My car was broken into while I was at choir rehearsal last night. They busted a window and stole my purse – so they got my ID, my checks, my credit cards, my ATM card, my address book, my date book, my beeper and my phone.
The worst thing is the phone. The only phone I had was my cell phone, so I didn’t even have a way to call the police or report the stolen credit cards or (irony?) report the stolen phone. Fortunately, several choir members hung around in the pouring rain, providing moral support and making calls for me.
So today I need to go to the credit union to cancel my checks and ATM card, get my car window fixed, get a new phone, get a replacement driver’s license, and vote (with no ID). Hopefully, the credit union will let me have some cash.
It’s very upsetting to be without ID or checks or ATM card. Fortunately, I have a credit card that was not in my purse. It could’ve been worse. I wasn’t hurt, and they didn’t steal my car (although there was a car key in my purse, so I’ll have to have the car re-keyed). They didn’t get a key to my house. Still, it’s going to take a long time to get my life back together.
That really does suck. I don’t know what else one can say about it.
I’m glad you had supportive and helpful friends around to help make calls, etc. I hope everyone you encounter as you try to reclaim your stuff here is as helpful.
Oh—be extra careful if anything with your Social Security number was in your purse. You don’t need Identity Theft added to your troubles here.
I got my purse (including all my cash and cards) and phone stolen from work once, it definitely sucks. What made it worse was my boss took a year to get my money from the insurance company.
Dang, laina_f.
I know it does suck. Same thing happened to me and my husband when we lived at our old apartments: Crack head central.
Good luck getting everything straightened.
You may want to check your credit report in a few months just to make sure nothing slips by.
My car got broken into a few weeks ago. I was parked in a bad part of Washington DC. They smashed my back window and stole my cell phone. That was the ONE NIGHT that I didn’t have my phone on my because I had switched to a smaller purse for the night. I would normally never leave it in the car. They also stole everything out of my glove compartment, like the car manual, registration, and a bottle of Pepto Bismol They also (thankfully) didn’t take the $250 tent and the $200 sleeping bag (duh). Like someone said, whoever did this probably isn’t really into camping
The worst thing was that I had to pay out of pocket for the broken window because it was less than the $500 deductible. And I got a new phone after a $50 deductible. But what sucked is that I lost all my phone numbers and some photos that were on my camera phone.
It must be the season for theft. I opened the back door this morning to feed the cats and noticed that Hallboy’s bike was missing off the back porch. They left the bicycle helmut.
I called the police this morning to report it, even though it’s only worth about $30. The guy who took the report was very nice, however, I have absolutely no faith whatsoever that Hallboy’s bike will be recovered.
Sigh, I know we’re supposed to forgive and all, but I keep wishing for a phone manufacturer to offer a “Mossad” special option, where they put like 2-3oz of high explosives in the earpiece. I imagine the conversation would go like this.
ring ring…
Me: Hi, are you the person who broke into my car and stole my stuff?
Crook: Ha! So what are you going to do about it, chump!
me: Listen to this really closely:
BANG
One headless hoodlum. The world becomes a bit of a better place…
It would be even better if you could do this with wallets and car headrests too.
But they’ll never do it; probably 'cause of the product liability insurance premium…
I guess getting robbed would suck more if the robbers who break into my car weren’t so dumb. The first time, they got:
A back-pack ($10)
A loaned book ($0)
A flashlight ($10)
A 5 year old bikini top ($0)
My pee-standing device ($priceless, or $8)
Two empty sunglass cases ($0)
Grand total: about $30 worth of stuff
The second time, they took:
A broken stereo ($0)
My Stevie Nicks CD ($10)
A folding skateboard-thingy someone gave me ($0)
My car’s owner’s manual ($10)
Grand total: about $20 worth of stuff
Crime really, really doesn’t pay, at least not in my driveway. :rolleyes:
Thanks for the kind thoughts, everyone. It’s sad that getting robbed is such a common experience. It’s unlikely that the thieves will get caught, and the police can’t do much.
I was able to report the stolen credit cards and phone last night. Today I cancelled my ATM card and put a stop on the stolen checks. I bought a new phone. I got a new driver’s license. Tomorrow I take the car to the shop. I’m keeping a tally of how much being a crime victim costs me – it will be hundreds of dollars and many hours of time.
The thieves managed to charge $180 at a shoe store before the credit card was cancelled. Everyone make a little wish that those new shoes will walk directly in front of a fast moving bus.
After I got home last night, I went online to email my coworkers about my situation. Then I sent about 30 really nasty text messages to my stolen beeper. That made me feel better. Today a coworker offered to write a program that would text a nasty message to the beeper every five minutes. That would’ve been fun, but I’d already asked my manager to cancel the beeper.
I’m going to do everything possible to prevent identity theft. My social security number is on my stolen health insurance card. God only knows what other information can be garnered from the things that were in my purse.
Ditto to all that. My car got broken into earlier this year, and I lost was a CD walkman - with my favourite CD in it, a Mother Love Bone compilation. Damn it, I could live without the walkman, but that CD? I know it sounds petty, but I had had that CD for nearly 15 years - it had seen me through good times and bad, and reminded me of all of them every time I played it. Dammit, it was the soundtrack to my getting together with my first fiancee, my messy break-up with her, and it probably just got tossed into the first rubbish bin they found. Damn thing’s long deleted, so I can’t even replace it. Bastards. Melon farming bastarding thieves.
So sorry about your loss. I had my purse stolen out of the backroom at work two years ago, and I feel your pain. Luckily my car keys were in my coat pocket, so I was able to get home. If they’d stolen it during non-jacket weather, they would have had all my keys, and two or three stores would have had to re-key at considerable cost. As it was, they only got $3.14 in cash and a debit card that was sitting on a less-than-$5 balance. Note to thieves: never steal from retail workers three days before payday if you expect a profit. The loss that really ticks me off to this day is the loss of my Mary Kay Sagewood lipstick…it was only a month old! It ended up costing me about $100 to replace purse, wallet, checks, ID, lipstick, other makeup, etc.
Now while I sympathize, could you please answer a question that puzzles me everytime I hear about this kind of theft…why was your purse left in the car? I mean, you were out of sight from your car for probably over an hour…why would you think it was safe? Didn’t you think you might need a tissue, or get a call during that time? The only time I leave my purse in the car is when I am parked in my own driveway at my house and I am coming back out within 15 minutes…and the driveway is far from the street, so no one would be just walking by and tempted. Was it in sight on the seat or floor? This puzzles me everytime there is a purse stolen from the parking lot at Bally’s, a few blocks away from me. That lot is notorious for having cars broken into (in a relatively crime-free city) and still women leave their purses out there. I don’t get it…my purse goes everywhere I go.
laina_f, damn, I’m sorry that happened to you! It sucks. More, it’s a huge pain in the ass. Even if it hadn’t cost you any money (and I know it is costing you), just the time and effort notifying everyone, getting replacement stuff, etc. My thoughts are with you.
Oh, and those shoes they managed to charge? I hope the shoes were bought purely for looks, not for comfort; and they cause a huge blister; and the blister gets infected, and the thief has to have his/her foot amputated.
BTW, that was funny about sending a nasty text message every five minutes.
kittenblue, I do not normally leave my purse in the car. The only time I do it is when I go to choir rehearsal, for 90 minutes, in a church. I have to carry a big bag of choir-related stuff in, and it would be a real hassle to also carry my purse, find somewhere to put it, turn off my cell phone and beeper during rehearsal. I’ve been in choir here for nine years, and there has never been a problem before. The purse was not in plain sight.
And it kind of pisses me off that you imply this was my fault. It wouldn’t be my fault even if I’d left the purse sitting in the middle of the parking lot. I am not the one who committed a crime.
I’ll second that! It was the one laugh I had over the whole situation, picturing some junkie sniffing it and trying to figure out what the hell it was.
Hey now, kittenblue was just saying what I suspect most of us were thinking. No one is implying that this is your fault, but it is not a wise thing to do…as you know through experience by now (hopefully). I would never leave my purse in my car either.
Sorry about your loss, laina_f. It happened to us, too, five years ago. Someone (we have reason to believe it was a crack head) broke into our apartment while we were sleeping ten feet away behind the closed door. They stole my wife’s purse with wallet and ID and cards, her $$$ watch and her engagement and wedding rings, which were on the watchband, her book bag with a bunch of stuff, including some irreplaceable CDs. A year later, we got a call from the police, who found her defunct medical insurance card on a wino who died in a back alley. . .
I hope there are no further ramifications from your lost identity cards and the rest. I believe your credit card company will cover the charge for the shoes. Good luck.
They also (thankfully) didn’t take the $250 tent and the $200 sleeping bag (duh). Like someone said, whoever did this probably isn’t really into camping 