We had a surprise this morning.
B's bike was no longer on our balcony. We live on the ground floor, and sometime between yesterday evening when B came home from work and 9am today, his bike was stolen.
Probably the worst part of the story is that B just got the rear wheel replaced because it had been damaged in the parking lot at work.
It's not the worst thing that could happen, and we'll probably get a little bit of money from our insurance, but it's a big bummer. The local police station was closed for lunch when I went by a little bit ago, so I'll try again after lunch. My insurance company said I have to file a report, and then with that I can start the reimbursement process with the insurance.
Luckily we didn't have our BBQ out on the balcony anymore, and we're really careful about always locking the shutters once we close them. When we moved in we heard from a neighbor that the previous renters had been broken into twice, but 4 months of calm and quiet led us to let down our guard. As B's dad said, you only make that mistake once.
It's interesting how little petty crimes like stealing a bike are much more common in France. People have break-ins even in tiny little villages in France, whereas my parents' house in San Diego is rather unprotected and in a large residential area, but they've never had a problem. But then violent crime is much higher in the US and much lower in France. I suppose it's better to have your bike stolen than to be held at gun point.
In other news, I just got a call from the local Assurance Maladie that a letter they tried to send us was returned and marked "No name on mailbox". I think our postman is on crack, because our names are clearly marked. I told the woman she had the correct address and that it was the fault of the mailman, so she said she'd try to send it again. One time they refused to deliver a package because of a "encombrant vélo" (bike blocking entry), except that has never been any bike in the entry way to our building. Between our address last year (which was 16 Q because 16 A, 16 bis, and 16 ter were already taken) which caused problems and this year, B and I need a simple address.
Update: I went to the Police Municipale first, and was redirected to the Police Nationale in order to file my report. I forgot there was such a difference between them and that they don't do the same things. The wait was 45 minutes though, and since I have to go tutor, I'll try again tomorrow morning. Third times the charm, right? Just have to find a picture of that bike since the receipt is long gone...
3 comments:
That sucks! :( It does seem like petty crime is more common here, but like you said, it's better than violent crime!
I've never understood why there needs to be a name on the stupid mailboxes here. Why can't they just use numbers so you don't have to change the names on the mailbox when you move?
Oh I'm so sorry to hear about the bike! But I can certainly relate... And I'm embarrassed to say that we let down OUR guard here in our suburb of Paris more than once, as you might have seen on my blog... Two burglaries in two years is a bit much!
But yes, with a photo your insurance should definitely be able to cover the value of the bike. I know we still have to try to come up with some photos, but most of the things that were stolen this last time were sentimental jewelry from my childhood, gifts from my grandmother, etc... And I have absolutely no record of them, so it broke my heart...
At least with the insurance money you can get your boy a NEW bike, an even better one! Thinking of you...
Oh no! Sorry about the bike, sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to get the insurance though!
I had trouble getting CAF one month because of mail not being delivered. There are two #5s on my street, the city won't give us bis or ter or anything. So now I have a HUGE sign on the door with the number and names. Stupid mailmen.
Post a Comment