The Case of the stolen Creda...

[hotpointfan]

Hello!

Up until Two days ago, I owned a Hotpoint WDM73 and a Creda W220VW washing machine. I bought the Hotpoint to sell on, but the Creda to keep. I eventually sold the Hotpoint on Gumtree for £95 which was rather nice. The machines both lived in the front of the garage so when the garage door was open both machines were in view. On Thursday, me and my dad went to deliver the Hotpoint to the buyer. We loaded the Hotpoint in the car. My dad went upstairs to get ready to go out, ie toilet. I went to the utility room to get a small box of Persil Non bio, which I was going to give to the new owners as a nice gesture. Whilst I was walking through to the front door, I saw two largish men carry the Creda out of the garage. I saw them, and ran. They were travellers, ie scrap collectors. When they saw me run they chucked the Creda in their van and drove away as fast as I could. They just drove down the street faster and eventually I ran out of breath. What they obviously didn't know whas that I had replaced the door seal on that machine, and took it apart and cleaned it up as much as possible. I was heartbroken. My dad was furious, just as I was.

I called the police and they said:

"We are sorry for your loss. We are always getting reports from incidents like these and are trying to cut down on metal theif. "

I think they should get a proper job instead of nicking everyone elses items. I cried after this happened.

Please share your thoughts.

Thank you for reading.

Jacob

 

[arbilab]

Very sorry to hear. 'Travelers' have to be a little more subtle in the US where the odds of homeowners being armed is about 60%. They are opportunistic theives and you gave them the opportunity.

Isn't 'traveler' the PC term for gypsy?

 

[boschlover1997]

it wasnt his fault, he didnt give them the opportunity. and yes they are knows as gypsy.
Jacob i feel so sorry for you, all your hard work, stolen. excuse my language, but the are selfish bastards who threw there life away and are trying to ruin others. sorry for you.
theyll probably have already broken it and this pisses me off so much!

 

[ariston4life]

Jacob- Sorry for you lost, im sure it was a great machine, and its will come back on them for stealing it.

Boschlove1997- i appricate the fact that you are upset about this story but their is absolutly no need for bad language on this forum, even jacob whose machine it was didnt swear so their is no need for you to, if you feel you must express you anger by swearing use **** to blank it out. i myself swear allot but ive never sweard on this forum and i know of no other members who have. just my opinion on the matter, but i felt it was un-needed.

 

[boschlover1997]

right, this is the first time ive used it, and ive seen loads of swearing on here. you all swear in real life so just get over it. whats the problem with u all hating it when u all use it? god. and yes ok i see your point.

 

[arbilab]

'Bastard' is not exactly swearing.

I didn't say it was his fault, but that opportunistic thieves are just that. I've been a victim of 'open garage door' myself but for things smaller than a prized washer. It still pixxed me off, but I was the one who left the door open. It only takes a moment inattention when you're dealing with opportunists.

 

[ariston4life]

Excuse Me

Hang the F**K on whats the problem with just blanking out your swear words like i did just there, this form is mainly for polite conversation about a mutual intrest we all have, and dont ever tell me to "get over it", as for the other members to each their own but i dont appricaiate it and i dont know about you but i wouldnt like to be reading through a post on here and see swear words, yes we all swear but IMO it shouldnt be done on here as i feel their's no need for it.

and no im not picking on you or any of the other younger members remember im only 7 years older than you so im not being the moany old fart you think i am just trying to make a point.

and im sorry but sometimes BoschLover1997 your attitude on here stinks, and if you wish to make friends and be taken seriously on here i suggest you re-evaluate the way you post messages on here and re-think your attitude.

again not picking on you (id never pick on someone)
just would like you to be a little more considerate of the other members

arbilab- technically no its not swearing, but in ireland it is considered a swear word.

BoschLover1997 i wish to get along with you but that decision is entirly in your hands.

all the best
Luke

 

[arbilab]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
arbilab- technically no its not swearing, but in ireland it is considered a swear word.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I see. Notice you never hear Gordon Ramsay say 'bloody', though he says many rude things? 'Bloody' is swearing in England. Here it is a skint knee.

I'm Irish by heritage but 'been here' almost 300 years.

 

[launderess]

@Jacob

Cheer up lad, sooner or later you'll find another washer. Thankfully the bandits weren't armed or otherwise tried to do you harm from interferring with their looting. Moi? I'd have jumped in the car and given chase making a devil of a noise to attract attention and hopefully someone would have alerted LE (if one hadn't done so already via cell phone whilst in hot persuit).

Another club member here in the States had his entire warehouse collection cleaned out by salvage bandits, so it goes to show you the problem is universal. Indeed they are knicking everything from iron gates to mausoleum doors. Some really brazen theives even steal huge industrial rolls of copper wire from construction sites.

What needs to be done is cracking down on the salvage/recycle yards that take in this lot for cash. This is what the bastards (yes I said it, sue me), are after.

 

[tolivac]

that is why I keep a LOADED magazine for my AR-15 that is in my bedroom-I will use it to challenge ANYONE who is in my garage or yard trying to take something.this sort of thing RILES me-what was done in the example is clearly ILLEGAL-theft of private property.the police should have done their job.Complain to the Captain of of that police dept.And--if someone IS on your property-how do you know if they aren't going to do harm to you in the process of taking your property-and there was more than one person-It can be legal to use force in that case.Just don't know the rules in your area.Once someone took a lawnmower from my garage-I simply let neighbors know about it and what will happen to anyone I find in the garage of my house(it has no door-non standard size)I will HOLD the creep at my place while I summon the police-if he tries anything to attack--then I will shoot upon him.There are a couple of my other neighbors that are ready as I am-sometimes you see a car or truck pulling an empty trailer cruising the neighborhood-these could well be scrappers or someone wanting to steal a lawn tracter or ATV.So far I have had no other things taken out of my garage.

 

[tolivac]

Stolen copper cable-have had this happen while replacing ground systems at AM radio stations.You have to bring the rolls of wire to the site when you have the riggers plow it with their Ditch Witch-and they can't leave their Ditch Witch at the site either.In one case rolls of cable were taken from the power company while they were building a substation next to a transmitter site I was working at.And a TV station had some copper transmission line stolen just as it was going to be installed.It was recovered.The scrap dealer cooperated with the local police.In this area--scrap dealers take your picure and record your drivers license,as well as the license# off your vehicle.And they record what you bring in.If its appliances,HVAC equipment -the serial numbers are recorded,too.

 

[thomasortega]

I see no point in considering the word "bastard" as a swearing or an offense as serious as it looks like to ariston4life.

It's even on dictionaries!

Not sure in english, but both in Portuguese or Spanish, the word bastard is the legal term used to refer to a son/daughter born in a relation out of the marriage: Ex. "Bastard son"/"Bastard Daughter" - In Portuguese Filho bastardo/ Filha bastarda or spanish Hijo Bastardo/ Hija Bastarda.

It's also used in the brazilian constitution and/or the code of laws.
Ex. Inheritance: The son or the daughter are always recognized and respected by the law, no matter if they are, legitimate (biological), adopted (non-bio), Bastard or simply recognized by the spouse in a second marriage if the father/mother has already died and both the parent and the son/daugter agrees.

other law: A bastard son/daughter has the right to request DNA exam to confirm paternity.

Isn't the same term used in english? AFAIK, yes, it's used. So, in theory, consider the term "bastard" as a swearing or something negative is even some kind of prejudice.

a "bastard" is simply someone which parents had an intercourse without being married and coincidently procriated (you know how babies are made, right?)

So, in theory, the term "bastard" was wrongly used since the first time it was posted here. thieves aren't bastarts, they are bad, they are evil and the term bastard has absolutely nothing to do with it.

The same way, the expression "son of a B****" can, in theory be considered some kind of prejudice to somebody that coincidently (and has absolutely no fault) has a mom the has sexual intercourse with unkown men looking for financial remuneration or profit.

Grammar, grammar, grammar. It has the power to build and to destroy civilizations.

This is a typical case of false cognate.

If you want one more example of false cognate, members that also speak spanish, always be very careful when you use the terms embarassing/embarassed.

In english (and also in portuguese), the term "embarassing" means something that caused shame. In spanish it means "pregnant". so, in spanish a simple phrase like "oh, I'm so embarassed" means "oh, i'm so pregnant".

This example was even used in a funny Spanish as second language school advertisement.

So guys, before you take everything too serious, please try to understand the context and always remember that grammar is out there to help us communicating and interacting with each other in the global society, not to make people fight.

 

[rapunzel]

Why didn't the police do their job?

Removing the washing machine from the inside of your garage means that they entered private premises and stole your property. Didn't you take down their registration?

Surely the police have an obligation to follow this up. In any case, I would write to my local paper with this and have the story published, if only to raise general awareness in my community. I'd also raise this issue, especially the lack of action by police, with my local member.

 

[hotpointfan]

Well...

thanks for all the sympathy!

rapunzel: No as they were speeding away.

Jacob

 

[launderess]

If This Ever Happens To Anyone

It is a good idea to have snaps (pictures) of your collection on hand. Contact local news media, police and every single salvage yard in the area showing those pictures. Many scrap yards don't hold onto things *that* long and if notified before hand of stolen goods most (though not all) will do the right thing and make contact before destroying the thing.

To members with warehouses, storage areas, sheds and so forth for your collection, again same advice. Secure your premises and perhaps look into some sort of security system/cameras, and certainly take snaps. Times are desperate for many out there and see appliance collections as merely old "junk" in need of recycling.

As the prices for raw materials continues to climb things are only going to get worse. Mind you, don't have anything against the honest person out scrapping to help put meat on the table, just do not like theft.

 

[hotpointfan]

Launderess

I have several photos!

 

[aquarius8000]

sorry to hear Jacob. i know it was a great machine. moral:keep your garage door shut when youre not there.

 

[hotpointfan]

Chris

Yes. It was a shame, I only used it a few times!

 

[launderess]

If You Have Photos

I'd try looking to see if local recycle places/scrap yards have an email contact and send out an email message with photo's attached. You could start with "Please Help" or some such and say all you want is the unit back with no questions asked.

You might want to put the word out to local repairmen and appliance groups as well. I mean the unit isn't exactly *that* small and clearly was stolen for two reasons: scrap value or to be resold if in working condition.