Bike locks removed at college bike shed by janitor over half term...

[Miljea]

My DS got to college on his £200 bike today to find the quite new £20 D bike lock he'd left there, in the shed, as always, along with others' bike locks- gone.

So he had to leave a £200 bike propped up there all day in an area where the local FB page's top 5 complaints is stolen bikes.

There was no mass email out to students telling them to remove bike locks.

Do we have a case for the replacement cost of the lock?

My local train station bike shed looks like a version of that bridge in Paris, festooned with massive D locks.

It is very normal behaviour for commuters/regulars to leave locks in situ overnight etc. I know they periodically remove bikes left there, but only after leaving notices and warnings for a good 2 weeks beforehand.

They def should have made students aware they were going to remove - so as pp says, it boils down to whether that was communicated - and I would expect emails as well as big fuck off signs in the shed as well.

Agree that it’s fair enough if the college periodically removes locks - as long as people are given sufficient warning! It’s the lack of warning here that is the problem.

People acting perplexed and outraged over the idea of leaving a lock somewhere you cycle regularly clearly don’t cycle anywhere (ditto the people who are accusing the OP of “stealth boasting” over a £200 bike...)

I was speaking in more general terms, rather than specifically about schools LolaSmiles but it's obviously been the norm in this school anyway.

Not allowing them to leave locks would be fine. Petty, but fine. Removing locks would then be fine, too. But suddenly instigating a policy where there hasn't been one previously and then destroying and removing all the locks without warning is very unfair.

The college didn't even need to email everyone - just put a notice in the bike shed, a week before half term:

"No bike locks to be left in the shed - any locks left will be cut off."

YANBU. They could have put a sign up saying any locks left here over the half term etc will be removed.

I would be asking why they did it without warning and ruined the locks.

YANBU. Even if it might be buried somewhere in a student handbook or suchlike, to allow students to leave their locks on the bike racks for years, then suddenly remove them all without any warning, is bad.

But you won't get anywhere legally. The college will have a term in some agreement that disclaims any liability.

Update: college have acknowledged they should have given notice so, we emailed the receipt to college and they have reimbursed DS the £20! 😁

Apparently ours was the seventh complaint (out of a potential 22.... 😳)

Great result Miljea!

What about going forwards - will they allow locks to be left (until end of term)?

That sounds like a good result.

Yanbu. They are lucky they only have to reimburse the locks and not 22 bikes!

good to hear that.
but for the future the lock needs to stay with the bike.
either attach a holder for it on the frame or get a lock like this frsme lock with chain

He's whatevs about it. And withdrawing his permission to use his unconditional offer to the top uni for his subject in the country in their prospectus.

😂

Well, DS's HoD approached DS and told him that there had been a mess up, and that the agreement was that they would prewarn the students bvia email and a notice in the shed but it didn't happen 🙄 (he himself also had his lock cut off!).

So all's okay as far as he is concerned.

In the kids best interests it's a college, they're not kids, they're adults and yes its annoying but shouldn't have been left there. Wrap it round the seat pole or hang it from the frame.

Hmm...

but shouldn't have been left there

As has been mentioned several times in the thread, it is very common practice to hang locks in bike sheds when the bike is not there (it'ss a sort of unwritten code to hang it off a fence or railing, not to an actual space blocking it from any other user). It harms nobody.

It also acts like a deterrent - thieves know good quality locks are being used and there are regular users coming and going. its a lot easier to nick an unlocked bike from outside a shop instead.

16 or 17 is definitely a kid.

To be honest though a £200 bike isn't that expensive. A eaiser to carry lock would be a better option, as unless it's unlocked they
are much more likely to go for the branded bikes that cost £500 or more. Unless they are high end bikes they will only sell second hand for at most half the retail value, say £100 at best. So not the biggest target for them espicaly if there are other better bikes about.

Althoug in Cambridge they will steal anything if it's not nailed down.

The locks are all left on one horizontal pole. The students park up in their chosen shed and go fetch their lock. Then let turn it there at home time, so the lock doesn't sit on the tarmac and get rusty and cruddy.

Esp the £21.90 ones! 😊

As for 'they're adults', techs take 16-19! And unless your youngster is 'ran Camp America at 17', not unknown on MN 😂, the day a DC turns 18 they don't morph into a fully functioning adult, believe me.

DS has learned a couple of things.

People can be arbitrary about rules.

You can challenge injustice if you encounter it.

You win some, you lose some.

You may win, and graciously accept that the 'grownups' are allowed to concede mistakes, heavy-handedness.

And you can take the proffered £20 and move on. Safe in the knowledge they won't be hacking £20 locks from the bike sheds, leaving £200 bikes unprotected next time, without warning...

By the by, are we calling caretakers janitors now then? As a child of the seventies, I cannot do this without thinking of Hong Kong Phooey.

I thought it was a given that at the end of every term including a half term You had to take everything you own out of school or college.

Tinkly are we calling caretakers janitors now then?

I was trying to think of a single word to describe the situation in my title. I think 'Estates' which is what they actually call themselves would not be widely understood.

Always 'In what way is anything 'a given', given that this was the first time in 2.5 years this happened, and it was not advertised?

Anyway, as already stated, I think the immediate reimbursement of the cost of the lock is sufficient proof that the college realised they'd handled this badly, don't you?....

Thank heavens the college has their poster boy back on board

That's why the HoD approached him, rather obviously.

You may not be aware that in the struggling world of non- sixth form FE colleges, attracting good students then getting them into the best unis for their subject, then being able to promote that is a bit of a Big Deal.