thieves don't take any breaks

[grnshoes]

It has been discussed here before and it happened to me last weekend. The scum life form that feeds on anyone , the thief! I ran into Lowes to get some pickets, left my Echo srm230 , Echo 261t trimmers and echo 620 bp blower in the back of my pickup. Yeah I had it all locked down with a cable. That cable was cut like it was a piece of string. I am sick. the police didn't even ask for the serial # or call back yet. I guess my best hope would be that the equipment ends up in a pawnshop. (better chance of getting it back) My lesson learned the hardway. This was my first 3 pieces of new equipment after starting with all used. Home owners insurance would cover it if it wasn't business property. I guess I just wanted to whine to someone so thanks for letting me. Don't turn your back or blink an eye.

[Woody]

Your business insurance should cover it. Mine covers not only liability, but property as well. Check into it.

[clclawn]

Sorry to here this, it suck there are assholes who take for those who work instead of getting a job of there own.

Just another to have biz ins. Just be happy this was what makes you go out and but it instead of hurting someone.

Also around here there is an underground market for stolen lawn equipment, the buyers are other lco's not pawn shops.

[GrassMaster]

If I were you & it was that much equipment?

I would go to all the Pawn Shops in about a 50 mile radius & do this...

Tell them that you're looking for good used lawn equipment & that you'll be paying cash for it. DO NOT say you're looking for stolen equipment. Because they are used to that & know what to do.

You would be surprised at the equipment some of them will pull out of the back room. You can bet money some of them will cough up some nice stolen equipment & you can bet money that some of it has a few of the serial numbers reversed on it too.

We had a guy go crack head over night & went to 3 different power equipment shops & a trailer place buying new equipment left & right.

The 4 of us got together & found the Pawn Shop that had purchased all the New Equipment for $100 each, plus a used Walker mower for $200 & a brand new 16 foot dual axle trailer for $150. I mean the stuff never used & most wasn't even a few hours old.

The Detectives that came buy checking the equipment never bothered seeing if the serial numbers on the equipment matched what they input in their computer.

One of the dealers that had sold the guy a few pieces went to a pawn shop & had a roll of hundred dollar bills. This one shop owner said yeah we got some nice equipment cheap, the other guy at a pawn shop said we sold it. The dealer walked in back of the counter & opened the door in the back & there was 13 pieces of new equipment sitting there.

Every damn piece the last 3 or 4 serial numbers were reversed. I'm talking about nice Pole Chain saws & some of the most expensive 2 cycle equipment.

We had 2 choices, the Pawn Shop could hold it for months until the trial was over or we could buy it back & us hold it. Well you know what would have happened if the Pawn Shop held it. It wouldn't be the same equipment.

There was people at that pawn shop from 3 different dealerships & the trailer place, plus a police officer there for over 3 hours. Nobody came in & people (Crack Heads) were pulling up & leaving when they saw police car.

I asked one of the PS owners how much money was he losing an hour with us there? He laughed & said, everybody thinks we buy stolen equipment not even 10% of what we sell is stolen & it's recovered by the police & theirs help, I said yeah we know you do, here's 13 pieces, a Walker Mower & a trailer. All with mismatching serial numbers? The police officer is standing there laughing at us.

I asked the police officer if he could go away for 30 minutes & come back. He drove off, 5 minutes later a good looking girl that went crack head came in, LOL no front teeth & had Nice portable TV with remote, she said you better give me $30 for this because I found somebody else that will, you've been ripping me off only $20 each?

The guy plugs in the cable to TV at counter & tries the remote. He gives her $25, he said take it or leave it. She took it & walked out, I said I rest my case about you buying stolen stuff. He laughed & said prove it, he was inputing the serial number & I said make sure you reverse the numbers. He just laughs at me.

He told us to either buy back the equipment or leave & if we didn't he would call the police on us? We bought our three pieces back & left.

Pawn Shops should be outlawed, it would drastically reduce crime.

These 3 Pawn Shop owners didn't get in trouble for reversing the numbers & are still doing it all the time. The Detectives said that there wasn't nothing they could do, that it was just a mistake reversing the serial numbers? I said over 13 times in 2 days? He said he was real busy & had to go unless I wanted to file a complaint and that it would be a complete waste of my time.

I feel the Detectives are just as guilty as the Pawn Shop owners, they will not even bother looking at the equipment to see if the numbers match they just go by what the Pawn Shop inputs in the computer. I bet they get good deals there?

A business broker contact me that I personally knew & said he knew where I could get a Pawn Shop for $60,000, that I could be absentee owner & net over a $100,000 a year after expenses. The employees kept the rest of the money. The same employees for over 10 years? LOL, why didn't the employees buy it? $60,000 ain't that much money?

Sounds like Crime pays real good after my experience with the above?

[Benini's Landscaping]

Wow I also had it happen to me not so bad they only got some of my old trimmers. I was parked on the road infront of my local shop in broad day light the came up while i was no more then twenty feet away. And took then right off the trailer thats why i went enclosed.

I never checked the pawn shops!!!! Now i know

[Woody]

Grassmaster: That story reminds me of something really funny I saw once. How did that go??

Oh yeah. People felt they were getting ripped off on the price of gasoline. So, in order to garner votes and "look out for the little guy", Congress (the LARGEST criminal organization in the world) INVESTIGATED the big oil companies (the SECOND largest criminal organization in the world).

Here, it seems the people were mistaken, and all was well. There were no crooks in the oil industry, and everything was on the "up and up."

[beedee]

Last month i lost a new redmax 7001, (like a week old)..it was stolen while i was in the rear of the apartment property.. cop told me they has gotten calls on 3 stolen that week ,all the same redmax blowers.. these scumbags
know what they are looking for.. keep it locked and keep an eye on it.....

[scagguy]

Jeez, when it rains it pours. Stopped this morning to pick up a cup of coffee at the local c-store. While I was inside, there was a guy trying to lift my weedeaters that were locked to the rack. I walked out of the store and around the rear of my trailer. (There were other cars and people around so he had no idea who owned what I suppose.) I asked him what the hell is going on...he tells me it's none of my business. Very wrong answer. I'm 6' 2" 225lbs. Score 1 for the good guys. At this moment he is in "time out" in the county jail.

[DLS]

down here in texas i'm just starting out.but after reading all this.i'll be 4sure to put a chain & lock on what ever i got.that and a bat.

[grnshoes]

Every damn piece the last 3 or 4 serial numbers were reversed. I'm talking about nice Pole Chain saws & some of the most expensive 2 cycle equipment.

We had 2 choices, the Pawn Shop could hold it for months until the trial was over or we could buy it back & us hold it. Well you know what would have happened if the Pawn Shop held it. It wouldn't be the same equipment.

Grass Master I had no idea pawn shops were so crooked but you're correct. I have a friend that worked in them for years. He said he wouldn't even accept something if he thought it was "hot" but the majority of the managers and owners he knows will gladly. If it's a nice piece it may not even get entered in the books but taken home right away. and I thought my best bet on getting it back would be the pawn shops. This has been a lesson learned. I have put a message on the streets that "someone " is looking to buy equipment. Back to e-bay for now. The hard thing to realize is that if a thief wants it he/she will get it locks or not.

[1Chavez]

Jeez, when it rains it pours. Stopped this morning to pick up a cup of coffee at the local c-store. While I was inside, there was a guy trying to lift my weedeaters that were locked to the rack. I walked out of the store and around the rear of my trailer. (There were other cars and people around so he had no idea who owned what I suppose.) I asked him what the hell is going on...he tells me it's none of my business. Very wrong answer. I'm 6' 2" 225lbs. Score 1 for the good guys. At this moment he is in "time out" in the county jail.

Now that's a good story.
-Rich

[VillageLawn]

I got some stolen items back from a pawn shop, and the officer helping me said in all the time he's been an officer, I was the first to ever get anything back.

We did not use the serial numbers, we went by the description and I knew some uniquely identifying information and that's how I got it back. The officer was able to pull up the same list that has the serial numbers, but we went by the descriptions on the list instead.

I did not know about pawn shops reversing digits in the serial number - what a racket

When I get ripped off I would be willing to spend $1000 of my time to recover $500 of equipment, and hopefully catch the guys, which of course is not worth it but it just makes me so MAD!

[Spoiled]

I hate to say it, but a CCW permit works well also.

I am always protected myself, family and property.

At 20 ft, someone could have a bad day

[All-Pro]

Yup, I carry a .357 S&W Airlite just for such occasions. Thieves make me sick and I won't put up with it for one second.

The best thing you can do (along with securing it) is make your equipment as unique as you possibly can. Sometimes I'll engrave my name right into the plastic housing with a dremel tool or scratch it right into the aluminum shaft housing on weedeaters, etc. This way you know your stuff and if you ever see it again, getting it back will be that much easier.

[TRANSMAN]

If anything on a tool is removable

Yup, I carry a .357 S&W Airlite just for such occasions. Thieves make me sick and I won't put up with it for one second.

The best thing you can do (along with securing it) is make your equipment as unique as you possibly can. Sometimes I'll engrave my name right into the plastic housing with a dremel tool or scratch it right into the aluminum shaft housing on weedeaters, etc. This way you know your stuff and if you ever see it again, getting it back will be that much easier.

Like the rear plate on a pneumatic air gun or air nailer , i would always pull the back plate off the back ,and had little stickers with my name and birthday on it along with my biz name.....

People will grind markings on the outside off but are usually to inept to check the inside.....

Like GM pointed out any time anything of mine got stolen i would find it at the nearest pawn shop ......

Thieves on drugs want the money instantly , and wont normally go any distance to cover their dumb arses......

Iv found entire toolboxes when hunting the closest pawn shop and the pawn owner said i had no proof and was as bad as the thief as faR AS I WAS CONCERNED WHEN SOME IDIOT COMES WALKING IN WITH 20 GRAND WORTH OF MECAHICS TOOLS ,AND THE GUY SELLING WILL TAKE 100 BUCKS AND DOESENT HAVE SOLES ON HIS SHOES....

Then i give ( the 1st polite)warning" please hand over my tools or else"....

To which a big grin looks upon me saying or what ????

What are you gonna do "he scraped" (the pawn owner) all the marks off thinking he`s smart and will make 10 grand re-selling my stuff or wants me to rebuy my own stuff like im a dummy....

My cell phone comes out , and the cops show up ,and the Pawn owner gets quite the surprise when i mention to the officer if the back removable plate is removed you ll find my name and info inside most of the units.....

Pawn shop looses their licence , all my tools are immediately returned (that second) with no question who they belong to , and eventually the thief gets caught when i snare him in a trap then goes away for a long time because it was his 10th strike when there's a 3 strike rule.....

Sometimes life is grand...... and a bad day becomes great in the end ....:laughing:

Remember locks are for honest thieves.....

I can undue the hardest lock assembly with my gas air compressor and die grinder with 20,000 rpm cutting wheel and cut though any chain in 60 seconds at most....

Have anything you really need with id placed inside the tool somewhere or its your word against whoever's......

I think many pawn operations spend half the night grinding off names and serial numbers and that's sad indeed...

Tanky............

T