How Honest Are You?

[jeffrey]

If someone dropped a wallet with $2.10 and a $50.00 gift certificate inside along with some miscellaneous items and a clearly written ID card identifying the lost wallet's rightful owner, would you return it? If this test was done 100 times with random people on the street, how many people do you believe would return the money?




That is exactly what WalletTest.com did: "100 wallets dropped in front of hidden cameras to test honesty..."

The findings? Overall, people are honest with 74% returning the wallet and 26% keeping it.

To find out more information on the test and how the wallets were returned according to race, sex and age, you can do so at Wallet Test

[shadon]

I would definitely return it intact (I'd be a fool to admit otherwise ). Seriously, I am a big believer in "what goes around, comes around" and have experienced it first hand in good and bad ways so I would definitely return the wallet.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'd have to return it for sure. No questions ask, considering I've lost my wallet (dropped it) 3 times and had it returned to me 3x, um it'd just be bad karma. Anyone who knows me, knows I lose everything, and if not for good karma, I'd be SOL. So I'd have to return no questions asked.

The first time I lost my wallet, I remember thinking geez, I'll never get it back, but I did. The person mailed it to me. Second and third times too.

[Bookie]

Try that expriment with wallets containing $250 in cash.

My observation is that the likelihood of a wallet/purse being turned in is inversely proportional to the immediate value of the contents to the finder.

Don't get a lot of umbrellas turned in during rainstorms either.

[pearlieq]

The website's really interesting. If you have time, listen to the phone calls of the people who called the experimenter trying to redeem his gift certificate. They're hysterical!

[Broken Arrow]

I'd return it in full. End of story.

[Thrifty Ray]

I would return it. I actually found a very thinck wallet in las vegas once on the casino floor. I didnt even open it...just turned it into the Pit Boss.

DD3 found an organzier with cash, ss#, DL, cc's etc...and called right away. The guy was so grateful he told her to keep the $20 and we mailed it back to him...he mailed a thank you card with another $20 to cover the postage and as an additional thank you.

I know Id be grateful if I lost something like that and it was returned intact.

[rduell]

I would definitely return it. I would want anyone to do the same for me if I had lost mine.

[Aleta]

I would return it too. How about people who see you drop something and just pick it up and not let you know that they found it. Talking about dishonesty! I had that happen to me recently. I left a small change purse on a self-check out counter and the person behind me had to know that I had left it there. So, as soon as I missed it - it was gone. I didn't care about the change, but I did care about the change purse. It was a gift.

[simpleyme]

I am definitely a wallet returner even tho events have happened to weaken my spirit of giving

I was at work and found a 50 dollar bill in front of the till (WOOHOO)
a regular customer came in all a panic,he lost a 50 dollar bill ! oh crap,o well I tell him i found it give it back to him and he skips merrily away

about 6 months later I am helping this same customer at the till he starts acting funny(people always act a little weird when you ring something up wrong in their favor or give out to much change)
as he was leaving I suddenly realized I had screwed up and gave him back 5 extra dollars in change(totally my stupidity)

so I gave this a## hole his 50 dollars back and he still chooses to take my 5 bucks
with that said I would still return found money ,but also I am more careful in my job

[Aleta]

It's like the saying," dogs are going to do what dogs do and be dogs". There's always someone like that out there. You're different. That's the difference between us and them. Not to mention how their kids see them and learn from them.

[Elgin526]

Of course I'd turn it in! I'd want someone to do the same for me, afterall.

[baking23]

Originally Posted by jeffrey

If someone dropped a wallet with $2.10 and a $50.00 gift certificate inside along with some miscellaneous items and a clearly written ID card identifying the lost wallet's rightful owner, would you return it? >

This happened just the other day, $20 bucks fell out of a woman's purse in front of me in line. No one noticed, and I picked it up and gave it back to her. Although I wanted to keep it, I didn't, she was polite and thanked me.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

There's no question to me. Of course I'd return it. I've found wallets on the street twice and returned them completely intact.

More grandly, I once found a leather bag containing cloth bank deposit bags with money and lots of receipts. It had been rifled through and most of the money taken, but some was still there. I found it in tall weeds while collecting a plant specimen for a botany lab. Would have been easy to keep, but of course I turned it in to police.

Husband once found a man's wallet. He called the man and made arrangements to drive to a nearby town to meet the guy and give him the wallet. It was a half hour drive out, and the guy did not even have the manners to say thanks.

[kealina]

i'd return it... of course, after reading something about how the staff might keep it (or pocket the money), i'm thinking if i ever find another wallet i'd try to return it personally... i also pick up stuff and give it to people if i know where it came from...

i return things all the time.....i lost my wallet several times when i was younger and at least twice have had people kind enough to either turn it in or return it... of course, i probably almost never had more than $20 in there and i think sometimes it came back without cash but i was happy just to have my ID's back...then it was stolen... oh well...
i still believe in karma...

[Ima saver]

I have found a wallet once, also twice a credit card. I called the people and they came to pick up their property. Once, i lost my purse and got it back in the grocery store. I sent the woman that found it a check for $100. I didnot have much money in my purse, but I had a special pin that my father gave me in that purse. The pin was more than 40 years old and I carried it for good luck. Now I keep it at home.

[laceshawl]

I once found a wallet with $30 in it, handed in to the police station. The cop who took notes kept saying, this is really honest of you. He was only a young guy, and i guess he'd seen enough to make him cynical already. I hope i did a little to restore his faith in human nature. a week later I got a letter saying the owner had claimed it.

[mom-from-missouri]

I've been told by a retired mail carrier that if you drop a found wallet or purse in a post office mail box the PO will return them to the address on the ID.

[frugalmomof1]

When I was 16 I was walking in the mall and found a folded dollar bill, I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I didn't even look at what the bill was at first but when I did I saw that it was $100. I kept it. If I were to find a $100 bill in a mall today I would bring it to customer service.
A few months later I found an envelope in the same mall filled with cash and gift certificates...I brought that to customer service.
If I see someone drop money, I will return it to them. If I found a wallet or change purse or pocketbook I would do return it to the police dept or send it to its owner. If I ever find more than a dollar or two inside of a store I would bring it to customer service. But I think any loose bills outdoors are fair game (unless it is a very large amount).

[crazyliblady]

When I lived in a big metropolitan city about 2 years ago, I was walking down the street that runs over the light rail train. A lady dropped her credit card and it fell on the ground. I said to her several times, "Ma'am" before getting her attention, and then told her she dropped the card. Most of all, it seemed really irresponsible to even have a credit card out of her purse on the city street. After all, it was not a shopping district and definitely not the best part of town. In that area, there is a medical school and a couple of hospitals and a lot of weird people hanging about.

Another time when I was living out in western Kansas, I got my credit card bill in the mail, except that there were two pages and the amount seemed wrong. I was about to call the number when I noticed the name on one of the pages was not mine. It was for some guy who lived in the same town as me. I put it in an enveloped with a letter explaining the whole thing, because I thought he would probably freak out just getting a bill in an ordinary envelope.

Many years ago, my mom was in Wal-mart on payday. She had just cashed a paycheck and so had a lot of cash in her purse. She turned around and her purse was gone. She went to the customer service desk, thinking for sure it was gone for good, but she got her purse back with all the money still in it. There are still honest people in the world, but they seem to be getting fewer and farther between.