So I got robbed over the holidays.... (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

My condolences. My parents' house was robbed in Christmas of 2002 when they were visiting me for the holidays and I remember what a nightmare that was. Sense of security: shattered irrevocably. They now installed a crazy alarm and monitoring system which I always worry I'll trip up when I visit them, and the cops will arrest me a la that cell phone commercial.

I hope you and Susan can get everything back like it was (or as close as is possible under the circumstances) in short order.

Apparently it is a tactic of thieves to scope out houses during the holiday season to see who has left for vacation. I'd recommend buying those timer lights and if you're good friends with your neighbors, have them come over and park a car in your driveway to give it that "someone's home" look.

 

[Holadem]

Uh... I think there are limits to Michael's sympathy.

Sorry about the loss Patrick.

--
H

 

[RickER]

Sorry to hear about that Patrick. A co-worker of mine was moving into a new apartment a few weeks ago. When he went to get a load of stuff, they broke in a stole his plasma TV he just brought in. He didnt have renters insurance either. he was going to get it after he moved in.

Do you have an alarm Patrick? It may not stop them, but at least they have to listen to it as they steal, and it will cut down their browsing time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Patrick: Didn't know what what was going on until I saw the mention in this week's RoundUp.

My sympathies. While there are many worse things that could happen to someone...this ain't all that far from the top. Mostly, that feeling of violation is just the worse.

Hope it all works out okay for you.

The water damage was the first thing that came to my mind, too, when I saw the mention!

 

[TravisR]

That's terrible. I hope they catch the person responsible so you can get some of your stuff back.

 

[Stan]

Jimi,

Definitely wouldn't get the insurance company involved if you can help it. Not only would you have to come up with the deductible, they may have covered the window under comprehensive, but most policies don't cover items within the vehicle, unless they're factory installed.

On top of that, they'd probably raise your rates for making a claim.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Those M-Fers also stole 2 of my suitcases, obviously they chucked all the goodies in them and then made their getaway.

 

[Jimi C]

Those are the reasons i've already decided against it.

If apple would be kind enough to help track stolen ipods they could easily be caught. They also stole about 15 blank gift cards that I keep on me at work for when customers return mecrhandise without receipts. I hope they are stupid enough to try to use them.

My friend wants me to leave the door unlocked with a $50 on the seat and set up a sting.. ha.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Sorry to hear what happened but I'd suggest keeping your eyes open for a while. My car was broken into a few years ago and like an idiot I kept over 1000 CDs in there. They broke the window and took them of course but they also stoke the CD player, countless DVDs, a few odd gifts, packages that I was meaning to take to the post office the next morning and even my car battery. I decided to use the insurance money to rebuy everything and, like an idiot again, I kept them in the car thinking I wouldn't get hit twice. I did of course. I was told that many thieves will just wait for insurance to come in and the victim to rebuy the stuff.

They eventually caught the two people doing it after a neighbor held a riffle to his head for three hours until police agreed to show up and take them away. I never got my stuff back though and I didn't rebuy anything either.

 

[DavidJ]

Patrick that just stinks. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and I commend you for your attitude. I hope that everything goes smoothly with the insurance and the like.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Patrick, to add to Troy's kindliness, I have a Yamaha LD player (CDV-W901 I think) with RF demodulator stored in a closet which I haven't used in several years, but should be in good working condition. If you want it, it's yours. Send me an email at [email protected] and I can get it out asap.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The thieves actually left me both of my LD players, and the RF demodulator, so I'm "good" on LD players, believe it or not. But thanks for your generosity, it's appreciated.

As suggested earlier, my hope is that people take some time and catalogue their gear, write down the model numbers and serial numbers, and take some photos and keep all that info someplace safe or online somewhere. Do the same with their DVD and high-def media collections, as well as other prized possessions, and general home inventory in the case of such events.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Truer words were never spoken. But how many of us, d'ya suppose, have actually taken the time to do just that in the event of a similar event happening to us?

And who's to think it wouldn't ever happen to us?

 

[Citizen87645]

As part of my year-end tasks, I've been going around taking photographs of everything. Two shots of each - shot of the serial number, shot of the object. Easier than trying to write the numbers down.

 

[DaveF]

Patrick, sorry to hear of your theft. Friends of my wife had their house burgled, while the wife and newborn were there!

I've asked my wife to use her new camera and photo-document our house. I'm not sure about recording serial #s; my hardware is all 6+ years old and couldn't be replaced like for like. I do need to recheck whether I have current value or full replacement on my home insurance.

 

[todd s]

Patrick, maybe you should hire this kid for home security?...


Seriously, that really sucks. Hopefully, they will catch these a-holes.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Sorry to hear about this. May it never happen again!

 

[troy evans]

I think the serial numbers are more for the police. In the event they recover any stolen items from anything they could be absolutely sure any items were yours if they have those #'s.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Anyone have any suggestions on how not to get royally screwed by the claims adjustor in terms of finding a fair settlement over items stolen (provable or otherwise)? I'm going to do my best to come up with lists of missing items, and receipts or boxes, but there's stuff missing that is only hearsay on my part.

 

[Nelson Au]

Wow. Patrick, sorry to hear about your bad luck. That's really awful.

I am amazed, don't the thieves have any fear? They walked out with a plasma? I guess that doesn't call attention to itself.

Best of luck with your efforts with the insurance company.