It's the first time something like that happens to me. My wife left the equipment inside the car, but some rat got inside the private parking at late night, opened the car (destroying not only the door, but nearly everything inside the car) and took not only the P.A. system, but the mixer, the microphone, some percussion instruments, cables, etc...

I've work hard for earning the money I've loosed. I'm very, very angry, and frustrated, there seems to be not much I can do. Any idea REALLY appreciated.

Sorry to hear this.

Sorry to hear that. Robberies cause more victim pain than the law allows punishment for. I hope you get lucky and find the equipment. If you have the serial numbers, send them the the police and then start scouting out the local pawn shops. You will probably have to pay the amount the pawn shop paid for the items, but it will be 10-20% of the value (thread here)

I am also sorry to hear this. I hope you had everything insured.

Oh no..ths is terrible. Happened to me once, I've never forgot it, made me paranoid...now I'm a compulsive locker, park under lights and park away from other cars so my car is not so hidden and hide allow valuables so they cannot be seen. Maybe its time to look into an after market alarm system if you are going to keep valuables in your car....Viper makes some good ones.

You may find that at least some of your loss is covered by your auto insurance and/or your home coverage. I've always taken out a rider on my homeowner's insurance to cover my instruments since my insurance company's cap on coverage for them is about $2,000 and I have single instruments that exceed that in value.

I also make a point of never leaving my equipment in the van over night. No matter how tired I am, or how late it is, the van gets unloaded and equipment put up. That isn't just to avoid theft. Cold and hot weather are hard on musical instruments and equipment.

That totally sucks.

Sorry to hear this terrible news, good advice above especially re: the pawn shops.

Best of Luck to you,

Locally many musicians have registered with suppliers and after a theft of someone's gear they send out an email. It's surprising how many stories I hear of where they guy found his gear for sale on some board or another and recently a guy got back his guitar and the guy who had it met the cop parked across the street. Of course they guy 'found' it in a dumpster, ya right.

Where do you live?

One guy here, several years ago, had 2 basses stolen from his car. He made the rounds of the local pawn shops. He was in the one near my house that I check out every week to leave the serial numbers with the owner of the shop. 2 guys came in trying to pawn his basses WHILE HE WAS IN THE STORE!!!! He gestured with his eyes, pointed discreetly to the papers he had given the guy. The shop owner was savvy enough to stall while the victim "said goodbye". He then went outside, called the police and they came to the store and arrested the thieves.

This a tale fo great restraint. The guy in question stands 6'5" and is a 3rd degree black belt who teaches matrial arts classes and has placed in the top 4 in national tournaments. I wonder if I would have had that kind of poise....

Sorry to hear about this.

In the US, it is a good idea to engrave your drivers license number somewhere discretely on all of your gear. This can often lead to recovery of stolen items.

There are some steps that you can take, however.

Print out a list of the stolen gear, make copies and take them around to the local pawn shops, used instrument stores, etc. and drop them off with the proprietors. Reputable proprietors will be glad to get the information. If you do not have your driver's license number engraved on your gear, sometimes you can still recover by showing the sales receipt, sometimes they might even just take your word for it.

--Mac

All good stuff, Mac. I have everything in a spreadsheet with new value, replacement value, serial number, photo and the location of a unique identifying mark, a different type of mark on each instrument and in a different location. That spreadsheet is stored online, on a thumbdrive that is always with me, on a CD, and each computer, and a copy of the disc is in a bank safe deposit box as well as one in my fireproof safe with my will, etc....

Of course if they take the stuff an head for Guatemala....

But I have taken every precaution I can think of.

And don't forget to check Craigslist. They've actually caught a couple of thieves here trying to sell their goods. Of course, it was very difficult to prove that the sellers were the actual thieves, but a couple of musicians got their instrumenbts back, at least.

You are somewhat lucky it wasn't from your house. I'm not in the area of the city where this happens, but in some areas they break into the house, take the stuff, and come back in 6 weeks and take the new stuff.

Insurance. They are in the business of keeping your money. I have, as suggested, used an etching vibrator pen to mark my stuff. My Social Insurance # is on it, 9 digits.

And the list, filed with my insurance company. They love to tell you a rider was required. I just say here:
Photo gear: x y Z etc.
Music Gear: l m n o etc...
Tools : a b c d...

with serial #'s, my marks, and digital photos, along with bills etc.

And I always pay with visa, I have extra insurance there.

It does help to have spent many years working with Insurance Adjusters. They have some odd quirks. A mis-step causes HUGE delays, and your file gets kicked around.