How Dumb -UPDATE-

[jaybee]

Let two young fellas rent the rooms downstairs till they got on their feet. Yesterday i noticed something not right in my workroom and discovered a penn overhead and rod missing plus my 650 alvey star drag. Well of course one guy is blaming the other. the older of the two as i write now is on his way to cash converters at capalaba to retrieve paperwork on the penn and rod which apparantly is still there, he has the paperwork on the alvey which has been sold at cash converters at woodridge. the police say he will still be charged because he drove the car and the younger guy to the two stores. all i want is my gear back. the police say once they have the paper work from Cash Converters it wont be too hard to relocate and return my gear. guess someone is going to be out of pocket, and Cash Converters advertise how much pride they take in ensuring their gear is legit, yeah right.
cheers
Joe.

[jaybee]

Just returned from the police station, where i met the older of the two guys, he has put a deposit on my penn and rod and is paying it off, the police will track down the alvey, but it is going to be up to the New owner if he willingly hands it over. In the meantime to save facing charges of fraud the older fella just went to Capn Blighs with me to layby a new one just in case. not all stories end this well. oh btw, if he fails to produce he gets charged with fraud, so i guess he as some incentive eh. The younger 15yr old is in Tamworth and the police cant do a thing about him, and if they could, their response was, he will just laugh at us cause he will get a good behaviour bond.
cheers
Joe

[agnes_jack]

Glad to hear youv'e had a reasonable result Joe.
Mongrels!!!

Regards, Tony

[jaybee]

Thanks Tony
cheers
Joe

[westie]

A message to be learnt AGAIN ... Same happened to me some years ago fires went through the Landsbough area and a good friend ( well he was then) lost the lot he used to deckie on the game boats all over place and had heaps of gear. So as I was in full time owner opperator and no time to fish, thought do a good deed, so I loaned him my 2xTLD 15's mint cond, saw him some months later and asked how are they going he said great and thanks again and we had a beer. Then 12mth after I said at a comp at Mooloolaba Hey I might get them off you as I have a trip coming up and the response was Haaaa Yahhhhh and walked off so off after him and did a Pauline Hanson Please Explain Oh had a kid staying with me and he knocked them off and bolted anlog with a heap of other stuff but the cops said that there would be no hope of getting them back and I don't have insurance and at that i just looked and said BUT I AM WITHOUT 2XTLS's what are you going to do and the repley was ...... NOTHING.......some MATE.... he lost them 7 mths before I saw him at the Comp and still didn;t ring me to let me know.

There is a good side to this and it helps to talk about it today I was VERY good friends and still am with some off his former employers Haaa Ohhhh Yahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

[jaybee]

yep westie lesson to be learnt by all, this young guy is facing fraud, and if so faces a long hard slog to say different, but if he does the right thing while he has a chance he can turn his life around. it seems doesnt matter how much i get burnt i can still see the good in people, no wonder i am broke eh.
cheers
Joe.

[chemmy]

if some one stole my gear they would be biting down on a nuckle sandwitch

but i guess you gotta give some one a chance once in a while

[jaybee]

Chemmy more often then not, a knuckle sandwich will get you into more trouble then the criminal, even they have protection
cheers
Joe

[gunna]

Mate of mine had a camera stolen from his car. He located it at Cash Converters within 2 hours - but had to pay to buy the thing back. Thats one law that is wrong wrong wrong.

[scuttlebutt]

gunna,

your mate shouldn't have had to buy the camera back. If he reported it to the Police they have the power to seize the camera from Cash Converters and then investigate how it got there. That's how it works in Queensland anyway - though I admit I don't know the legislation relevant to Sydney

cheers,

steve

[gunna]

No - down here if the Converter can show he bought it in good faith ie verified and recorded the details of the seller - then he is not responsible if it is stolen and the goods are legally his. Pity about the fake ids the sellers use.

[jaybee]

Gunna is right in what he has said it applies in Qld as well. If i can prove Cash Converters bought my stolen gear of a theif, and they sold it, the police can only contact the new owner and inform them the gear is stolen, it is up the new owner if they will give up the gear. If so they will not get a refund, so it is all in good faith. If however, cash converters still have the property in question, and ownership can be proven, then the police have the right to seize said property from cash converters. having said that, with all the false advertising this company has done on to television over the years, professing that they take all care to "insure the people selling the property own the property" has been nothing but false and misleading to all the general public. I am still battling to get my gear back at present, as the said person said to the police he would buy it back for me, however i have found he has fled the state, the police are slow to act, Cash Converters say the gear is still there and if he doesnt make a payment they will sell it, even now they know they are in possession of stolen property. And this is because i cannot contact the officer who took the complaint, he has refused or is too busy to return my calls i make every 2nd day, and no one else in the police force is interested, they say you have to contact the officer who first took the complaint. I am now thinking that maybe this officer either doesnt care or is related to the offender. either way, after this weekend i am putting in an official complaint, as i have recorded in my dairy the date, time etc and the person i have spoken too, since this debacle has started. Like i said earlier in this thread, crims have more protection then the victims
cheers
Joe.

[scuttlebutt]

Jaybee, it doesn't have to be the original officer you spoke to because from what you've said, initially you didn't make a formal complaint of stealing.

Instead you entered into a civil agreement with the young theif that he was going to replace your gear. (That was your first mistake - bargaining with a thief - or maybe second - shouldn't have looked after him in the first place).

Anyway, Police don't deal with civil agreements, so you can't expect any further action from them if that was how you left it.

To get your gear back:

1. go down to the local Police station and find out if an official complaint of stealing has been lodged - if it has, there will be a Crime Report number, or otherwise known as a CRISP number. Anyone in the station will be able to perform this simple computer search. From what you've said so far I suspect a CRISP report has not been lodged.

2. If a report has been lodged, ask which officer it has been detailed to, and attempt to contact them. If unsuccessful, make sure the counter-person sends the officer an e-mail requesting they contact you. (written messages get lost)

3. If no report has been lodged, insist that you wish to make a formal complaint of stealing. You may encounter excuses such as "it needs to be reported to the original officer you spoke to " but this is simply not correct. If there is no previous report, you can make the report to any Police officer, at any station in Queensland.

4. Depending on the civil agreement you've made with the theif (aka - to buy you a new one - what were you thinking?) the Police may be able to go and seize your property.

Note - it's no good getting cranky at the Police for what's happened so far. I think you're really mad at yourself for being sucked in by two young louts, having your gear knocked off by them, and then (and sorry if I'm repeating myself) bargaining with a criminal

I suspect you know full well that if you went ahead with a stealing complaint in the first place you'd have your gear back and at least one young punk would have learnt a lesson. You had him right there in front of you - at a Police Station for christ sake - and YOU decided to bargain with him instead.

Oh well, good luck with it,

Steve

[jaybee]

Well scuttle
thanks for your advice, much appreciated, however i have been through all of the above and still no action. the reason i bargained with him, was because he insisted in front of the police of what his intentions were, and beleive it or not, the officer more or less said i would give a chance, beginning to think that maybe the said officer was related to the kid, who knows, i have been to the local station to file a report, but keep getting told, because this other constable has all the details in his black book it is up to him to contact me. so now where do i stand after ringing every other day, with emails being sent to him to contact me, and no one else wanting to do his work, so to speak, will keep you informed
cheers
Joe

[scuttlebutt]

Yeah, sounds like you might be getting the runaround then. May be worth asking to speak with the officer in charge and let him/her know how upset you are about the situation. If they can't help you for one reason or another you are entitled to know why.

You could consider making a complaint against the officer/s concerned - if you genuinely feel you've been poorly treated - that's a matter for yourself. Such a complaint can usually only be taken by a senior officer and you can be pretty sure your stealing complaint will be attended to with a renewed vigour.

Like I said before, if a Crime Report hasn't been lodged by the original officer, then technically you shouldn't have to wait around for him to get back to you. Any officer can take the initial report, even if they refer it to the original officer for investigation. Sounds like you're getting flicked 'cause no-one wants to do the report when the original officer should have done it.

Anyway, keep onto them until you get an answer. If your gear's still at Cash Converters, and you make a formal complaint of stealing, the Police can go and seize it. No ifs or buts.

Remember, don't get fobbed off by counter staff. Keep your cool, but don't leave there without at least a Crime Report number. Let them know that stolen property belonging to you is sitting down at Cash Converters and you want it back.

I hope it works out for you.

cheers,

steve