ttcycle said:
Thanks Ed.
I saw my bike advertised on Gumtree on Sunday- called the police numbers that had been given to me and they didn't want to help- contacted the seller and was waiting on police to confirm time and place where they could accompany me- this was after several times being hung up on and told different things. To cut a long story short- lots of misinformation; diversion; 3 hours at a police station watching them avoid dealing with other people's cases; excuses etc what happened in the end is my bike got sold and I got a text from the thief stating it had gone. The idiot was also stupid enough to give me his address-which the police checked and said was genuine - there was so much they could have done but didn't. was 99% certain it was my bike- they'd taken off the pedals and the sensors but everything else was identical including the black watercage and the fact that the bike was missing a bell since the LBS forget to put it on - the advert made the mistake of saying it was a 2009 bike and got the frame sizing wrong- talked in men's bike sizing rather than women's - stupid crib story of selling this bike as my girlfriend does not like fast bikes and prefers a cruiser- then why advertise it as a carbon fibre bike for a triathlon/racing career? Also technically if someone was trying out a racer why buy an entry level pro bike?
Idiots - the frustration is unbelievable- not only is my training for racing delayed but i now have to fork out about £300 independent of waiting for the insurance to cover accessories pedals etc which weren't on my insurance schedule. Shocking that it went for half it's cost.
The police will be getting a formal complaint through several monitoring bodies.
I am venting for anyone who will listen!
I understand your frustration completely. I had a similar experience. I saw my bike that had previously been stolen leant up outside MacDonalds. In hindsight, I should have quickly locked it up, rode away on the bike I was on, and then called the police.
However, thinking the police would respond quite quickly, I phoned them straight away. The person who "owned" my bicycle came out whilst I was still waiting for the police to pick up. I asked where he had the bike from. He reckoned he had paid £60 for it. I told him it was mine and I was on the phone to the police. (It still had it's datatag sticker on it FFS). He tried to grab it and ride away. I physically blocked him and he assaulted me. The manager of the store then came out, and stopped me from stoppingthe "owner" of my bike from riding away, for my own safety.
I was absolutely gutted. But the police were ****ing useless. They contacted me 48 hours to say that they had seen the suspect riding around on my bike and that they would be picking him up. I heard nothing then for over two weeks. Then I chased it up. The officer that came around explained that they hadn't picked him up yet. Took some further details off me. I called the police another two days later. They said the had arrested the "owner" but let him go. He had claimed to be of no fixed abode and not in posession of the bike, as it had been taken to a bike shop to be repaired. That meant that they had no where to look for the bike. And without the bike - and thus proof it was my bike - it looked like I was trying to steal someone elses bike. There was no proof it was mine. The officer went on to say, as I had another bike through the insurance, the stolen bike was technically no longer mine. Through gritted teeth I informed the h'officer that the stolen bike was indeed not insured and it's replacement was bought using more of my hard earned.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
When the police followed up the person selling your bike, did they not obtain from him details of the person that bought it? A phone number? Anything? Surely their checking it out now should be a case of getting a number, an address, popping around to check the serial number on the bike?
. Sorry to hear of both losses. I really sympathise. When my Brompton was taken from outside Senate House in Mallet Street underneath a CCTV camera and D-locked I couldn't get the police to attend. When I called and told them my bike had been stolen they couldn't have been more disinterested. They wouldn't come out and I couldn't find a single police car in central london at 8pm. I even thought of doing something to attract their attention.......absolutely useless.
