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Took the other half down to london for the weekend, it was her birthday weekend so bit of shopping (for her) few beers (no driving - let the tube take the strain) see the cars assembled for the London to Brighton run plus see the fireworks at Battersea Park Sat evening..... few more beers back to the hotel - full english breakfast and then a run down to brighton in the morning to see how many old cars make it

So Hotel carpark - they charge for parking but I'm happy to pay rather than leave it on the street - 6ft wall and spike railings all the way round - floodlit and cctv so the cars nice and safe - just to make sure I parked it under the floodlights and jammed it in close to the wall - hardly room to squeeze in besides it.....

Got up this morning - full breakie nice and early ready for the off, went to load the cases into the car and this is what greated me









I can't write the words I said it'd just come out as a very long line of stars.....

As you can see -

Tunes are gone

The dashboard is completely mullered where the t**t used a screwdriver to get the CD player out.

Whoever it was tried to get the whole centre section to break free so the actual dash has some nice big digs in it

Shakira was in the player....... bugger CD player was MP3 compatable so I normally just have copies or conversions.....

The door frame has a big kink in it where the idiot tried to break the glass so the window seal looks like s**t.

He obviously couldn't open the door so had to reach in and lever whilst leaning so the door is covered in scratches from glass

This is the first time I have ever ever left the face on the stereo in as long as I can remember so I was kicking myself for being so stupid.

When I spoke to the police I mentioned it and they said - "it wouldn't have mattered - they'd have still broken in as most people leave it in the car under the seat or in the glove box - I've never done that but I can see why people do!!!

Hotel staff were good lent me a hoover to clear up the glass - it was everywhere, tape and a sheet of plastic so we could get home with out a force nine gale blowing in.

What a nice end to a weekend and I didn't get to Brighton either.....

This is the reason I won't upgrade my CD player from standard. Theres just too many people out there who aren't willing to work a decent days wage and would rather 1/2 inch stuff off everybody else!

I suppose the 'good' (wrong word perhaps) thing about it is MK4s are now a very popular scrappy car so at least the parts should be relatively cheap to get hold of (a new window glass from VAG will only be about £20.00).

Did they catch anything on CCTV then?

Nelson_Wilbury wrote:This is the reason I won't upgrade my CD player from standard. Theres just too many people out there who aren't willing to work a decent days wage and would rather 1/2 inch stuff off everybody else! ?

It was a base model Kenwood CD reciever - what narks me is the amount of screwdriver marks and broken plastic indicates that he completely muller that too getting it out..........

The removal keys were in the cubby hole at the bottom of the dash - short of putting them in the unit there wasn't much more I could have done......

Nelson_Wilbury wrote:I suppose the 'good' (wrong word perhaps) thing about it is MK4s are now a very popular scrappy car so at least the parts should be relatively cheap to get hold of (a new window glass from VAG will only be about £20.00).?

I'm gonna post at vagparts - my excess on glass is £50 - it's the dash damage that really pisses me off

Nelson_Wilbury wrote:Did they catch anything on CCTV then?

Won't find out till tommorrow the tapes are changed every 24 hrs and the night man tonight is gonna have a look

What arses me off is there were mercs beemers range rovers galoore in the car park and what did they screw - my bloody polo

Man, I feel your pain - welcome to the sad Broken Windows club.

Now, here is something... You car was parked in a car park that is owned by the Hotel, right? So I they are somewhat responsible for the security of what's in it. Especially if it's a walled parking with a gate, CCTV and all.

I don't know how these things work in England, but over here the Hotel would be held responsible for the break-in, certainly, and would have to pay for your damage or the insurance thing (don't know how it's called in English - premium?).

Anyway, you left your car under their responsibility and you paid them to take care of it - if someone nicked your stereo it's because their security was careless.

Look into it. As I said, if that had happened here, I'd be all over the hotel manager and his security people. The Police usually helps in these cases. Car parks may have disclaimers but 1. no contract is above the law (and in our case the law says the parking is responsible for objects left in the car) and 2. a car stereo is hardly 'an object left inside the car', it's a bl**dy part of it! It's not like you left your bag in there or something (though in this case if could prove its contents, like a mobile phone or something, the hotel would have to pay, too!)

Theiving b*******!!! < I didn't realise the B word wasn't filtered

they picked on the polo because beemers and mercs look more expensive and thus must have a better security system. flaming work dodging scumbags need beating to death.

If you see anyone who resembles a theiving smackhead round your way, beat him to a pulp..it wont get your stereo back but it will make you feel better.

I can't believe you had to pay to use the car park and still had the car broken into, What a waste of space the hotel security must be.

Poloice would have been straight round all the usual suspects in a flash squeezing some info out of them...or maybe they thought can't be bothered lets goto mcdonalds.

I'm worried about my car now..

metz wrote:Theiving bastards!!!

they picked on the polo because beemers and mercs look more expensive and thus must have a better security system. flaming work dodging scumbags need beating to death.

If you see anyone who resembles a theiving smackhead round your way, beat him to a pulp..it wont get your stereo back but it will make you feel better.

I can't believe you had to pay to use the car park and still had the car broken into, What a waste of space the hotel security must be.

Poloice would have been straight round all the usual suspects in a flash squeezing some info out of them...or maybe they thought can't be bothered lets goto mcdonalds.

I'm worried about my car now..

It's not the loss that gives me the hump - it the fact that they caused £250 worth of damage getting a £20 fix out of a £100 stereo

I feel violated

sorry to hear mate
hope the car is fine apart from that mishap
-Ben-

i feel for u mate.....
try and keep car locked up overnight when u can...

That must be about as pissed off as i was feeling this time last week x10. Feeling for you man, we shouldn't really HAVE to hide the faceplates away from the charvers!

Sad world

(come to think of it, cops said they'd be back in touch "in a couple of days" and i've heard f****ng nothing since, even a "the tapes showed nothing, we can't really take this any further" would do! they've got ALL my phone numbers... time i gave em a call..)

Hanging/hand chopping is a world I'd still rather not be in, but --- so long as their crime can be proven beyond all doubt* --- a nice bit of torture, no, public flogging would go down a storm. Pain, lasting marks (at least for a few weeks) and a good bit of humiliation for the grief they've inflicted on someone else would go down a treat.
Some days the jewish maxim of eye for an eye seems brutal, other days, it fits so well

Oh yeah, and deportment to bloody antartica or something for anyone peddling any drug stronger than weed. If there's no dealers, then there's no junkies (and when was the last time anyone went stealing for a hash fix?).

For Babe R's benefit, was there one of those nice big notices stating VEHICLES PARKED AT OWNERS RISK/PATRON'S OWN RISK, or was there any mention of insurance (pretty rare these days!)?


*because thats a non-fatal way of taking it out of their ass, and doesnt leave lasting disability, but itd still be a pretty awful thing to do to an innocent person.

Gutted

I know how much of a job it is to get all the glass fragments out - I had the rear window smashed on my old Mini so that a couple of chavs could steal my standard circa-1989 speakers (the little ones on the back shelf). Despite the car being parked almost outside the front doors of the shop I was working my night shift in, there was no camera coverage, and the camera from the bowling alley across the road had "too much glare on it from the floodlight on the roof" - I digress. I'm sure when I sold my Mini there were bits of glass still dotted about in hard-to-reach places... what a nightmare that was to clean up

I have to agree with Nelson, I'm not upgrading my headunit either, and there'll be no speakers added, for fear of someone targeting my car. Like Tahrey said, sad world indeed

Sorry to hear about yr latest break in bstardchild, Thievein bastard yobbo's !

What are you supposed to do these days when you cant even leave yr car in a Camera'd car park?

I feel yr pain, my cars have always got broke into, my Gti has had its window smashed 3 times already !!! and ive only owned it for a year !! Luckily ive had the window insurance cos im Fully comp so instead of costing £185 ive only had to pay £50, still lame though !

Hope you get things sorted bstardchild :¬P

Cal

A finger for each offense, nobody would steal then.

Tahrey1043 wrote:For Babe R's benefit, was there one of those nice big notices stating VEHICLES PARKED AT OWNERS RISK/PATRON'S OWN RISK, or was there any mention of insurance (pretty rare these days!)?

Yep - nice big signs saying just that.........

Hmm... In my experience, these signs don't matter much. Again, I don't know what's the consumer law's like in England, but one thing that's true for every country is that no contract or disclaimer is above the law.

If bstardchild left his car in the Hotel premises (just to be safe!) and *paid* for the parking, over here at least the disclaimer would mean nothing. And just to note, ALL parking lots here have the same disclaimers all over the place and printed on the tickets they give to patrons; these disclaimers mean nothing at all if you decide to take the matter to a small claims court for instance.

It's the same with those "wet floor" signs in shops and hospitals - yeah, ok, I know it's bad example, but still - the fact that there is a sign doesn't redeem to hospital or the shop from responsibility if someone falls and gets badly injured.

It's the same in this case; it's not like bstardchild parked his car in his friend's lawn or something. He bought a service. In my book, whoever owns/operates the parking has to take at least part of the responsibility - and in my country there's even a supreme court ruling on that that's being evoked these days

Anyway, it was just a matter of opinion.

As for disclaimers and contract clauses, I have some funny stories about people (especially from US forums) defending companies that have clearly abusive contracts or use the most absurd disclaimers. These people always argue based on "responsibility" or something like that.

Under that view, if say a phone service contract states that in case of early termination of contract by the customer the company has the right to kill them, then that's right and legal ("the person should have been responsible and read all the provisions in the contract"). But killing is a crime... It's a radical example, but, again, no contract (or disclaimer) can be above the law.

Another example: a VW dealer has "We take no responsability for any damages done to the cars left herein" notices plastered all over. You take your car there, pay for a service, and it is returned to you a complete mess (imagine something that would really irritate you). Oh, but there's a disclaimer... But I bet somewhere in you consumer laws there's something stating that they ARE in fact responsible for any damages that occur while the car is with them (and therefore under their responsibility).

You can put whatever disclaimer you like. "Warning! Step on my drive and you'll be shot", "Beware of my ferocious pitbull", "We're not responsible for objects left in the car while IT'S IN OUR PROPERTY AND WE HAVE BL**DY CAMERAS POINTED AT IT", etc. etc. etc.

It is only valid as long as it has some legal base. AFAIK (of course I may be terribly wrong, I'm not English and don't the law there) the objects left in cars thing is a no-brainer as long as you can prove the objects were there in the first place.

(a receipt for the purchase and/or installation of the stereo works a treat over here)

i think the only service you buy is the one that prevents them clamping / impounding your car if you leave before the ticket runs out...

what of this laminating stuff you can get for windows?