Originally Posted by
tjspiel
First of all, the bike wasn't barely on the store's property. It was entirely on the store's property.
It was an example. People do all kinds of "crazy" things all time.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Second of all, presumably I'd have my car locked so my neighbor wouldn't be able to just jump in and release the brake. He'd have to break in.
Granted most people do lock their cars but a lot of people do not.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
If the car gets away from him, yeah he may be at fault for any injury but that has no bearing on what happened to the OP. Nobody was hurt, nothing was stolen. You could just as easily ask who'd be responsible if somebody had tripped over his bike while it was in the aisle. It might be store. If it is then moving the bike outside may leave them less exposed to a lawsuit. Replacing a bike stolen from a customer could be relatively cheap compared to paying for a broken hip, time off work, etc.
Again, it was an example. You don't think that it's possible that the OP suffered some emotional distress from finding his bicycle having been "stolen?" And again that same "clumsy" person could also just as easily injure themselves on the bike when it's parked on the sidewalk, or out in the parking lot.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Back to your scenario, if the car gets stolen, I would tend to blame the thief. Of course I had apparently left the car unlocked since my neighbor was able to get in.
Using your example of your neighbor having broken into your car it would be your neighbors fault. And I am pretty sure that the courts have determined that just because a person leaves a car or home unlocked that it isn't an invitation to thieves to rob or steal it.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Again, this is not all analogous to what happened. If I park my car legally, leave it and come back to find it gone, yes, I'd assume it was stolen. My neighbor had no business moving it.
Other then having brought his bicycle inside the store we don't know that the OP did anything "illegal." And the store employee had no business in moving it.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
On the other hand, let's say I drive to a ballgame and I don't want to park in a regular lot because I'm cheap and I don't want to pay. I find an alley behind some nearby building and I park my car there. I don't see any signs prohibiting parking but I don't look real hard either.
When I was a kid we had a situation not too dissimilar to this. My father had told a friend of his that he could park in our driveway when he visited the bar across the street. Another patron seeing the friend park in our driveway
assumed that he could do so as well. I told my father and he went out to let the second party know in no uncertain terms to move his car.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
When I come back, my car is gone.
I would assume that it had been towed. Would I have called the cops? Maybe, if there was no one available to talk to from the building first. Certainly not if within a few seconds or even minutes someone walked up to me and said: "Looking for your car?"
Again, I think that most reasonable people when after having parked their car, motorcycle, truck, or bicycle returned to where it was parked and not finding it where they left it would at first presume that it was stolen. And the correct thing to do when one honestly feels that their property has been stolen is to call the police and report it. And in this case the OP had a good suspect.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Now, who's responsible for any damage the car receives while getting towed or after it's left wherever they leave it? I really don't know. Not sure I really care either. My point is that the building owner is well within their rights to tow my car. If they had seen me park there, not said anything to me as I was walking away and just towed it, they'd be jerks of the first order. But I was the one who put myself in that situation, and I would be primarily responsible for what happened.
If you're talking about you parking it in an alley, I would say that you probably would be responsible for any damages.
Originally Posted by
tjspiel
If like yourself the OP had permission to keep his bike in the store with him and an employee were to take it upon himself to move the bike outside, yes, the OP would have much more reason to be angry.
In either case the employee should either be fired or at the least suspended for a length of time. If for no reason then as I've said we have members here who feel that if an employee causes their employer to be embarrassed that that is grounds for termination. And don't you think having an employee remove a customers bike/property going to cause the employer to be embarrassed?
Note added from personal experience:
Several years ago I had gone to a local grocery store to do some grocery shopping. This store did have a bike rack close to the doors. I locked my bike with it's trailer to the rack. When I came out and saw that my bike was
NOT where I had secured it. I did
NOT go around either the parking lot nor the neighborhood looking for it. Instead I called the police to report that my bicycle had been stolen. So I guess according to you because I didn't waste my time looking for my bicycle first that I "wasted" the time of my local police by calling them first.
This was also probably the first time that I had run into the bias against cyclists, as the officer who responded didn't seem to be taking my case all that seriously.