tenner in the car park? Or on the shop floor? Where does ‘finders keepers’ end?

It’d suck to have a miserable manager like you. There’s a difference between a pound in a trolley that has deliberately been left there in the car park and someone dropping money on the shop floor by accident. I’ve also worked as a manager in retail and quite honestly wouldn’t begrudge a cheeky £1 being found and pocketed from a trolley. Perks of the job… lighten up 😂

ilovesushi · 04/07/2023 11:11

Putting the trolley back earns you a pound. He is earning a pound each time he does it. It's a nice tip.

AllyCart · 04/07/2023 11:14

ilovesushi · 04/07/2023 11:11

Putting the trolley back earns you a pound. He is earning a pound each time he does it. It's a nice tip.

He's being paid by the supermarket to collect trolleys.

Superdupes · 04/07/2023 11:16

I'm a pretty honest person but I'm amazed that anyone could be 'aghast' at this. Probably the same sort of person who thinks if you look through your DH's phone that it's a crime worth reporting to the police (from another thread).

When the CEO's of charities like Oxfam are paid £120,000 why are they more deserving of the pound than the OP's young son? Charities are now big businesses and with that ethics often go out the window - just look at all the allegations of sexual exploitation, I'd rather the money went to the OP's son.

MrsLilaAmes · 04/07/2023 11:16

I remember being on a very tight budget 20ish years ago - I had £20 for the weekly shop and my 'trolly pound' that I always kept separate. (Though £20 went a lot further then than today.) After I'd grabbed a trolly, before I'd made it properly into the shop, a friend called to me. When I turned around to say hello, some helpful staff member swiped my trolly - and trolly pound with it - and tidied it into the trolly park!

I was distraught about the pound knocked off my budget, but the staff member and manager were insistent that any coin 'left' in a trolly, including mine, had to be donated to charity.

I can see the sense in that as a policy, and I suppose £1 is not a lot to most people - the relative value is even less now. Difficult to begrudge it as a donation, though I certainly did on that occasion. Perhaps your son should check if a similar donation scheme is still in force?

Though, rather like communal tip jars in restaurants, I suppose there will be some staff who scrupulously add all coins to the donation jar and some who resolutely pocket everything...

Superdupes · 04/07/2023 11:20

Twoscotcheggsandajarofmarmite · 04/07/2023 10:50

I am a manager in a supermarket and I would be very disappointed in any staff member I found pocketing trolley coins. The accepted thing here is that any coins are handed in to be put in to the charity box. It’s not stealing exactly but it does show a weakness of character.
Staff are handling money on a daily basis, I need to know they are scrupulous about it. What if they found a tenner in the car park? Or on the shop floor? Where does ‘finders keepers’ end?

'Weakness of character'? what century are you living in. This is a kid trying to earn a little bit of money for himself, he's employed by the supermarket because he's young so they hardly have to pay him anything ie taking advantage of his age. Honestly I'd hate to work for a jobsworth like you who's probably getting paid a lot more than the poor trolley boy out in the rain - but doesn't give them a second thought.

No one has lost this pound, whoever left it behind is obviously not bothered about it, so why are you?

sunglassesonthetable · 04/07/2023 11:22

" a weakness of character "

Please.

wutheringkites · 04/07/2023 11:24

Twoscotcheggsandajarofmarmite · 04/07/2023 10:50

I am a manager in a supermarket and I would be very disappointed in any staff member I found pocketing trolley coins. The accepted thing here is that any coins are handed in to be put in to the charity box. It’s not stealing exactly but it does show a weakness of character.
Staff are handling money on a daily basis, I need to know they are scrupulous about it. What if they found a tenner in the car park? Or on the shop floor? Where does ‘finders keepers’ end?

Which supermarket do you work for? I'm sure I'll be able to find evidence of 'weakness of character' at the senior level of whatever the company in less than 5 mins.

ImSoShiney · 04/07/2023 11:28

It's more about his own personal integrity than anything else.
Theft by finding is a thing.
Your son needs to find out what the company policy is for this, it's his responsibility to know that.
If company policy says keep it, then fine.
If company policy says it goes in the petty cash, do that.
If company policy says it goes to charity, do that.
Whatever company policy is, follow it.
If there is no company policy on it, then seek clarification from management/union.

He's young, and it sounds like it's his first job, it might just be a supermarket, but you can go a long way in a supermarket, move up the levels fast and have management experience from a young age, by time he's left college/uni or whatever he could already have a career in retail management, it worth him showing he has the right attitude and integrity early on, because it will benefit him when he moves on to future careers.

It's not just a trolley pound.

sunglassesonthetable · 04/07/2023 11:33

He's young, and it sounds like it's his first job, it might just be a supermarket, but you can go a long way in a supermarket, move up the levels fast and have management experience from a young age, by time he's left college/uni or whatever he could already have a career in retail management, it worth him showing he has the right attitude and integrity early on, because it will benefit him when he moves on to future careers.

Or he could keep on high alert, be sharp eyed , pocket all the £1 s, save them and be entrepreneurial, invest in another bright idea and build a successful business.

It's not just a trolley pound.

Would make a great story.

wutheringkites · 04/07/2023 11:36

ImSoShiney · 04/07/2023 11:28

It's more about his own personal integrity than anything else.
Theft by finding is a thing.
Your son needs to find out what the company policy is for this, it's his responsibility to know that.
If company policy says keep it, then fine.
If company policy says it goes in the petty cash, do that.
If company policy says it goes to charity, do that.
Whatever company policy is, follow it.
If there is no company policy on it, then seek clarification from management/union.

He's young, and it sounds like it's his first job, it might just be a supermarket, but you can go a long way in a supermarket, move up the levels fast and have management experience from a young age, by time he's left college/uni or whatever he could already have a career in retail management, it worth him showing he has the right attitude and integrity early on, because it will benefit him when he moves on to future careers.

It's not just a trolley pound.

God this is patronising.