Would you take the money or not in this situation?

Poll

If I was in this situation I would...

So the other night I was listening to an old Ricky Gervais XFM podcast and a conversation came up that was pretty interesting.

They were talking about finding stray cash on the floor and picking up a tenner etc and Stephan Merchant told a story about how when he was at uni he went to an ATM and found it had a card in it with the PIN already entered.

They discussed for a while what to do in this situation.

Merchant said he checked the balance and then he admitted that he took £30 from the account.

Gervais was appalled and said that this was stealing and in no way ok.

Pilkington also disagreed and said that he would only take £20 as a finders fee.

I had quite a strong opinion on this subject so I wanted to see what you guys thought... what would you do (honestly) if you were put in this situation?

What you take the money? If so, how much?

Reply 1

M14B

I need some money
:biggrin:

Reply 2

Davalla

I'd either take a large sum (e.g. 70%) or take nothing at all. £30 is barely anything but is still theft; at least steal an amount that is worth something.

Reply 3

DiddyDec01

I don't have a need for money so I wouldn't take anything.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 4

acupofgreentea

I would have taken the card out and found somewhere to hand it in. Just because it's available doesn't mean you are justified in taking it. It's the same way you wouldn't take a twenty pound note someone has out when visiting someone's house.

The other day, I went to a self service check out and hadn't realised someone had left a couple pound of change until my change had come out. I proceeded to count my change out and let a staff member know someone had left their change. Safe to say, I wouldn't steal directly from someone's bank. :rofl:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

Nameless Ghoul

No, I am not a thief. But that's classic Steve. "It's not the 50p; it's the principle."

Reply 6

claireestelle

I d go and hand the card in.

Reply 7

Kvothe the Arcane

Probably wouldn't take it. It might be another story if I were starving and really poor though.

I would take the card to the police or something. I wouldn't feel bad taking money from the floor though. Impossible to return and someone else would just take it.

Reply 8

Rum Ham

I wouldn't. I would be too scared I would get caught and tbh, if I needed the lend of £20/30, I could just ask my mum or gran and that would be it. There would be no need to steal. The card could belong to someone vulnerable and needs the money more than me.

Reply 9

Biryani007

Original post by acupofgreentea

Loool I once saw a couple of pennies and a 5p left in the change area and my conscience wouldn't let me put it in my wallet with the rest of my change. I put it my pocket telling myself I'd put it in the next charity box I saw on behalf of the person who left it :rofl:

Reply 10

Vennec

I would leave all the money in and hand it straight in at either the Police Station, the bank or the University. You never know what someones' circumstances are and what they need to pay for.

Taking any amount without the cardholder's consent is theft, pure and simple. They may have left the card in the ATM for some reason, and they would absolutely be at fault for that, but unless given express permission you don't have authority to access their accounts or their funds. Regardless of how much was in the account or who it was if you have a lot to pay for or an inflexible budget then even that £30 or £20 going missing can potentially make your life very difficult.

Generic you there, by the way. Not referring to anyone in particular.

But yeah, that's my input. Merchant was very disrespectful and greedy to take any amount from the cardholder.

Edit: if it were just a £10 note on the floor then that's just bad luck and a semi-expensive lesson depending on your circumstances. Unless I saw the guy drop it I wouldn't have any way of handing it back. I did find a £20 note on the ground once, I figure some guy must've pulled his hands out of his pocket and pulled that with him. It's unfortunate but I did keep that since there was nobody to claim it.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 11

thefatone

i really need the money given the current situation i'm in >.> but why would i take something that's not mine? It's stealing something and this leads to you being classed as a thief.... so no