davey
New member
Recovery Scam
WORST BREAKDOWN RECOVERY EVER! My recovery was done through my insurance company but it turned out to be the WORST RECOVERY EVER bar none.
The situation was that my best 4x4, the one with a new head, new pistons, new radiator, new timing belt kit etc etc has been stolen by a sociopath (Police not interested but Small Claims Court Pending) A stop-gap Discovery was bought as spares-or-repair, cooling problem. After cleaning out the cooling pipes the problem seemed to have gone away and topping-up of the coolant was no longer required.
A speedboat hull, no engine, no steering, no trailer was spotted on eBay. It was a Glastron GT-150 similar to the James Bond boat that jumped over the Louisiana Sheriff's Police Car in the film Live and Let Die. I won the auction and set off for Woking. Sadly the Discovery never got there as it seized on the M3 near the Reading turn. I phoned the number on the insurance company windscreen sticker and someone said "Yes we'll send the RAC". After a while a double-cab recovery lorry arrived. My free recovery was however just a tow of twenty miles as the full recovery had just been an introductory bonus for new policy holders.
When one has just broken down one is usually shattered and in a state of shock so when a double-cab lorry arrived that was not sign-written I did not quibble as I just wanted to get away from where a police officer had been accusing me of causing an obstruction. The driver did not introduce himself or show any ID which seemed very odd. The 4x4 was put on the lorry and the four wheel trailer was put on the lorry tow-hitch. I was taken to a motorway services and my stuff was dropped-off in the car park. It was late December and although the weather was cold there was no wind or wind-chill so my clothing was perfectly adequate. I was still of course in a state of shock which is normal when one's whole world goes down the tubes. I wanted to get the trailer hitch lock out of the 4x4 to secure the trailer but at this point something very strange happened. The driver who I thought was from the RAC and was there to help me turned very very nasty. He was bellowing repeatedly at the top of his lungs "GET BACK IN THE LORRY!" I was unsure whether he was worried about me catching pneumonia and suing the RAC or whatever but with hindsight I would say that HE DID NOT WANT ME TO LOCK-UP THE TRAILER. I only went along with this nonsense because I needed a lift to the railway station. It was a terrible rail journey as at Bristol the station closed at one thirty am and I was turfed-out into the freezing fog. The "24 hour McDonalds just down the road" was a myth used for clearing the station and with having to wait outside in the frost all night I got Frostbite. When eventually I got back to the services there was no trailer and no 4x4. This was terrible as keys for lots of other things were in it. Security and the Manager never remembered seeing the 4x4 or trailer which suggests that they were taken away very soon after they arrived. One hardly needs to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened! Enquiries revealed that the double-cab lorry and the driver were NOT FROM THE RAC. It was some kind of a subcontract job. It was really a first class scam but when one is shattered by events one is in a weak position.
With hindsight I should have given the bellowing bloke a Scotch Kiss and decked him BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS THE RAC!
My insurance company who in effect organised the theft are being very sheepish and don't even want to hear the Crime Number. The way that things are going it is looking like a job for the Financial Ombudsman. Take care!
The mishap occurred on December the 29th 2016. Items taken included a dark green metallic Land Rover Discovery M539 LHB and contents. A four wheel trailer with 10" Leyland Mini wheels was also taken. It had newish Avonride suspension units with solid steel suspension arms and it would carry a seventeen foot long boat. Two of the tyres were new and had an 8 ply rating. Style of trailer was a square longitudinal beam or spine with two cross beams carrying the suspension units. It was un-braked but it still was an excellent trailer that just needed tidying and some new paint.
The RAC will be looking into this case but owing to the Data Protection Act or Criminal Protection Act as I call it, they will be unable to tell me who the driver was. Personally I think that this is BAD LAW that sorely needs to be repealed. (In the US they even print bad guys mugshots on milk cartons!) IMHO giving the rogue driver his P45 isn't really adequate but things aint over til the fat lady sings!
Feel free to share this information as the more people that know about these scams the better. I would say that the thief is yet ANOTHER sociopath and allegedly such types make up FOUR PERCENT of the population.
WORST BREAKDOWN RECOVERY EVER! My recovery was done through my insurance company but it turned out to be the WORST RECOVERY EVER bar none.
The situation was that my best 4x4, the one with a new head, new pistons, new radiator, new timing belt kit etc etc has been stolen by a sociopath (Police not interested but Small Claims Court Pending) A stop-gap Discovery was bought as spares-or-repair, cooling problem. After cleaning out the cooling pipes the problem seemed to have gone away and topping-up of the coolant was no longer required.
A speedboat hull, no engine, no steering, no trailer was spotted on eBay. It was a Glastron GT-150 similar to the James Bond boat that jumped over the Louisiana Sheriff's Police Car in the film Live and Let Die. I won the auction and set off for Woking. Sadly the Discovery never got there as it seized on the M3 near the Reading turn. I phoned the number on the insurance company windscreen sticker and someone said "Yes we'll send the RAC". After a while a double-cab recovery lorry arrived. My free recovery was however just a tow of twenty miles as the full recovery had just been an introductory bonus for new policy holders.
When one has just broken down one is usually shattered and in a state of shock so when a double-cab lorry arrived that was not sign-written I did not quibble as I just wanted to get away from where a police officer had been accusing me of causing an obstruction. The driver did not introduce himself or show any ID which seemed very odd. The 4x4 was put on the lorry and the four wheel trailer was put on the lorry tow-hitch. I was taken to a motorway services and my stuff was dropped-off in the car park. It was late December and although the weather was cold there was no wind or wind-chill so my clothing was perfectly adequate. I was still of course in a state of shock which is normal when one's whole world goes down the tubes. I wanted to get the trailer hitch lock out of the 4x4 to secure the trailer but at this point something very strange happened. The driver who I thought was from the RAC and was there to help me turned very very nasty. He was bellowing repeatedly at the top of his lungs "GET BACK IN THE LORRY!" I was unsure whether he was worried about me catching pneumonia and suing the RAC or whatever but with hindsight I would say that HE DID NOT WANT ME TO LOCK-UP THE TRAILER. I only went along with this nonsense because I needed a lift to the railway station. It was a terrible rail journey as at Bristol the station closed at one thirty am and I was turfed-out into the freezing fog. The "24 hour McDonalds just down the road" was a myth used for clearing the station and with having to wait outside in the frost all night I got Frostbite. When eventually I got back to the services there was no trailer and no 4x4. This was terrible as keys for lots of other things were in it. Security and the Manager never remembered seeing the 4x4 or trailer which suggests that they were taken away very soon after they arrived. One hardly needs to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened! Enquiries revealed that the double-cab lorry and the driver were NOT FROM THE RAC. It was some kind of a subcontract job. It was really a first class scam but when one is shattered by events one is in a weak position.
With hindsight I should have given the bellowing bloke a Scotch Kiss and decked him BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS THE RAC!
My insurance company who in effect organised the theft are being very sheepish and don't even want to hear the Crime Number. The way that things are going it is looking like a job for the Financial Ombudsman. Take care!
The mishap occurred on December the 29th 2016. Items taken included a dark green metallic Land Rover Discovery M539 LHB and contents. A four wheel trailer with 10" Leyland Mini wheels was also taken. It had newish Avonride suspension units with solid steel suspension arms and it would carry a seventeen foot long boat. Two of the tyres were new and had an 8 ply rating. Style of trailer was a square longitudinal beam or spine with two cross beams carrying the suspension units. It was un-braked but it still was an excellent trailer that just needed tidying and some new paint.
The RAC will be looking into this case but owing to the Data Protection Act or Criminal Protection Act as I call it, they will be unable to tell me who the driver was. Personally I think that this is BAD LAW that sorely needs to be repealed. (In the US they even print bad guys mugshots on milk cartons!) IMHO giving the rogue driver his P45 isn't really adequate but things aint over til the fat lady sings!
Feel free to share this information as the more people that know about these scams the better. I would say that the thief is yet ANOTHER sociopath and allegedly such types make up FOUR PERCENT of the population.
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