A Rooster That Flew The Coop
 

The main purpose of this post is to utilize our community in helping return a bicycle to a friend. You can skip the rest if you want - if you see the bike in the pictures below for sale, or posted to another forum, tell me about it so that I can help its owner get it back.

Some of you know member slotcar55, either here or on the cr list. He helped facilitate my Marnati several years ago in Milan. He is a wonderful person. Recently he listed several bikes for sale on the CR list; one of them screamed my name. I had been actively looking for an older, original Galmozzi for several years, and this hit all of my check boxes. I sold a Sachs to fund it.

On Monday of last week I received a UPS envelope containing only the bicycle's shipping documents. Tracking states it was delivered. Somehow a 16.4 kg box became a small envelope. I am retaining some hope that it is found by Italian Post, but slotcar and I both suspect theft at this point. If you see this bike for sale, or posted to other media, please let me know so that I can contact slotcar and we can try to get it back to its rightful owner.

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heartwrenching. If this somehow turns up further north in Europe I'll let you know.

It really sucks. We're holding some hope that it's a mistake and the post turns it up.

It's a pretty special bike - and it's a small community - so I'm hoping it turns up.

So sad to hear this report.

Will definitely contact friends/family in Europe to keep their eyes open for you.

Not cool, gut wrenching to say. I will keep an eye on the Dutch and Belgium classifieds

Thanks everyone. I really like this bicycle and I don't like being involved in its loss.

Best wishes, Aaron.

Holy moly, that is crajee! Let's hope that it shows up. I know you were pretty excited about getting your hands on this machine, so I can't even imagine the disappointment you must be feeling right now. Wow. Just WOW!

I am very disappointed, but I feel far worse for Stefano.

Wow, in the horror kind of way.
I am not sure about theft or disregard.
In thinking about the whys, it could be anywhere in the system.
The problem is figuring out what happens to a wayward package, when in the various hands.
I am sure that has been done, I have received two pkgs from the same Italian fellow, both came reasonably well packed though not perfect on the bike but this was years ago.
Hopefully there was some insurance to cover the monetary loss, albeit well short of the loss of utility.

While the vintage bike world is not that large, I have had one stolen, keep looking for it on eBay, I doubt it will surface.

I'm hoping for the best...all we can do at this point.

I'm a bit confused. The box was sent via the Italian Post, and handed over to UPS for delivery? If UPS has proof of delivery, they know where it was delivered. There will be a tracking number.

I'm confused too...which is part of why I believe it's stolen. There is also another entity at play called SDA.

I'll try and walk through what I know. First...understand that none of the shipping agents will speak to me, only the seller, and there are some language barriers.

This is what we know:

On April 9th Slotcar shipped a box that weighed 16.4 kg. He handed it to Italian post. The stamped shipping documents list the weight of the box as 16.4 KG and confirm dropoff on the 9th. According to Italian Post, they gave it to a Subcontractor named SDA. We've heard that SDA recorded the pick up of a 16.4 KG box.

On April 10th someone...and UPS claims not to be able to track who, and will not speak to me, produced and paid for a UPS shipping label...they paid for a 1kg shipment listing the content as documents, and that referenced the Italian Post tracking number and also produced a UPS tracking number. UPS's response to both me and the seller was talk to italian Post.

At this point (on the 10th), in terms of tracking, the 16kg box becomes an envelope. Italian post tracks it through the 9th to delivery on the 13th. The UPS tracking number starts on the tenth and then tracks to the 13th (as well as feeding back to the IT Post tracking number). Both tracking numbers state delivery at 1:25pm on the thirteenth, and our camera shows delivery of an envelope at 1:26pm on the thirteenth. It seems to us that SDA was the last party to have the box...and somewhere in the handoff to UPS, the box became an envelope. Thus far UPS and SDA have said they do not have the box.

The seller initiated and investigation with Italian Poste...who is apparently still looking. I am still hoping it turns up, but it doesn't make sense to me. Assuming an accident...where the papers became detached from the box, why would they ship the documents forward without contacting me or the seller? Our contact info was in the shipping documents, as was the tracking info.

Regardless of whether the documents separated from the box and were innocently sent forward, or whether this was deliberate, all we know is that somehow what was a box became an envelope when handed off to UPS. We're hoping that the tracking info can help establish where exactly the box became an envelope, and who filled out that UPS shipping label on the 10th.

Good luck Aaron!

That really sucks, Aaron! Do you have the exact dimensions? Can you make out the serial number? If it appears in So. or Central CA, I will track them down, retrieve it, and stick a Silca pump in their proverbial spokes!

Hate to say it but based on many stories I have heard of merchandise theft in certain EU countries (and Italy is one but by no means the worst) I think it was stolen. I therefore doubt very much that you'll get satisfaction from the "official" authorities, and at the risk of libelous speech: they may even be in on it.
Therefore, your best bet is to do exactly what you're doing and raise the cry to as many watchers who can help when it surfaces (soon, probably) on the black market.
Spread the story to the CR list, the Classic Lightweights UK and to our handful of members in Japan, too.
I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks Bob...56cm ctc...TT might be 56.5.

I don't have the serial but will get it from Stefano - you can sort of see it here. Starts with a 3.

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Thanks Unworthy. I was speaking to another member who is far more knowledgeable about Italian shipping than me...he said that it's southern Italy where you run into shipping problems, not the north. Just visiting Italy, you can see they are very distinct cultures. We have also contacted the local police.

I think a bike of this magnitude is going to make its way to a show, or a forum, where hopefully we can track it down. If it was stolen, they wouldn't have known it was a Galmozzi - just that it was an expensive bike. They likely don't know how rare it is. Hopefully it blips.

Best of luck. That's crazy.

Thanks.

On the off chance that someone is researching the bike and comes across the post, I'll give a $500 reward, no questions asked, for its return to Slotcar. Just contact me via private message to arrange. If that information leads to the successful prosecution of a thief, I'll pay $1000.

Aaron, sorry to hear about this unfortunate situation.

A few years back I had a pristine bike disappear from a FedEx truck. Tracking showed it being on the truck for delivery but it was never delivered. I carefully worded my questions and answers with the FedEx rep and got to point where I was going to call the police and have the driver questioned for theft.

I asked how could the driver not know he was missing a box. If he scanned 50 boxes into the truck and only 49 going off wouldnt he be smart engouh to realize his truck was 1 short and report it? He never reported being 1 short which is why I think he stole it. FedEx said if a box losses it's label they all go to Atlanta. I asked if the facilty in Atlanta could look for and what happens to all the boxes in Atlanta and got no good response.

And if he had a box on his truck without a label couldnt they figure out through process of elimnation where it was suppose to go?

I'd also post here, Vintage - Bici da corsa | BDC-forum.it

Especially if you think it is still in Italy.

Thanks IAB...unless it was shipped after this mishegas, it's still in Italy. Based on the date that the envelope was created, whatever happened happened in Italy.

I have asked Stefano to post there.

My logic question would be, if no label, then how did it get on that truck initially? Barcode only? Return with the box and have the shipping center read the barcode, if the drivers electronic signature pad can't…

It's a dangerous world out there.

That's not how either Fedex or UPS works. Niether of those scenarios is how they work.