Disabled Arthur Adlam condemned greedy bus bosses yesterday after charged him almost £30 to return his lost wallet.
Father-of-four Arthur, 31, left a wallet containing around £225, including his disability allowance, on the seat of a Stagecoach bus.
But when he went to the bus station to reclaim it, Arthur was told it was company policy to take a 12 per cent cut plus a 50p “admin fee” – a total of £27.50.
Adam said: “It’s an outrage. They told me they couldn’t give it back without charging me.
“They charged me for something that doesn’t belong to them. No one should pay to get their own money back.”
He negotiated the fee down to £10 – but now red-faced coach chiefs have offered to give it back and review their penny-pinching policy.
But Adam, of Dunfermline, Fife, became so stressed during the incident that he suffered an epileptic fit as he tried to barter with the firm.
Arthur said: “I was on the bus taking the kids down to the nursery, but when I got off I didn’t notice the wallet was missing.
“I had withdrawn my disability allowance earlier that morning and wasn’t sure what I was going to do without the money.”
Staff at Beanstalk nursery made phone calls on his behalf to trace the lost wallet.
Arthur said: “While I was at Beanstalk nursery, I retraced my steps and the staff called up Stagecoach and the police, because I was panicking at that point.”
A few hours later the wallet turned up at the bus depot in Dunfermline.
The bus company called up with the good news … and the bad. His wallet had been handed in – but there was a charge.
Arthur said: “A few hours later Stagecoach called up the nursery said they wanted a cut of 12 per cent and a 50p admin fee.
“They wanted to take £27.50 off me, but Beanstalk got them to reduce it to a tenner.
“Then they rang me at home and it just stressed me out. It was too much — I had a fit and fell to the floor.
“Luckily my partner was there until it was over. I’ve had epilepsy for 15 years and whenever I get hit on the head or too stressed I can suffer from fit.
Arthur went to the Stagecoach offices to pick up the wallet and staff pointed out their lost property policies.
“They charged me for something that doesn’t belong to them. No one should pay to get their own money back.”
Bus operators Stagecoach yesterday agreed to refund Adam and review their policy, which appears only to be in operation in West Fife.
A Stagecoach spokesman said: “A local policy is in place in West Fife to charge a ‘finder fee’ for the monies claimed from our lost property, with the fee going to the driver, or member of the public who has handed in any such items to us.
“However, we plan to look at this policy and bring it in line with other areas of East Scotland where these procedures do not exist.
“As such we would be happy to refund the admin fee the customer was charged in these circumstances and we thank them for bringing this discrepancy to our attention.”
Am I missing something here? The comment from Stagecoach states “…we would be happy to refund the admin fee…”. The article mentions the admin fee as 50p. Nice gesture from Stagecoach? I think not! A 50p refund after what this poor man has had to go through is just a kick in the teeth. Absolutely appalling policy! I have found and returned many items over the years to their rightful owners off my own back and never ever would even think of trying to pick up a “reward”. What is happening to humanity….?