Lost Jewelry – when panic turn into complacency…

[BVI Hunter]

OK, so I am sure a lots of us have had the situation where we have been asked to look for a lost ring or similar. Most usually at the beach.

I don't ask for a fee when this happens but would assume at least my gas is covered, or the few bucks it costs to fill my SCUBA tanks?

A few recent examples;

1) a panic stricken guy almost pulled me from the surf, to come up the beach and look for his ring. After a few minutes, once I was in the water and dedicated to the hunt, he announced he was "going back to the resort for breakfast" and if I found it, could I "get front desk to call him"... WTF?

2) a guys calls me from his rental villa, lost a wedding ring in the sea and was leaving that day (here on HONEYMOON!). no luck that day so I said I would return with SCUBA.
Every day I then wake to at least two emails asking for updates and if it was found.
After three attempts (3 afternoons of my days off, 3 now empty scuba tanks) I found it.
He gets me to drop it to the villa manager who will send it on. Guess what........ have not heard from him since!!!


What's your experience and feeling about this type of thing? I love returning stuff but sometimes the recipients attitude sucks!

 

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[Sir Gala Clad]

Thank you for sharing.
Returns such as you have experienced are heartwarming and justified.
No amount of money can buy that.

I am a dog lover, as well.
What I don't like is when some one pulls my chain and expects me to roll over, just because they lost something while they and their group were out partying, and in general making life miserable for others, climaxed by their leaving trash on the beach or burying it: Grrrr!

 

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[B.L.]

Sorry those people were so rude. It is really SO NICE of you to have helped them out. What a bunch of ingrates! Some people just feel entitled, yet there ARE nice people still out there.

 

[rockyredbaron]

I sympathize absolutely !!!! Two years ago I spent 2 glorious days in Atlantic City, enjoying the Memorial Day weather and fighting the beachgoers !!!! LOL Found a ton of clad, not much else though. On the way off the beach as usually happens a lady approached me and asked me if I could help her find her "Engagement Ring". As is the case the ring came flying off the towel as they wrapped up a day at the beach. Well the beach was almost empty when I went looking in the dry sand. After her pinpointing the 20 ft square area, and with her tied to me looking over my shoulder, after about 5 minutes I found the ring. As I pulled it from the scoop she said ..."You found it". As a good samaritin usually does I turned it right over to her after taking a few pics for posterity. (For my benefit). Had I had the forethought I should have gotten a description of the ring before I gave it to her. Well I thought to myself as I was walking off the beach.... "Pay it Forward", "Pay it Forward", "Pay it Forward", "Pay it Forward". Still waiting !!! Anyway, here's the bling I found.

 

[meMiner]

By the way, it is not just metal detecting where people ask for help. I also get it with scuba. Typically, if it is not interfering with my plans, then fine. If it is going to be an effort, then I have stopped being "the nice guy".

I do a lot of shore dives and have been asked to recover all kinds of things from the bottom. Some I have been happy to do, as it was fast and easy (eg. prop off an outboard motor that was not out of my way to get and saved their trip). Others were nuts, where it was unsafe (boat traffic or depth), trivial (fishing lure, screw driver) or out of my way (expected me to unsuit and drive "just up the road" and then named a town that was 20KM away). I also get the odd call at home where somebody knows somebody who knows I dive.

Bottom line - I treat each request on its own merit. Working for a "thank you" only gets me so far.

A funny example on a different tack from years ago. I was walking home with a friend on a main street (4 lanes) in Toronto after the bars closed. We had had a few "wobbly-pops". There was a couple loudly fighting on the other side of the road (who probably also had indulged in their own "wobbly pops". We heard a ting, ting, ting as a gold and diamond engagement ring bounced along the sidewalk by our feet. In anger, she had given it the heave ho. My friend reached down and picked it up and showed it to me. Now the rude thing to do, would have been to pocket it and keep walking. The gentleman thing to do, would have been to cross the road and hand it back to her. Instead, my buddy yelled across to give them the heads up and threw it back over 4 lanes of traffic...Lord knows if they found it again, but there were multiple people helping, and we kept on walking. I don't recall anybody saying "thanks" for returning it their general direction. LOL

 

[adsway01]

I had a reward situation that really put a bee in my bonnet. I saw a reward poster for a person's little dog near my house. I live in the foothills near Los Angeles where we have coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions (I saw the latter one actually stalk a doe 200 ft from my backyard). Normally a cat or small dog on our streets will be a part of the food chain within the first 24hrs. The sign said $1000 reward and this was for a fat little Chihuahua. After having a gallows laugh I promptly forgot about this probable lost 4 pawed soul. About a week later I was totally amazed to find this scrawny little pup drinking from my Koi pond. I was able to entice the dog with bits of roasted chicken. Boy was he starved. When he was secured I got the flyer from down on the street light a block away, and I gave the people a call. They rushed right over and their beaming faces were all the proof of ownership I needed. The young man reached into his pocket and fumbled a few bills saying he would bring the balance by later, but I waved him off. I told him and his girlfriend that their smiles were enough reward. Well they just scooped up their dog, said a quick thank you and made their way into the sunset. I never heard from them again. The part that got me was that they never made any other acknowledgement to me. I guess I was raised with different manners. If the tables were turned and someone brought my little dog back from the clutches of death, and then turned down a thousand dollar reward for the effort, then I surely would have sent or dropped by a thank you gift or at least a card. Oh well that was one lucky pup. I do have pictures of the sign and reunion if anyone doesn't believe my story.

 

[lookindown]

Returns are my favorite part of the hobby. Ive had women break down crying when I showed them their ring and got plenty of hugs. Ive never asked for a reward while searching but have been given a reward every time I found a ring except one, even though they didn't mention a reward before I found it. Ironically, the one guy who said he would give me a BIG reward if I could find his heavy gold wedding band is the one who didn't. Me and Bigmike searched for his ring for about an hour before I found it. He was on a business trip by himself and had lost it in the water the day before. He said he couldn't sleep overnight after losing it and hadn't told his wife yet. He was ecstatic when I found it and was hugging us and going nuts with joy. He said I could have pocketed that ring and he wouldn't have known...said we were the greatest...told us he would run up to his motel which was a couple hundred yards away and get our reward...hour and a half later and nowhere to be seen. I have no problem at all if someone doesn't give a reward, they are not obligated too, but if someone tells me they will, that's different...I love seeing the look on peoples faces that thought their ring was gone forever...that's enough reward.

 

[TheSleeper]

Over the years I have had both good and bad results from people while I was working the beach. One thing I have discovered early on was to be truthful and upfront with them, inform them after a through description has been given, that any item I find that does not match their description is mine, if I find their item it is my choice to either receive a reward of 10% of the items value or gratis free.
Other occasions when called to search for an item again a through description first (with approx. Value), then an hourly hunt fee if item is not found, if item is found a 10% hunt fee.

I base my judgement upon the person, whether to charge or not.

I actually met my fourth girlfriend this way, she had lost a keepsake and asked me to find it for her, naturally standing there in her kini and with her curves, what could a guy do but find it for her. Yes I was richly rewarded!!!

My worst confrontation came in 76.
I was working the shallows(little over ankle deep) and had just pocketed a nice diamond engagement ring, when this bull of a man charged up to me demanding his wife's ring back. When I asked him how he knew I had found a ring he hemmed and hawed then said, "well I just saw you pocket something so it had to be my wife's ring". So I asked him to describe it to me, again he hemmed and hawed but gave no clear description. I looked at him and told him, "you bought this ring for your wife but cannot describe it to me, I'm sorry but I don't believe you." After a few minutes of discussion he backed off and left. I thought it was over till 10 minutes later he returned with a police officer.
The officer asked me if I had found a ring, to which I replied, "yessir, but this gentleman could not give me a clear description of the ring his wife had lost."
The officer asked me if I would show him the ring, which I did.
As soon as I pulled it out of my pocket and before the officer could even look at it, the (hum ok I will be polite, there are ladies present) gentleman shouted that's it, that's my wife's ring.
I looked at the officer and asked, "You heard him state this was his wife's ring correct?"
When the officer responded I politely tossed it over my shoulder back into the ocean.
The gentleman's jaw just about hit the sand, he muttered something, but truth be known there is no law about returning a found object back to the place it was found, so he had no recourse. So he turned around and skulked away.


Moral to this story:

The officer stood there smiling at me, then asked, "That wasn't the one you found was it?"

"No sir, that ring was purchased at a flea market for a dollar, I always keep one handy for times like this. I apologize for your time being wasted by a greedy person like him."

This was the third time I had been confronted on a beach like this, the first time being young and inexperienced, I gave a nice diamond encrusted ring to the person who claimed it was theirs to only wonder afterwards if they were telling the truth.
So I show them a ring, they claim it, back into the ocean it goes.
Doesn't matter it was a flea market ring.

 

[FarmerChick]

obviously their reactions etc. stink.

but, this is not about THEM.

this is about YOU!

did you feel GREAT helping others?
did you feel pride in your accompishments?

leave it at that. simple as that. what we do for others is not about them, it is about your character and you are one of the good ones
I applaud you big time. no anger, just take the good feeling of helping others and dwell on that feeling. YOU DID GREAT!

 

[Brother Al]

obviously their reactions etc. stink.

but, this is not about THEM.

this is about YOU!

did you feel GREAT helping others?
did you feel pride in your accompishments?

leave it at that. simple as that. what we do for others is not about them, it is about your character and you are one of the good ones
I applaud you big time. no anger, just take the good feeling of helping others and dwell on that feeling. YOU DID GREAT!

I agree wholeheartedly.