A dad almost lost all £300 of his kids' cash in a laundrette's dryer - only for an honest worker to 'save the day' by rescuing the wad of cash from his pocket in the nick of time. Ravi Sethi admits he regularly forgets to empty his pockets despite being asked if he had when handing over clothes at Spring Clean dry cleaners.
The 44-year-old was stunned when worker Caroline Brennan called him 10 minutes later to reveal he'd left an envelope packed with cash inside one of his blue suits. He's since revealed the £300 inside was saved to spend on his three kids Asha, 16, Layla, 11, and Hari, seven, [all Sethi] who were hoping to get cash and gifts, such as fish and a drum kit, for Christmas.
The grateful barrister rushed back to the shop to collect his money and handed £10 to Caroline as a thank-you which she reluctantly accepted. Humble Caroline, 58, says she was just following the standard procedure, but Ravi praised her for 'saving Christmas' and stopping him 'tearing the house down' looking for the cash.
The dad-of-three's Facebook post has since been liked by more than 400 users with many praising the worker's honesty and joking he almost brought a new meaning to 'money laundering'. He admits he 'couldn't bear' to tell wife Tara Sethi, 41, of his blunder but she found out when she saw the Facebook post herself.
Ravi said: "As soon as she told me, I just thought 'what a d**k I am'. "The notes could have stuck together and melted in the heat. I would have lost £300 and the suit. It's a huge relief. It could have ruined Christmas but Caroline saved it.
"She asked if I'd checked my pocket and I said as far as I knew everything was clear, but clearly I hadn't checked.
"It's really good of her to give it back. You'd like to think most people would give it back but it's nice to know she did. It's easy for the temptation to strike. I would never have known it was gone. I must have stashed the money there for safekeeping and forgot about it. It had been there since the start of the month.
"I would have got ready on Christmas Eve and realised the money I was going to give to my kids had gone. I'd have thought I was going mad. I'd have been turning the house upside down. My wife thought I was a wally and being dozy. I couldn't bear to tell her. I hoped that she wouldn't see the Facebook post but she did. I thought I'd stay quiet.
"I wanted to post it because everyone's too quick to complain about things but they're not quick to give out praise. It's got a lot of likes and hopefully that's something nice for their business."
Ravi was on the way to court for work when he got the call from Caroline and he says he did a swift u-turn upon realising what had happened. He admits he's left 'the odd fiver or tenner' in his suits before but they're always waiting for him when he returns to Spring Clean to collect his suits.
The dad only visits approximately every three months but he hopes sharing his story will drum up more business for the shop - even if Caroline says they're overrun for Christmas anyway. The worker has brushed off her heroics but explains she is relieved to see the money will be spent on giving Ravi's kids a magical Christmas.
Caroline said: "I stood there with an envelope full of cash thinking 'well he's definitely not checked his pockets'. We do pin the odd note to an outfit when it's dry cleaned, but seeing so much in an envelope I rang him straight away because I didn't want to leave it hanging around.
"I'm so glad that he's got his money back for his kids. I had no idea how much was in there because I didn't count it. We always ask customers to check their pockets but we find passports and all sorts in there. It's just a normal thing to do and most people would [give it back].
"We have pens in there and if one was to melt all over a suit we'd get in big trouble so we always go through the pockets just in case. This proves why we do it."
Ravi's Facebook post explains his 'clumsy' mistake and users commented to praise Caroline's honesty. The post said: "Shout out to the laundrette and dry cleaners for their honesty. Just took some suits in for dry cleaning.
"The lady asked me if I had checked my pockets and I said yes. But I clearly didn't check my pockets where I had stashed children's xmas money. I received a phone call 10 minutes later to come and collect the cash. I already knew the shop was very honest as I've occasionally forgotten the odd fiver and tenner in my pocket but never this much."
One commented: "Well done spring clean for showing us that there are honest and kind people out there."
Another agreed and said: Wow, that's awesome! There are some decent people in the world after all. I hope you treated them."
Another joked: "Hence the expression 'money laundering'."
Another simply said: "Love this."
