I thought I made it....

lenny · 09-28-2009, 02:16 PM

I was remarking to myself howgood our camping season had been. First year in a fifth wheel, from a 2 man tent. Put about 8500 miles on this summer. No issues anywhere, spent 50 nights in our new trailer, all enjoyable. Tonight, I went and picked the trailer up from our storage lot, since we can't park it at our home. Took it to the shop, and started to winterize it.Once inside I put the slides out, at which pointI noticed some cables hanging out from beneath the TV, where the DVD player is. Had a look and sure enough, it was gone. Looked throughout the trailer, trying to figure out how they got in. Got back to the main door, and noticed they had used a bar to pry the doorhandle and break the lock. Mistake number one, did not use deadbolt. Then I realised that they had put the slides out and then back in again to perform this feat. Mistake number two, did not use battery disconnect. I checked the entire trailer top to bottom, looking for "surprises" or any more theft or damage. None found, so I carried on with my evening. I was boiling mad, but I quickly realised it could have been much worse. The DVD player was crap anyway, now I have an infallible reason to replace it. I learned some valuable lessons, without too much damage. The sotrage lot is basically a fenced yard. Lots of trailers there, but most are older and smaller. Ours does stand out a bit. I will be talking to the owner in the AM, but I'm sure this will be on my dime. Live and learn I guess, there will always be lowlifes. I am glad it was relatively minor.

Stan · 09-28-2009, 02:22 PM

Sorry to hear about the theft. So all they took was the DVD player and NOT the TV? If your DVD player is the original POS that I got, they could have had mine andI might have payed for them to take it!

fixit5561 · 09-28-2009, 02:25 PM

Now that sucks for sure. You'd expect that the lot owner would atleast buy you a new Bluray player just to make up for the broken lock too!

In hindsite good thing you didnt use the deadbolts, sounds like they had plenty of time to get in and they may have ripped the door all to pieces if the deadbolt was locked. Or maybe did alotmore damage than they already did.

Brian

lenny · 09-28-2009, 02:35 PM

Yeah TV is still all strapped in. I guess they must have taken the time to read what brand it was? And the DVD player was a POS, it would get DVDs stuck in it and not eject them. Just makea grinding sound. I wanted to replace it anyway, but not really keen about peopl rummaging through the trailer...

A new BluRay sounds great! Definitely need a new TV to go with it though.

I'm curious how many other trailers got broken into (I'm parked beside a Mobile Suites, and 4 over from a brand new Cardinal) Some may not even know about it yet.

fixit5561 · 09-28-2009, 02:37 PM

Yes a new bluray would be great! I bought my PS3 because they have the best Bluray that is made in them. And now they are down to $299.00 for a new PS3 I wish I had waited a yr or so.

Brian

lenny · 09-29-2009, 05:59 AM

Talked to the lot owner and the police today. The breakin happened Sunday night. The fellow(s) cut and 18 inch hole in the chain link fence, and then proceeded to break in. Some trailers broke in andstole food and booze, some electronics, some ransacked. Some left the slides out, some didn't. Some broke in, and nothing touched. There was a progression of the technique used to break in, started by knocking out windows, and a few past me he wasn't even leaving scuff marks on the door handles! The police said that locking the latch handle was bad, as this allowed them something to pry against to pop the deadbolt. If the latch handle broke, then there were usually busted windows.

Another thing the police told me, is that they may have been looking for drugs. Apparently, it is quite common to stash drugs in parked RVs. So that may have been something they were looking for as well. All in all, nearly 25 trailers got broke into. Some faired better than us, some much worse. All I have to replace is the door latch assembly and the DVD player.

fixit5561 · 09-29-2009, 06:08 AM

A since it was a breakin, now the lot owners insurance company needs to pay out for the broken/stolen items. Id try that route if I were you, as I bet alot of the other owners of parked RV's will probably be doing the same. Id ask the lot owner who his insurance carrier is for the lot. This way you may have to pay for the repairs up front, but then maybe reimbursed at a later date for the cost from the insurance company.

Brian

papa2 · 09-29-2009, 06:17 AM

No harm asking the lot owner for his insurance carrier info. Probably not coverage as most lots have a hold harmless agreement signed as part of the storage agreement. But you don't know if you don't ask.

brandyspaw · 09-29-2009, 07:50 AM

Sorry to hear about your break-in. Usually whatever the lowlife scums steal from the RVs

isn't the issue. The issue is the damage they do when they break in and whatever they destroy.

This is one of the reasons we got out of RVing a few years ago when our local city council changed the RV ordinances so we couldn't store our RC at home anymore. Having to store an RV at a storage lot is just inviting trouble. We recently got back into RVingbut we really hate offsite storage.

Its like a year ago when our neighbor went to get his motorhome from storage to go on a 3 week trip and found it broken into. He missed that trip and a total of 2 months of the camping season. The reasonwas the time it took to getall the dash partslocated that the little thiefhad damaged.

mbinohio · 09-29-2009, 10:16 AM

I have part ownership in a storage lot, both indoor and outside storage and I can assure you that our insurance does not cover your property, by law we need to provide reasonable security, if the lot is fenced, and gated, as most are the responsibility is yours, the same as if you rented a house, the insurance does not cover the contents, that is your responsibility, talk to your insurance company, I have been to court a few times over this issue over the years and we have never been help responsible...sorry to say but the loss is yours...

gtoguy1967 · 09-29-2009, 11:35 AM

Sorry to hear about your loss, I just hope that these punks put their dads favorite DVD in there and mess it up and he beats the crap out of them lol. I have no use for a thief.

fhenn · 09-29-2009, 12:53 PM

It can happen any where. My uncle would tell me I am playing rolete at the storage yard, while he kept his at home. His has been broken into twice now. Now keeps the door unlocked

DandP · 09-29-2009, 01:23 PM

I moved my RV to a secure storage facility. It has security camera's and the owner says they are good quality. He said that two sob's broke in and the camera's got profile frontal and rear views so they went to jail. No more break ins and no worries. Sorry about your situation. Ours is gated and well lit for $110.00 a year.

lenny · 09-29-2009, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtoguy1967

Sorry to hear about your loss, I just hope that these punks put their dads favorite DVD in there and mess it up and he beats the crap out of them lol. I have no use for a thief.

That would be karma!

As far as insurance goes, it would not be worth the bother.The contract at the storagelot says "at own risk". That DVD player was a piece of junk. Now I can get a BluRay player. And a new door handle assembly is 50 bucks. I am just glad it was so minor. Not trashed or plundered.

salda01 · 09-29-2009, 11:19 PM

Hopefully once you and the others replace their belongings the theives don't return. Are you going to remove the electronics once you go back into storage?

lenny · 09-30-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by salda01

Hopefully once you and the others replace their belongings the theives don't return. Are you going to remove the electronics once you go back into storage?

That is a good question. I am not replacing anything except the doorhandle assembly until spring. I was planning on upgrading the TV and the DVD player. I am not going to take that stuff out every trip, but I am going to have tothink hard about this. The trailer will be parked from theend of September till late March early April. Unless I win the lottery and start fulltiming! I had not planned on removing this stuff, but now I don't know.

lenny · 11-04-2009, 05:07 AM

Well, had the trailer at the dealership (1 hr away) for the last 3 weeks getting some warranty stuff taken care of. They have been waiting on the decal for the rear cap. It showed up last Friday. OK, plan is Monday put the decal on, I work till Wednesday, then I can come get it out of there.

But...

Friday night, you guessed it, another 25-30 trailers got broke into. I have not been down yet to survey the damage, but they said that a window got knocked out because the door was deadbolted. And they took the POS television.

What I wouldn't do for 10 un-interrupted minutes with these scumbags and a Louisville Slugger.

If you do anything to these losers, you get charged.

If they get caught, they are back on the street wasting oxygen later that week.

This "Justice" system is A JOKE!

But now I can geta 1080 TV to go with my BluRay!

**Lloyd** · 11-04-2009, 11:17 PM

Lenny:
That is a nasty hit to have to take! At least you are turning it into a positive--with your attitude.

I use to rent out storage for boats, cars, RVs. I had an agreement that had to be signed by the renter stating they knew there was no Ins. and they had to carry their own. You can't insure property you don't own. That was what the attorney that drew up the rental agreement told us.

lenny · 11-05-2009, 04:57 AM

Yeah, I realize that this is my problem. It is kind of frustrating though. I know there is a great big sign in the service department saying units left at owners risk, Units driven/moved by employees at owners risk (really?) but I tend to dismiss that sign. I expect that my property will be safe when entrusted to someone else. (The dealers insurance covers the units that were not sold yet.) But, that is why I have my own insurance. I went to the dealers last night and had a look. Not too bad. There is a hole in the door where they missed trying to knock out the window. Then mud throughout the trailer, fingerprint dust from the cops, and no TV or DVD. So the rough estimate from the dealer, including detailing the trailer, comes to about 4 thousand bucks. Mine is not the worst by far though. One guy they actually ripped the slide apart so they could get the TV out! I really don't understand why they want to steal these cheap TVs? I guess it is easier than knocking off an electronics store due to the almost non-existant security.

lenny · 11-05-2009, 05:00 AM

Oh yeah, they dealer has video surveillance, which shows some blurry figures going from trailer to trailer. Not very useful. They started at 5:38 AM, and left at 6:40 AM. Broke in to 28 trailers in that time. They knew which units they wanted, as they skipped the ones that did not have the big TVs in them. Edited by: lenny

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