Bike stolen from Tesco Superstore

[Dradz]

Hi all

Had my bike nicked from A cycle hub at Tesco Superstore (Stretford, Manchester) in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday.

It was properly locked up but the thief cut through the cycle rack to take it.

My interest is in working out whether I can get Tesco to give me compensation - after all it happened on their property, to one of their customers, and it was their equipment that was breached in order for the thief to nick the bike.

Any thought on how I approach getting them to pay up?

I've got a Police Crime Number - but nobody from the Police had contacted me to get any details and I can't post a photograph of the bike on their online system.

I talked to the Tesco security when the bike was nicked and they said they did not have any footage of the theft. They say the camera was pointed in a different direction at the time of the theft.

I have sent them an email asking for them to take a second look and to change the wording on their "camera surveillance" notice.

And I've sent them photos of the damaged bike rack, but they have failed to respond at all to me so far.

Grateful for any helpful thoughts?

 

[steveindenmark]

I would very much doubt wether you will get or should even be asking for compensation. They are under no obligation to provide anything for you to lock your bike up I always assume that these things are put there on the understanding that it is at my own risk if I use it. There may even ve signs to that effect. Whichever way. I would not hold the store responsible, when they have actually tried to help me out.

It does seem shabby that the cctv does not cover all the racks and they are not replying to you.

 

[ianrauk]

I'm in agreement with Steve. Usually these places are 'left at own risk'.
Unfortunately you are in a hiding to nothing with such a huge conglomerate.
What about your insurance, if you have any?

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Can't see how Tesco are in any way liable for this, they've done nothing negligent.

 

[craigwend]

I very much doubt you will get anywhere as above, anymore than parking a car in their car park and it getting stolen and attempting to make a claim.
Also even if the railing / Sheffield U bend is breached, you should still put the lock through wheels etc so thieves can't ride it off etc.
Though first point I'd strongly suggest you won't get far, though you can try...

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Sorry to hear about the theft.

I also sorry to seem some victime blaming

...... Also even if the railing / Sheffield U bend is breached, you should still put the lock through wheels etc so thieves can't ride it off etc.....

How do you know that they rode of on it rather than arriving in a "transit" van with a bunch of tools, cut the U Stand and then loaded the bike into the van or something similar?

As for claiming compensation then they won't "coff up" as it would set a precedent not just for them but for the whole retail industry.

If you are serious and and have the time I would go looking for a "No-Win, No-Fee" bunch with the following argument.

Parking Manangement companies have established the idea that putting up a sign that says something like If you park here for more than an hour you agree to pay £70. With a lot of caveats this is accepted as forming the basis of a contract between the parking management company and the car owner. So it follows that it is at least reasonable to argue that the sign saying Security Cameras In Operation placed above a cycle rack forms a contract between the sign placer and the bike owner for the sign placer to operate security cameras in that area.

It could be fun to see how such a letter would be responded to, knock up some letter head that looks formal rather than just a plain letter but be carefult not to claim something that is not true.

Bye

Ian

 

[wafter]

I don't really see any victim blaming here. No chance of any compensation either since Tesco will doubtless have long-since covered their arses with such liabilities (consider the usual "left at owners' risk" disclaimers in car parks).

There could be an argument for inadiquate security; although the racks looks purpose-built and standardised, while there's not a lot that a disc cutter won't get through. The situation with the cameras is a bit crap and there might be an argument that the lack of coverage might have facilitated, or at least hampers investigation of the crime; but I doubt they're under any obligation to provide CCTV installation at all.

Probably best to leave it at a whinge to customer services re. your experience of dealing with them / the lack of CCTV and move on.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Hi Sorry for your loss, not a prayer that Tesco will pay out so I would just totally forget about that one.
If you had bike insurance then claim off that or your house insurance if the bike was covered?
Just do yourself a favour and move on and forget Tesco.
No win no fee wont touch that either.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Were Tesco negligent in the care of your bicycle? No IMHO.

You are the victim. You are not to blame. Nor is Tesco though. If their bike locking place was in some way defective, then you might, just might have had a claim, but it wasn't, clearly - nor did they undertake to guard your bike for you.

 

[fossyant]

This sort of theft does happen - I'm not confident the 'hoops' at work are stronger than my locks. I know one of the other Uni's had the bike stands 'attacked' - ripped the stands out and took a load of bikes. They were even in a 'compound'. At least if you had a heafty lock they will have a bit of work removing it. They probably went through that stand in seconds with an angle grinder, or even a decent hacksaw.

 

[Gwylan]

Makes me sad to see that. Been there, etc.
Hopefully you have some insurance.
The pain is that insurance doesn't replace the bike and all the related aggravation.
The lesson I take from it is to ensure that the thief cannot cycle away.

 

[Ajax Bay]

sorry to seem some victim blaming
How do you know that they rode off on it
As for claiming compensation then they won't "coff up" as it would set a precedent not just for them but for the whole retail industry.
If you are serious and and have the time I would go looking for a "No-Win, No-Fee" bunch with the following argument.
With a lot of caveats . . . . it follows that it is at least reasonable to argue that the sign saying Security Cameras In Operation placed above a cycle rack forms a contract between the sign placer and the bike owner for the sign placer to operate security cameras in that area.
It could be fun to see how such a letter would be responded to,

Welcome @Dradz

Ian
What a load of codswallop (I'm writing this in case someone comes on your post in a search at some later date).
Define victim blaming (tip: this is not it)
How bike moved after rail cut is irrelevant (but good practice to pass lock through wheel as it deters the ride-awayer).
Tesco (or other) won't 'coff up' (as you put it) because they are neither responsible not reliable for the OP's loss. Do you suggest that a local authority should be liable if a bike is stolen having been locked to one of their publicly funded cycle racks?
If the OP is "serious" they will ignore your useless advice in much the same way as a law firm would ignore any "argument" along the lines you suggest.
Arguing that a sign of the type described forms a contract is so flawed as to be laughable.
Do you think the OP is looking for "fun" (as in reading the 'no win, no fee' response)? The only laugh/fun would be the guffaws in the solicitor's office: no response would be sent: they can't waste time on stupid enquiries.

Insurance is a way of mitigating the risk of theft or after the unhappy event, reducing the financial loss. Its conditions will require the bike owner to adopt certain preventative measures and behaviours, as well as compensation in the event.

 

[bonzobanana]

I think we all know nowadays that the police are under-resourced with a series of funding cuts and other issues plus a huge increase in crime as people become poorer and lack of realistic deterrents has kept criminals pushing the envelope and finding they can get away with more and more crime. A Norco bike sounds like a very nice bike and the rule is never to have the nicest bike in the bike stand/rack although that won't matter if thieves steal the whole lot and bung them in the back of a van. Most of the time it is individual bike theft. For this sort of journey it feels like either pay for the insurance or go for a grungy low value bike that would be so low value its not worth thieves time. You can make a low value bike a stealth decent bike by a few upgrades that don't change the low value look of it. Yes its less than ideal that you have to do this but you have to deal with the reality you are faced with. I personally wouldn't leave a Norco bike outside Tesco and I'm down in the south west where I don't think crime is as bad or organised as Manchester.

 

[Sterlo]

Bad luck mate, in my experience, you will hear nothing further from the police, except maybe " we looked but couldn't pursue it". I think they almost class it as a low grade crime with little chance of a prosecution, so they tend not to "waste their time".

 

[Mburton1993]

With the CCTV, is it a rotating camera? If so they should be able to get a time frame of when it was nicked and if the carpark is like the one at my local Tesco they have cameras on the entrances and exits that log every vehicle going in and out and the duration they stayed for the 3 hour limit.