How Secure Is High Security?

[robjay]

We were out in PP during the Feb' half term this year.
After throwing our cases into the apartment we couldn't wait to get onto our Mountain bikes and blow the cobwebs off them and us!
We cycle everywhere in PP, using them for shopping,exploring, getting to other towns and well to be honest a good few Tapas crawls
After a week hardly being off our bikes it was time to lock up and head for the airport. Happy to leave knowing that we would soon be back in a matter of a few months and that everything would be safe until our return.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pop's was back out during the Easter break with her daughters. They were sitting around the poolside waiting for Pops before they headed into town. When she arrived at the pool they asked her where we had put our bikes......................"In the bike rack of course" replied Pops........
"Well there not there now!" replied the girls

OUR BIKES WERE MISSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Bikes were expensive bikes, but it's not the cost that worries us. It's the fact that before leaving I had "chained" all our bikes to the bike rack. Now I'm not talking a Poundland bike lock, I'm talking an expensive steel cable high security bike lock. This thing is at least 1 inch thick made up of steel cables wrapped in a PVC coating. I had ran it through the bike frames, through the frame work of the bike rack (it is bolted to a concrete base) then through the bike wheels and locked to the free end. The bikes were also secured to each other with normal bike locks. Belt 'N' Braces or what?
Like me I bet you imagine with this type of security our bikes would be safe.
The normal opportunist bike thief's that steals unattended bikes around PP and then hand paints them would have looked at these bikes and moved on.
So how on earth did we end up losing our bikes?

These thieves came well prepared...............they used cutting tools to "burn" through the steal cable! They managed to take 2 of our bikes and an other 2 bikes from the rack.

You'd be forgiven for thinking someone would have seen people using cutting gear and carrying off 4 bikes!!!! Despite the fact that 4 of the apartments in the complex have residents 24/7 and the rack can be seen from houses in the street nobody saw or heard a thing!!!!!!!!

Due back out in PP in the next few weeks, we now have to organize replacing our bikes etc. Sadly I will never feel happy about leaving our bikes chained up outside again.

How secure are your belongings? Like us do you believe your bikes etc have been locked up and safe from sticky little fingers?

Thinking of buying a second hand mountain bike whilst next out in Mallorca? Then please ask questions as to where the bike came from etc etc. Do you really want to be buying into someone Else's misery?

[Smiddy]

Bad news, Robjay! to think a number of years ago you could have left it unchained and it would still have been there when you returned, sign of the times i'm afraid! Always remember my dismay at seeing some of the perfume shops installing electronic alarms to counteract thieves, that was a few years ago. Another charm of PP disappeared that day.

[Sparky]

Yes i am afraid you are right Smiddy but the good news is that the Police and Guardia have increased their officers in the port and i am very impressed with the amount of patrols they are doing. They are about at all hours, driving very slowly, not just around the square but in all the side streets as well.

[pollensa]

Am assuming you mean that you left them secured to a bike rack in your apartments? We have an external utility area in ours & so far have had a new tumble-drier plus step ladder & other items stolen whilst we've been away. Apparently our insurance does now cover us (the policy has been improved since we were robbed!) as the items are considered to be furniture as the area has a locked gate. But this doesn't stop people climbing over it & carrying away stuff.

[robjay]

They were chained together and also chained through/to the apartment bike rack which is bolted to the concrete surface in the carpark.

As Smiddy said a few years ago nobody would have touched your unlocked bike............................Now they will bring cutting gear with them! A sign of the times?

There is a market for stolen goods. By buying second hand goods without knowing the source we are creating a demand. These people will continue to steal from us as long as there is a demand.

[kate1]

It's not just bikes...

When we arrived at our villa we were mystified as to the whereabouts of the metal racks/fittings for our outdoor barbecue. The cleaners must have taken them to get them looking spick and span for the season, we reassured ourselves. But... when we saw the cleaners they too had been wondering where the shelves had gone.

We then discovered that apparently gangs of thieves go systematically around villas during the winter (when they are mostly empty) and nick whatever they can. It isn't hard to do because most overseas owners do not have locks on their gates, never mind any sort of alarm system. There is a good market for scrap metal - presumably explaining the disappearance of our shelves. We then got chatting to our Spanish next-door neighbours who had missed a lawn mower and other garden items during the winter. Obviously there is high unemployment in Mallorca right now and petty crime is bound to increase. So... we are considering getting electric front gates, or at least a padlock, and I would advise all villa/apartment owners to make sure they do likewise.

[Tonsyl]

Interesting to read what is being said on this topic as, whilst we were out in March we got talking to a local bar owner in Pollenca who said just what Kate says. We were told that there are gangs going about, aparently from the Palma area, and seeing what can be "lifted" whilst owners are away, and not just in Winter. Thinking about it, it is only 35 minutes down the motorway from the Pollenca area to Palma so, in theory, items can be taken and hidden away less than an hour later!

[favie]

What a bl--dy shame.....all this crime!! If I was reading all this and never been to PP before, it would certainly put me off! One off the things I loved about the place - always felt so save but now knowing and loving the place I will NOT be put off, just be extra vigilant!! It happens most places now unfortunetely!!

[eleanor]

We had all our gas bottles taken from the storage area right at the back of the villa. How they knew where to look we just don't know.
These gas cylinders are expensive now even without the gas in!
Totally agree with Favie though. This sort of thing happens everywhere and anywhere. So anyone thinking of coming to PP should not be put off. It is a wonderful place with a great family atmosphere. The stories we hear are thankfully very far and few between.

[Donjohn]

Like a lot of you on this forum I have been visiting Puerto Pollensa for many years and I considered myself very fortunate several years ago to have purchased a small holiday home in the area. However having been subject to two burglaries in the last 6 months I thought it prudent to let you know to be extra vigilant concerning the security of your property as I would not want you to experience what happened to me and my family. Briefly on the first occasion; thieves gained access via the rear patio door went straight to my wall safe which was securely anchored in the wardrobe in the bedroom and then jemmied the safe door ajar and somehow managed to trigger the safe locking mechanism from inside.( A locksmith has subsequently informed me that they were professionals and knew exactly what they were doing) They stole several Bank debit/credit cards . It could have been a lot worse and they fortunately left my passport in the safe. Needless to say I had a frantic time with the Guardia Civil and a few sleepless nights before I flew back to the UK . I suspect that the thieves had been watching the house for several days, they had waited until I vacated the house at 7.30pm one Friday evening before making their entrance and made their first attempt to use the stolen cards at 8.38pm. On the second occasion a month later thieves gained access by forcing the shutters and stealing anything of value including putting my TV into a suitcase and making their exit.
The sad thing is not the loss of the property but the unease that my family now have when we stay in what we always considered to be a relatively safe haven.