My dad dropped his wallet at a restaurant last night and a kind NSF soul seek us out at the address in the ic to returned the wallet. I simply thanked him. Later when my bro learnt of this incident, he said why did not compensate him for time and petrol, or offer something in return. Else people may not want to do good deeds anymore. As this is the first time such thing happened to me. I did not asked for his name nor unit. Is saying "thank you" too simple nowadays?
And is there any way to track down someone with his car plate number?
Be clear about this - to the good Samaritan who returns the items, he is not looking for any reward from you.
People who are of such good character, are not cheapskate.
The point is, if we do not reward that person, are we cheapskate?
The answer to your question will be clear, if on a trip overseas, you lose your bag containing your plane tickets, passport, wallet, with lots of cash and many credit cards, IC, ATM card, etc.........and no one returns your bag.
Consider the magnitude of your potential losses and inconvenience.
So if some one actually tracks you down and returns all the lost items, is a verbal thank you, good enough? What do you think?
You have to decide whether you want to reward the person.