Stolen buggy- tempted to Facebook shame - any advice?

[JSSB]

I really need some advice as at the end of my tether. Apologies in advance for the long post. Last November I had my twin boys buggy stolen from my car when parked outside our house. Reported to Police who did not attend as "petty" crime, but they advised to check selling sites as it may appear on there which I have been doing ever since. Last Friday it popped up on a facebook selling site. I contacted police as advised and was told it was a low priority so they did not know when would attend. I therefore contacted the seller directly and arranged to view straight away. I visited the property, confirmed it was my buggy and called police immediately who said they would attend. Long story short the Police did not attend until next day after me ringing all night and surprise surprise buggy has been sold and they cannot provide details to police of who they brought it from or sold it to as their phone is broken 😒 I have been advised by Police they can take no further action. I have the sellers details and am very tempted to put on all local sites warning people not to buy anything from her. Advice please.

Another part to the story I forgot to mention earlier is they also had it for sale on gumtree. I contacted gumtree directly and asked for information directly and the chap I spoke to said he had gone into their account and gave me a reference number for the police as he may have some information for them (hint hint). I passed all this on to police and they have not and I suspect will not follow up.

BTW When I said about Advertising it as stolen in my previous post I mean on the original site you saw it on ie where they advertised it.

Could you not get someone else to comment on the post offer a little bit more for it as they also need something fast? Take a few people and do as andnow suggested tell them you know it's yours you've got all the paperwork you wont take it any further with the police if you can take it now and walk out with it .

To be fair she does have 2 children of an age who may need a double buggy. I still believe she may have bought and sold innocently but why is she not helping police? My husband thinks I'm a fool but I like to think the best of people.

Ah ok fair enough OP. Hope you find a solution. I would take the suggestion of putting a post up in the group with a picture of the buggy and a message asking if anybody has seen this and that you think it may have been sold via this group to an innocent buyer. The people who commented before asking why it was so cheap may comment and shame the seller for you without you being the one to name and shame them.

You have so much information - I would go the route of police complaints and mp before the local paper.

Twin buggies are a lifeline for someone with two babies. It is more than a mere inconvenience to lose it.

You can make a complaint to the Police Force in writing. The force website should tell you how. If you get no joy then you can escalate to the IPCC.

I understand your frustration and yes, Police Forces are under strain, however, your item was quite high value and there is a line of enquiry. I believe the force can apply to Facebook directly for the information but I'm not sure if that is only in serious cases (grooming, child abuse etc).

I would avoid flaming anyone on Facebook. Make the complaint and say you are disappointed due to there being lines of enquiry which they should have a duty of care to follow up directly, until exhausted. You don't just need a phone to get on Facebook. They could have asked her to log on using someone else's phone or a computer, even going to the police station to do it. Yes she may not have stolen it but she is handling stolen goods.

Get back in touch with your force.

What police force is this?

If you complaint to the police and get nowhere I think you would be able to.complain. to the IPCC which is their governing body.
And if you can track down the pram and prove it's yours then the police would return it, the contract of sale becomes void is sold fraudulently. Sad for the buyers but unfortunately not the op'sproblem. They would then need to try and recover the money but they don't have ownership as the thief didn't have the right to sell.it in the first place.

Also, buying stolen goods is receiving stolen goods. It is a risk you take, if you buy second hand which I why you should look into the provenence of what you are buying - especially if it is expensive and a 'really good buy'. It is called 'buyer beware' or Caveat emptor. So I wouldn't feel too sorry for anyone else.

Essex. I understand they are over stretched but surely this was an easy win for them. I also think we have only got the limited response we have because my neighbour who runs our Neighbourhood Watch is an ex-officer who contacted a friend of his still on the force. I think if it wasn't for him we would still be waiting for them to return my calls.

I am sorry, I have no advice but lots of sympathy. I really hope you get it back. I would be absolutely furious.

Mght be worth giving trading standards a ring , especially if she seems to sell fairly frequently.

Did she see you check the serial number?

If so, I bet they've panicked and got it out of the way for now. Keep your eyes peeled for it reappearing in a few weeks.

I remember reading about a stolen phone where the owner was tech savvy and managed to track the phone, and get it to remotely take photos of the people using it. They still had to fight tooth and nail for the police to intervene.

Would you be prepared to offer some money for it if she was able to get it back? It cost £1,400, how much would it be worth to you to get it back? Would you offer to pay her half of the £380 she allegedly paid? I am not sure I would.... but would it be worth considering?

What do you think of this wording? Hopefully I have removed all personal information as to who the poster is from the attached picture which is a cropped screenshot of the original for sale post. I've tried to word it in such a way as I am not saying she is guilty of anything, although they can't provide Policy with any information

STOLEN BUGGY SOLD IN SOUTHEND ON FRIDAY 20 JANUARY

I had the buggy pictured below stolen from me in November of last year. It was being sold on this site last Friday. When contacted by the Police the seller advised they had sold the buggy but were not able to give the Police the information as to who they sold it to as their phone had broken.

Any information leading to its return gratefully received.

Op, no one is going to reply to that message. You need to offer a reward at least.

I thought she couldn't say who she had bought it from not sold it on to.

Both. Her phone has "broken" so she can't provide police with details of who contacted her about buying. However she was able to message me next day. I also explained to police officer she doesn't need her phone to log onto Facebook she can do it from anywhere and he just said "oh really I don't know how these things work".

he just said "oh really I don't know how these things work".

that's really bloody helpful

OP I can't honestly see you getting anywhere with the stolen advert. It seems very unlikely that she has sold it, and if she has, it seems very unlikely that this advert will lead to you finding the buyer. I think persisting with the police is your best bet, they could get to the bottom of this if they pulled their fingers out of their arses.

And he also told me that he has advised her that when buying and selling second hand items in future she should keep their details. Thanks for that. What advice do you have for me other than its "unfortunate".

I can feel my blood pressure rising the more I read OP. I hope you get it back.

Everyone I speak with about it is incredulous. I know it sounds ridiculous but when I picked my daughter up from school yesterday I was so upset some of the mums wanted to go there for me but I wouldn't give her address - and it's really not the type of school where mums do that kind of thing!

I've had this situation with a friend and her bike, same thing it mysteriously sold when police went round, I posted as another interested buyer (we aren't fb friends) on the site to say did anyone know if the bike had sold ? We went round to view together and got the bike back.

They've removed all the original adverts. I think our best hope is just to keep on checking the site's to see if it becomes available again. I'm not letting it go with the police though. I'm a Mum of twin baby boys with very little sleep and this has pushed me over the edge

Don't rely on the police to do anything for you I'm afraid. My husband was assaulted completely unprovoked and they drew blood and bruised him. The man was easy enough to identify, driving a company van, but after one phone call to the ccall many they decided it wouldn't be possible to identify him. They have no resources and will only deal with serious crimes.