GPS stolen from Boardwalk Valet Parking

[lacool]

We just returned from a wonderful trip, but our last day was certainly a bummer when we retrieved the car from the valet to leave and the GPS unit was gone. It had been there on Saturday night when we went to Downtown Disney, but it was gone Tuesday morning when they brought the car up.

There was no forced entry, so the unit was either taken by a valet or the car was never locked, which I find extremely negligent. The valet manager said he'd file an incident report (BTW, he mentioned ours was the second GPS stolen that week) and gave me a number to call. Apparently the valet company is a subcontractor, not Disney employees. I called and they said I needed to talk to a woman named Sherry who "handled" these incidents. When I got hold of Sherry it seemed she never got any incident report from the manager and she informed me that the valet ticket clearly instructed me not to leave valuables in the car, so they had no liability. She gave me the number for the Orange County Sheriff's office to file a report.

I realize that it was foolish to leave it in the car, but I really expected a minimum level of care when I left the car with the valet. That includes locking the doors when they park it, just as I would do when I park it. Am I expecting too much?

 

[Alicnwondrln]

I am so sorry. There was another thread about someones car being broken into recently as well.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

I do feel sorry for you but it really is your responsibility to remove all valuables from the car - just because they're employees doesn't mean they can't be thieves.

GPS units are being stolen all over the place, they're a hot item right now. I'm sincerely sorry it happened to you.

 

[blondinkaya]

I'm so sorry that happened. I can't imagine the feeling of violation involved, and I would like to think that, since there was no forced entry, the valet company would acknowledge some kind of involvement. Of course that's wishful thinking, huh ...

I do have a silly question. I've been hearing that it's not safe to leave GPS systems in cars. Ours is the built-in in the dash kind. Would it be a target as well (our car is a Prius, and the gps screen is also the touch screen for the climate control system, the stereo control, etc.)?

 

[praline3001]

That stinks! It seems there has been a lot of car break ins latey. Keep us updated with what comes about

 

[lacool]

It is funny you should ask about that. This car is brand new. The reason I replaced our old car was because there was a built -in navigation system and it started to freak out because a magnet got stuck underneath it (don't ask). Honda offered me a new replacement for $3K or refurbishment of the old one for $700 plus labor. I turned them down, but the Nav system seemed to fix itself after a week or so, but I had lost faith in it. I also figured my trade-in was worth more while the Nav system worked and I didn't know how long it would last. I also wanted to make sure our GPS worked on this trip, so I traded in the car for one without GPS and bought a portable one. It never occurred to me that the real benefit of the built-in was the inconvenience of removing it!

 

[mandymommy4]

I am so sorry this happened to you.

I always try to take all valuable with me or stash them away in the glove box but honestly I would never think to take my GPS unit out of the car........ It's a sad world we live in that you have to strip your car of everything that might be of some value to the thugs out there. I use to work at a grocery store and we had some guy smashing window and stealing anything and everything from pocket change, those wood bead seat covers , and kids school back packs........

 

[NewCrew42]

Here is the thread for the other car that was broken into:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1807544

I am so sorry that this happened on your vacation.

 

[esdras]

Just because there was no sign of forced entry, doesn't mean that the GPS was stolen by an employee with access to a key.

Many cars can be opened with a slim-jim - and theives do use these devices. If you know what you're doing and the car is the type (and many are) that can be opened with one of these, you can get the door opened in seconds - perhaps only a couple more than a window smash.

I'm so sorry to hear about the theft - I have a GPS built in to my HP iPAQ PDA - so, fortunately, it always comes with me. The window mount stays in the car, so it's obvious that I have one - but it's also obvious that it isn't there.

 

[NewCrew42]

It looks like the other thread was closed. But I thought you would like to know.

 

[Magic Mom]

That's a rotten thing to have happen during vacation. I'm sorry.

 

[Jrabbit910]

So sorry that this happend to you & ur family. I hate hearing things like this...

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

My husband went at least once to valet in December and found that they had left our car unlocked, thank goodness it was only for a short time, and nothing was taken. It is a shame we can't leave things in our cars without fear that someone will take them.vI don't think we will Valet the car anymore.

Suzanne

 

[LoraJ]

So sorry this happened to you.

Did you have it in plain site, or was it hidden in the car?

We usually take ours out of the car. We have a friction mount which I keep hidden. Sometimes when traveling we hide the GPS in the car. But if it wasn't in plain site, that concerns me. If you had it hiden, did you still have the dash mount in site?

 

[Bonelady]

I always remove my GPS when parking. I purchased a dash mount which is easier to remove that the windshield suction mount. Both parts easily store in the arm rest and the car shows no evidence of the system.

 

[lacool]

NewCrew42, thanks for the link. I read the other thread and guess I should just be grateful no one has slammed me yet for my stupidity.

My fiancee tries to remind me all the time that the real world doesn't work the way I believe it should, and that there is no ACTUAL magic at Disney World. My naivitee has been punished and I hope I have learned a lesson and won't make the same mistake twice. I hope that others can learn from my mistake and avoid the same fate.

Thank you everyone for your kind words of sympathy.

 

[NewCrew42]

Your welcome. It seems that it is a problem. I found it interesting that 2 people from the DIS boards experienced the same thing within days of each other. There may be other people whose cars were broken into during that same period that are just not on these boards.

After watching those thugs break into my neighbors home, there is no rhyme or reason as to why they chose that home. My neighbor had just left to go have lunch with a friend. (People were home at every house around that house. Another neighbor and I witnessed it, called the police and the guys were caught, but it could have been my house just as easily which was very hard for me to wrap my mind around.) I am sure that there is no rhyme or reason as to why they chose your car or the other car other than they wanted to steal something from someone. So they did.


It isn't anyone's fault but the criminals. As the police told us, you can make it more difficult for someone to steal from you, but if they want to rob you, they will find a way to do it.

I am sorry for your loss of property and violation that you feel. It certainly isn't your fault. The fault lies with the criminal.

 

[legalsea]

We just returned from a wonderful trip, but our last day was certainly a bummer when we retrieved the car from the valet to leave and the GPS unit was gone. It had been there on Saturday night when we went to Downtown Disney, but it was gone Tuesday morning when they brought the car up.

There was no forced entry, so the unit was either taken by a valet or the car was never locked, which I find extremely negligent. The valet manager said he'd file an incident report (BTW, he mentioned ours was the second GPS stolen that week) and gave me a number to call. Apparently the valet company is a subcontractor, not Disney employees. I called and they said I needed to talk to a woman named Sherry who "handled" these incidents. When I got hold of Sherry it seemed she never got any incident report from the manager and she informed me that the valet ticket clearly instructed me not to leave valuables in the car, so they had no liability. She gave me the number for the Orange County Sheriff's office to file a report.

I realize that it was foolish to leave it in the car, but I really expected a minimum level of care when I left the car with the valet. That includes locking the doors when they park it, just as I would do when I park it. Am I expecting too much?

Actually, if you could, without any doubt whatsoever, prove that the GPS unit was in the vehicle and that it was taken out of your vehicle while in the care of the valet, then they would be liable. Simply handing you a little ticket with small words on it does not absolve them of liability.

At law school one professor asked the class: "Suppose you go into a dry cleaners and hand over a pair of pants to be cleaned. You return the next day to pick up the pants. There is a huge hole in them, or some other damage. When you complain to the owner he points at a sign hanging on the wall saying "Not Responsible for Damage to Garments". Is the owner absolved of responsibility for the damage?"

Needless to say, after most of us first year students said 'yes' because he had, after all, hung up a sign saying he was not responsible, the professor tore into us. I wish I could recall his speech (it has been 25 years or more), but suffice it to say he was full of sarcasm. It seems that simply purchasing a sign, or printing a ticket, saying you are not responsible does not, in fact, absolve you of responsibility. If simply hanging a sign was all you had to do, think of the signs you would see everywhere (businesses, houses, cars, etc).

Anyway, as I said, you would first need to prove that the gps was actually in the vehicle was it was under their control.

If you file a report with the police, ask them if they know if the place where your car was kept has security cameras. Maybe the theft was caught on tape, which would help prove the gps was in the car.

 

[dogodisney]

It's a shame that you had to go through this but Thank You for posting because it is a reminder to the rest of us that we need to be more careful. Just because we may be on Disney property doesn't mean we an let our guard down.

 

[NJPluto]

I am so sorry this happened to you!