Updates on saw my stolen equipment on ebay

Kudos to you, way to go!

sbattey wrote in post #12173993
Omg. No! That's crazy.

Maybe he meant one of those executive-type massaging chairs?

The sad thing is that oftent he authorities will do nothing about it. A couple of years ago I had a $4500 mountain bike stolen while I was in Austin, TX for an adventure race. It was stolen from my vehicle while in the hotel garage. The hotel valet had made comments about my bike (most people wouldn't recognize a high dollar mountain bike from a cheap walmart bike) so I was immediately suspicious of him. I couldnt prove anything though so I was on my own. I checked craiglist for the Austin area and ebay every day. About six months later doing my morning craiglist check, I saw a description of my bike listed. I emailed the guy asking if he had pics because I was interested. Sure enough there were enough similarities that convinced me it was mine. I used what info I had on the guy (a name and email address to find out all the info I could about him). In three hours or so, I had his full name, his address, past work history, vehicle info, even past girlfriend info -amazing what you can find on a person in the internet age. I had about five friends all bombard him with emails about the bike, hoping to flood him with so many fake responses he wouldn't be able to respond to any real ones. Once I had all the info, I contacted the San Marcos, Tx PD (where the bike was at the time). The referred me to the Austin PD (where it was stolen from). Basically no one was willing to even go to the guys apartment, even though it was grand theft. I finally got a few friends together and headed to San Marcos as Texas allows for the reasonable use of force to recover ones stolen property. About halfway down I called the San Marcos PD and declared my intentions. They suddenly were willing to send an officer to check the bike.

They recovered the bike but didn't arrest the guy because he claimed to have purchased it on ebay - even though his emails to me state that he bought it new a year before. An Austin detective followed up on the case, but the Austin DA refused to pursue charges. I spent a few months making the guys life a living hell electronically and then paid him a visit one day about 4 months later to express my personal displeasure with him.

If you get your stuff back, it's a victory. Too bad that the law just lets folks get away with crime.

offcamber wrote in post #12174915
...and then paid him a visit one day about 4 months later to express my personal displeasure with him.

Eh eh!
I hope the guy can still walk!

Jokes aside, it's amazing how frustrating it can be when someone gets away without even a slap on his hand. This makes me sick.

For those like me, you should watch "Law abiding citizen". Great movie.

Heyiwantyourhelp sorry about your troubles.

Sloanbj I could not agree more

BroncoAZ the cops in AZ are some of the worst IMO. I could bore you with a ton of stories of those clowns.

Offcamber sorry you went through that but I bet justice was sweet! Congrats!


Camera Insurance thru State Farm called Personal Articles Policy, PAP

The cost of the policy is:

$1.49 per $100.00 for Non-Professional

$2.16 per $100.00 for Professional

That is with a Zero deductible. It covers anything that happens to your gear no matter who, what, when, why or how.

They should pixelate his @ss.

FYI even if your renting and your landlord has property insurance that does not cover your belongings it just protects his investment. Always get yourself renters insurance. Its cheep.

offcamber wrote in post #12174915
The sad thing is that oftent he authorities will do nothing about it. A couple of years ago I had a $4500 mountain bike stolen while I was in Austin, TX for an adventure race. It was stolen from my vehicle while in the hotel garage. The hotel valet had made comments about my bike (most people wouldn't recognize a high dollar mountain bike from a cheap walmart bike) so I was immediately suspicious of him. I couldnt prove anything though so I was on my own. I checked craiglist for the Austin area and ebay every day. About six months later doing my morning craiglist check, I saw a description of my bike listed. I emailed the guy asking if he had pics because I was interested. Sure enough there were enough similarities that convinced me it was mine. I used what info I had on the guy (a name and email address to find out all the info I could about him). In three hours or so, I had his full name, his address, past work history, vehicle info, even past girlfriend info -amazing what you can find on a person in the internet age. I had about five friends all bombard him with emails about the bike, hoping to flood him with so many fake responses he wouldn't be able to respond to any real ones. Once I had all the info, I contacted the San Marcos, Tx PD (where the bike was at the time). The referred me to the Austin PD (where it was stolen from). Basically no one was willing to even go to the guys apartment, even though it was grand theft. I finally got a few friends together and headed to San Marcos as Texas allows for the reasonable use of force to recover ones stolen property. About halfway down I called the San Marcos PD and declared my intentions. They suddenly were willing to send an officer to check the bike.

They recovered the bike but didn't arrest the guy because he claimed to have purchased it on ebay - even though his emails to me state that he bought it new a year before. An Austin detective followed up on the case, but the Austin DA refused to pursue charges. I spent a few months making the guys life a living hell electronically and then paid him a visit one day about 4 months later to express my personal displeasure with him.

If you get your stuff back, it's a victory. Too bad that the law just lets folks get away with crime.

so, Im curious, was it the valet?

IQ Zero wrote in post #12175676
Camera Insurance thru State Farm called Personal Articles Policy, PAP

The cost of the policy is:

$1.49 per $100.00 for Non-Professional

$2.16 per $100.00 for Professional

That is with a Zero deductible. It covers anything that happens to your gear no matter who, what, when, why or how.

I've got a similar policy on my camera gear. With USAA it is $1.13 per $100 for personal property, not sure about professional.

BroncoAZ wrote in post #12176857
I've got a similar policy on my camera gear. With USAA it is $1.13 per $100 for personal property, not sure about professional.

Is that per year or per month

If he has posted a weeks ago... why does his account only have 1 post?

themadman wrote in post #12176970
If he has posted a weeks ago... why does his account only have 1 post?

He said he got his old thread deleted

Lady Tori wrote in post #12174773
So they break into your house and sell your stolen stuff on Ebay? Either someone is hard up on money or they're just plain stupid.

I always keep my receipts anyway. Boyfriend keeps trying to clear my purse out because I have so many receipts jam packed in there it drives him insane, not sure why because he doesn't even use my purse! lol

Anyway I hope you get things sorted.

What was the equipment that was stolen? I didn't see the first thread.

I did not and do not plan to reveal what were stolen from me. But for college student, it was a big hit.

IQ Zero wrote in post #12175676
Heyiwantyourhelp sorry about your troubles.

Sloanbj I could not agree more

BroncoAZ the cops in AZ are some of the worst IMO. I could bore you with a ton of stories of those clowns.

Offcamber sorry you went through that but I bet justice was sweet! Congrats!


Camera Insurance thru State Farm called Personal Articles Policy, PAP

The cost of the policy is:

$1.49 per $100.00 for Non-Professional

$2.16 per $100.00 for Professional

That is with a Zero deductible. It covers anything that happens to your gear no matter who, what, when, why or how.

Thanks for the info, I will look into it.

themadman wrote in post #12176970
If he has posted a weeks ago... why does his account only have 1 post?

JustinRageth was right, it was deleted upon my request.

Thanks for sharing a messed up situation with POTN, it should help others in the future. I'm compiling a list of serial #s, pics, and receipts now. I use USAA too, so for that price, insurance seems like a no brainer.

Accessoire wrote in post #12176344
so, Im curious, was it the valet?

I wondered the same, but since he didn't comment on this fact later (this would be a MASSIVE point if the person was working at the location it was stolen from AT the time of theft, and they would obviously arrest him).

I find it likely that the guy could have bought it off the original guy on craigslist. Or ebay. If so, that numnutz would have the contact information of the actual thief. If I was the victim in this case, I would get this information and follow up with the police. There's an obvious trail here. Even if he bought it on ebay and no longer had the shipping label that showed the shippers address, he still has the userid of the seller (in his email, etc). It's an easy matter to buy something from someone and then do a contact information lookup on that person.