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Junior Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/12/2007 2:25 PM
Posts: 101, Visits: 41 |
| Okay....here is the deal. I'm 42 years old, and never have had to use my house or car insurance. I'm lucky in that sense. I also have never sued anyone, nor have I been sued.
Yesterday I stopped off at a MAJOR oil change business and had my oil changed. I took my laptop into the lobby and did some work while they changed my oil. When I got back into the car, I put the laptop bag back into the car (on the floor in the back seat) and took off.The next stop I had was at Starbucks to grab a coffee (I do live in Seattle after all). I went in and got my coffee and came back to the car. I noticed when I got in, that the back door was a little 'ajar' and then of course noticed that laptop bag was GONE. How did they get into the car? When I got my oil changed, they vacuumed out the car. When they did this, they reached back and unlocked the back doors to vacuum. After they were done vacuuming, they never locked them again. Gone was a $200 leather laptop bag, my laptop, some software, some personal papers, powercords....etc. So...what do I do? Is it my fault for not checking all my locks when I got out? Is it their fault for leaving MY doors unlocked? I'm at a loss. By the way...the car does NOT have powerlocks.
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Forum Advisor
Group: Advisor
Last Login: 7/23/2008 9:45 PM
Posts: 329, Visits: 792 |
| OUCH! Anything stolen from your car/house/on your person is the worst feeling in the world! I've had a valuable possession stolen from me many years ago, and sadly, it's gone forever. Of course, I filed a police report but I knew that it would never turn up again.
Getting to the point here. Please understand that I'm no "law expert" but I believe in this case, that you were at fault for leaving a valuable possession out in the public without properly securing it. I believe you when you say that your car's back doors were locked when you went in to have your oil changed. During the time your car was serviced, it was necessary to vacuum the back floor/seats so the attendant unlocked the doors to do his job. This was the case with my last car. (it was a 4-door) Each and every time I got my car back from the oil change, my back doors were always left unlocked even though I was very anal about keeping those locked at all times.
This is truly a case of misfortune, and I'm sorry to say that. I believe the case would be different if the attendants were *required* to lock all doors except the driver's door when the job was done if they were locked or not. It would be the same scenario if you told the attendant to lock all doors when they finished. Since you have already driven away, they're no longer responsible for what happens to your possessions inside.
Since someone broken into your car, file a police report, also file a report with your vehicle's insurance company. If they claim that items inside are not covered,(some companies do) check with your homeowners policy.
By the way, my item stolen years ago was worth (at appraisal time) between $2000-$2,500, and it still sickens me to this day to know that someone out there got off "scott-free" with my property.
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Forum Administrator
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 8/9/2008 6:13 AM
Posts: 8,257, Visits: 16,485 |
| | Hi Shawn - and sorry to hear.... But I have to agree that there's nobody at fault here. Regardless of what happened at the Oil Change site, the driver remains responsible for securing both his possessions and his vehicle. If you leave the car unoccupied it is up to you to make sure all doors are locked.
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| | | New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2/22/2008 8:07 AM
Posts: 67, Visits: 141 |
| | And check with your insurance agent, some policies can have a 'mysterious disappearance' coverage. |
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