I've moved it (not deleted it at all) somewhere that only a few of us can see it. People who are in the know, let us know when it's safe to move it back.

Tom, it'd be nice if there was some way to set a thread as viewable only to logged-in users. Is that possible? Or maybe a members-only section?

Good stuff. I did wonder where it had gone!

Did I blink and miss something? Or perhaps I read the thread but just do not realize it is gone.

Bitt's reference is to the thread with the story of Derek's recent UK visit.

Ah. Okay.

Thanks Bit.

Everyones help is much appreciated! I'll let you all know what's happening when suitable.

Cheers
Derek

Looking forward to the updates

Ditto... I can't wait to hear how this turns out. Hopefully with ... ummm... someone in a pokey situation (excuse attempted UK pun).

With a thread like this going, I really wish I saw the original thread.

Anyways, the main purpose of this post is to say...

Happy Birthday Bitt

Thanks. Go me! This is the last time I'll be a power of two for quite some time.

I think Bitt is still very much in the realm of 6-bit counters at present.

Happy you-were-born day!

Things are apparently happening... more news as it happens.

I hope that's good news.

I hope so too.

I am quite concerned that there is more of the same thing happening by the same people. Also worth noting that some things are gone and others will be gone soon.

Good luck, Derek. I had no idea what you folks were talking about, as I only skim the General forum, but I was able to find it. I really hope this gets sorted out...

Wait. That means you're my age.

Something was happening on Thursday, no news of results as yet.

This thread reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they all talk about doing that thing without ever metioning it by name. You know the one? Where George gets caught in the bathroom by his mother with a Cosmo (I think it was)?

Was that the master of my domain? It was the only episode I ever saw: I was visiting an office the week it was going off the air a few years ago. They found out that I'd never seen it, decided I should, and picked the episode. It was definately a fun lunch.

-jk

If only it were this easy...

That's the one. And it was "Glamour", not "Cosmo".

Any updates on this?

Due to:
- slowness on the part of eBay
- slowness on the part of the blue clad people

Nothing has happened. The situation remains the same: but by now, all the stuff has gone. Derek is pushing them hard: the main problem seems to be the fact that the UK has

ONE

yes, you read it right, ONE blue clad person to liase with eBay.

This sucks. We handed it to the Police on a plate!

it doesn't get any easier than that!
practically did their job for them.

There was this one time when I was naive, 18, and borrowed 700 quid from my dad to get a new laptop on eBay. Sent the guy the cheque, laptop nowhere to be seen. Its a very sore story.

Anyway, I did some detective work of my own. I handed the police a document which detailed the transaction, a photocopy of the cheque from the bank, every piece of communication by email and phone, phone numbers, address of his house, his girlfriends house, where he worked. What more exactly do you want? They took a statement and said they would look into it. Everytime I called, there was a new excuse.

Do I have my money back? No.

We're talking a good 3-4 years ago. This bigtime stressed me out when I was at uni, and this made a lot of my work at the time very crap (yeah, not to mention the fact I didn't have a computer).

By this time, the guy has changed his phone, been fired from his job (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford), left his girl (Cromwell Close, Chelmsford, Essex), moved into a new place (Church Hill Road, Oxford), and then left there without paying any bills. Apparantly, he (maybe?) now lives in Charlton Park, Wantage, Oxford but I am not sure. Its getting a little hard to pick up the trail.

Not only does he have my money, he also has money from another eBayer who I now talk to occasionally on MSN Messenger. I have reason to believe there are others.

I am still going to hunt him down like a dog. Anyway, this is long and rambling but the morel of the story is...

Dealing with the Police is supposed to be the correct way. But they are very often a complete waste of time.

(edit) By the way; if any of you guys ever come across a Gary (aka Garrie) Scholz who may have lived/worked in Oxford and Essex, particularly Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in 2002 I would love to hear from you.

At work we run an eBay store selling PC's and peripherals. One day we got a call from a very confused and distraut lady who had received a VAT receipt through the post for a laptop she had no knowledge of even purchasing! Clearly this lady had had her credit card details, including the card address and CVV number stolen and somebody was using her details to purchase high value items on eBay.

We checked the purchase records and discovered that the laptop was due for delivery that day but it had not yet been delivered. We called the carrier and instructed them to hold on to the laptop and under no circumstances deliver it until further instructions from us.

We contacted the Police, explained the situation and offered to put them in touch with the carrier so they could be ready to pounce once the goods were signed for at the East London delivery address. We were giving it to them on a plate basically! Were they interested? Nope. They suggested we advise the lady to contact her credit card company and that was it, they could not have been less interested.

And if you take matters into your own hands, the police will be on you in a second.

I can just imagine your swift trial:
Judge: "You are charged with the severe beating of and theft of [$800 / laptop] from [Oxford fraud / East London thief]. What do you say in your defense???"
You: "I brought him to justice."
Judge: "Leave that to THE POLICE! You're being fined, and jailed, and sued for damages and theft by this poor assaulted citizen and..." etc etc etc.

Remember, that's your tax payer dollar at work. Do you agree with how it's being used?

Honestly, though, the police are probably constrained by standard operating procedures, red tape, and bureaucracy when trying to pursue a criminal. Warrants, court orders, probable cause, "criminal's rights", burden of proof, evidence, etc.

On the flip side, I wonder if the police could be sued for professional negligence (especially regarding this thread). They simply didn't do their job (it sounds like). But, the police are so connected, they could never be held accountable. Again, your tax dollars (pounds, euros, whatever) at work. It's time for change.

I think, more to the point, recovering an $800 laptop doesn't generate as much revenue as handing out traffic tickets.

Good point. Hopefully tracking down mercenary, justice-hungry crime victims is similarly unprofitable.

<edit>
So, what if there was a paid-per-case mercenary justice league, able to be hired by victims to track down the perps? It would be better than paying tax dollars to have police generate revenue. Well, better until it turned into an unsubstantiated witch hunt of bounty hunters killing based on rumor, untruth, and suspicion. Ah, justice is just too complex.
</edit>

FF31-
It's called civil suit aka suing someone. There's no jail time but you make them pay, regardless of whether they win or lose (have to pay the lawyers!). There's also small claims court, which can be effective.

Oh, and by the way, the name of the thing you're trying to put your finger on: The Mob.

-Zeke

Hmmm.... that's not a bad idea (thinks)

Actually, if you sue someone and they DON'T lose, it means YOU lose. You've spent just as much (or more) on legal fees, time effort, etc. And depending on the circumstances you may also be liable to pay for their legal fees. Only lawyers win in court. If I was being faced with a civil suit I thought was unfounded I'd immediately counter-sue.

Small claims can be useful to keep costs down and in fact even better if settled before it goes to court. Just being served is often enough to get the debtor to come to their senses and pay.

Bruno

Well, that's one way of looking at it. Another way is that you'll enjoy spending your money making the other party suffer the court hassle. It's not a good monetary argument, but it is a useful tool of vengeance. Money's only one way of keeping score.

-Zeke

Yes, but then *you* have to suffer the court hassle, too.

Yes, but if you're vengeful enough to do it, making them suffer may be fun.

-Zeke

Another problem is when something rare (no longer manufactured) gets stolen. In that case, sueing and getting monetary compensation wouldn't make me happy at all. Great now I have some money, but how am I going to replace something that isn't made anymore. If I didn't get the item back in the process, I wouldn't be even content until I was paid at least twice what the item retailed for when it was new, plus some extra for time setting up/installing/loading/hanging/painting/whatever the case may be.

In other words, my deepest sympathies. To me it would be like my cousin was kidnapped.

Was there a happy ending with this??

The car was recovered; most of the bits on eBay were recovered: the blokie was arrested with some parts still up for sale.

The sad part: car was utterly trashed - it had been rolled, and was taken to a yard for police inspection. It was then left open to the elements for several weeks, so that it went mouldy and rusty. It's scrap.

Derek has been busy testing exciting new cars recently, but it hasn't stopped him replacing the car with something special - come to the Owner's meet in September, and you will be Dazzled (literally)

Ha! He's hooked, guys!

Be there or be square...

I can believe it'll be one of those very orange focuses then

Hugo

Well, in that case, I guess I can "undelete" the thread.

Pardon if it's crass to ask, but did Derek get his rightful compensation to purchase said new Dazzler? After all that, I hope they sold the perp's kidney to pay Derek back.