Keys found at Liberty and Foskett: what's the right thing to do?

[rax.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

I found a set of keys at Liberty and Foskett today. At first I thought "Oh cool, I can post to davis_square and the person who dropped them can get them back. That's better than leaving them in the road." Now that I'm at work, I've remembered that most people actually don't use LiveJournal. Assuming no one responds here, what's the right place to bring them? Police station? T stop? Something else? They have a Shaw's card and a CVS card on them --- would one of those institutions be able to reunite the keys with their owner?

Thanks!

EDIT: Rough consensus seems to be that posting to craigslist and then bringing them to the police can't be wrong, while CVS/Shaw's could be right or wrong. I've posted to craigslist (http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/laf/1071528951.html) and will deliver them to the police station as soon as I can, which might be tomorrow evening. I like the sign on a post idea too --- thanks, all!

Comments

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

They have a Shaw's card and a CVS card on them --- would one of those institutions be able to reunite the keys with their owner?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I confess I am curious. I suggest calling those places and asking (and then letting us know:)

[narya.livejournal.com]

I think many of the Shaws/CVS customer cards have notes on them saying that if you drop them in the mail the company will reunite them with their owners. Do either of the cards mention that?

Personally, I'd drop them with the police. I would not drop them off with the T because if the owner knows they didn't lose them on the T, what are the odds they'd decide to call the MBTA lost and found?

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

Yes--you can either drop the keys in a mailbox or bring them to a CVS and they will get back to the owner, assuming the info they put when they applied for their CVS and Shaws cards is accurate.

[ron_newman]

You may also want to post here: http://boston.craigslist.org/laf/

and if you turned it in to the Somerville police, say that in your ad

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I would guess given the transient nature of many people in the Cambridge/Somerville area (I've lived at 5 addresses in the last 10 years and never update my info w/ Shaws, CVS, or Stop & Shop), the info isn't guaranteed to be accurate.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I second Ron. The police are the way to go.

[idealforcolors.livejournal.com]

I think you don't actually have to give them your address for a CVS card (I didn't), so Shaw's would be the better bet if you're going to drop it somewhere. I second the "post to Craigslist" option though.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

CVS requires a phone number, so at least they could call the owners.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I would say turn them into the police. And staple a sign to a telephone pole near where you found them saying "A set of keys found near here Thurday morning have been turned in to the Somerville Police".

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

Unless they got a new phone in the past however many years...

or put in a fake number to keep away spammers...

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

Actually I believe both CVS and Shaws will pay for postage and return/alert the owner of the keys if you just drop them in a mailbox. Because they have access to actual personal data. The police, do not.

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Oh really? I've never applied for a CVS card because I really hate giving out my address and inviting junk mail, so that's good to know.

[ron_newman]

I get e-mail from CVS voluntarily, but only after I explicitly signed up for it. ($4 off $20 coupons are nice.) I don't recall ever getting snail mail from them.

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Good to know, thanks. I'm always suspicious because most companies are so quick to sell their mailing lists, so even if CVS didn't send me stuff, I'd wonder if they were behind other junk I was getting.

Did they ask for your snail mail address, do you remember?

[rax.livejournal.com]

I know that the Shaw's card I carry has either my personal data from
nine years ago (wrong) or fake personal data I made up nine years ago
(also wrong) --- I'd feel bad counting on it for someone else and having
the keys lost in a Shaw's forever. (This is making me think I should add
a tag with my email address on it to my keychain.)

[ron_newman]

I've had the Shaw's and CVS cards so long now, I don't remember any more what information they asked for or what I gave them.

But if I moved or changed my phone number, I also would never think to tell either company that, since they don't seem to use that information for anything I notice.

Shaw's has occasionally snail-mailed me coupons (that I don't use, since they require spending $50 at once), but I don't know if that's from the card or just because I live near the store.

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

That is a really good point. and a really good idea!
(of course the day that tag fell off would be the day before the one I lose my keys... :-)

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did finally cave and get a Shaw's card, for the savings, and don't think I've gotten any mail from them. Tho' annoyingly the one in Porter has overcharged me for items twice this week.

[miraclaire.livejournal.com]

I would think twice about putting your address on your keychain with the keys to open doors at that address. It's one thing if someone well-meaning picks them up, but if someone with bad intentions picks them up, you've just told them what house the keys go to.

[rax.livejournal.com]

That's true, I should probably attach a throwaway gmail address to them that isn't tied to googleable information. :)

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I have never been spammed with phone calls because of CVS.

I get their emails, because I asked for them. And I get awesome coupons because of them.

When I changed my number, I updated it with CVS.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I changed my information for my CVS card because it's a "good" card.

I don't care about my Shaw's card because it doesn't give me kickback bucks.

[ssachs.livejournal.com]

Thirded. On top of everything else, involving the police should protect you in case the owner wants to accuse you of wrongdoing somehow (less a concern with keys, I guess, but if you find a wallet, this is definitely the way to go.)

library card?

[halfline.livejournal.com]

Does it have a library card on the keyring?

If so, give it to the library and let them look up the address in their system.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I actually did have keys mailed back to me after someone dropped them in a blue box. I don't know if they went through CVS or Shaw's (then Star Mkt) but they did make it back to me...about 5 weeks later.