Theft

Lane, I rea that thread,, and I like many others could not believe how many mistakes they made. Travelling with large sums of cash and expensive equipment , crystal ( that expensive stuff) , and leaving the stuff in their rental car when they went to the beach. Honestly,, what bugged me about that is that you couldn't do that HERE and not be putting your possesions at risk,, so I don't know why they felt it would be safer in France.

I felt sorry for them, but I did blame the victim in this case, as I felt they blithely ignored common sense .

"I felt they blithely ignored common sense"

Excellent point Pat and that is really what it boils down to...common sense. I too felt badly for them but they had no one to blame but themselves.

I wouldn't even do that in Seattle, let alone on vacation in France. Leaving a rental BMW full of expensive stuff unattended by the beach, I would almost expect it to be broken into. I wouldn't even leave my years-old iPod nano in my boyfriend's '92 Camry.

That said, this guy is lucky he had the money and resources to get help and get home, unlike some of us, shoestring travelers.

Oh dear! I always wonder whether people like this have no common sense and would be just as daft at home or whether people think they are in a bubble when they are on holiday. I must admit that I do sometimes go up to tourists in London and have a word with them if I see them doing something that will attract unwanted attention.

I'm not sure if this would be considered being naive in the extreme, or failing to research and prepare for the areas that one is visiting (which of course is one purpose for the HelpLine).

It might sound cruel to blame the victim, but unfortunately through a series of mistakes he set himself up nicely to be victimized.

I'm not a member of TripAdvisor, but hopefully someone will contact the Poster and steer him towards the HelpLine.

Hopefully none of the group here will encounter a situation like that.

Cheers!

The person who posted in Trip Advisor is, according to his profile, from "KL". Based on his ability to write English (not terribly good), I think that may mean he is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Perhaps the culture there is more trusting than ours?

The OP of that thread said he is now in KL, but not from there.

I have pretty much skepticism about the story, but the lessons are valuable.

If he is indeed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he's likely to be more careful. (Speaking as someone living in that part of the world.) I wonder if everything in the story is true? It's strange that in this age of credit/ ATM cards, they'd take two or three months' expenses in cash. And it seems he posted the same message a few days in a row on the board.

"They should have read the RS boards."

Or the TA boards, which offer the same sorts of advice. This information isn't unique to the RS boards.

"I'm not a member of TripAdvisor, but hopefully someone will contact the Poster and steer him towards the HelpLine. "

Do the ELEVEN PAGES of responses from TA members explaining how he was at fault not count for anything? Or does that information only matter if the words fall from the keyboard of an RS site member and are posted on an RS forum?

Kx, I have been a member of Trip Advisor since 2004 and have learned a lot from that site. For several years I spent more time there than here and the tips and advice I got from T/A were a big help in planning my trips. My remark was not intended to slight the members there although in hindsight I can see how you would interpret it in that vein. Many knowledgeable T/A members have helped me over the years and I have exchanged pm's with quite a few of them. Many of the members here are also long time members of T/A and contribute frequently to those forums. I like both sites. The gentleman who posted this story about his unfortunate experience did receive plenty of response from members of T/A although the majority of the last 3 to 4 pages were removed for violating T/A posting policies. The point of posting this link was not about the responses to his experience but the experience itself and the things not to do while on vacation.

Kx,, many of us here do belong to both boards, I do .

Kx,

"Do the ELEVEN PAGES of responses from TA members explaining how he was at fault not count for anything? Or does that information only matter if the words fall from the keyboard of an RS site member and are posted on an RS forum?"

I'm not a member of TripAdvisor (I prefer to spend my time here), but I felt my suggestion was logical. It would seem that his participation on TripAdvisor didn't provide him with the necessary information or skills on precautions to take when travelling in Europe, which resulted in the unfortunate consequences he described. I felt that he should at least be made aware of this forum, and hopefully that would prevent similar problems on his future trips.

I didn't read all "ELEVEN PAGES of responses" as there appeared to be quite a few that had been removed by TripAdvisor staff, so it seemed like a waste of time to go through every page.

Cheers!

The guy had just joined TA to post his experience, he hadn't been posting on there before. It looks like he was in France to work, and thus wouldn't have been looking on tourist travel websites like RS or TA for tips.

Many people from other countries do not have credit cards or are not familiar with using them to travel with. Look how many people on this forum still want to bring Travelers checks or huge wads of cash with them to Europe. The poor guy was obviously from a country where he never considered that his belongings would not be safe in his rental car. Yes, he made a lot of mistakes, but then again, it didn't sound like he was taking this trip for a vacation or for fun.

Hopefully some will learn from his mistakes though. Like, never, ever leave your GPS in your car, even for short, 10 min. periods of time and nor in rural areas. Your windows may very well get smashed.

The post seems fake to me, sort of a "everything that could go wrong does" exageration story. But the lesson is valid - don't leave valuables where people can get to them. Cars at tourist hot spots are often broken into, even items left out of sight in trunks are stolen.

A reminder, too, to look for broken glass where you're parking. THAT'S not a good sign. I was completely surprised when we were in the Alsace a few years ago, exploring castles, and there was broken glass all over the parking lots by the castles. Never would have thought that would happen there, but we sure didn't leave anything in the car, either.

These lessons apply all over the world. If anyone comes to visit me here in Hawaii, don't leave anything in your rental car at any time at any place. I can't tell you the number of time I have gone up to visitors and reminded them that it is not a good idea to leave a camera or purse unattended anyplace. I certainly practice common sense along with the tricks of keeping safe that I have learned here on this web site and on TA when traveling to Europe in the summer.

Douglas has a good point..kind of reminds me when I read my local newspaper and they have the "crime report" and someone reports their car was broken into and they had their $20k engagment ring, Iphone, rolex watch, laptop stolen from their car. Humm...really????