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What a horrible thing to happen Paul, it is so upsetting and puts you in a right old Tizz! So glad that you have your wallet back. What a honest and kind person. As you say there are still some honest folk around. You would have been so chuffed to get that phone call.
Hope the DIY is coming along nicely.

I felt your pain Paul when you were having to search everywhere and panic would have been setting in. Thank heavens the bank were on the ball and cancelled your cards straight away. It must leave a nasty taste in the mouth though to think that no-one had handed your wallet in and I'm so glad that the ending to your story is good and that my faith in human nature is still intact.
Well done Hazy taking the wallet you found to the police and walking the extra distance to make sure it was safe, I still feel that the majority of folk would try to return any property they find, there's more good than bad in most of us.

What a relief Paul, and hopefully not too long before your replacement cards turn up and it's so reassuring that there are still good people about.  Reminds me of years ago when I worked for one of the best hotels on the Island and our assistant manager left the banking on the roof of his car with the weekends takings in it.  A not insubstantial sum, luckily it was found and returned to us.  There were no mobile phones and we had to wait for him to phone us in an utter panic. The finders were treated to a top quality dinner at the hotel and we bought a pair of handcuffs to attach the banking to the AMs  wrist (as a joke).  It took him a long time to live it down.  

Gosh what a nightmare for you Paul. I know that horrible feeling you get in the stomach & it makes you feel so ill. It's not so much the loss of the money it's all the other things inside. I'm so pleased that someone handed it back & I have to say that, maybe I've been lucky, but I've found in life that 99% of people are good decent honest citizens who do hand in lost property.  

I had a tale that unfolded recently that I thought I might share. I recently bought a bread-maker from Amazon & delivery was due the 22/09 quite a while from the order date. So the night before it was due I went on line so see when it was coming & the tracking information said it was delivered on the 12/09. What!

So I sent emails to the supplier via Amazon & chased DHL, who said they'd passed it to La Poste. So I spoke to our post-lady who said she'd chase it at the office as it was a saturday delivery & not her. I also reported it on-line with La Poste. They eventually sent me a mail with the signature claiming we'd had it. Well I copied this went to the Post Office & the lady there said she'd chase it as it wasn't my signature.

Then last saturday I caught the postman & he admitted he'd delivered it to the wrong address! So I asked him to go & ask for it back. Which he did but the person who signed for it said he'd brought to our hamlet but instead of leaving it with me he'd given it to a man with a white van outside another house. So the postman & I went to one of the houses & they hadn't had it. That left one other to try & they weren't there.

On the monday the postlady asked if I'd got it back & I explained that I was a bit nervous at calling at the other house, after all they'd had my parcel for 3 weeks & not said anything. So she said she'd come with me. The guy rents the house & other people come & go. He looked at the date & said his mate was there that day. He rang him & apparantly his mate had been on the point of leaving when he'd been given the parcel. He'd stuffed it in a cupboard & forgot to tell the him. So there you go, he rummaged in the cupboard under the stairs & there it was. Box opened but all intact. Phew!

Lots of questions about why the first one didn't give it back to the postlady on the next opportunity, or take it to the local post office. Why did he come here & then leave it with someone else? Maybe we were in the garden & didn't hear the door-bell. Who knows!

Big Christmas box for our postie this year!

Germain said:

we bought a pair of handcuffs to attach the banking to the AMs  wrist (as a joke)

When I was a youngster used to manage a Petrol Service Station in London & had a security bag with handcuffs to carry the money to the bank every day. I always refused to wear them, saying if someone wanted the money they could have it, they weren't going to chop my hand off to get it. Weekends were difficult as I had to put the money into 6 or 8 night-safe boxes to deposit at the bank. Howevere you could only put 2 in at a time so I had to stand there on a busy high street loading these boxes into the machine. Hey ho, how life changes!

What amazing true stories folks, thanks for sharing. Caroline's story was similar something that happened to one of my previous neighbours who owned a bookmaker business (betting/gambling shop) and each Friday he would drop the weeks takings off at the bank only this day as he was opening his car he had placed the money sack on top of the roof and forgot once he unlocked the car and drove off. In this instance the money was never returned (his shop was in a fairly busy high crime area ! ) ........ although I felt genuine sympathy for my very wealthy neighbour I couldn't help thinking it was like a case of Robin Hood and the money spent on gambling by people who could ill afford to bet and lose had possibly had it returned again to them as it fell from the car roof ! Back in the early 1970's £780 weeks takings was an awful lot of money but at least it gave my neighbour a wake up call.

@ Hazel, I agree and don't think I would have liked to be handcuffed to the garage takings as it's not just the money any would-be thieves would have had to snatch run off with ! Btw, hope the bread-maker which you eventually caught up with is producing some great results; I used to have one and there was nothing quite like the smell of a freshly baked loaf.... yum. Coincidentally, yesterday I bought some strong flour and easy add yeast (although no bread baker or even a mixing appliance) so it will be the old fashioned way and a lot of exercise kneading ! Might start with a few bread rolls or pizza dough lol

Hi Hazy, in truth the machine is for OH who has made bread by hand for the last 30 years or more. I nearly fell off my chair when he said he wanted to try one. However it does give more possibilities & make things like specialist breads a bit easier. He also thought it would be easier to use in the hot summer when the last thing we want to do is to put the oven on. Hope your bread turns out well.

Hazel you deserve a medal for sticking at it and eventually getting to solve the mystery of the missing breadmaker!!! Don't know if I would have had the energy to keep chasing it. Mind you someone trying to pass off my signature would have got me going no doubt:-)
I had a breadmaker years ago and it is well worth it, so easy and yes I agree with Hazy, the smell of the cooking bread is divine.
Good luck to your hubby with the task of making it, it sure will be easier than by hand, the only trouble is you tend to eat it that much faster:-)

The funny thing was that the signature was a completely different name, they thought the parcel was for them & signed for it in the usual way. The postman didn't check the name or the address!! I kept chasing it on principle, as Amazon probably had a black mark against our name as people who "claim" not to have received a delivery.

Unknown said:

It's amazing how stuff can be shipped around the world so quickly these days. Moving freight must be a lifesaver for airline companies now that tourist travel has collapsed, Did you have to pay VAT when it's imported from overseas?

Just an update Tony as this morning I received a bill for £24.04 from FedEx who are asking now for the Duty/Tax   !!    There was no mention of it anywhere when I ordered and although I did wonder myself thought it was accounted for in the bill total and as the items ordered were not in the mid to high hundreds I didn't think it would be a problem ..............so a learning curve if ordering from overseas.     Items are all in stock in UK now so I could have got it cheaper here after taking into account this latest tax bill.    Oh dear,  I read the small print before ordering but no mention of customs duty :(        So be aware if you order items from overseas.     The shipping was fast though but that was the only bonus in the end !    The VAT was only £12.04 but they include what they call an Advancement Fee which is another £12.     I'd go back and ask a few questions from LensCoat but the hassle would not be worth the effort.