I was just a bystander, and I don't really have an opinion one way or the other, but I'm curious about this group's thoughts. My office building garage has a large bike cage with access card security and then also several wall racks for overflow. The wall racks are in the garage, but outside the secured cage. The garage is such that anybody can walk in or out off the street, and the cage and the racks are all on the first floor. A lot of people use the wall racks even when the cage is not full.

So this morning, after receiving an email that there was a bike theft yesterday, I went to check on my bike in the cage. While I was there, another guy came down to check his bike on the wall rack, and he was very upset that building security had chained it up and left him a note to see them about his bike being unsecured. Apparently, he'd hung it on the wall rack and not locked it up.

So, I'm curious, how would you feel about security locking up your bike like this? Keep in mind we have probably 6-8 bikes stolen per year.

I would be thanking them, and I know of no bikes being stolen from our plaza.

Free valet lock service? I don't think I'd complain.

I would side w/security I guess. From their perspective, the garage being labeled a target for easy bike theft isn't a good thing. 6-8/year isn't that many for a big city I imagine.

I'd probably try to find out if they prefer beer or pizza, and then bring some of whichever it was on my way out, along with my thanks. It's a lot cheaper than buying a new bike...!

I wonder if security would put 'club' style steering wheel locks, or 'Boots' on unlocked cars in the garage.

I would feel like a complete idiot and thankful.

On the list of things to get bent out of shape over, it would be pretty low.

Not really the same thing. You can't tell locked cars from unlocked ones just by looking at them. And unless the keys are left in the ignition, you're not going to just drive off with one.

I would probably be confused at first (a bit miffed maybe...reptile brain kicks in), then grateful (rational social being kicks in), thank them with some small gift (pizza and soda/beer). After this sequnce we become bro's and start having fun together on the weekends.

One could argue that if you want to leave your bike unlocked in a theft prone area, you have every right. And I'm guessing the building has no rules regarding the required use of a lock on their property. But I think to get "very upset" over it being secured on his behalf is ridiculous.

Peg me with Seattle Forest. Awesome.

Pretty much agree with everyone else.. i can't understand why he'd be angry that someone was trying to help keep his property from being stolen.

Thanks, all, pretty much sums up what I was thinking. I guess he was upset because it cost him a trip back to the security desk to have them release his bike. Seems it wasn't a very expensive bike and he didn't think it would get stolen; he was willing to take his chances.

Apples and lemons.

I don't know. I guess he decided that just having the bike in the cage was secure enough. If that's the case, I can understand not wanting the hassle of going to the security guard to get his bike unlocked. It's probably the exact hassle he was hoping to avoid by not locking his bike up in the first place.

That said, I've forgotten my lock once or twice and had to place my bike in a somewhat secure place, but not as secure as actually locking it up. If someone had gone the extra mile and locked it up for me, I would have been grateful.

Also, I can certainly see why security would want bikes locked, even if they were in the cage. The cage is really just one more barrier against theft. A bike thief looking for the easiest score might see unlocked bikes in the cage as a way to get multiple bikes by only breaking one lock. However, if requiring bike locks on bikes in the cage is going to be a policy, they should make people aware of it.

So, yeah, I can see where, if you made a conscious decision favouring convenience over safety, you might be annoyed to find that someone had reversed your decision. But it's probably not the decision I would make.

I wonder if those security guards have taken flak in the past for not doing more to stop bike theft? Even though it's not their job to protect people from their own stupidity, kudos to them for taking steps to mitigate further theft.

I wonder who he would have blamed if the bike HAD been stolen - himself or security.

Or maybe he's bucking for an excuse to the missus for a new bike, and security unwittingly lock-blocked his cunning little scheme.

Since I'd never find myself in this position, I can't say whether or not this would bother me. Actually, if it ever did happen I'd be very thankful because the only way my bike would be unsecured like that is if I forgot to lock it myself!

That's high-five worthy.

Unless security left for the day and there was no way of getting your bike unlocked.

These.

OP said the guy's bike wasn't in the cage, but on a publicly accessible wall rack outside the cage.

From the original post:

"The wall racks are in the garage, but outside the secured cage."

Edit

Drat! didn't get the post in fast enough.

Since security notified the bike owner that they locked the bike for him... I think I would thank security for taking care of my momentary lapse in judgment, and then rectify the situation with my own lock.

I don't think I would be upset unless security left for the day and I had no way of retrieving my bike.