For years after we bought our house we got credit card offers addressed to the previous owner. Being a nice guy, I always shredded them (small shredder - always had to open them first)

One day, long after the previous owners forwarding address expired, I got a REAL Wells Fargo credit card in their name. I called Wells Fargo and got chewed out for opening it!

So shredding would be my only choice now

If I lose a card , I'll kill it immediately . If I find one , I'll destroy it .

quote:

Originally posted by Rick_Perry:
Maybe call the number on the back of the card and let them know you found the card. Maybe they can contact the owner? The owner of the card may have already canceled it if they know it's gone.

I have done this when I found a credit card in a parking lot. The card was then cancelled.

Well the poll question was what's the best way to get it back to the owner. So shredding it and moving on has no chance of getting it back to the owner.

I voted something else, as I'd go into the store (or stores) that belong to the parking lot, and ask if they can look up the name. If it's their customer, call them. I would not leave it with them, as that's additional hands.

Taking to the police would be my second choice. Odds are they would just dispose of it.

You make a very good point, honestlou: my "shred it" option wasn't really a good fit for my "how to return" question.

As it goes, it was 7am at the Post Office, so there wasn't anyone there for me to hand it back to.

I did go ahead and shred the card, though, figuring it had been out of Mr. H's hands long enough for him to realize it and report it.

I thank you all for your input.

More than just a credit card, I have found three wallets on the ground at strip malls near me, over the past few years.

In each case, I was able to track the owner down and return the wallet.

Got into a bit of an argument with the first guy -- he wanted to give me a reward and I did not want to take it. Somehow, he found my mailing address and sent a "thank you" card with some cash in it.

---

The reverse type thing happened to my wife. She sailed, with a couple other people, from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana. While having lunch there, she noticed some excitement at a nearby table and heard the word "choking," so she hustled over and used the Heimlich to get the guy's airway clear. Ambulance, which had been called, arrived shortly thereafter and complimented her on her fast move.

Wife's group finished lunch and sailed back to Chicago; in the excitement, she left her purse at the restaurant. Figured it was gone forever. Couple days later, UPS delivered a package, the restaurant owner had found the purse and sent it to the address on the Driver License. All cash had been removed from the wallet and replaced by a check payable to my wife, with a note explaining that the sender thought a check would be less likely to go missing during shipping.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I did go ahead and shred the card, though, figuring it had been out of Mr. H's hands long enough for him to realize it and report it.

Yup. If it were me that lost the card, it would immediately be reported as lost, and a new one would be heading my way. There is no point of me hoping for someone to find it and attempt to return it.

In a post office parking lot there’s really no chance of getting help. If it was a small business of some sort, or any business that cares about their customers, they could look up the name and call the person.

I don’t disagree that most people would just shut the card down, but I feel obligated to at least try generally. In your case I think “shred it” was the only real option.

I worked security at a hospital and we called the toll free number to deactivate it. We then destroyed it.

show us your new pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
show us your new pistols.

Can't say I didn't daydream for a second as I watched the little plastic rectangle crunch its way between the shredder rolls.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Didn't we have a thread on this not to long ago where the OP talked about trying to contact the issuing bank and getting nowhere trying to return it, maybe even at a branch.

Consensus was, that the bank will not want it back, nor will they have you return or mail it in nor will they close the account or do anything since you are not the cardholder.

So shred it and move on, the only good deed is doing just that.

I found a CC in a parking lot earlier this year. When I called the number on the back, that's exactly what they told me to do, destroy it.

Huh, we found 2 cc behind a chair in our room on the Viking sky while on the current around the world cruise. Turned them in to a surprised manager

I worked at an oceanfront hotel in a resort area for 32 years and quite a few credit cards would get turned in to the front desk. We would check our guest register first and if they weren't a guest we would call the number on the back. We were always instructed by the credit card company to destroy the card. They would put a hold on the card and notify the card holder.

While waiting to use a drive up ATM, the car in front of me drove off with thier card still in the machine and account open. I could have cleaned them out. I closed it down and called the 800 number on the back. I told the rep that if they called the customer I would wait for them to come back and give them the card. The rep told me that it's policy to cancel the card and lock the account in this situation. The rep asked me to destroy the card and toss the scraps in the garbage, which I did.