<p>Older son recently thought he lost his keys. This would have been a huge pain and expensive procedure to replace. On the key chain were his keys for…grad school apt, grad school office, his fob for the gated community of his housing, his smart key for his car, his post office box, and the car remote fob. Easily several hundred dollars would have had to be spent, if they had to be replaced. :(</p>
<p>Luckily his keys were found the next day. However, he now has a “If found, please call xxx.xxx.xxxx” on his key chain.</p>
<p>I know that we’ve found keys before in odd places and it would have been nice to be able to call the owner and let them know. </p>
<p>My kids tease me about putting names/phone numbers discretely on things of value, but now son is listening.</p>
<p>I think I’d be inclined to put a cell phone number on the keys, though. In this day of the internet, where it’s so easy to use a reverse lookup phone directory and find addresses online, I don’t think I’d want someone who has my keys to be able to figure out where I live.</p>
<p>I lost my key ring once. It had many important keys and a Kroger card. Someone found it and went to a Kroger to turn it in. Kroger then mailed it to me, having traced my info from my shopper’s card! And no - I didn’t lose it at Kroger. It took about 3 weeks, but thanks to helpful people, it found its way home!</p>
<p>Years ago there was a service that did this–they gave you an ID number tag for your keys with a “If found drop in nearest mailbox” inscription. Seems a safer option (if still available) than letting a theif know where you live and have the keys too!</p>
<p>I think I’d be inclined to put a cell phone number on the keys</p>
<p>absolutely…put a cell phone number…or a parent’s work phone number on it. I didn’t mean for anyone to think to put a home number on it.</p>
<p>*I lost my key ring once. It had many important keys and a Kroger card. Someone found it and went to a Kroger to turn it in. Kroger then mailed it to me, having traced my info from my shopper’s card! And no - I didn’t lose it at Kroger. It took about 3 weeks, but thanks to helpful people, it found its way home! *</p>
<p>wow…those loyalty cards should say that found keys will be returned…many wouldn’t think to do this. Of course, if you lost keys where there weren’t any Krogers, then the person wouldn’t know where to return. </p>
<p>My H’s work photo ID says “If found, drop into any mail box”.</p>
<p>I still like putting a cell phone or work number on it so that you’re notified quickly. Without knowing key would get returned in 3 weeks, a person would already have paid out a bunch of money to replace the lost keys.</p>
<p>Also…If your child takes a car to school, have him keep a spare set of car keys in his dorm somewhere.</p>