I found a bag with clothes and a receipt in, if I take them to the shop for a refund, am I breaking the law?

Question

I just want to know where I stand legally.

Well, you will all (mostly) be glad to know that I took the clothes back to the shop and handed them over for the person who bought them to claim them. I still think that if you spend £160 on 1 skirt and top then you should take a little more care of them and not leave them lying around. But the problem is no longer mine, and the girl in the shop never even thanked me!

Answer 1

I guess all lost items should be turned into the police station. If no one claims them after 30 days, -then they're yours to keep.

Otherwise, with out fraud, tell the store clerk "I'd like to return these for cash". Hopefully it wasn't a credit card purchase. And even if it was, you'd be doing the person a favor who 'lost' the bag, -since typically the credit card is credited the money back.


BTW.. here in America, - you're innocent until proven guilty. So don't be so arrogant as to think you know what a judge would say.

Answer 2

Yes, you are breaking the law. In the UK if you tried to return the goods for cash you would be guilty of Theft By Finding. If the punter paid by cash you might get away with it, but it would still be a crime, albeit a very minor one. If they paid by credit or debit card you won't get diddly. If you are caught and it's a trivial amount you probably wouldn't be charged - at the discretion of the store - but you wouldn't get the money or the clothes either. For a larger amount you'd probably get a police caution, or if you were really unlucky a fine and maybe community service. If you still think it's worth a shot have a long hard look at the receipt and think about what life with a criminal record is going to be like.

Answer 3

Yes. It's technically stealing from the store, since you didn't pay for the clothes in the first place.

However, keeping the clothes is OK.

Although, if the clothes were paid for by credit card, the store could locate the original owner. You might think about doing a good deed here instead.

Answer 4

If property is lost, it still belongs to the person who lost it.
As you have defective title now, because you found it, you could keep the money, as your title is superior to anyone elses other than the original owner.
Only if they paid cash, obviously not by credit card.

Morally you should hand in the bag to the local police, if it is unclaimed in a certain time frame, you will acquire good title to the goods which is superior to the original owner, and so the owver or the credit card company is any will not able to recover if they discovered you had the goods.

Answer 5

i do not see any element to this tale except it really is about a baby that hates his pastime and has a hangover. Your communicate changed into ok even though it should be extra acceptable. I loved the way you defined the authorities, I had a suitable photo in my head. She feels like a interesting personality. although, you may opt to apply somewhat extra description and really a lot less diaglogue. also, as a replace of asserting it changed into Sunday or it changed into 9:30 am say a witty remark like, isn't this meant to be the Holy day or say how the lady changed into bothering him because the guy regarded up on the clock depressingly understanding it changed into in ordinary words 0.5 previous 9.

Answer 6

Say the clothes cost 75$... it would be the same as you finding a purse with 75$ in it and keeping it. If you're okay with that, then do it, if not, then take it to the store and see if they can help you.
The person probably thinks they're gone forever anyways.. but wouldn't you want to do the right thing instead of just the thing that you can get away with because it's not "technically illegal"

Answer 7

You could have been charged with theft by finding. If you find anything like that you are supposed to do your best to find the owner. If after all avenues have been looked at and you did not find the buyer then you could have taken them back and asked for a refund but the shop is one place you should have tried incase the buyer is known to them. It was not your property even if it did cost £160 for one skirt. Did you leave your name and address to the buyer incase they wanted to give you a reward. It was not up to the shopgirl to thank you but she should have passed your details on to the buyer incase they wanted to thank you. I should contact the manager of the shop to ensure the buyer had recieved the item or ask him to pass your details on. You at least will have a clear concience and sleep easy.

Answer 8

If they do not belong to you, yes its morally wrong. Remember the Karma you send out is the Karma you will receive. I think you would sleep better at night if you took the bag back to the store and turned it in, so that the person who lost it (or you sole it from) would be able to claim it. I can't believe you even had to ask this question? Are you a pig or something?

Answer 9

If they were paid for by credit card then the store won't give you cash, they'll ask to see the credit card to cancel the charge.

Is it ethical? Absolutely not.
Is it legal...ummm...I'm not sure.

Maybe try taking the bag back to the store and telling them that you found them and think that the person who bought them might come back to the store looking for them.
It's the right thing to do and maybe they might even give you a discount or something for being honest.

Answer 10

If it were me I'd take the bag and reciept to the shop and see if anyone has called in a missing bag. They may have the phone number of the customer on file. I wouldn't feel right about cashing it in -- but that's just me.

Aloha ~