I’m 5 days out from the end of a sit and my car got broken into. Thought I was in a safe area but after this incident I got to looking at the reviews for the apartment building and apparently this happens all the time. Now I don’t wanna blame my hosts cause they JUST moved here from Canada, I’m in Texas. BUT there are a ton of reviews on this complex stating the same thing. I let my hosts know and I pretty much got a “that sucks, speak to the office” now that REALLY upset me and I no longer want to stay here. Went to office and they have no cameras in garage. Contacted the “help & support” and literally got NO help or support!! I’m risking my car getting stolen all together. Pet parents are in France and hasn’t responded since first message. I’m ready to leave! What do I do? My car is all I have.
Is your car insured?
It’s not the HO’s fault. It’s very unfortunate. Sorry to hear.
@Aaliyah23 sorry to hear of your horrible experience . Have you reported this to the local police ? Do you have insurance to cover any losses. They usually require a crime number for a claim .
Did the homeowners give you a local emergency contact in the WG - have you reached out to them for advice ? Maybe they can suggest a safer place to park your vehicle.
You need to advise the owners asap if you are planning on leaving so that they can make alternate arrangements for care of their pets .
Did you speak to an actual human at THS ? Whilst there isn’t much they can do about your car being broken into, they can advise you about your options on leaving if you feel unsafe at the property. The emergency support line is on your dashboard.
No welcome guide. No response from pet owner since first reply.
I read the reviews on the apartment complex and they have so many about cars getting broken into here. I have insurance but now I have to worry about further damage over the next 5 days.
I really feel for you, it’s horrible. You need to:-
- Report it to the local police.
- Contact your insurance company and give them the crime reference number the police give you. Or if you don’t want to claim on your insurance, contact a car locksmith to fix/renew the lock, they are really quick to respond, it’s the nature of their job.
Hi @Aaliyah23
I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this.
I had a quick look and I can see that Membership Services gave you some good advice which is aligned with what our members have mentioned in this thread, and I’d encourage you to follow the advice given.
If you’ve advised the pet parents that you’d like to end the sit early and not heard back from them, it might be worth speaking to Membership Services again if they’re not responding, to see if they can reach out on your behalf.
Jenny
Sorry that your car was targeted. As for reviews - most people post their negative experiences, so reviews can be misleading. Nobody is likely to post that they parked their car overnight and nothing happened. They will only post when something went wrong. If you read social media about my neighborhood in Texas, it would probably seem crime-infested, but it is very safe. If you are in Dallas, you can PM me with the address and I can give a local’s perspective.
For the remaining few days, maybe you can take everything out of your car and leave the doors unlocked. That way, if someone wants to get into the car, they won’t damage it but there will be nothing to take. I had to do that when I lived at a place in Dublin after my car was broken into repeatedly.
It sounds like you left property in your car, which is not a good idea and might not be covered on insurance if it was on view. I’m sorry you’ve had to learn the hard way and hope you get things resolved. Not a very sympathetic response from the home owners…
Don’t know whether you’re American or are familiar with American cities, but it’s often the case in many areas that you should leave nothing visible in your car, to prevent break-ins. This type of crime has increased over decades.
Personally, my husband and I’ve just driven from one coast to the other as part of a relocation. We had professional movers take all our stuff and anything we put in our cars while convoying across the country, we either put in our hotel room overnight or we expected that if anyone broke in, we’d be OK without it.
Even in a car without a trunk (also known as a boot) we have cargo boxes atop our cars for when we take road trips. That’s so we can leave our cars to sightsee and not worry that someone will break in to take our suitcases. The cargo boxes add height, of course, so you’d need to make sure you don’t drive into or below anywhere with low clearance. But such boxes make it more of a pain to break in, so thieves would be more likely to steal someone else’s stuff.
Apartment and condo complexes or public garages often are more likely to attract thieves, because they can break into many cars at the same time. Having cameras is pretty useless, because cops don’t usually pursue such cases, given how common they are and given that no one is usually physically hurt.
Such thieves also often look for out-of-state license plates, because they have a higher likelihood of having luggage and such in the car.
If you have a car that has a latch to pop open your trunk or boot, all a thief would have to do is smash your window and pull the trunk latch to access everything back there. Some cars don’t have that latch or have extra security, so strangers can’t get in. We have had a car with a valet key, for instance. That key only opens the car doors and starts the car. It doesn’t allow access to the trunk. I mention that, because it’s something to consider when shopping for cars if you prioritize leaving stuff in your trunk.
Personally, even when I rent cars during travel, I book ones or request ones with trunks (as opposed to hatchbacks or SUVs), because I know how frequently “smash and grabs” are across many places across the U.S. and in various parts of the world. And I always clear out the entire car of visible stuff or know I risk having it stolen.
Many parking lots or garages have signs indicating that you should avoid leaving things in your car, because such crimes are so common.
The smash and grab thieves don’t usually damage the car beyond trying to get in and take the belongings. That’s why some car owners leave nothing in a car and leave it unlocked and put up a sign indicating that in places with high numbers of smash and grabs. Like in some major cities, people won’t have a car stereo installed or they have car stereos with removable faceplates — the car stereo won’t function without that.
Decades ago, my brother in law’s car was broken into along the Seattle waterfront and his car stereo was stolen while he visited us. That sucked, but there was nothing we could do for him, much like with your hosts. That was part of reality for anyone of us who live in or visit many places, unfortunately.
Once years ago in San Francisco, a valet left my car unlocked and someone broke in, rummaged through the glovebox and found nothing. It looked like the would-be thief took a nap in it, because my driver seat was reclined.
Something I do as a precaution, if I park in an airport lot while traveling: Remove my insurance and registration documents. That’s so even if someone broke in, they couldn’t go to my home and break in as well, expecting it to be vacant while I travel.
Even when at home, I don’t leave my garage door opener in my car if I park outside. That’s because I wouldn’t want to risk someone using the opener to get into my garage while I’m sleeping. Some folks don’t lock the door from the garage into their homes, which would make it easy for someone to enter. And garage door openers also only have a limited number of shared frequencies, so sometimes someone else’s will open your garage door by accident.
What part made it sound like my property was in there? Nothing was taken because there was nothing to take. I just have broken windows. And my windows had the darkest tint possible. Not at all a fancy car either
Maybe because of the dark tint, thieves assumed there was something valuable inside? It’s not usual for people to break car windows for vandalism only. It’s also odd to smash multiple windows. And car thieves (versus smash and grab thieves) usually know how to get into cars without damaging them.
While I can understand it’s upsetting that your car got broken into, I believe that it’s not reason enough to not want to continue the sit. Unfortunately cars get broken into every day in any location and any neighbourhood (garages, parking lots, quiet suburban streets) and at any time of the day. For an unfortunate set of circumstances, this time it happened to you in that specific location, but it could have happened downtown in front of a museum too.
I feel that as sitters we require a certain level of resourcefulness and adaptability. It doesn’t seem fair to me that the HO’s should deal with the consequence of a situation that’s totally beyond their control or not an emergency.
I regularly see/hear of people moving cross-country with all their stuff–doing it the economical way-- only to have it all stolen when they arrive (hotels by SEATAC are prime targets).
I think it is reason enough
Well that’s not the case here
It’s totally crappy that your car was broken into @Aaliyah23 but I’m not sure what you are seeking here. The HO isn’t responsible (you said yourself they’re new to the area), you have insurance, you can file a crime report, no human was hurt & it is only a car (with no loss of personal items) as you’ve also just clarified. Valuable yes but replaceable, also yes. If you want to leave the sit then it’s absolutely your choice but these things happen all the time all over the world and not sure it will help anyone especially the pets. FWIW. As @Peonie19 said us sitters have to adapt and move on. #wewishyouwell
@Aaliyah23 what was the advice from member services about leaving the sit ?
When the sit is finished in your review you can include a comment about the frequent car break ins to “warn” future sitters . I guess not all sitters would have a car so it may not be an issue for everyone.
Your choice, of course, because no one can force you to stay. Of course, the hosts can review you for having left early and other hosts might not choose you for sits if they think your reason wasn’t fair.
Personally, I wouldn’t leave a sit if my car were broken into and I wouldn’t expect the host to do anything about it, because it’s not their responsibility. Unfortunately, car break-ins and thefts are pretty common. I do a lot of traveling, including road trips, and I basically never assume that any neighborhood is safe. Like I usually live in upscale neighborhoods and property crimes tend to be most frequent in such places versus say violent crimes.
Would you feel the same if this had happened downtown while out for coffee?
Another point to ponder upon is that it’s quite likely that the HO’s won’t be at all happy with your decision (again because it is a common event, completely outside of their control) and may leave you a poor review.