I'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!
Dec. 17th, 2006 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jpskewedthroneAt this point you're probably expecting some pithy little remark where I say that someone stole my dignity or used an idea of mine before I had a chance to write it . . . but you're wrong.
I have, actually, literally, been robbed.
The long convoluted story, in case you care (and because I need to vent):
If you may recall, this summer Binghamton suffer some flooding. I lost half of my crap, including 400+ books from my library, because the storage unit I had all of my stuff stored in preceding the renovation and move into the new 4th floor apartment downtown. I wasn't home at the time to try to save any of it. In any case, it got wet. So I spent a few miserable days cleaning out the unit and salvaging what I could, trashing the rest. There's nothing so heartbreaking to a writer/reader as throwing out paperback after paperback and hardcover after hardcover dripping water.
Now, this flood water was not exactly . . . clean. There was a film of sludge left on everything. And I mean everything. Even sealed everythings had sludge film on the inside. This sludge was incredibly fine, meaning that cleaning it with water or soap and water pretty much did nothing. So the storage unit people decided to have professionals come in and clean out the units. Fine. I was asked to move what I'd saved from the flood into an adjacent unit and to leave the keys with them so that they could clean the unit, move my crap back in, and lock it.
The cleaners came. They attempted to clean the sludge. Nothing happened. So they gave up. So the storage people moved my crap back into my unit and locked it up.
I went to inspect the stuff . . . and found that they'd lost my keys. A search began for the keys to the lock on my unit. I went in search of my extra keys to the unit. I found them . . . and found that the lock on my unit was not in fact my lock. They began to look in earnest for the correct keys to the lock on my unit. I told them that there was no real rush because I didn't really need any of the stuff in my unit at the moment. About a month later, they say they haven't found the keys and will drill the lock and replace it. I say fine. A few days later they find the keys. I stop by and we unlock the unit, put a new lock on it, and I get all of the new keys. I do a cursory inspection, meaning I went in and looked to see if all of the major furniture was there, if the TV was there, and assorted other high price items, etc. I tell them that everything looks OK but I didn't have time to do a more detailed inspection.
So today, I go back to get some things from the unit. This is the first time I've been there since that cursory inspection. I open up the unit. I begin looking for the container containing the CDs I'm looking for. I brush up against the TV box . . . and it moves. It moves FAR, FAR too easily.
And that's because the sucker is empty.
They stole my TV. Ask![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pbray who helped me move it into my apartment when I bought it: it's big, it's bulky, and it's heavy as shit.
The bastards stole my TV. And the CRAFTY bastards left the box so that I wouldn't know it was missing.
It's been months since I got the new lock on there. Being upset, but not stupid, I left the unit alone. I did not look for anything else or check anything else. My partner and I are going down to the main office tomorrow to bitch and demand replacement and if they want the police to come out I don't want anything else to be disturbed. Not that the police will fingerprint a TV box. That's probably small potatos to them. But just in case. And once they know that a theft occurred, and they free up the unit, THEN I'll go in and see if, say, my Xbox box is empty, or the VCR box, or if I even have any CDs left to find.
Obviously, this stuff vanished during the "mystery lock on my door" phase of the problem. I'm not sure who to blame, but the storage people are completely responsible in my opinion, since they had the keys initially, and I had no access to my stuff for at least a month while they pissed around looking for keys and whatnot.
In any case, that's the final straw. My crap is going into the 4th floor this Christmas break whether the floor is finished or not. Probably starting this week, depending on what needs to be done regarding the police. While I still have some crap left to put up there.
Putting my crap is storage was the worst decision I've ever made.
I have, actually, literally, been robbed.
The long convoluted story, in case you care (and because I need to vent):
If you may recall, this summer Binghamton suffer some flooding. I lost half of my crap, including 400+ books from my library, because the storage unit I had all of my stuff stored in preceding the renovation and move into the new 4th floor apartment downtown. I wasn't home at the time to try to save any of it. In any case, it got wet. So I spent a few miserable days cleaning out the unit and salvaging what I could, trashing the rest. There's nothing so heartbreaking to a writer/reader as throwing out paperback after paperback and hardcover after hardcover dripping water.
Now, this flood water was not exactly . . . clean. There was a film of sludge left on everything. And I mean everything. Even sealed everythings had sludge film on the inside. This sludge was incredibly fine, meaning that cleaning it with water or soap and water pretty much did nothing. So the storage unit people decided to have professionals come in and clean out the units. Fine. I was asked to move what I'd saved from the flood into an adjacent unit and to leave the keys with them so that they could clean the unit, move my crap back in, and lock it.
The cleaners came. They attempted to clean the sludge. Nothing happened. So they gave up. So the storage people moved my crap back into my unit and locked it up.
I went to inspect the stuff . . . and found that they'd lost my keys. A search began for the keys to the lock on my unit. I went in search of my extra keys to the unit. I found them . . . and found that the lock on my unit was not in fact my lock. They began to look in earnest for the correct keys to the lock on my unit. I told them that there was no real rush because I didn't really need any of the stuff in my unit at the moment. About a month later, they say they haven't found the keys and will drill the lock and replace it. I say fine. A few days later they find the keys. I stop by and we unlock the unit, put a new lock on it, and I get all of the new keys. I do a cursory inspection, meaning I went in and looked to see if all of the major furniture was there, if the TV was there, and assorted other high price items, etc. I tell them that everything looks OK but I didn't have time to do a more detailed inspection.
So today, I go back to get some things from the unit. This is the first time I've been there since that cursory inspection. I open up the unit. I begin looking for the container containing the CDs I'm looking for. I brush up against the TV box . . . and it moves. It moves FAR, FAR too easily.
And that's because the sucker is empty.
They stole my TV. Ask
pbray who helped me move it into my apartment when I bought it: it's big, it's bulky, and it's heavy as shit.The bastards stole my TV. And the CRAFTY bastards left the box so that I wouldn't know it was missing.
It's been months since I got the new lock on there. Being upset, but not stupid, I left the unit alone. I did not look for anything else or check anything else. My partner and I are going down to the main office tomorrow to bitch and demand replacement and if they want the police to come out I don't want anything else to be disturbed. Not that the police will fingerprint a TV box. That's probably small potatos to them. But just in case. And once they know that a theft occurred, and they free up the unit, THEN I'll go in and see if, say, my Xbox box is empty, or the VCR box, or if I even have any CDs left to find.
Obviously, this stuff vanished during the "mystery lock on my door" phase of the problem. I'm not sure who to blame, but the storage people are completely responsible in my opinion, since they had the keys initially, and I had no access to my stuff for at least a month while they pissed around looking for keys and whatnot.
In any case, that's the final straw. My crap is going into the 4th floor this Christmas break whether the floor is finished or not. Probably starting this week, depending on what needs to be done regarding the police. While I still have some crap left to put up there.
Putting my crap is storage was the worst decision I've ever made.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 09:52 pm (UTC)Sorry to hear about the TV. We just blew $800 on a TV, and dno;t want to buy another one for a good long time.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:02 pm (UTC)I only hope that it didn't work. We never got a chance to test it to see if it survived the flood.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 11:21 pm (UTC)I hope you get your stuff back. Or can make them replace it, at least.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:19 pm (UTC)Sounds to me like the storage place is a good for nothin' stinkyhead. Will you be moving your things after this?
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:31 pm (UTC)The original plan was to move the stuff in storage up into the 4th floor. If I'd stuck with this plan, then I wouldn't have lost anything in the flood and of course nothing would have been stolen. But instead, I decided to paint and fix up the 4th floor before moving.
*headdesk*
I will be moving everything that's left from storage in the next few weeks. Even though the 4th floor is not yet finished.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 12:40 am (UTC)The really have to be a bunch of idiots if they think you wouldn't figure out that you were robbed.
I hope the police can do something.
I wish you lots of luck!!!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:04 pm (UTC)I think they knew I'd discover it . . . but they were hoping I'd discover it WAY, WAY after they'd disappeared. Which is pretty much what happened.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 01:17 am (UTC)Wish I had something to say or do to fix it.
Damn it.
It is a pissoff.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 01:43 am (UTC)I am sorry, because that sucks beyond all levels of beleif, especially because it was certainly someone working for that damn storage unit.
If you ever do (god forbid) find yourself needing storage in this area again, let me know - Charles works for the Uhaul that has storage in downtown Bingo. they can, at least, be trusted.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:08 pm (UTC)I figure it was someone they hired to clean the storage units, so the TV disappeared while the locks were off the doors . . . or it was someone working for the storage units who put the unknown lock on the door and just came back later to pick things up. They'd need the code to get into the building, as well as the key to the lock.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 02:10 pm (UTC)