i am not a happy chap today,

last night my car was broken into, for the second time in 8 days, and i just found out its going to cost at least £300 to fix. thats 3 days after i got it back from last time.

both times it was parked in a pay and display public car park, once in broad daylight and the other when it was well lit by floodlights.

last week they forced entry by pushing a screwdriver through the passenger door, then stole the CD player and mobile phone charger, bluetooth headset and 30 cds from the glove box.

i paid for the door to be fixed, and the CD player to be replaced.

last night they did the same thing to get in but this time broke the lock and pushed to panel in, and stole the replacement CD player.

the only think the police can do is give me a crime number and an apology.

as im a reasonably new driver i can claim on my insurance because it would bump up my premium too much.

it makes me wonder why i bother working hard, abiding by the law, paying taxes etc when others who dont do any make life miserable for everyone else

sorry for the rant but i need to get this off my chest!

joe

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Joe.
Try installing a cheap alarm..... and no CD player.....
I use a CD player that transmits to my truck radio on an unused FM station...... Out of site out of mind as they say. Plus my truck is so old no one in their right mind would really bother to look at it a second time...... :-) :-) I'd wash it, but I'm afraid the doors would fall off...... NO Babe magnet here...... :-)

There are many, many things I dislike about 'modern' society. However, the thing I find most disgusting is the lack of suitable deterrents for criminal behaviour. A few months ago I was watching a 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary about policing in the North East of England. One particular case involved a 14 year old who had stolen a car and became involved in a dangerous pursuit. He 'decamped' and was eventually caught. Apparently he had been caught before over 50 times for stealing cars. He was given a three year driving ban. Given that he would not be allowed to drive anyway until he was 17............? I have a friend who was a barrister in the Yemen. Get caught stealing there and you will most likely lose your hand. Harsh? Very. There is also very little theft. It's not worth the risk, but coupled with that law is compassion. If you can show you were starving, had no money and no food and were caught stealing food, you would most likely walk away with no penalty. In his town, on Friday afternoon, the faithful are called to prayer at the local mosque. They go and leave shops etc. unlocked and unguarded, apparently it is very, very rare for anything untoward to happen.
For certain crimes I am convinced we need stronger deterrents.
Joe, I commiserate mate, and I hope the B****** that did your car gets it returned many times in the future. At least you can console yourself with the thought that the sad B****** that did it, more than likely has a S*** life, and it's unlikely to get any better.
That's my rant for the year over.

Vinnie

Joe, they say all things come in three.. so watch out!
I feel for you too, it's a very bad thing and it makes you feel very powerless.
And about the police... well, I'm in the policeforce myself, but I know some of those officers can give you the feeling you are the suspect because you left all those things in your car (not to mention what lawyers can make of it) The 'poor' thief just could'nt resist it. It's a strange world today, isn't it?
The only thing that helps me for getting insane is to think that there is still a majority of 'good-guys', allthough sometimes it does not feel that way. I know...
Was there no surveillance camera nearby? Mostly those things are everywere...

Shaun, that neighbour son of yours is sick! Don't ever let his father clean things up. The fact that he's 30 and still living at home shows his father has no influence at all. He's the boss over there but his parents don't know it, I guess. Call the police everytime that rat does things, take pictures etc. I'm afraid that's the only solution against those types (without lynching, that is...).

Paul

I would check into filing a claim with your insurance. Where I live they usually don't increase for premium for non-driving related claims. Theft is already calculated into your premium.

Doesn't hurt to ask around.

Hi Joe I feel for you mate, I used to be a copper and Ive seen some of the things these vermin get up to I used to get so up tight it nearly killed me and i had to retire. One day were going to wake up in this stupid country and vote in some one who cares about ordinary people not the criminals and the bombers and the hate preachers. Hang in there.

I agree that there isn't much in the way of deterants here in the U.S., especially for juveniles. We police officers put the bad guys in jail, only to have most of them back out on the street the next day.
Juveniles get slapped on the wrist and have their records wiped clean once they turn 18 (except for really serious crimes, i.e., murder, rape, etc.). The way adult criminals are handled isn't much better. Kind of makes me wonder why I even bother sometimes.
I can't imagine it's much different on the other side of the pond.

I vote for the hand removal thing.
Second offence - off with his privates !
Third offence he has to marry Rosanne Barr.
Cheyenne

You just described my car! :-)

Massachusetts has one of the worst insurance systems in the country. We're state regulated and rates are based on where you live, your record, etc. The only way to reduce your deductable is to essentially prepay that amount, so to get if from $500 to $100 will cost about $400 more a year. Basic mandatory insuarnce with a spotless record (which starts at 9 and increases with violations or accidents _No one knows why 9 and not0) or 1. That being said, even here, if you are the victin of theft or vandalism, it will not increase your points.
I'd suggest placing your CD's in the trunk, getting a removable face CD player or one that has a coded security number, take all electronics with you and get an alarm with a blinking LED to let them know it is wired.
My previous car was enterred in my driveway in the middle of the day and they tried to pop the inginition, but ignored the coded radio. I got an alarm right after that. No claimn since the cost of repair was, get this, $499.25!

Bring back the birch, that's what I say.
Public floggings like in the old days.
And then rub salt into the wounds,

All this PC stuff like "they're just misunderstood, lets send them on a nice holiday to show we care."
What a load of

Guess what, a car alarms just gone off outside.
lets see what's going on

Joe,
Life's crap I hope the theiving pikey gets caught and he
will only a matter of time lets just hope it's not the law that
gets to him. Might not make oyu feel any better but theres
been a lot of theft and vanalism to peeps scoots on rallies
of late stealing disk brakes(rare as rocking horse) and
stuff well 2 got caught doing it at a rally last weekend
they got a proper good hiding for their troubles so nice
things can happen did the police take finger prints ect?
It might be worth you contacting the owners of the car
park they may have CCTV footage of it happening and BTW
it's an old theif trick to target a car/home again soon after the
1st attempt as they know the insurance will have paid out

Good to see you back Davy..... How was the bike trip/rally?

Yo Davey! Where've ya been laddy? Not seen ya around a lot?

Vinnie

Last rally spot on lots of drinking and climbing into bins :-) think I went to bed about 4 am only cause they ran out of beer :-) :-) :-) scoot put 2nd fastest session on the rolling road on the Saturday 94mph @16.3bhp pissed a few people off how spent big money on thier engines and were cc's over mine (185) just missed out on the prise some lad pipped me at the end of the day but was nice to get loads pointing at scoot and asking what I was running
Not being doing any modelling due to working on the scooters need to get my ser2 serviced and sorted out for the end of August got a cannonball run in the UK which I'm entering and got another 2 scooters to build over the winter as well as send an engine off for a rebuild

Doing Landsend to John O'groats on the scooter next year added up up there and back about 1700 mile round trip in 7 days

Vinnie,
Doing OK just been busy with work and scooters still been picking up the odd kit every now and then......................as you do
:-) :-) :-) :-)

Oh do I hear you. I've lost two digital cameras now, stolen out of my car over a period of a year. It's not like I'm rich, or living high off the hog. I'd say we were the lowest income family on the block. Stil that doesn't stop some pond scum low life from helping themselves. I just know it's not because they're hungry, or don't have a place to live, but rather they want a quick high off drugs or just that they want what other people have. It just really pisses me off.

My daughter had a clarinetter stolen from her at school, and miracles of miracles it was recovered by the police. Maybe you and I will get lucky like that, though I'm not going to hold my breath.

Really sorry you had to go through this.

Maybe next time try hiding the stuff under the seat or put a coat over it so its not as nice a target. THats what I do here in America, and it seems to work.

Thats crazy though, twice in one week.

~CHip

Hi Joe

I know exactly how you feel being a Brit living in the US
Eight years ago when i was home in the UK i found a dope head kicking the s--t out of my car headlights hood side panel i chased him and caught him and put him down, passer by called the police he was arrested but not before saying that i had assaulted him..... which i did he damage to the car was 100s and 100s of pounds he was convicvted and ordered to pay my damages to this date i have had the grand total of $10....what i should have done is given him the beating of his life so i got $10 did not even pay for one of the bulbs in my head lamp.
Take care
Cheers Chris

Joe, sorry to hear about your loss mate...

I must say, all these stories about the social conditions in the UK are really putting me off coming over there on the wife's ancestral... I thought we might be able to make a better life there - for ourselves and our descendants - but now I'm not so sure...

RR

Thanks for the replies fella's, its sad to see im far from the only one of us to have had this trouble.




the sad thing is both CD players had detachable fronts, which i still have so in effect they stole a useless black plastic box!

Rudi, dont be put off coming here, on the whole its a fantastic place. the problems of crime and drug addicts etc seem to be the same wherever you go.

regards

Joe

my cousin had just got his first car and installed this crazy stereo he worked for a long time, a few weeks later got it stolen and had no insurance to re-pay for it, then later he got in a car insurance and since he was under 25 and insuraqnce in ontario are VERY expensife. he had to pay nearly 3000$ in insurance everyyear, for a certai namount of time, which ends this year!

Sorry to hear what happened, i have no car yet and dont plan getting one, but i work hard to pay my dirtbike and id feel the same if someone would steal it.

Frank

Francois
Hes young, under 25 and a male to boot.. Three strikes for insurance here.. Ive been driving over 20 years, no accidents and 3 or 4 tickets.. No claims and Im still paying 1100 - 12oo bucks a years.. But I digress...

Joe, sorry to hear about your misfortune.. I remember stories from my folks, both of whom grew up in the UK.. Nothing but respect, and a healthy does of fear for the parents and authority.. Any issues in school were dealt with there(strap), and then again at home after the note was read.. My mom used to have to get the swtich that gramma had on the back of the door..Give it over then take a few good whacks with it.. The kids these days are spoiled beyond belief.. And when you spoil the child like that, you ruin him/her for life.. They expect everything handed to them.. Ok, my rants over...


Dave

Joe:

Cuhail and I can both relate....Both our vehicles were violated in the driveway of our home, under a street light, with our "guard" dog on watch (asleep on the couch). It ended up being neighborhood brats that left much of stuff strewn across the street and lawn but the act of trespass is enough to get my blood boiling. We filed a police report but never did see our cd player again. But reporting to the police did get more patrols through the summer in our neighborhood to keep those punks at bay.
I feel your pain!
The little b*******
G-frog

Well all I can offer is advice as sympathy won't replace anything you lost.

1) A Car Alarm ( If you cant afford one then see #2)
2) Detachable faceplate stereo, It's not worth anything without the faceplate!
3) I have installed a small LockBox in the Trunk(Boot) and place anything of value in there. (If you want to keep it, keep it out of sight!) My car also has a trunk "Lock out" that cannot allow anyone to open the trunk even using the inside release unless they have the key
4) Do Not Leave anything of value in your car where it can be seen!!! Car break in's are crimes of opportunity and if they can see it they will take it!!