Beware: Television Theft Rings

[Clark]

I had my BH3055 in for some small warrenty work at our dealership here in south/central Pennsylvania. While on the lot a group/gang hit the dealership and stole the digital TVs in eighteen rigs by breaking a window, entering, disconnecting the TV and passing it out through the broken window. Attending the York, PA RV show this weekend I found most dealers had removed their televisions from the units being shown because of thefts at their dealerships also. Seems pretty widespread. News reports have the same thing going on throughout the South with thefts in TN, AL, GA, MS, and FL.
I will remove my television before taking it in to leave at the dealership or in storage from this point on. I recommend that you all think along the same lines. This seems to have been going on for a couple of years and is pretty widespread.
Clark

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

This kind of begs the question of responsibility. Is it the dealers insurance or the RV owners insurance that has to pay. I would assume that if there was no sign posted or on the service order that we sometimes have to sign in advance there is no statement of liability, that the dealer is responsible. Time for a new TV?

 

[jmgratz]

I used to leave a window open sometimes if we were walking around the park. But a couple who was beside us told us of the time they had someone go in their open window while they were walking their dog and steal their laptop and tv. Since then I lock it up tight even if we go to the rig next door. It is a darn shame you can't trust people

 

[Peteandsharon]

Even if you have taken the TV out, you still have the issue of damage to the rig as these knuckleheads break in. I'm training Buttons to bark like a Rotweiler. That ought to help, at least when we've left the rig while camping. My only other approach is to teach Sharon to bark like a rotweiler but that ones not going over as well.

 

[Clark]

Ray, I was assured by the dealership that as long as my BH was locked, it was MY responsibility. I've got $500 deductible so there goes 1/2 of a G note, as they used to say. The window and TV needed replacing, as well as the sofa which was damaged by glass shards cutting the material. The dealership units that were broken into were covered by the dealership insurance, and they had 17 units besides my own.
Clark

 

[Sundance_kid]

Sad to say, a sign of the times. As soon as they kick 52,000 inocent people out of prison here it'll only get worse.....

 

[jmgratz]

Sad to say, a sign of the times. As soon as they kick 52,000 inocent people out of prison here it'll only get worse.....

Glad you guys got Arnold.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Jim, we would be more than willing to send Arnold and all these guys to you. You guys in Texas know how to handle it.

 

[davelinde]

I just made a service appointment and the dealership requested that I remove all TV's before dropping it off. I told them that the LCD is bolted to the wall and I'm not even sure how to get it out. They said that one would be OK...

 

[bill148]

Stolen TV

This must be happing all over. They got our TV out of our locked Big Country. Lincoln, NE. It was at a storage facility with an 8 foot fence around it. They got 7 there and hit the 2 dealerships in town and got more. They hit the dealers again a week later. We had the door locked but not the deadbolt and they just poped the latch. Not very sturdy latches on campers. They would have broke the window otherwise. Never recovered and we also had a $500 deductable. Our TV's are removable now and are stored at home. To make matters worse, when the sherriff arrived they dusted for fingerprints and got the black ink powder all over. Took us 5 hours to clean that up! It is now posted on our bumper and door that we were burglarized and nothing of value is kept in our 5th wheel. May not stop them from looking but makes people think.

 

[Peteandsharon]

Yep, they got mine in Illinois two weeks ago. Luckily I did not have the TV in there since I removed it for winter storage. They broke the window to the front door in my Bighorn, ripped the screen but had nothing to steal. Luckily they were professionals and they did not just trash the trailer when there was nothing to steal. Only the door and the screen. And yes, it is the responsibility of the RV owner - not the storage lot. I had mine stored at the dealer where I bought it. They also had a tall fence. It does beg the question of what do you do with the TV when it is in summer storage. Do you install and uninstall the TV everytime you take it out during the summer??? Big PITA!!!

 

[jmgratz]

The latest things offered (and the Katy Camping World talked about it at the April Houston Heartland Rally) are burglar alarms for RV's. They come in several different varieties and prices. But they are wireless and can notify you on your cellphone of a breakin. It is a little pricey but how much do TV's and damage repair cost. It is a sad state of affairs when we have come to that. The other alternative is to sit in the RV with your pistol and waste the sorry SOB that breaks in.

 

[Delaine and Lindy]

And people wonder why Guns are selling at a all time high. And yes there is a shortage of ammo. We have just bought more Guns and Ammo with our $250.00 stimulus checks. And we bought used guns from a friend who has been collecting them for about 30+ years. This way the Government doesn't know we have them. And the numbers are clean. We just had a neighbor have his house broken into. I really wish Tennessee had the same law as Texas about thieves stealing and being shoot. GBY.....

 

[wdk450]

Storage

Gang:
We had a previous mini-class C broken into at an outside storage lot with fulltime residents on the premises. - We had a Broken driver's door window and BROKEN REAR WINDOW, dash stereo stolen.
When we got the Bighorn my wife INSISTED on secure, indoor, storage for it. We pay $200 a month, but it is out of the Sacramento sun to protect the paint and the tires, the facility washes and dumps it for me at my request, and pulls it out when I need it. The building has motion sensors throughout and stores something like 50 RV's and 150 boats.
BTW, our bedroom TV went out this week at home, so I retrieved the bedroom TV from the BH, and we will get some more use out of it.
I was previously thinking of a glue-on computer security plate/cable system to try to defer the thieves, maybe with a screaming electronic alarm if the cable is cut.

 

[enthuz]

Here in VA the dealer I was at had the same thing happen to them. All of the TVs were taken. They were slowly adding them back, but only in the demo units.