Be security aware

andyandfay · #1 06-09-2008, 17:54

hello all, back from 3 weeks in pp,a great first 2 weeks but a stressfull last week....
we had an attempted break in,local woman was arrested near the villa in the early hours with 300 keys in her bag,she had been a cleaner and over the past couple of years and had been copying keys,one of them fitted our back door!
police couldnt confirm wether she came in or got scared when she realised we were in,the front gates had been forced open but nothing stolen anyway,but spending an afternoon with local police and making statements was not the best way to spend a sunday afternoon.
we had locks changed the following day,but it didnt do much to calm down our 2 girls,who were very shaken up.at least the police found her and she was jailed within 2 days (not quite the same justice system in the uk....).
we had everything in the safe,so please remember lock all doors and windows.i know these incidents are rare.but they do happen, and we were lucky nothing was taken,wrong time and place i guess.
then to top it all the next day my back went into spasm !.....great,no amount of cheap wine would ease it,managed to get an osteopath to come out from inca at 9 in the evening,70 euros for an hours appointment,which considering the pain i was in,was worth every penny.
has it put us off ?.............................no of course not ,cant wait for the next holiday
andy

Mark · #2 06-09-2008, 22:06

That's a real shame Andy, hope everyone is OK now.

It is good someone has been locked up and 300 duplicate keys are off the streets.

We had similar problems twice.

The first time a big fat spanish gypsy woman crept into the villa when we where sunbathing by the pool.

My brother went back into the villa for a drink and found her, was a bit frightening

as how you do you detain a burglar and at the time you dont know if they are a cleaner or owner or whatever. She just ignored us, walked away and drove off and we did not even note the number of the car in the confusion.....

Nothing appeared to have been stolen, just shutters and windows unbolted so they could come back at night.( Luckily we checked everything)

A few years later at a different villa someone had been in the Villa with a key during the day time just after we left to go to the supermarket. Nothing appeared stolen which was strange. Not the cleaners as I checked with the rep from the villa company.

I knew someone had been in as I set little 'traps' so I know if a door has been opened, and leave tempting things lying around in precise positions so I know if they have been touched

Now that we rent from a local person directly rather than a big company we never have a problem.

I do put a chair against the inside of the front door on a night though so if someone opens it we would be woken up by the noise. (The chair has something stacked against it

)

Never stops us going back though

Mark.

andyandfay · #3 07-09-2008, 09:35

hello mark
it seems these incidents are not as rare as i like to think
we also started putting chairs against the doors at night,just as an extra precaution and to put the girls minds at rest.
andy

marilyn · #4 08-09-2008, 08:13

Sorry to read of your experience. It must have been very unsettling for you and the children. I read that a woman from Pollensa had been arrested in the Daily Bulletin. I gather she was a cleaner and some of the keys were safe keys! I don't suppose it will have helped the cleaning company's business.

With some locks if you leave a key in the lock on the inside, it cannot be opened from the outside - so I tend to double lock at night and leave the key there. I might just put a chair infront of the door in future though.

Glad it hasn't put you off.

marcusb1 · #5 09-09-2008, 14:11

Hope it was the person who relieved us of some £ cash and wife's D&G sunglasses that was put away....we had minor incident in C'an Suau area this Aug....Villa Plus.com rep was very helpful as was Policia Local in PP. Luckily we had rest of stuff in safe. Didn't let it ruin hols though and thankfully is very rare in P and PP area. Rep said Alcudia was worse!

Smiddy · #6 09-09-2008, 14:56

I'd forgotten about that! Just jolted my memory, that was one of the reasons i dropped the cleaning companies, the cleaners were helping themselves, and that was 10 years ago! I know it,s a different situation with villas etc, but a friend of mine was over in a villa last week and got robbed twice. Hopefully now that the've caught someone with such a large amount of keys they have got the major culprit. In the 15 years i've had a apartment i've never had the slightest problem, but i'm now much more wary, i don't leave or deal in large amounts of cash or take expensive cameras/jewelry, even if i do get burgled there's really nothing of value for them to take.

JEPSET · #7 09-09-2008, 15:42

I'm afraid it's not as rare as we would like to think. I have heard of many similar incidents in the last year or so. The individuals that helped themselves to our hard earned cash ,had keys that allowed them into the villa and into the safe!!
Perhaps it's as sign of the times. I wonder if this would have been an issue ten years ago had there been a forum such as this? I for one will not be put off though. Will be out in Pollensa again in less than five weeks and counting!!!!!

cala san · #8 09-09-2008, 17:05

About 15 years ago my husband took a walk around the headland at Cala and sat on the wall by the rocks looking out at the view. Eventually he resumed his journey and was chased after up the road by 2 young boys who were brandishing pesata notes hoping to give them back to him,he was so amazed he rewarded them for their honesty.
Don't know if this would happen nowadays though.
Just be more aware that we now have many races here on Mallorca and unfortunately they are not all as honest as we would like.