Stolen Machine

[pandaanda]

Ive just had a phone call from one of my sites , a pub, telling me my pringle machine has been knicked, the stand is still there with the screws on top, the landlady has checked back on their cctv and has a good picture of the thiefs so has called the police who cant come round till thursday, she doesnt recognise them and thinks its the only time they have ever been in. it was a man and his young son, there was no one else in the room where the machines are and the father can be seen in the other room keeping people chatting etc while the son is seen unscrewing the machine from its base , then the dad comes in picks it straight up and walks out the back door, they seem like they have done this before so probably do the rounds,what a sad state of affairs when a bloke gets his lad to to help him knick machines, unbelievable.
Dont know if theres any chance they will catch em, has anyone ever had a stolen machine recovered by the police ?

Pete

[Snackmore]

Crikey cheeky bleeders. What was the location? Might be worth getting a copy of the CCTV still and circulating on here. I presume that the stand was chained to the wall? Hence why it was unscrewed?

Touch wood have been trading 11 months and not had any problems yet. The problem I see is that if the Police recover how would they know its yours? We all need to ensure that we mark our towers with ultra violet pen as well as permanant marker and if possible stamp the metalwork also in unique places. At least that gives the rozzers a chance to marry up the stolen item to the loser.

Incidentally I may be able to get hold of some smart water kits and ultra violet pens cheaper than direct from Smartwater but would need to know what interest there would be from everyone first to get an idea of numbers. The kit from smartwater is £60 to include some stickers see here

https://www.smart" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; water.tv/Pages/GetAQuote.aspx?cat=personal

If your not sure what it is its basically a clear liquid that has a unique code (similar to DNA) and you mark all your assets with it.

[dorsetvending]

Interested in smart water - lost 4 machines in last few months. This is an excellent deterrent. I worked for Police as a researcher for a short while. Each tiny microscopic droplet has your postcode on it and cannot be washed off the bastards hands - its brilliant stuff. Each Police custody suite scans every 'guest' for Smartwater.

[pandaanda]

Ive just been to the pub where my machine was knicked from and got chatting to a bloke at the bar and he was sat outside when the bloke and his kid came out with the machine, he said he had a taxi waiting at the back door for him (trent cabs), the cheeky git, and he heard him say he was going to colwick. I know it was 7.20pm from the cctv and it was from the pub at gedling so surely the cab firm must know where they dropped this lowlife off, it should be quite easy to catch him if the police can be bothered.
The landlady is going to get me the stills from the cctv so i will get them copied and put up in all my local sites , on a poster labelled THIEF , would that be legal i wonder ?
I will also post it on here if allowed, is there a wanted dead or alive section ?

Cheers

Pete

[Snackmore]

Excellent idea and good leads for the boys in blue, keep us posted. As for circulating photos, no problem as far as I am aware. No different to a shopwatch scheme or even Crimewatch circulation

[Coin Operated Group]

Your welcome to post it here!, i would also post on facebook/twitter

[PGBrew]

Be careful in circulating posters of you machine being nicked. Publicity can work both ways. Rather than acting as a deterrent it could be an advert to show how easy it is to nick these tower machines. Try chaining them down. To stop people from taking the machines of the stands, mix different fixing bolts when you secure the machine to the stand. No thief is ging to fart about looking for different sized spanners/alem keys. Security is your best defence, not publicity.

Pete

[Coin Operated Group]

Just put up his mugshot.

[pandaanda]

Finaly got hold of the stills from the cctv of the low life knicking my pringle machine.

thief 4.jpg

[pandaanda]

Please feel free to redistribute these pics anywhere you feel could help, he lives in nottinghamshire so keep an eye out if you have machines in this area !