Can lost keys come home?

April 27, 2006 6:57 PM

Is there a service that provides a coded tag for my key ring that allows anyone to drop found keys into a mailbox so they get forwarded back to me? I had a tag like this, but upon checking, the company no longer exists. D'oh! I need a replacement.
posted by garbo to home & garden (17 comments total)

A lot of grocery store "super saver cards" offer this feature on both the wallet and keyring cards. Tumi may also do something like this as their extend this feature to their luggage/etc.
posted by kcm at 6:59 PM on April 27, 2006

(you should probably enter your real data on the application in this case, and use another card if you want to try to fake it [even though they'll just correlate it through credit card usage in the end] - also, ^their^they.)
posted by kcm at 7:00 PM on April 27, 2006

In Canada The War Amps offer this service in exchange for a donation to their worthy cause.
posted by furtive at 7:10 PM on April 27, 2006

Osco offers this too.
posted by sbutler at 7:18 PM on April 27, 2006

Could you laminate your own address card and put a stamp or two on it?
posted by odinsdream at 7:40 PM on April 27, 2006

I believe the American Automobile Association offers this service in the form of a metal keychain. My mother has a brass keychain with the AAA logo on it, and it says "if found, please drop in any mailbox" or something to that effect. I think they even pay the postage to get them back to you, as part of your annual premiums.
posted by fvox13 at 7:43 PM on April 27, 2006

Some people might see a pair of keys with address attached as entrapment..
posted by unmake at 7:45 PM on April 27, 2006

What are you talking about unmake? Are you familiar with these key-return tags? They're fairly common.
posted by odinsdream at 8:06 PM on April 27, 2006

I use StuffBak labels on my keys, laptop, pda, cellphone, bag etc. They can't just be dropped in the mailbox but the person who finds your stuff (like keys) has to call stuffbak who will then arrange for free Fedex/UPS pickup.
posted by special-k at 8:31 PM on April 27, 2006

odinsdream: I think what unmake is saying is that putting your address on your key ring is a good way to invite theves into your house if you happen to misplace your keys. If you had a PO Box or something similar, that could work though.
posted by zachlipton at 8:51 PM on April 27, 2006

The most well-known version is by Tiffany & Co., as seen here and here and here and here and here and here.

I definitely agree that home address on tags = not a good idea. (Your facility or office manager would likely say the same thing about putting your work address on them, since a lost office key generally means the hassle and expense of rekeying - that is, if your company still use mechanical locks rather than access cards/badges.
posted by younggreenanne at 10:21 PM on April 27, 2006

Some colleges offer these as an alumni benefit (a la here, here). They also appear to be come-ons at a few banks and credit unions.
posted by disarray at 11:57 PM on April 27, 2006

Thanks all! Looks like StuffBak is the equivalent to what I had before. And no, you don't want to put your address with your keys!
posted by garbo at 4:44 AM on April 28, 2006

putting your address on your key ring is a good way to invite theves into your house

It's not your address on the tag, it's the address of the organization that's going to return your keys to you.
posted by mendel at 6:40 AM on April 28, 2006

Perhaps I have too much faith in humanity, but I suspect any kind of "club" card would be good for this, as long as it's tied to some way to contact you.

My girlfriend and I found a set of keys on the ground at the park 2 weekends ago that looked like they'd been there a few days. There was a Blockbuster tag on the keyring. We took them to Blockbuster, where the tag was scanned, and the owner called with a message to come get his keys.

I can't think of many places that wouldn't do something like this.
posted by jammer at 12:59 PM on April 28, 2006

I would add, for Canadians reading this, the The War Amps service may not actually require a donation.
posted by onshi at 3:01 PM on April 28, 2006

Not exactly what you're looking for, but I just ordered a couple of these pet ID tags with the text "Reward if found. Please call: (phone number)"

I've never lost a set of keys, but I do feel better knowing my cell phone number is attached to the key ring now.
posted by evoo at 8:42 PM on April 28, 2006