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Armed Shop Theft in Issaquah, WA

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Armed Shop Theft in Issaquah, WA

Old 01-30-10, 09:52 PM
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Armed Shop Theft in Issaquah, WA

The news this evening showed security video of someone jacking a Pinarello Dogma from an "unnamed high end shop" on Seattle's eastside. Not to name names, but I think the owner posts here on BF and would appreciate the help in locating this bike.

Anyhow, I can't imagine that there are too many of these things rolling around town, so be on the lookout in the usual places; Craigslist, Ebay, etc. as well as around town for a limited edition Pinarello Dogma 60.1
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Old 01-31-10, 01:02 AM
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That is crazy. Veloce Velo is my lbs. I've ogled that bike in the shop before. Here is a link with video:

https://www.king5.com/news/local/Thie...-83175437.html
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Old 01-31-10, 11:39 AM
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Too bad about that -- I've found them to be a decent shop. They have really had a nice group of bikes in there.

A note to the shop owner (who frequents this board) -- would be *great* if this unfortunate incident helped increase the security awareness of your staff. Several times when I've come by the store I've been nervous about leaving my (unlocked) bike outside on the sidewalk while shopping. Your staff really downplayed my concerns, and was reluctant to let me bring my bike inside. When I came by for a test ride, I had to practically beg to ask to put my bike in the store while I took one of your bikes out for a test ride. The guy helping me insisted there was no room inside to store a bike for 15 minutes, and when I said I wouldn't leave my bike on the sidewalk during a test ride he finally gave me a cable lock I could borrow to lock my bike outside the store.

I hope you can appreciate now why customers are concerned about bike security, even in a "safe" neighborhood.

I don't mean to gloat, but I do hope you now "get it." I ride by your store all the time but I'm reluctant to stop because it always makes me nervous to leave my bike out on the sidewalk while in the store (I don't ride with a lock on a "fun" ride -- do you?) and it just seems like a hassle to have to request to bring my bike in with me just to shop.

BTW, by contrast, Elliott Bay Cycles downtown Seattle has a sign on the front door inviting cyclists to bring their bikes inside -- and they don't have any more room inside than you do.

The *worst*, though, is Gregg's in Bellevue -- they have a lonely bike rack in the parking garage with a sign instructing cyclists to leave their bikes in the parking lot, out of sight to the store staff but easily viewed from the street. When I go to Gregg's, I just take my bike up the elevator and leave it up in the service department while shopping.

Last edited by BengeBoy; 01-31-10 at 01:07 PM.
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Old 01-31-10, 05:14 PM
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I agree with the above poster's comments regarding the safe keeping of his or her bike while shopping at a LBS. If I was a bicycle retailer, I would designate an area in my shop for customers bikes while they shop around with their mind at ease. Its just good customer service and a great opportunity to sell service or accessories while the bike is IN the store.
Sorry to hear about Velos loss, that totally sucks! I'm glad no one was hurt and hopefully their insurance will reimburse them.
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Old 01-31-10, 05:18 PM
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almost forgot, I did see a suspecious bike ad on Craigs for big $$ but vague on details and no pics. The Velo crew may want to look into this.

Last edited by Bubba Zanetti; 01-31-10 at 07:13 PM.
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Old 01-31-10, 06:02 PM
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I don't know what's going on, but here is a craigslist post about a shop in Portland that was robbed, they were just setting up and not open yet, sad news everywhere.

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/1579045815.html
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Old 01-31-10, 07:48 PM
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Yes, this was our shop that was hit. A sincere thanks to everyone who is on the lookout for us.

For the record, I really didn't want this to be any sort of publicity stunt and we asked that none of the major news outlets used the value of the bike or our name so the message focused mainly on the thieves and how they planned and committed the crime so others see the pattern and they hopefully get caught. This was an organized group (I'm not saying mafia, just coordinated) and they knew exactly what they were doing. It's a weird story, indeed.

BengeBoy, I'm always willing to hear suggestions about how we could be doing better and I'm sorry we let you down in the past. We're about to expand to double our space and we're definitely going to be able to have indoor customer parking available. Of course there's room in our shop even right now to store your bike when you're out on a test ride, and I'm going to make sure that there's a written procedure that every one on my staff knows about. Please e-mail me at graham (at) velocevelo.com if you have any other suggestions, and I'd gladly buy you a coffee or beer next time you're out in Issaquah if you'll share your thoughts with us.

One of my goals when I opened the shop was to treat every customer just like I would treat a friend. Of course I'd let a friend store his bike in my garage when he borrowed my bike to take it for a spin, so every customer should also expect that as well from our store. (By the way, any customer is welcome to ride any of my personal bikes as well)

As for insurance, modern small business insurance is really only for catastrophic disasters and putting in a claim for something as small (!) as this would only send us into a new higher risk class and increase our annual premiums where the net benefit after deductible would be practically zero after less than 24 months.

Graham
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Old 01-31-10, 10:10 PM
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Originally Posted by ghunter
Yes, this was our shop that was hit. A sincere thanks to everyone who is on the lookout for us.

For the record, I really didn't want this to be any sort of publicity stunt and we asked that none of the major news outlets used the value of the bike or our name so the message focused mainly on the thieves and how they planned and committed the crime so others see the pattern and they hopefully get caught. This was an organized group (I'm not saying mafia, just coordinated) and they knew exactly what they were doing. It's a weird story, indeed.

BengeBoy, I'm always willing to hear suggestions about how we could be doing better and I'm sorry we let you down in the past. We're about to expand to double our space and we're definitely going to be able to have indoor customer parking available. Of course there's room in our shop even right now to store your bike when you're out on a test ride, and I'm going to make sure that there's a written procedure that every one on my staff knows about. Please e-mail me at graham (at) velocevelo.com if you have any other suggestions, and I'd gladly buy you a coffee or beer next time you're out in Issaquah if you'll share your thoughts with us.

One of my goals when I opened the shop was to treat every customer just like I would treat a friend. Of course I'd let a friend store his bike in my garage when he borrowed my bike to take it for a spin, so every customer should also expect that as well from our store. (By the way, any customer is welcome to ride any of my personal bikes as well)

As for insurance, modern small business insurance is really only for catastrophic disasters and putting in a claim for something as small (!) as this would only send us into a new higher risk class and increase our annual premiums where the net benefit after deductible would be practically zero after less than 24 months.

Graham
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Old 02-01-10, 06:10 PM
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I will second the security concerns at the shop. The first time I went there I thought it was a bit odd to have about 20,000 dollars worth of bikes with 1 cable lock, attached to a lightweight (aluminum?) bike rack, that was not locked to the building. Though short of armed guards, nothing would have helped in this situation.

Also, since the bike rack is normally full of shop bikes that leaves little to no space for customers to leave their bike outside.

I have brought my bike into the shop on a number of occasions and have not had anyone ask me to leave it outside. I would rather just bring my bike into the shop if possible so I don't have to take a lock with me on the ride.
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Old 02-01-10, 06:19 PM
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Ummmm.... https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bik/1579599774.html

High end European racing bike for sale. - $9600 (Eastside)

Date: 2010-01-31, 1:12PM PST
Reply to: sale-ymxcd-1579599774@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Very rare European racing bike for sale. Must see to believe. Please send email to set up an appointment.

  • Location: Eastside
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests





PostingID: 1579599774
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Old 02-01-10, 06:21 PM
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^ hardcore! This could get interesting.
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Old 02-01-10, 07:26 PM
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I spoke with the guys in the shop today and we all agreed that no customer will ever have to leave their bike outside (unless they want to, of course!) Just ask anyone, and we'll find somewhere safe for you before or after we get formal bike parking ready after our remodel/expansion.

That's a pretty heavy cable we use on our bikes outside, and it wouldn't be easy to grab them without at least a few minutes of effort even with larger bolt cutters. Of course if someone REALLY wants to steal something they're going to do it whether they're in the store or not. We're just trying to stop the 95% of petty criminals that would just walk up and grab something.

I'd like to point out that when someone brings a gun into our business we would give them whatever they want and not risk any injury. Even if our Dogma was locked up in a vault and an armed person demanded to take it, we would have unlocked it and politely given it to them as quickly as humanly possible. We're never going to arm ourselves or lock everything down to inconvenience the 99.99% of people who visit us for legitimate reasons.

I'd also like to mention that the owners of Sammamish Valley Cycle in Redmond and Big Tree Bikes (Zeb ex-Fluid Ride) have been awesome friends for us through this ordeal.

No comment on the craigstlist posting for what I hope are obvious reasons.
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Old 02-26-10, 12:19 AM
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Anyone heard an update on this?
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Old 02-26-10, 07:22 AM
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No update on the thief, but a very good customer of ours has decided that he wants a Dogma in the exact same size and color scheme! I do believe that our stolen Dogma is already out of the state by now, if not another country. The Issaquah police have taken fingerprints and archived our security video, and I think that all of the shops in our area are a little more careful about things like this.

I spoke with a dealer in Tennessee a few weeks ago who had something similar happen to him. He eventually saw his bikes show up on ebay at some "we sell it on ebay" site a few hundred miles down the Interstate. We had it lucky relatively speaking, apparently the thief that stole from him took nearly $100,000 worth of inventory between multiple visits. In that case, the thief was caught in New Mexico after leaving quite a long trail.
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