Saddest Day: Macbook Pro Stolen While in San Francisco
Sunday was the saddest day of my life. I'm a college student in Boston who went to the Bay Area during Thanksgiving to check it out. Everything was amazing until I went to Union Square and my rental car was broken into and the thief stole my backpack that contains my new 16GB Macbook Pro, iPad 2, various passports and etc. It's really sad because I lost around $3k worth of stuff with no hopes of getting it back.
My advice to future tourists: Never leave valuables in the car or trunk.
52 comments
[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 113 ms ] threadThat's general advice for anyone who's ever been in a car.
Did you have travel insurance? I've never had to use it but this seems like something that would be covered.
1) Report your passport stolen to your nearest embassy. This is critical. Make sure this is done first
2) Report the theft to the local police and describe everything in detail as much as you can. Do it soon so that it is fresh in your mind
3) Keep an eye on sites like craigslist for sale of macbooks in the area. Yes this is pretty much a long shot but you never know. There are plenty of stupid thieves in this world and the thief might try and sell it right away.
4) Did you have any kind of tracker app on your ipad etc ? I think Apple has something right ? If yes, try and use it to locate your belongings. UPDATE: as ericcholis mentioned, you should always have an account with https://www.icloud.com and use "Find My iPhone" to track your MacBook and iPad
And yes, for all of us, PLEASE never leave anything in your car that can be seen easily. Even if you think the area is safe or who will bother stealing a backpack, think again. I always make it a point to either put things in the trunk of the car or glovebox if you must leave it in your car.
In this case, though, I don't think stating the obvious was anything that the original poster needed to hear. You were responding to something where he already said that he was "a dummy" and will do it differently next time.
And I think your accusation of laziness is... unevidenced. He's a college sophomore at a selective school, he's studying half-way around the world from home, he has a number of neat projects on his blog, and decided to make a cross-country trip over Thanksgiving break. And in a follow-up to a theft, he took the time to post something to help other US visitors avoid thefts in the future. That doesn't look lazy to me.
I believe it's so much more worthwhile to be supportive. When you have any kind of an adventage over others such as when you know something better, have move experience, have more money etc., you have these two options: either use your adventages to help, or to bring down.
To ridicule is not the best method of educating others either. And a person who feels strong doesn't have to show any sign of superiority, because with true strength comes security.
I wish the author of the original question will not find it too difficult to get back on track after loosing the bag. Good luck to you.
I'd bet >10% of the readers here have had any of the following: Cancer or similar shitty disease or disability in self or family, lost >50.000$ in natural disaster, accident or financial turmoil and/or are in a permanent state of stress due to job, relationships, legal battles or similar.
Perspective!
At some point later in your life, someone you dearly love will die or be severely injured. Or you will witness something tragic. Then you might reconsider what is your saddest day.
Do this as soon as possible, and check back constantly. Good luck!
Same advice in a better form: Never leave anything that looks like it might contain valuables in a visible place in a car. Trunk is usually fine, since nobody can tell what's in there, and thieves usually won't break into random cars in the hope that there might be something valuable in the trunk. On the other hand, a bag with nothing valuable in it on the seats is not fine, since the car may get broken into anyways, on the assumption that there's something worth stealing in there.
I've lived in an urban area for a while, and have seen this happen in several different ways...
If it makes you feel any better, you're in good company: nearly everyone I know has been the victim of smash-and-grabs. At my last company, two of our employees had their laptops stolen from a parked car. I've even had windows bashed because someone wanted to open the glove compartment to see if there was anything inside!
Most recently, we discovered some crackhead cutting through our front gate because he wanted access to some bikes that were visible. He would have had to cut through the gate, then another security door to get them, but that was no deterrent. It's one of the "charming" aspects of city life that makes you want to move to the suburbs.
As codegeek says, you should report your passport immediately. Your laptop has probably already been fenced for drug money, but you could try to find it on craigslist, or down at the various stolen-property yardsales at 6th/7th and Market. That's a long shot, though.
Question:
Why doesn't Apple log stolen serial numbers so that the second they show up (connect to iCloud, brought in for repair, or whatever), alarms, dogs, sharks with lasers, you know, the usual.
I feel like computers shouldn't be any more thieve-able than cell phones.
Wait, what?
What country do you live in where phones aren't worth stealing?
I had set the change from a parking garage on the passenger seat. At my next stop, Japantown, I parked at a meter and forgot about the few bucks sitting in plain view. I came back 20 minutes later to find the window smashed. Hundreds of dollars in repair costs and hours of my and other people's time. All for $2 or $3 in somebody's pocket. It gave me perspective on how desperate some people are.
Anyhow, I'm sorry that you experienced this in my city. The advice you give applies pretty much any where in the US (and in a number of other countries I've been in). If something is visible and looks valuable, 5 mm of glass is not much of a barrier.
Edited to add: Feel free to contact me (details in my profile) if you need a hand from a local with anything. E.g., I'm glad to go with you to file the police report.
I paid $10 for a parking space somewhere near Union Square thinking my car would be safe from towing and what not. I left my backpack in the trunk because it was too heavy (big mistake). Went back 3 hours later and the rear window was smashed and they got to the trunk from the reclining passenger seat. Filed a police report and they told me chances of me getting my stuff back is slim. Went to Apple Store and tried to get a discount for the second purchase but they only offered me the usual student discount. Called my credit card company but apparently I don't have any coverage for my purchase.
Most credit card companies have car rental insurance to cover the damage to the car.
Do you have renter's insurance in Boston? If so, check your policy, it may cover theft.
I don't really have to watch out for thieves. Of course they exist and you can never be too careful with these things. But occasionally having left valuables in view inside my car, or a bag at a cafe table while I visit the restroom, I've never had anything stolen. I'm not afraid to walk in the city at night.
A friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight in SF, which came to me as a big surprise. I couldn't imagine that could even happen. Obviously I need to travel more to broaden my worldview...
While there's downsides as seen here ( where personal property is not held sacrosanct by all cultures ) there are upsides as well that may outweigh the costs. For example: Americans get exposed to many unique cultures in the course of their daily lives. One could argue that this is beneficial.