Finders Keepers...

[billybones]

Finders keepers, is that the way we should think??

Let`s say you had just gone into your McDonalds drive thru, and as you reach into your bag you discover that you have been given 2 cheeseburgers but you had only ordered 1. Is it because the crew member was trying to flirt with you or was it an honest mistake?
Do you turn the car around and return it or just shrug your shoulders and eat it.

Should an employee pay the employer for a mistake made regardless of if it was something worth $1 or $100? Honest mistakes happen but what if the worker was just being foolish and acting the goat when they should have been concentrating more.

 

[BigBoy69]

Great question, and one that I fight with myself over quite regularly.
These days I tend to take it on a case by case basis, depending on a number of things. In your case at Maccas, I'd probably return it, unless of course I'd already driven away and was now on the other side of town. Also, as I sadly find all too often these days, the staff do not concentrate - fooling with other staff / on phone / don't care attitude etc etc. In these cases I say "stuff 'em!!!". It's their problem.
Overall I don't think this is a black & white issue, especially in the case of staff being held financially liable for mistakes.

 

[Alecia the Foxx]

In terms of "finders keepers;" in NZ it doesen't work that way. We have a criminal charge entitled, "stealing by finding," in other words, you can't claim to own something because you found it. No idea if that is the same in Australian law.

 

[BigBoy69]

Yes, similar legislation in Australia, or Western Australia at least. You find something, you hand it to the police to deal with. I also believe that if the item isn't claimed within a given period of time, then you are now the new owner of said item.
Having said all of that, I can't imagine anybody having any issue with police if they didn't return the extra BigMac they found in their bag when they arrived home from Maccas

 

[Alecia the Foxx]

LOLOLOL ...

"I can't imagine anybody having any issue with police if they didn't return the extra BigMac they found in their bag when they arrived home from Maccas"

I totally agree!

 

[WRXXXR]

You can't really dock an employees pay for making mistakes. Fair Work Australia would have a few things to say about that!

In the fast food game, their mistake is simply your gain. No one in their right mind would take a cheeseburger back and maccas doesn't care about a cheeseburger that costs 50c.

Case by case of course. If the bank puts a couple of G's extra in your account by mistake they sure as hell expect you to give it back. I found $3650 in $50 notes in an envelope in the bank about 8 weeks ago. I did the right thing and handed it in. Had that been $50 on a city street, it would have gone straight into my pocket.

I also found this watch at Scarborough that I handed in to the police a few years ago. 12 months on i got a knock on the door about 7.30am with 2 cops giving me this watch back because no one claimed it. Had it valued at around 3k and lost it about 3 months ago. I think the cops these days just sell it at auctions??

 

[BigBoy69]

I once took my mum & sister out for coffee / cake at a well known cafe in Mount Lawley. We were there quite awhile, and didn't hold back on the food. The bill came to around $45.00. When I went up to the counter to pay, the staff member was chatting on the phone (sounded very much like a private call too!). Instead of excusing himself to the person on the phone, or even politely asking me to wait a minute (if it was a business call), he attempted to keep chatting and deal with the cash purchase at the same time.
Fool!!
He ran up $45 on the till. I gave him a $50 note. He then proceeded to mistakenly give me $45 change. WTF!! I didn't blink an eyelid. I just turned round and walked out with mum & sister behind me.

Innocent mistake???
...Nope! Stupid carelessness, and my gain.

 

[Miss O]

I agree with" finders keepers" you lose its bad luck..

 

[David_San]

I've been fucked over by Maccas drive thru so many times that when they do fuck up and give me too much or extra shit I didn't order I just figure its the universe's way of evening things out.

 

[Gentleman]

I think Maccas normally don't give you everything that you order, let alone give you extra. Once food is handed out the window at a drive through it's a waste of time giving it back. They would not be able to resell it and only put in in the bin anyway.

Some employees at fast food places can't even count money. Even when the till says to give x amount of change they don't know how to add up notes and coins.

 

[mydnytgoddess]

I like to believe that honesty would always win... If it was an over payment, a general screw you to the boss, it will all come back and bite you on the butt when you least expect it so therefore truth all the way

 

[Fudd]

In terms of "finders keepers;" in NZ it doesen't work that way. We have a criminal charge entitled, "stealing by finding," in other words, you can't claim to own something because you found it. No idea if that is the same in Australian law.

....in WA, the issue of "finders keepers" is dealt with under the Law of Torts and Property Law (and in some cases, Common Law). But, the bottom line is the same, ie just because you find something doesn't mean that you are legally entitled to be considered the owner of that something. The key issue here is that there is an obligation on the finder to endeavour to identify the legal owner of the lost item. Should the legal owner not be identified or located, then finder has the right to claim ownership of the lost item. Obviously, common sense would also prevail as this is not a "black or white" issue and the circumstances concerned would have a bearing on the outcome.

As for receiving more change at a till or an extra big mac, that one is easy.......technically it's considered theft.

Fudd

 

[gazzman]

I find I keep. Best thing i found was a gold ring at the beach. Gave it to my ex (told her i got it at cashies) but we broke up a month after so it must of been bad karma.

 

[svengali]

Yep, there is the law in black and white and then there is morality and custom with all its shades of grey.

I like to regard myself as honest and will always return extra cash if a Bank teller or checkout clerk makes a mistake. Wealthy corporation or pensioner it doesn't make any difference who the beneficiary is. As Granny used to say "right is right and wrong is no man's right." You do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

 

[johnlou]

Yep, there is the law in black and white and then there is morality and custom with all its shades of grey.

I like to regard myself as honest and will always return extra cash if a Bank teller or checkout clerk makes a mistake. Wealthy corporation or pensioner it doesn't make any difference who the beneficiary is. As Granny used to say "right is right and wrong is no man's right." You do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

hi svengali i have to agree with you 100%

John

 

[RICHIE2012]

I once took my mum & sister out for coffee / cake at a well known cafe in Mount Lawley. We were there quite awhile, and didn't hold back on the food. The bill came to around $45.00. When I went up to the counter to pay, the staff member was chatting on the phone (sounded very much like a private call too!). Instead of excusing himself to the person on the phone, or even politely asking me to wait a minute (if it was a business call), he attempted to keep chatting and deal with the cash purchase at the same time.
Fool!!
He ran up $45 on the till. I gave him a $50 note. He then proceeded to mistakenly give me $45 change. WTF!! I didn't blink an eyelid. I just turned round and walked out with mum & sister behind me.

Innocent mistake???
...Nope! Stupid carelessness, and my gain.

Mate, you display a crass approach to life - that's theft and nothing special to boast about even under a pseudonym!

olice::nono:

 

[BigBoy69]

If you took some time to read the rest of my posts on this thread (starting with post #2 in this thread), you'll see that your self-righteous accusation is purely unfounded & inaccurate...and as you don't know me, and have made the accusation based on this post, makes it a pretty uninformed, narrow-minded accusation at best. Oh, and if asked, I would and in fact have told the story without the pseudonym!!
Based on other posts made in this thread, Richard, I notice that Alecia The Foxx, and WRXXXR at least partially agree with me, along with Miss O, David San, and possibly Gentleman (at a stretch). So you might like to have a swipe at them too while you're at it!!!

If, if...IF after doing that your opinion of me has not changed, then read my avatar.

 

[WRXXXR]

Mate, you display a crass approach to life - that's theft and nothing special to boast about even under a pseudonym!

olice::nono:

If someone is to busy doing personal stuff at work and aren't interested in dealing with you then it's tough luck if they make a mistake. It's bloody rude to serve or expect to be served by someone whilst on the phone.

 

[billybones]

If someone is to busy doing personal stuff at work and aren't interested in dealing with you then it's tough luck if they make a mistake. It's bloody rude to serve or expect to be served by someone whilst on the phone.

That is one of my pet hates as well, serve the customer in front of you if you are meant to be working and if your the one being served either call or ask the person calling you to call back.

 

[svengali]

That is one of my pet hates as well, serve the customer in front of you if you are meant to be working and if your the one being served either call or ask the person calling you to call back.

Amen to that.

If my 'phone rings whle I am talking to a customer I let it go to messaging and pick it up later. The way I see it if a second customer came through the door while I was serving someone he/she would wait their turn. 'Phone callers can do the same.

 

[Saige]

I believe honesty is the best policy...I have called then ran down the rear alley to deliver back $50 to someone who accidentally overpaid. Do unto others....I would hope that people would do the same to me, and you know when something like that happens I always gets a little flutter and think yay, I love it when people think of others before themselves.

HOWEVER an extra cheeseburger...if you returned it I think it is policy to throw it out anyway as you dont know if it has been tampered with so, in that case McDonalds can afford it and it was going in the rubbish anyway....plus you dont want to get that poor little 15 year old in toruble who was probably thinking about the really hot chick he want to ask out but doesnt know how........x

 

[RICHIE2012]

If you took some time to read the rest of my posts on this thread (starting with post #2 in this thread), you'll see that your self-righteous accusation is purely unfounded & inaccurate...and as you don't know me, and have made the accusation based on this post, makes it a pretty uninformed, narrow-minded accusation at best. Oh, and if asked, I would and in fact have told the story without the pseudonym!!
Based on other posts made in this thread, Richard, I notice that Alecia The Foxx, and WRXXXR at least partially agree with me, along with Miss O, David San, and possibly Gentleman (at a stretch). So you might like to have a swipe at them too while you're at it!!!

If, if...IF after doing that your opinion of me has not changed, then read my avatar.

Touched a bit of nerve did I?

Yes - I did reach my opinion based on your post - that is the thing that is under review when someone responds.

Bad manners on the part of an employee doesn't entitle you to rip off the owner - especially when you have just enjoyed a good feed!

You just can't dress it up in any other way.

I am not narrow minded just commenting on what I read in your post, mate.

:laughing4

 

[RICHIE2012]

If someone is to busy doing personal stuff at work and aren't interested in dealing with you then it's tough luck if they make a mistake. It's bloody rude to serve or expect to be served by someone whilst on the phone.

I agree about the rudeness arising from the way people give priority to mobile phones - the whole etiquette (or lack thereof) of mobile phones is awful.

But as they say in the classics - "two wrongs don't make a right"!

:icon_salu

 

[Alecia the Foxx]

Touched a bit of nerve did I?

Yes - I did reach my opinion based on your post - that is the thing that is under review when someone responds.

Bad manners on the part of an employee doesn't entitle you to rip off the owner - especially when you have just enjoyed a good feed!

You just can't dress it up in any other way.

I am not narrow minded just commenting on what I read in your post, mate.

:laughing4

I totally agree, Ritchie, and for the record, I did not agree with what BB69 said in his original post. I did concede that probably no-one is going to spack out over a burger at Maccas but Fudd is right. Tehnically it is theft.

 

[Chained]

I believe theft too; its also bad karma lol

 

[bushseeker]

You can't really dock an employees pay for making mistakes. Fair Work Australia would have a few things to say about that!

actually its totally illegal to take money out of an employees pay without consent, and you think your covered because your empyment contract they sighned says you can if they dish out too many big macs - uh uh, consent can withdrawn at any time

 

[bushseeker]

in the burger case - definitly keep it, if you return it they should bin it anyway, how do they know how old it is and for all anyone knows your dog might have jizzed in it prior to return - any one seen van wilder??

 

[jlmiller]

That's a tough one, I think it depends on the situation, once I found a large sum of money in a car park by where a person would have dropped it out of their car . there was no way of finding the person so I kept it. On another occasion I was at a restaurant and the cashier gave me too much in cash and I corrected her and she was very grateful. I think my thoughts are if I can rectify the situation on the spot then fine, whereas if there is a lot of red tape to go through forget it.

 

[Alecia the Foxx]

If you find a large amount of money in a situation like that, jmiller, you are legally supposed to hand it in to the police station, and they will attempt to find the owner. I know that is the situation in NZ, and I am pretty sure it is the same or similar in Oz. Fudd would be the one to comment on that. You run the risk of facing the charge of "Stealing by finding" if you don't.