Mother starts huge row after admitting her son ‘steals’ pound coins shoppers mistakenly left in supermarket trolleys

• A mother started a massive row after admitting her son pocketed leftover coins
• She revealed her friends were shocked when she told them about his scheme 

A mother started a massive row when she admitted her son ‘stole’ leftover pound coins from supermarket trolleys.

Many supermarket trolleys need shoppers to insert a £1 coin before using them. Once the shopping is finished they can usually retrieve it by returning the trolley to a line of other trolleys. 

The doting mum said she was ‘pleased’ he was able to ‘make a few extra quid’ while at his job at a top supermarket.

However, she revealed one of her friends was shocked when she mentioned it to them.

The friend said she thought her son was ‘stealing’ and ‘cheating’ his employer out of money, the mother wrote in a post on Mumsnet.

Many supermarket trolleys need shoppers to insert a £1 coin before using them. Once the shopping is finished they can usually retrieve it by returning the trolley to a line of other trolleys (File image)

She said: ‘My son has a part-time job at weekends with one of the major supermarkets. One of his tasks is to round up any stray trolleys and put them back in the trolley park.

‘Apparently, from time to time (maybe one/twice per day) people can’t be arsed to put their own trolleys back and so leave the £1 coins in the trolley.

‘If this happens, he keeps the pound and puts the trolley back as required. When he first told me about this, I was quite pleased for him and thought it was a nice way for him to make a few extra quid.

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‘However, when I mentioned this to a friend, she was aghast as she thought that he was cheating/stealing from his employer as the money is rightfully theirs.’

Questioning whether she was being unreasonable for supporting her son, she asked users on the site who owned the pound coins left behind in shopping trolleys.

More than 500 people have responded to the viral post so far.

One said: ‘That’s his little bonus for doing a tedious job! Whoever left it has basically tipped him it to take his trolley back imo! Nothing to do with his employers.’

Another added: ‘I would say it’s a perk of the job unless he’s been specifically told that there is a collection pot. Plus they then have the problem of loose cash and how they need to account for it – another job for someone. Could he slip into conversation with a colleague what they do?’

A third replied: ‘If the supermarket bosses are convinced that there are significant riches to be had from all the abandoned trolleys, there’s nothing stopping them from going out and collecting them themselves!’

The doting mum said she was ‘pleased’ he was able to ‘make a few extra quid’ while at his job at a top supermarket (File image)

Yet others were more cautionary. One said: ‘The supermarket will likely have a policy on this.

‘Cash handling procedures will mean he cannot have money on shift, particularly money that isn’t his (a lot of retail jobs have a no tips rule anyway, not that people really tip in retail but just in case), so if he is caught and it’s against their policy they could fire him for gross misconduct.

‘So whether we think it’s finders keepers or not, he needs to play this carefully with his employers.’

Another person said: ‘Whilst I wouldn’t think of it as stealing, he should be very careful. When I worked for a supermarket, having cash about your person whilst at work was an immediate sacking offence. Perhaps times have changed.’ 

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