If you’ve got equipment that’s in the midst of breaking down, there’s perhaps nowhere more convenient to be than a huge warehouse filled with tools. So when a veteran’s wheelchair gave way during a shopping trip with his wife at Lowe’s, he didn’t panic. And neither did workers nearby, who put their fix-it expertise to use right there in the store. [More]
good samaritans
Costco Shopper Pays For Firefighters’ Groceries While They’re Out On Emergency Call
By 5.28.14
Firefighters might do the work of superheroes, but just like other humans, even they like to chow down during Memorial Day cookouts. So when a group of firefighters had to abandon their groceries at Costco to respond to an emergency call, one good Samaritan didn’t want to let them go hungry. [More]
Good Samaritan Says People She Helped Scammed Her Out Of $3,000 During A Hug
By 5.13.14
Remember how your parents told you never to talk to strangers and to definitely, definitely not let them hug you? One Good Samaritan re-learned that lesson recently, when she says a couple managed to scam her out of $3,000 with just a quick embrace of fake gratitude. [More]
Customer Leaves $1,000 Tip To Help Bartender Pay For Her Dog’s Emergency Surgery
By 4.25.14
Kindred spirits are a wily sort of spirit — you never know when you’re going to run into someone who has a lot in common with your life. And while it’s reward enough to share interests with a stranger, when that sharing leads to a whopper of a tip, well then, that’s extra nice. [More]
So Your Mother Accidentally Stole Someone’s Car — Now What?
By 4.16.14
Because the Consumerist team is strong in the ways of the Force, I know you’re probably thinking something like, “How can someone accidentally steal a car?” Maybe if that person thinks they’re actually just moving the car they were told to move, because hey, these keys work so it must be the right one. Except that it wasn’t. [More]
Did You Turn In A Lost Diamond Ring At Newark Airport? There’s A Free Flight Waiting For You
By 4.8.14
Most of the time, when you find something that’s not yours and you turn it in, it’s not like you’re expecting a huge thank you, a burst of applause or a ticker tape parade. You do the right thing because it’s the right thing — but if you did happen to turn in a lost diamond ring at Newark Airport? You’ve got a free flight. [More]
9 Things We Learned From The Interview With Supposed “Tips For Jesus” Ringleader
By 2.20.14
Where there’s smoke, there just has to be fire. Which is why we’ve all been stymied by the mysterious rash of overly generous tips that have been popping up in restaurants, coffee shops and bars across the nation. On a lot of those receipts, there’s a unifying addition scrawled after tips of $1,000 or $3,000: “Tips for Jesus.” So who is this big tipper — or tippers — making the fires?
[More]
Goodwill Worker Returns $43,000 In Cash Found Stuffed Into Pockets Of Donated Clothing
By 1.31.14
You know the feeling when you reach into the pocket of some jeans or a jacket you haven’t worn in a while and come up with a $5 bill? Multiply that feeling by a whole lot and imagine what it’d be like to find a suit stuffed with cash for a grand total of $43,000. [More]
Offering Beer & Cigarettes As Unusual Reward For Lost Dog Brings Woman’s Pet Home
By 1.14.14
Surely passers-by are familiar with LOST fliers seeking the safe return of a beloved pet. It’s not uncommon for these posts to advertise a monetary reward for wayward dogs and cats, but one dog owner found success dangling a different kind of bait: Beer and cigarettes for the safe return of her pooch. [More]
Honesty Pays Off With $11K Reward For Cabbie Who Returned Gambler’s Lost $300K
By 12.30.13
Just because it’s past December 25 doesn’t mean the Christmas spirit has left the proverbial building: An honest cabbie who turned in a bag stuffed with $300,000 in hundred-dollar bills will likely be making very merry after receiving an $11,000 reward for being a do-gooder. [More]
Good Samaritan Buys Woman A New Bike After She Posts An Angry Letter To Thief
By 10.31.13
Perhaps it was the thought of all that hard work wasted, or maybe the threat of violence against whoever stole it, but a Chicago woman’s rant to the person who stole her bike resulted in a happy ending. A kindly fellow and his daughter took the 19-year-old out to buy a brand new bike to ease the pain of her stolen property. [More]
Taxi Driver Returns $340,000 Left In Cab, Doesn’t Want Reward
By 10.30.13
As mind-boggling as it might be to think of a scenario wherein you could lose a large amount of cash and be none the wiser, it’s always amazing that there are people out there who won’t steal your misplaced money. Because come on, a bag of cash? That’s tempting to just about everyone. [More]
Fundraising Campaign For Homeless Man Who Returned Backpack Full Of Money Hits $103K
By 9.19.13
There are surely plenty of Good Samaritans out there we never have the pleasure of hearing about, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting to know that one do-gooder is now the recipient of simple human kindness and generosity: After a homeless man made headlines this week by turning in a backpack he found with $41,900 worth of cash and travelers checks in it, the online community has rallied to his cause and raised a tidy chunk of money as his reward. [More]
If You Can’t Find Your Winning $6.3M Lotto Ticket, Check The Lost & Found
By 9.18.13
You’ve checked your front pockets, back pockets, the nightstand, the kitchen junk drawer, even the freezer, but that pesky $6.27 million lottery ticket you know you purchased is nowhere to be found. If you happen to be the lucky Spaniard who won the lottery but then lost the ticket, you might want to head to the lost and found at your local police station. [More]
Cleaners Track Down Former Homeowner To Return Long-Lost Jewelry Worth Thousands
By 9.16.13
What was lost can sometimes never be found again, as belongings have a habit of tumbling into the fiery chasm from whence they came. Or you know, they just go missing. One woman who thought her collection of jewelry worth thousands of dollars would never return three years after she’d lost it. But she didn’t realize there was a team of honest cleaners out there. [More]
Homeless Man Turns In Backpack He Found With $41,900 Inside To Mall Cops
By 9.16.13
Whenever we hear stories of people finding large sums of money out there a few things come to mind: Who are you people, wandering around with such riches? And also, it’s a good thing there are enough nice people in the world to find your stuff and give it back once you’ve inevitably misplaced your treasures. Like a homeless man in Boston who handed over a backpack containing $41,900 he found at a mall. [More]
Customers Accidentally Enter Closed Store, Leave Cash At Unmanned Counter
By 8.27.13
Back in college, I remember coming across an accidentally unlocked snack machine early one morning. It would have been so easy to just steal all the knock-off Doritos and not-quite-Oreos we wanted, but my university has a very strict honor code and we could have been kicked out of school for pilfering the bargain foodstuffs. And so we reluctantly chose to close the machine and secure the lock. On Sunday night, a group of young men in New Jersey faced a similar quandary, except they could have boosted everything from a store that had accidentally been left unlocked. [More]
Man Finds $6,900 On The Ground Near DMV, Returns It All To Rightful Owner
By 8.14.13
The truth is, it’s a tough world out there. And while we yearn for a time when people doing good things for each other isn’t a surprise, and is simply par for the course, those aren’t the times we live in. That’s why it makes our toes and fingers tingle with goodwill when we hear that a man who found $6,900 on the ground handed in the money so it could return to the person who misplaced it. [More]
