Beware thieving fly collectors in Shelbury Road

[johnrennie]

A cautionary tale. I left a load of clothes and shoes in bags by my front door this morning (too long and boring to explain why). My 11-year-old son answered a knock on the door from somebody who asked 'Are these for charity'. Gawd bless him he said yes, and half our wardrobe disappeared. I won't pollute the forum with what I think of chancing b***** who'd take the word of a child rather than ask to speak to an adult, but I'd point out that these WEREN'T on the street and there was no indication they were going to be dumped, so I'd advise people to be careful.

[Dorothy]

Well ... your son did say they were for charity. Why did he do that?

Whoever it was who took them (and of course they could have been thieving bastards) took his word for it that you, as a household, no longer wanted them. At least he knocked on the door and asked :)

[Loz]

Hang on... person actually knocks on the door and asks before taking - and is still publicly branded as a 'thief'??

Unbelievable.

[johnrennie]

No, they asked if it was 'for charity' and he, a child, said yes, because he didn't quite understand and was intimidated by two adults - and afterwards was very upset. And they didn't have to take his word, they could have asked if there was an adult in the house. I wouldn't have done that ... would you? So I'm not sure, Loz, which bit is 'unbelievable' - I'd save your moral indignation for a more deserving cause. It was just intended as a warning to other people.

[johnrennie]

There's also the point that they quite obviously WEREN'T charity collectors ... though a child wouldn't know that. So coming on to somebody's property, taking stuff without the permission of the homeowner (and suggesting falsely to a child that they're collecting for charity) - yes I think that qualifies as theft.

[pommie]

i put a bag of clothes out for a charity collection and spotted someone going thru the bag, making a mess and not taking any of it. There are even people who take donations from outside charity shops and then sell it on. Some people have no shame

[peterstorm1985]

What surprises me about this is that they knocked on the door. I'm tempted to give them some benefit of the doubt as this seems a bit too honest. If they were simply intent on thieving they wouldn't have bothered to knock. Although unlikely, I don't quite understand why it's so certain that they weren't charity collectors (perhaps there is something the OP hasn't mentioned). We regularly get plastic bags put through the door from reputable charities asking for donations (last one was less than a fortnight ago) and from past experience the collectors aren't always timely. I stopped leaving donations in this way simply because I didn't want an uncollected bag sat outside my house for weeks on end.

And I have to admit that I would have expected an 11 year old to be capable of answering that sort of question or, if unsure of themselves, to call for a parent rather than giving an answer to a stranger.

I wonder if perhaps the OP was just very unfortunate.

[Sally81]

i'm more intrigued about why they were left there, if they weren't for the bin, for charity, or you weren't off on a trip (which your son would have probably known.)....bagged up the other half's stuff in temper? ; )

[johnrennie]

No, just moved, and in a constant process of shifting stuff about. That's what I love about forums though, plant the seed and people start developing their own stories :>

[Sally81]

...seriously though, it's crap that you lost your stuff. Sorry for you about that.

[Huggers]

when we were moving in the cover of our gas meter was nicked while it was off for 3 seconds.

[JohnL]

An 11 year old will say whatever an adult will want them to say if the adult is manipulative.

Sally81 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> i'm more intrigued about why they were left there,

> if they weren't for the bin, for charity, or you

> weren't off on a trip (which your son would have

> probably known.)....bagged up the other half's

> stuff in temper? ; )

[johnrennie]

Perhaps thieving was a bit strong ... I was very annoyed last night. Let's just say 'seriously opportunistic' and not bothering about the niceties. It was an open-top truck with scrap on it according to my younger son ... so I think we can be certain they WEREN'T charity collectors, but I should move on. But I do remember a friend having their buggy pinched from the front garden in Friern Road a few years back, and somebody else had some kids' shoes nicked from out the front - now that is tight!

[mynamehere]

A bit back my husband and I sat for hours waiting for a van to arrive to load a metal shed we'd sold. The woman who had bought the shed was waiting with us for this van she'd hired. She walked away for the briefest moment and exactly then a van arrived, pointed to the shed and we, thinking: Finally! said Yes. In 30 seconds the shed was on the van and the van was pulling off when the woman came back and in that instant we knew it was the wrong van. The shed was taken off the van as I yelled at the driver.

And another story: a friend gave me an old tin washing tub. Quite nice. I left it out front right up by the house ready for planting. Well you know the rest.. off it went in a van to be sold on for scrap.

Don't leave anything of value in front of your house.