Man walks out of Omaha GC with $2,600 Les Paul.
Film at eleven...
Crime Stoppers: Man steals $2,600 Les Paul from Guitar Center
Film at eleven...
Crime Stoppers: Man steals $2,600 Les Paul from Guitar Center
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Local GC Gets Ripped Off
- Thread starter Old Garage-Bander
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Not cool. Hopefully someone recognizes him and turns him in.
Not sure how things work in Omaha but where I'm from, once someone is outed as a gear thief they'll never play with anyone in town again.
Not sure how things work in Omaha but where I'm from, once someone is outed as a gear thief they'll never play with anyone in town again.
Someone once tried sneaking out over here with an SG under his greatcoat. The guys in the shop had clocked him and, amused, let him get as far as the door.
In my experience, gear thieves were nearly always non-players, just guys who would nick anything and palm it off to the local, unscrupulous hock-shops. If your gear ended up with these guys and you couldn't prove it was yours, you'd have to buy the gear back. I got an amp nicked by the bouncers at a venue, tracked it down and couldn't prove it was mine. I left it with the hock-shop, rather than pay the guy.
In my experience, gear thieves were nearly always non-players, just guys who would nick anything and palm it off to the local, unscrupulous hock-shops. If your gear ended up with these guys and you couldn't prove it was yours, you'd have to buy the gear back. I got an amp nicked by the bouncers at a venue, tracked it down and couldn't prove it was mine. I left it with the hock-shop, rather than pay the guy.
We recently had theft from work show up in a pawn shop. Around here, if you want it back and can prove ownership, you simply pay the pawn shop what they paid the thief. The pawn shops here don't profit from buying stolen stuff.
In our case getting the stolen gear back was much cheaper than replacing it. (Gov't entity, so self insured.) The cops also got the guy who stole the stuff.
Pfft. That's Nebraska crime. Here in the big apple we steal big.
Man Stole $4.5K Gibson From NYC Guitar Center: Police
Man Stole $4.5K Gibson From NYC Guitar Center: Police
Now my experience shopping at the Cherry Hill New Jersey GC and the GC on rte 202 near Chadds Ford PA. taught me that there was always a greeter at a podium or a stand where if you walked in with an instrument they would check it in so there's no discrepancy when you want to leave. Thieves stink but in both these cases the store security was non existent.
The theft in the link I posted is from my local store. Hadn't been a greeter/receipt checker in years. Still isn't now.
Same here. Local GC used to have a greeter/checker but not any more. They even took down the little island between the entrance and exit doors.
My local GC gets hit all the time, was talking to the manager about it last time I was there - the local law enforcement was stuffing a guy into the back of a car and the manager was holding the guitar in his hand. They almost always get 'em back. What these idiots don't realize is that the stores have cameras, the parking lots have cameras, passerby have cameras, all the intersections have license plate scanners - you're just not getting away with it anymore.
Perp was pissed and bawling because of all things, the cops had the temerity to arrest him at his parents house. That'll really put a damper on next Thanksgiving.
Perp was pissed and bawling because of all things, the cops had the temerity to arrest him at his parents house. That'll really put a damper on next Thanksgiving.
This exact thing happened at the Albany, NY GC. Kid walked out with a $3000 SG Reissue in his jacket and nobody realized it was gone until much later. They posted a photo of the guitar by the entrance. Apparently the kid wasn't bright enough not to play it out on a gig, where a GC employee spotted it and questioned him on his brand new guitar, checked the serial and determined what it was. The kid had a similar, but much less valuable Gibson SG and thought nobody would notice the difference if he played the reissue out!
s0c9
Supporting Member
Where I live, pawning ANYTHING of value (like the OP's guitar) would be photographed and cross-checked with police stolen items records... if it showed up, the cops are called.
We had a professional-grade camera stolen, reported it to the cops and some kid tried to pawn it.. the cops were outside waiting when he left.
Not sure how that works in other states..
When I worked retail, we couldn't consider anything a theft until the product left the store. I witnessed a guy stuff a backpack full of Polo shirts. Called security. They watched him but couldn't act until after he walked through the doors. He then outran our security personnel.
Also saw a guy carry 5-6 polo shirts into a fitting room. He came out with none. They weren't left in the room and you could clearly see the ink tags sticking up above his collar. Again, I called security. Because I didn't actually witness him putting the shirts on, they couldn't do anything until after he left the store. He ran out, jumped in the bed of a waiting pickup truck and the truck took off. Security was outsmarted again. I didn't waste my time calling them after that.
Also saw a guy carry 5-6 polo shirts into a fitting room. He came out with none. They weren't left in the room and you could clearly see the ink tags sticking up above his collar. Again, I called security. Because I didn't actually witness him putting the shirts on, they couldn't do anything until after he left the store. He ran out, jumped in the bed of a waiting pickup truck and the truck took off. Security was outsmarted again. I didn't waste my time calling them after that.
I haven't shopped at a GC in decades but back when I used to there was always a security guard/front door employee that checked your receipt and merchandise. Either times have drastically changed or this is one of the worst security managed stores in the whole chain. Someone probably got fired over this.
Where I live, employees pestering you every minute counts as greeting and checking. I've brought in my own bass and/or cables and straps to test things out and I've never been questioned. I suspect because the employees realized it was mine.
I worked at a store in San Diego (no longer open) where about three times a year, a guy would be checking out a guitar and just walk out the front door. There was a big old camera, pointed at the door with the obligatory "Smile, you're on camera" sign - but it was connected to *nothing*. Not that theft is cool, but I had zero sympathy for the owner for being so cheap!
I think times have drastically changed.
The cost of insurance for stolen items vs the cost of dedicated security would seem quite significant.
Maybe that's the new retail business model. Insure the heck out of everything for retail value, don't have any staff, let everyone rip off the store, and the store collects. Much lower overhead.
I remember those phony cameras a lot of businesses used to have. A clunky metal box on a wall bracket, a motor to sweep it back and forth. A fake lens and a BIG RED FLASHING LIGHT. Of course once the light burned out or the motor stopped, they were never fixed. Now you can get real cameras that record video for a lot less than the old fake setup.
Yet it still amazes me how lousy the video is on all of those security cams. It's almost as if they were made that way so as not to be able to ID the perp. Maybe it just shows the item being stolen as proof for the insurance company, the store gets paid and everyone is happy. No dealing with the police or having to go to court, or whatever is involved.
They should just have a scanner at the door that logs the item and removes it from inventory and auto-orders a replacement. Surely there is an app for that?
RFID. It's a common tech... but music stores are usually run by very tech ignorant folks.
In so cal, all the stores had hot or quasi hot girls at the door, greeting , checking bags, etc. Not one I encountered every really did anything thorough - just glanced, and told you to go - a bit like the guy at door of Frys.
