bapu

bitflipper
 
I called Guitar Center today to ask for the case number from the Lynnwood PD. That's how I phrased it, anyway. What I really meant was "you DID report this, right?". Well, they hadn't.
 
But just as I was beginning to think GC was as incompetent as the police, I got a call from my business partner. He had a contact in yet another neighboring suburb's police department, who offered to make an unofficial inquiry on my behalf, saying he knew some good people at my local PD.
 
Through him, I learned that my PD had been in contact with GC, and that GC had also acquired two keyboards the same day as the amps. A young kid had brought in the amps, an adult had brought in the keyboards separately. Both are from Stanwood, about 20 minutes away from me. He also said the case had not yet been referred to a detective (other than me), which is why there'd been no callbacks, but now it had been assigned and I should expect a call tomorrow.
 
GC has not told me anything, of course. I have to assume this ain't their first rodeo and they know how to handle it.
 
Now my worst-case scenario may be playing out: I get my gear back, likely damaged, and have to reimburse the insurance company. I'll have added $6,000 to my credit card balance, plus spent another grand for the steel door, plus locks and alarms. This burglary could end up costing me a great deal of money. (But hey, it's mostly tax-deductible!)
 
So despite the "good" news, it may still be awhile before I'm back in the recording game again.
 

When the dust settles, there's a song or two in there for sure.

Gotta pay your dues to sing the blues! :D

Dave, something to remember and consider ( if these people have any experience or friends who are career criminals)... often a thief will wait until you have had time to replace the stolen item with brand new things, they know that they can come back in a few months, give or take, and get another load of the same only better... NEW!
It is hard to plumb the depths of evil, especially if you're an honest person. When you don't think that way (like a their, liar, psycho, you name it) that way, it's sometimes hard to see it coming. You can know one thing, we all have our dark side we deal with and people easily give it away because they suspect others of what they are guilty of, or whatever their "dark side" wants them to do. Example: ( and I don't mean this as anything religious, re TOS) but it is a good example. Do you remember Jimmy Sawggart? How he got "found out" hiring prostitutes? The thing most people don't remember is how he railed against prostitutes and adultery in his preaching in the years before he got caught "with his pants down". I don't mean this as a jab at the man, none of us are perfect, we all deal with our crap BUT you can count on it that a thief will always be suspecting other people of being thieves, liars will be slow to believe anyone, and so on.. it's the way people are. So if people are always talking about their stuff might get stolen or your stuff etc... keep an eye on them.
Don't forget that there is a real chance they will come back for the new gear if they aren't caught.. just sayin'
I do hate a thief. What a violation, for someone to come in your house and go through your things. It really is a violation of you. I'm sorry this happened and like Craig, I keep checking back for the good ending. Maybe if you end up with things that you can't use two of and will take a loss on, maybe you can donate to a non profit or school, or another musician who cannot afford. You can gift through a church or any non profit and get a tax write off while helping someone. I dont know... I have a feeling this is all going to end well.
J

Hopefully the PD's will be able or willing to do something.
 
While a little off topic, here is an article about an ID thief that, even with PD having all kinds of proof, refuse to do anything - via The Consumerist.
http://www.startribune.com/an-apple-valley-man-stole-my-identity-and-nobody-will-stop-him-from-exploiting-it/380623791/

DrLumen
Hopefully the PD's will be able or willing to do something.
 
While a little off topic, here is an article about an ID thief that, even with PD having all kinds of proof, refuse to do anything - via The Consumerist.
http://www.startribune.com/an-apple-valley-man-stole-my-identity-and-nobody-will-stop-him-from-exploiting-it/380623791/

Gee, that sounds familiar!  I gave the officers all the evidence they could possibly need to go after an evicted tenant who stole several items and destroyed or vandalized many other things. Even though he turned out to be a convict on parole, he had five guns (including one he kept in his truck!) - all illegally.  He stole some neon signs that he had always said he wanted, but even when we told the police that they were hanging at his new residence (and could be seen from the street), they did nothing.   The fact that all of this took place in the two hours he was left at the house by himself and he even locked the door on his way out(!) were completely ignored.  The owner received about $250 from his home owner's insurance, I didn't get anything even though several of my items were either stolen or damaged/destroyed.  Yee haw.

An acquaintance was burgled, and one of the stolen items was an iPad that had locator software installed on it (in case of theft). Using the software he was able to drive straight to the crooks' house. Think he got his iPad (or anything else) back? Nope. The iPad reporting its own location was not deemed sufficient evidence for the cops to take any action.
 
I guess it only works if you handle the recovery yourself:
 

 
Julien: yeh, I've thought of the same thing. It's also occurred to me that they're thinking "if he had all that cool stuff in the garage, what's he got in the house?". So I am assuming the risk is still high, at least until I get my new door installed and the camera fully functional. I'll have the new door in about two weeks. Fingers crossed in the meantime.
 
And you never know, they could even get busted. I can dream. 

I was hoping we would hear something like this by now:
 Dragnet endings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeOS_dmnEjo

I remember watching Dragnet as a kid. It scared me. Those pretend cops scared me. I didn't know any adults who were that humorless and robotic. One of them later redeemed himself by playing an actual human character on M.A.S.H., but I never saw Jack Webb in any roles that suggested he might harbor a sense of humor. I just remember thinking that he was probably somebody's dad, and what kind of daily hell that kid lived in.
 
Contrast to the cops I've been dealing with. Not one of them looks to be older than 26. But they've all got that confident swagger that says "those playground bullies wouldn't mess with me now!". Still, they are polite, so that's something.
 
I got a call today from the detective assigned to my case. He had no information for me, just questions. Questions already answered in the case file, unless nobody's been writing anything down all this time. Still, I was glad to take the call and fingers crossed he's closer to Joe Friday than Barney Fife.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I kind of look like a cross between barney fife and a bull dyke

Having watched some cop shows, I think that is a tactic. They ask questions they already know the answer and see if they get the same story. If you suddenly had a Lamborghini come up missing then they may know something is up...

Or a 1929 Martin.  When I told my guitar-collector friend about the burglary, he said "no, you are mis-remembering; that Dean parlor guitar was actually a 1929 Martin".
 
My knee-jerk honesty is often a handicap, I know. Maybe it would have been different had I known just how badly the insurance company was going to screw me. Quality microphones don't depreciate 30%, they usually go up in value. Replacing my KSM-44 will actually cost 25% more now than when I bought it. But you can't argue with an algorithm.
 
2016 is going to be remembered as the year when everything that could go wrong, did. I just returned from the bank after attempting to deposit the insurance check. They wouldn't take it because it was made out to both me and my late wife. Crap. No check for another 7-10 business days. Of course, they have no problem charging me a month's interest on the credit card I'm using to replace the stolen gear.
 
And at this very moment I have a plumber in my house who has quoted $2300 to replace a drain that I thought had been replaced 3 years ago by a different plumber. Turns out, they just wrapped it in paper. Today's plumber took a snapshot of it to share with his plumber friends because he'd never seen such shoddy work. 
 
I am going to buy a lottery ticket today. I mean, how long can a losing streak last? The universe owes me.