Just an FYI for stolen gear

[LaklandBass]

Im not sure if most you know this already but with something as serious as stolen gear its worth mentioning again.

I work for Guitar Center and would like you all to know that managers frequently do company wide emails for any stolen gear that is reported to them.
So if any of you are in the terrible situation of having gear stolen feel free to stop by your local G.C. and give a manager the description and details.
In addition I think we should take this thread as an opportunity to make a sort of "to do" list if you ever have gear stolen from you. I know that there's a sticky where people share how they got their gear back but perhaps making a list of what to do immediately will be good as well.

Ill start....
Notify ALL local music stores as soon as possible. Most thieves are going to try to unload your gear asap.

 

[sobie18]

Good information to know; thanks for posting.

 

[funk generator]

also check all the pawn shops.. They have to hold it for x amount of days and check with police reports to make sure its not stolen (i hang out in the pawn shops alot lol)

 

[Eric Swaim]

Make sure you have pictures of your gear, receipt if possible and serial numbers on hand or the police may not be able to help even if you find your instrument.

 

[sleepy_monkey]

To search ALL of Craigslist:

www.searchallcraigs.com

That way you don't have to search each city...it searches the entire US at one time...if it is something that is mass produced you can even narrow it down to region.

 

[fintanbk]

Some great tips on this thread to help avoid the situation that none of us want to find ourselves in.

We have a new website called Invalid Link Removed where you can easily record details of your guitars (including photos and up to 80 fields of information on each) thus making them much easier to recover if lost or stolen.

fintan

 

[trunkshope6]

thanks for the info guys

 

[fintanbk]

This might also help - list of online resources and alert sites.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

If we are missing any please let us know

fintan

 

[funkcicle]

also check all the pawn shops.. They have to hold it for x amount of days and check with police reports to make sure its not stolen (i hang out in the pawn shops alot lol)

the rules vary by city to city, but one thing is for certain: MAKE SURE YOU FILE A POLICE REPORT BEFORE VISITING ANY PAWN SHOPS. Depending on the integrity of the shop, tipping them off about stolen items could actually lower the chances of recovering your gear. If your gear is in the 'waiting period', the shop may not legally be allowed to even tell you if they've taken it in (privacy concerns, similar items, etc) and will likely dismiss you as a nuisance, but all shops should be co-operative with a detective.

Also, make sure your detective's agency is using LeadsOnline... if they're not, ask them why, and press them hard. Pawn Shops are not generally required to check police reports, but many cities require them to upload their daily purchases to the LeadsOnline database.. descriptions, serial #s, names of sellers, etc. The police put their reports into the same database and the work gets done for them. I don't know how it is around the country(the database is national), but in my area this is how 99% of stolen property gets recovered.

Most importantly, and this has been stated before but can't be stressed enough: KNOW YOUR SERIAL NUMBERS. A lot of cops won't even take a report if you don't have a serial # to put in it. 'nuff said.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Take pictures of your serial number , please if its a bass you love.