Has anyone been burgled (1 Viewer)

[eddie]

We were in an Aire in 2001 and some kind person (s) forced the Fiat door lock. They then opened the door, which triggered the alarm making him flee and woke us up.

That made us change the spec of the alarm adding external LED warning Lights and have automotive quality alarm warning decals manufacturered, to be applied by the door locks and handles.

The logic being that if the thief ran away when the alarm was triggered then he wouldn't have risked trying to break in, if he had realised that the motorhome was alarmed. Also, I wouldn't have to bugger around and have the expense of a new Fiat lock and handle to secure half way through France.

The rationale was that once on an Aire with the blinds closed, nobody on the outside could see that the alarm was on, so we needed to ensure that a potential thief could clearly see that the Motorhome was alarmed even when the blinds and curtains were drawn.

If nothing else, if there are ten Motorhomes in a Aire and one appears to be alarmed, and nine don't appear to be alarmed, it is unlikely that the alarmed Motorhome will be chosen.

I post recently about our trip to St Tropez, in the post I described how we spent the night in an Aire with two other vehicles. Our best mates in their Motorhome well alarmed with our Growler system, and their daughter with her husband and two little children in a car/caravan combination. The caravan was no alarmed, the door lock was removed and the caravan was carefully ransacked, the car keys taken, car duely unlocked and rifled and more amazingly relocked and the keys put back in the caravan.

Broken Link Removed

Does this put me off Aires? Not at all, think of the ten's of thousands of vehicles staying on Aires every night and the small percentage of incidents. The crimes you do read about are people creeping around surreptitiously at night, spontaneous chancers, who tend to bugger off at the slightest confrontation.

 

[vwalan]

hi eddie . i was parked on a beach at el saler . i use caravan door handles /lock on my trailer . it seems you can just force the turn handle and the lock rips through the surrounding plastic .
luckily i had a spare . but now have clasp and lock out soide .sliding bolts etc inside .
when i stripped the handle down it amazed me that the lock barrel surround was plastic .
i bought the door new complete . only had a spare because i saw one handy one day .
but for the rest of you fit good sliding bolts inside and something on the outside . some of the side door locks are crap.

 

[Tootles]

If nothing else, if there are ten Motorhomes in a Aire and one appears to be alarmed, and nine don't appear to be alarmed, it is unlikely that the alarmed Motorhome will be chosen.

Exact, and just the same with houses, boats, whatever. They always choose the easy option.

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[Wildbill]

just a flashing led light is a deterrent is it alarmed or not? most robbers are opportunists
and if you let your guard down they will be in

 

[bernardfeay]

Barcelona

Sorry to bang on about Barcelona but we have had actual robberies and attempted robberies there.
The worst was when we parked on a motorway service area close to Barcelona. It was our own fault. We were all set for bed with the doors locked. Then a freezer lorry arrived and as you know they run their engine all night.

Seemed like a good idea to shift and we did. The way our alarm system works is that the doors unlock when I start the engine. We forgot to lock them again.

When I woke up our 3 purses were on the floor next to my door. They had only taken cash and left the credit cards. I presume they don't like to be pulled over by the police with foreign credit cards on them.

What I could not figure out is how they managed to close the door again afterwards. You would expect they would just push it gently back in place and perhaps onto the first notch; but it was fully closed.

Even more surprising was that when we reported it in Benidorm the police actually had an interest in solving the crime. I was expecting a crime number and the Spanish equivalent of "there's not a lot we can do."

 

[busby]

Sorry to bang on about Barcelona but we have had actual robberies and attempted robberies there.
The worst was when we parked on a motorway service area close to Barcelona. It was our own fault. We were all set for bed with the doors locked. Then a freezer lorry arrived and as you know they run their engine all night.

Seemed like a good idea to shift and we did. The way our alarm system works is that the doors unlock when I start the engine. We forgot to lock them again.

When I woke up our 3 purses were on the floor next to my door. They had only taken cash and left the credit cards. I presume they don't like to be pulled over by the police with foreign credit cards on them.

What I could not figure out is how they managed to close the door again afterwards. You would expect they would just push it gently back in place and perhaps onto the first notch; but it was fully closed.

Even more surprising was that when we reported it in Benidorm the police actually had an interest in solving the crime. I was expecting a crime number and the Spanish equivalent of "there's not a lot we can do."

Makes camp sites quite cheap in high theft areas. BUSBY

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[vwalan]

last year 15 vans in a campsite in benidorm were done in one night . it was all over the english press over there . you arent safe on campsites .
in fact i have heard of more robberies on campsites than wild parking ones .
plus kit goes missing because folk feel safe . be it towels surfboards ,wet suits , fishing gear etc .
in maroc dont leave anything out at night . shoes etc even dirty washing can disappear .

 

[Rayb182]

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10756532.Southwick_couple_gassed_in_their_camper/

 

[vwalan]

just goes to show you need a spare set of keys somewhere?
plus some cash or other means somewhere .
i made the mistake of having cards stolen . and not having a check book hidden away . did have some cash . i was lucky mates lent me till i got home . i could have had money transfered to a spanish bank but it wasnt cheap.
but going away without a spare set of keys hidden somewhere is hard to believe . even here in uk you could lose a set.
how many times have we all locked keys in the ignition . i know i have .

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[eddie]

I always suggest and (apply myself) that I keep a spare set of keys in a locked safe, bolted to through the floor. and I have a special hidey hole for the key for the safe.

Once on site I have a key ring with removable split rings and I lock all my motorhome and ignition keys in the safe and just keep out the alarm fob and the caravan (habitation) door key.

I am happier knowing that just the door key and the alarm fob are under my towel when I am swimming than my ignition key.

I have always worried that car alarms that are linked into the ignition/cab door key (normally to save money) if stolen will allow the doors to be unlocked, the car alarm disabled and allow the thief to start the engine and steal the motorhome.

This in turn will potentially create a huge argument with the motorhome's insurers for failing to look after the keys, which resulted in the loss of the motorhome.

Things to ponder

Eddie

 

[Tootles]

Hence our plans to stay right here, in the UK. Abroad is all very nice, but Britain has this certain lure, and, (at the moment), a certain sense of security, however, what suits one dosent suit everybody. There is so much here I want to see yet, that I don't think I will ever venture South of Dover again, but if I do, it seems I will be ordering a van from these peeps:

http://www.usedarmoredvehicle.com/used-armored-vehicles-for-sale.php :thumb:

 

[Rapide561]

Theft

The crime I am able to report is having two towels stolen from an onsite laundry.

Russell

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[TheBig1]

if the average motorhome owner only knew the truth on how insecure their vans are, then extra security locks would be far more common. A good friend of mine is a master locksmith and even he has had problems securing his van and tools. it is extremely easy to open a cab door using a sharpened screwdriver. this is done by pushing it through the metal surrounding the handle and manipulating the lock. it takes a couple of seconds and leaves serious damage. however the habitation door and external lockers/ garage are far easier. you can buy or make a master key that opens ALL the plastic catches sold as caravan/motorhome locks

A quality alarm system and warning stickers and LEDs wont stop a determined gang, but will deter the opportunists.

 

[eddie]

Hence our plans to stay right here, in the UK. Abroad is all very nice, but Britain has this certain lure, and, (at the moment), a certain sense of security, however, what suits one dosent suit everybody. There is so much here I want to see yet, that I don't think I will ever venture South of Dover again, but if I do, it seems I will be ordering a van from these peeps:

http://www.usedarmoredvehicle.com/used-armored-vehicles-for-sale.php :thumb:

England has one of the worst vehicle crime rates recorded So if your staying here to be safer your wrong

The good news is that vehicle crime is falling all over Europe due to better immobilisation, locks and alarms

And the cheese, wine and bread is better in France, as is the weather :thumb:

Eddie

 

[vwalan]

uk isnt safe . here in cornwall and every where i believe things go missing .
i was in morocco and my house was broken into. my sons were asleep one got hit with an iron bar . had 26 stitches in his head .five fractures of his skull . ended up with loss of memory and six months in a mental hospital till he was able to fit in with society .
he still has dark moments . but he tried his best to stop the burglars .
crime is going on every where . dont think anywhere is safer than anywhere else .

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[Steve101uk]

we spent a couple of weeks in Normandy this year and had a great time. Loads and loads of people in motorhomes from a variety of nationalities. Felt safe the whole time we was there and stopped on aires and campsites. I don't believe the gassing nonsense. If it were happening in France it would happen in Britain, Belgium, Germany etc etc.

The way France is geared up for Motorhomes makes for a unique and much easier experience that leave's Britain way behind. I do enjoy holidays in the UK but its just so much easier in France for a variety of reasons.

Crime is everywhere. In North Wales we once had a guy get into the awning in the middle of the night. My daughter was sleeping in there so woke me. Turned out the guy was drunk and lost and just crashed out in the deckchair....Police called and they took him away. Someone else I know had a generator stolen one night when they was staying at a sailing club.. they said after they was daft to leave it out over night, no padlock nothing...

My approach is to take all reasonable precautions to avoid opportunists. so have security locks, hide cards in different places, split cash between the two of us, hide spare keys etc. Be sensible and plan. Let people know where you are and if somewhere doesn't seem right then don't stay there. No way will I not go on holiday due to the very small risk of crime. I suspect that statistically there is more risk of and accident or breakdown when driving to the destination than being robbed.

cheers Steve

 

[eddie]

if the average motorhome owner only knew the truth on how insecure their vans are, then extra security locks would be far more common.

One of our customers arrived this morning from France for his appointment and told us that he had jammed his security key in the Fiamma door cover/lock and he couldn't use the caravan door.

We offered to remove it for him, which of course would have made our installation easier being able to walk in and out normally

"How much?" was the slightly guarded response.

"Oh free it will only take a couple of minutes"

Our customer didn't seem to know whether to be relieved or annoyed

Eddie

 

[Phill D]

All the above is why we have " strikeback and a tracker" fitted. :thumb:

you know it make sense :Cool:

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[Emmenay]

I've dug out my experience of robbery below.....:Blush:

Broken Link Removed

 

[Tootles]

England has one of the worst vehicle crime rates recorded So if your staying here to be safer your wrong

The good news is that vehicle crime is falling all over Europe due to better immobilisation, locks and alarms

And the cheese, wine and bread is better in France, as is the weather :thumb:

Eddie

by 'vehicle crime', your mostly talking about vehicle theft, obtaining the keys by whatever means? or, are you talking about people breaking into your MH at night, and 'doing a Barcelona'?
I spent some years travelling the world with my job, and frankly, didn't feel secure in some locations, even sleeping with a loaded SMG beside me. Never felt that way in England. Having a boat for years also taught us not to stay in or near major cities overnight, and always to go on a bit before stopping. It's just common sense. Suppose I have seen more of my fair share of the diversity of bad people to feel comfortable in a country where I cant speak the lingo, and no nothing about the effectiveness police.

 

[ROB1CHELSEA1]

Never been burgled but when unloading the van at home after a trip away, we forgot to pick up a rucksack left next to the van, had all Janes study reports in it
so some bugger nicked a load of paperwork worth nothing to them and probably threw it all away, rucksack worth a tenner

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[Allanm]

I have been burgled, twice, once in the Midlands, once in the Southeast.
I have had my chainsaw and other bits stolen from my shed at home.
I have had 2 cars stolen, both in the midlands, one from outside my house, one from a hotel car park..
4 new wheels stolen from my new car outside my house.
My car broken into 5 times and various items stolen, wing mirrors and aerials damaged, 2 tyres slashed on my VW when Germany won the World Cup..
A paving slab thrown through the windscreen of my 4x4 a couple of hours before we were due to leave ( with a caravan) to spend a fortnight in France.
The police have never recovered any property or apprehended any offender ( although my neighbour "apprehended" a youth one night who thought it was a good laugh to kick all the wing mirrors off a line of cars at the side of my house. My neighbour had a word. He wont be doing it again!

I've been travelling and staying all over France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Germany and further afield for the last 30 years and never so much as had the wrong change given to me.

Thats why we are moving to France shortly...

Allan

Oh, almost forgot, Wales isn't immune to crime either. A few years ago, when my parents lived in Wales, the local paper reported that someone had bent a car aerial on a parked car overnight! They soon moved away from that crime hotspot!

 

[Stealaway]

No not yet.
We spend at least a hundred nights a year away for over eleven years and hardly ever on a site.
But we don't stay overnight on motorway services or have bikes hung on rear racks.
We don't set the alarm at night we just make sure that the doors can't be opened.
We leave nothing in the van of value --- only a 5 years old Kindle fire.

I don't think thieving from vans is that much of a issue. Thousands are camping out over night, every night and very few ever have a problem

 

[drpeej]

We had both our Bikes stolen last year (Dec10th) whilst staying at South Lychett Manor campsite.

The bikes were looked together and also secured to the Fence post and covered with a waterproof cover.

We were both fast asleep in the camper and never heard a thing so I presume we must have been gassed or something.

Gassed as a Newt?

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[EuroTrotters]

3 attempts at highway robbery on motorways by fake police

 

[Tombola]

I think this thread had been stolen from 2013 and been found

 

[Euromobil]

On a campsite in Picardy woke up one right by noisy French, opened my door to sell them to shut up, came face to face with a gendarme, he explained they had been called as someone heard a prowler.
Next morning 6 motorhomes/caravans discovered they had been robbed but neither they nor their dogs heard a thing.keys and bags scattered around camp site.
Windows had been opened, blinds slashed to let hands reach inside, older vans with fixed quarter lights had them removed by cutting the rubber. Gendarmes were convinced who did it but couldn't prove it.

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