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F#%K: My laptop was stolen!

GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Am out here near San Francisco, CA visiting friends. We ate at an upscale Italian restaurant last night in Danville. We came out of the restaurant to find my friend's BMW 540i with two smashed windows. Both of our briefcases were stolen. Mine containing my HP ZT3000 laptop and car keys. His containing his new new cellphone, PDA, and personal checkbook. The parking lot was well-lit, the theft occured around 8:00pm with some remaining daylight, the parking lot was full, and his car was parked within 20-30 feet of the restaurant. And get this: yet another BMW 5-series was broken into and a laptop was stolen out of it. But this second BMW was parked within 5 feet of people eating on the outside patio!

So, the bad news is that I have to order a new laptop. The good news is that it looks like my friend's car insurance will cover the loss, and since I backed-up the laptop before leaving for Europe, most of the data should be recoverable. I will have lost about 50 work-related e-mails that I received while away that were downloaded and erased from the Earthlink server but were never backed-up. (This was my work laptop.)
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Am out here near San Francisco, CA visiting friends. We ate at an upscale Italian restaurant last night in Danville. We came out of the restaurant to find my friend's BMW 540i with two smashed windows. Both of our briefcases were stolen. Mine containing my HP ZT3000 laptop and car keys. His containing his new new cellphone, PDA, and personal checkbook. The parking lot was well-lit, the theft occured around 8:00pm with some remaining daylight, the parking lot was full, and his car was parked within 20-30 feet of the restaurant. And get this: yet another BMW 5-series was broken into and a laptop was stolen out of it. But this second BMW was parked within 5 feet of people eating on the outside patio!

So, the bad news is that I have to order a new laptop. The good news is that it looks like my friend's car insurance will cover the loss, and since I backed-up the laptop before leaving for Europe, most of the data should be recoverable. I will have lost about 50 work-related e-mails that I received while away that were downloaded and erased from the Earthlink server but were never backed-up. (This was my work laptop.)
Click to expand...

Wow, that's pretty messed up.
I don't leave anything in the passenger area of my car anymore. Car is tinted, but still.
Everything goes into the Trunk.
 
Originally posted by: isekii
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Am out here near San Francisco, CA visiting friends. We ate at an upscale Italian restaurant last night in Danville. We came out of the restaurant to find my friend's BMW 540i with two smashed windows. Both of our briefcases were stolen. Mine containing my HP ZT3000 laptop and car keys. His containing his new new cellphone, PDA, and personal checkbook. The parking lot was well-lit, the theft occured around 8:00pm with some remaining daylight, the parking lot was full, and his car was parked within 20-30 feet of the restaurant. And get this: yet another BMW 5-series was broken into and a laptop was stolen out of it. But this second BMW was parked within 5 feet of people eating on the outside patio!

So, the bad news is that I have to order a new laptop. The good news is that it looks like my friend's car insurance will cover the loss, and since I backed-up the laptop before leaving for Europe, most of the data should be recoverable. I will have lost about 50 work-related e-mails that I received while away that were downloaded and erased from the Earthlink server but were never backed-up. (This was my work laptop.)
Click to expand...

Wow, that's pretty messed up.
I don't leave anything in the passenger area of my car anymore. Car is tinted, but still.
Everything goes into the Trunk.
Click to expand...

This is what I do without fail at home, but I felt comfortable with the area to allow it just this once to remain in the cabin. Besides, the trunk was packed with my suitcase, his golf clubs, a wake board, and a ton of other loose items.
 
The alarm didnt go off? You would imagine that a 5 series comes with a shock sensor that sets off the alarm when the windows were shatterd.
 
are you sure his car insurance will cover it? my insurance wont cover any personal items that is not bolted to the car, I will have to use my homeowner insurance for that.
 
Dude that sucks. City life though, you have to watch for it. Here in Blacksburg, VA (60,000 people, college students mostly), I can leave my car unlocked with a laptop and it will be there when I come back in a month 😛
 
Originally posted by: richardycc
are you sure his car insurance will cover it? my insurance wont cover any personal items that is not bolted to the car, I will have to use my homeowner insurance for that.
Click to expand...

There must be some sort of special theft insurance ? 😕
 
That sucks. But, It's hard to prevent--seeing how easy it is for the theives to get away with, in broad daylight, with people 5' away oblivious... geeze. Even in the trunk, most have remote release so wouldn't be helpful there either.

Any chance it was a thinkpad w/ hdd password rendering system useless?
 
I doubt car insurance will cover it. Same story from mine way back when, if not bolted down it's not covered. AGent may have said it's covered but adjuster will probably change the tune.

Hope not for your sakes though.
 
I'm glad my trunk can't be opened from the latch inside the cab since I lock it w/ a key where there's valuable stuff in there. I had my car windows smashed and they tried to get into the trunk but couldn't.
 
Originally posted by: isekii

I don't leave anything in the passenger area of my car anymore. Car is tinted, but still.
Everything goes into the Trunk.
Click to expand...

Yep. Listen up folks, this is some of the best advice you will ever get!

Out of sight means it's less likely to be stolen.

I even put my cell charger away out of sight when I park. I don't even leave clothing or blankets in the passanger area because people may think something is hidden beneath them.

The ONLY time I've ever had a car broken into was when my ex-wife left her purse under a jacket in the back seat.
 
Leaving stuff in the trunk is no safer, especially if you put those items in the trunk after parking. I bet that a thief could open your trunk faster than you could. It would be a heck of a lot quieter than breaking a window, too.

I never leave my laptop in the car. I carry with my everywhere, if I have it.
 
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: isekii

I don't leave anything in the passenger area of my car anymore. Car is tinted, but still.
Everything goes into the Trunk.
Click to expand...

Yep. Listen up folks, this is some of the best advice you will ever get!

Out of sight means it's less likely to be stolen.

I even put my cell charger away out of sight when I park. I don't even leave clothing or blankets in the passanger area because people may think something is hidden beneath them.

The ONLY time I've ever had a car broken into was when my ex-wife left her purse under a jacket in the back seat.
Click to expand...

Call it NYC-paranoia, but I have to agree. It's crazy to leave anything in the open or even covered for the above reasons.

GL with the insurance.
 
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Leaving stuff in the trunk is no safer, especially if you put those items in the trunk after parking. I bet that a thief could open your trunk faster than you could. It would be a heck of a lot quieter than breaking a window, too.

I never leave my laptop in the car. I carry with my everywhere, if I have it.
Click to expand...

I will agree with that to an extent. Make sure you DO NOT put stuff in the truck while you are at the same place you plan to leave your car. Put it in there BEFORE you get to the parking lot. If you are mall shopping and want to leave stuff in your trunk and return to the mall, put the stuff in, then drive around to the other side of the mall and park again.

But the trunk IS safer, so long as the thief did not see you put anything in there. It's safer because thieves don't waste their time popping open random trunks.
 
Trunks are no safer.

I've had people bash in the lock of the trunk to get at absolutely nothing inside.

I also had thieves that bashed my window in to steal about $1 in change and another time had the dashboard of my VW completely ripped out just to get the cheap POS stock stereo.

Criminals suck! :|
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Trunks are no safer.

I've had people bash in the lock of the trunk to get at absolutely nothing inside.

I also had thieves that bashed my window in to steal about $1 in change and another time had the dashboard of my VW completely ripped out just to get the cheap POS stock stereo.

Criminals suck! :|
Click to expand...

This does not mean they aren't safer. MOST criminals will not pop open random trunks. Especially in well lit, well traveled areas like restaurant parking lots.

Yes, sometimes you'll have stupid, random criminals who break into stuff for no apparent reason. For those, there is no protection. But for the vast majority of criminals who case stuff before striking, keeping stuff out of sight is a good idea.
 
two cars in one shot, sounds like they spotted the cars ahead of time and are professionals.

They know most people will have good stuff inside BMW's
 
Put everything in the trunk, especially two briefcases..... that should be common sense. I even put my backpack/messenger bag in the back, the car is empty when I leave it.
 
Originally posted by: oboeguy
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: isekii

I don't leave anything in the passenger area of my car anymore. Car is tinted, but still.
Everything goes into the Trunk.
Click to expand...

Yep. Listen up folks, this is some of the best advice you will ever get!

Out of sight means it's less likely to be stolen.

I even put my cell charger away out of sight when I park. I don't even leave clothing or blankets in the passanger area because people may think something is hidden beneath them.

The ONLY time I've ever had a car broken into was when my ex-wife left her purse under a jacket in the back seat.
Click to expand...

Call it NYC-paranoia, but I have to agree. It's crazy to leave anything in the open or even covered for the above reasons.

GL with the insurance.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

Leaving stuff in full view is dangerous imo. I always try to take anything out of my car when I am not in it. Not wortht he risk or hassle to leave my bag in the car when people are about. Just too easy to smash a window and take something.

Just stops the passing by 'rent a thief'.

We leave our tills open and empty at the place I work. Just to show the thiefs there is no money left in the dam cash machine. They can still break in but at least they know there isn't no cash left in the dam machine.

Hope you get your laptop back GT.

Koing
 
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