Embarrassing, frightening, unerving experience

[Riverbankannie]

We left our bike at a train station just outside Nice and came back to no bikes, when we got off the train we thought we’d got off at wrong station before it hit us that bikes had been stolen. Station cctv and local police were useless.

Ditto but at Abbey Wood London, and the locks popped at Sitges. I don’t waste much time worrying about it or else would never go away.
I am mostly surprised that the plastic windows that are surface mounted and have a useful (for a gemmy) gap around the perimeter survive.
I am beyond worrying about my possessions (although husband not so much as he wouldn’t lend his completely unused bike out recently in case it got stolen!)

 

[Dutch 68]

An unnerving experience. We are a bit obsessive about security. Our passports and any sterling cash are always kept permanently in the MH safe when we are abroad. The only time they come out is if needed to book into a campsite. We carry photocopies of the passports in our wallets. I always have my wallet and debit card with me whenever I leave the MH. Tablets also locked in the safe if we are leaving the MH unattended. The safe also contains my credit card so if I'm mugged I can still access funds.

A safe in a MH is just like a safe in a hotel room not a safe place for a professional, unfortunately

 

[gus-lopez]

Is this weakness on all ages of Fiat Ducato or do the newer ones have a different lock structure to stop this?

They still sell them for the latest models so I'd be surprised if anything was different?

 

[lorger]

Ditto but at Abbey Wood London, and the locks popped at Sitges. I don’t waste much time worrying about it or else would never go away.
I am mostly surprised that the plastic windows that are surface mounted and have a useful (for a gemmy) gap around the perimeter survive.
I am beyond worrying about my possessions (although husband not so much as he wouldn’t lend his completely unused bike out recently in case it got stolen!)

Same here we tend not to worry to much and just do the best we can to protect our stuff, it does make me angry though that no one in an official position seems to care. Two days later in Nice we had the van broken into, nothing stolen and just a broken window corner on hab window. Both incidents annoyed us but didn’t spoil our holiday.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

You will all think “What a prat.”

I suppose I am a bit lax about security, I don’t know whether my strong optimistic nature leads me to have a sense of invulnerability, or that I am as described above.

On returning from about half an hour in the E Leclerc in Perpignan there was a momentary feeling of puzzlement, which led me to ask my wife “Why did you put my sterling wallet and the passports in your handbag?”. I had found the handbag on the seat by the hab door. That puzzlement was quickly replaced by the realisation that we had been 'turned over'.

It was quite a tidy job, cupboards opened, make-up bags upturned on the bed, the floor storage area hatch opened.

It seemed nothing had been taken - not the two iPads, nor the guitar, and bizarrely not my wife’s handbag, which had been stuffed with the passports, and the credit cards removed from my sterling wallet and Maggie’s purse.

It was only after the shock receded and we began to hide (ha ha) things away again that we realised the only thing that had been taken was the cash in my wallet and her purse - not a large amount of money at all.

Why hadn’t they taken that potentially valuable haul in the handbag?

The real puzzle is this. When we returned, and I activated the remote key fob, if I had forgotten to lock the van, that action would have locked it, and we couldn’t have got in initially. And if I had locked it, how did they get in? There was no sign of damage, anywhere.

And why leave the handbag there, as if ready to snatch, and shut the door. It was almost as if we were being taunted. They could have taken it, but didn't.

Of course now I will be much more rigorous. It could have ruined this whole trip.

There's an extraordinary program I watched on BBC iPlayer on BBC Scotland called 'Confessions of a teenage fraudster' who managed to get over 2 £million by the time he was 20 from people's credit cards without in many cases even having the credit cards. He lived it up for 4 years travelling around the world first class, staying in top hotels, spending £1000 on a bottle of champagne and even sending a second one to a neighbouring table! The story is told by the fraudster himself. Having worked in a call centre on leaving school he knew all the tricks and was very clever on the phone, very slick and convincing, impersonating hotel managers and even an official from the Canadian embassy to immigration when he was to be extradited back to the UK! After seeing the error of his ways and spending time in prison he now works for major companies fighting fraud. It's in 3 parts and I ended bing watching all 3. It's a stunning series well worth watching

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[royandsharont]

Not too suprising really Chuns. They left everything of value that could possibly be identified and therefore link them into the burglary and only took what couldn’t be identified as yours, unless you had the serial numbers or your prints were on the notes. A safer bet for them

 

[Lenny HB]

Is this weakness on all ages of Fiat Ducato or do the newer ones have a different lock structure to stop this?

I believe they have a plate inside the door now to prevent it, from around 2021 I think.

 

[DBK]

A safe in a MH is just like a safe in a hotel room not a safe place for a professional, unfortunately

Of course not but they have to find it first, it isn't in plain sight and it will cause a bit of a delay once they do find it.

I'm happy it will thwart the opportunist thief looking for whatever is easy to grab quickly. I lost a pair of sunglasses in Jordan once from someone reaching in through an open window and grabbing them off the dashboard.

 

[PaulW2]

Would the Van Bitz Growler not make a huge racket if they open the door with their pinhole spikes and would this not in itself stop a lot of them in their tracks?

It seems to me that they are likely to overcome almost any physical impediment, up to and including deadlocks, if they want to.

However, the noise attracts attention and may scare them off. Best if the triggering of that noise is preceded by the smallest amount of physical damage to the car.

 

[Spriddler]

Absolutely nothing, nothing whatsoever of value in my ancient m/h. I don't even have a Smartphone and take my wallet, cards and passport with me when I go out. They'd be more likely to leave me a few euros for a cup of coffee.
When I parked at my local metal recycling centre intending to get it weighed a guy stuck his head out of the office window and shouted: "Sorry mate, we don't take vehicles".

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[Brains]

Oh ... so true!

Talking of which
You have a secret compartment in your new van

DM me as I'll bet a bottle of beer you have not found it yet.
But its a good place for the passports and back up cards etc.