Whangārei taxi driver returns $500 that passenger dropped in cab

Ian Stidder with A1 Cabs driver Salendra Chetty after being reunited with his missing $500. Photo / Tania Whyte

When passenger Ian Stidder dropped $500 in a Whangārei taxi, he never expected to see it again.

So he was pleasantly surprised when the driver contacted him the next day to return the money.

Stidder, 77, cannot thank A1 Cabs driver Salendra Chetty enough and was so impressed that he gave him $50 for his honesty.

“It was so good of him. I didn’t expect the money to be in the taxi at all, although the seat was low and angled back so the cash must have dropped in the taxi,” he said.

Stidder lives in Christchurch but is doing up a house in Kamo and wants to shift to Whangārei by Christmas.

He flew from Christchurch to Auckland on April 5 and withdrew $500 before boarding a bus to Whangārei. About 8.30pm, he hired a taxi from the central city to Kamo.

“When it was time to pay, I put my hand in my pocket but couldn’t find the money. I thought I’d lost it in Auckland somewhere ... I couldn’t figure it out. But I had some cash and paid the $25 fare,” Stidder recalled.

“I mentioned to the driver that I was alarmed I couldn’t find the $500. I was so surprised when he called me the next day to return the money.

“I’ve got arthritis and come up from Christchurch every month to do some work on my house in Kamo, then go back to Christchurch. Hopefully, by Christmas, I’d be able to relocate here. The climate up here is suitable for me.”

Chetty said honesty was important in every aspect of life, not only when interacting with the public.

“If I am not honest, there’s no sense in me being a human being. We look after our customers well and give back to them what rightfully belongs to them.”

He said his son found the $500 in the taxi the next morning while he was asleep, having worked the night shift.

“When my wife told me about it, I instantly knew it belonged to the customer and it must be returned to him. So I rang him and offered to drop his $500 at his home,” Chetty said.

Since it was dark, he said he couldn’t see the money fall from Stidder’s pocket. He’s been driving A1 Cabs in Whangārei for four years and said it was the first time such a large amount of money had been dropped in the cab.

People sometimes dropped their phones and other personal items and every effort was made to return them, he said.

A1 Cabs manager Abid Latif said Chetty’s actions were what his drivers epitomised in public service delivery.

“Our focus is to connect with the community. Do the vast majority of people value and trust us? Absolutely. And that’s the driving force behind what we do,” he said.