Sunday was the saddest day of my life. I'm a college student in Boston who went to the Bay Area during Thanksgiving to check it out. Everything was amazing until I went to Union Square and my rental car was broken into and the thief stole my backpack that contains my new 16GB Macbook Pro, iPad 2, various passports and etc. It's really sad because I lost around $3k worth of stuff with no hopes of getting it back.<p>My advice to future tourists: Never leave valuables in the car or trunk.
It's actually good to hear that the saddest day of your life involves something gettings stolen. There will be much worse days. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's just stuff. It's sad, but don't let it get to you too much.
Sorry to hear this but you need to do a few things immediately if you haven't already:<p>1) Report your passport stolen to your nearest embassy. This is critical. Make sure this is done first<p>2) Report the theft to the local police and describe everything in detail as much as you can. Do it soon so that it is fresh in your mind<p>3) Keep an eye on sites like craigslist for sale of macbooks in the area. Yes this is pretty much a long shot but you never know. There are plenty of stupid thieves in this world and the thief might try and sell it right away.<p>4) Did you have any kind of tracker app on your ipad etc ? I think Apple has something right ? If yes, try and use it to locate your belongings. UPDATE: as ericcholis mentioned, you should always have an account with <a href="https://www.icloud.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.icloud.com</a> and use "Find My iPhone" to track your MacBook and iPad<p>And yes, for all of us, PLEASE never leave anything in your car that can be seen easily. Even if you think the area is safe or who will bother stealing a backpack, think again. I always make it a point to either put things in the trunk of the car or glovebox if you must leave it in your car.
Yeah, I have made that mistake in SF, although thankfully at a much smaller cost.<p>I had set the change from a parking garage on the passenger seat. At my next stop, Japantown, I parked at a meter and forgot about the few bucks sitting in plain view. I came back 20 minutes later to find the window smashed. Hundreds of dollars in repair costs and hours of my and other people's time. All for $2 or $3 in somebody's pocket. It gave me perspective on how desperate some people are.<p>Anyhow, I'm sorry that you experienced this in my city. The advice you give applies pretty much any where in the US (and in a number of other countries I've been in). If something is visible and looks valuable, 5 mm of glass is not much of a barrier.<p>Edited to add: Feel free to contact me (details in my profile) if you need a hand from a local with anything. E.g., I'm glad to go with you to file the police report.
Sorry to hear about your loss! Hopefully you'll be a public service announcement for others about the dangers of leaving anything -- <i>anything</i> -- visible in a car in San Francisco. If there's even the slightest doubt that the item has value, your car window will be smashed and the items stolen.<p>If it makes you feel any better, you're in good company: nearly everyone I know has been the victim of smash-and-grabs. At my last company, two of our employees had their laptops stolen from a parked car. I've even had windows bashed because someone wanted to open the glove compartment to see if there was anything inside!<p>Most recently, we discovered some crackhead <i>cutting through our front gate</i> because he wanted access to some bikes that were visible. He would have had to cut through the gate, then another security door to get them, but that was no deterrent. It's one of the "charming" aspects of city life that makes you want to move to the suburbs.<p>As codegeek says, you should report your passport immediately. Your laptop has probably already been fenced for drug money, but you could <i>try</i> to find it on craigslist, or down at the various stolen-property yardsales at 6th/7th and Market. That's a long shot, though.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Hope your data was backed up somewhere you can get it, and that you had Apple's Find My device, or whatever they call it, set up.<p>Same advice in a better form: Never leave anything that looks like it might contain valuables in a visible place in a car. Trunk is usually fine, since nobody can tell what's in there, and thieves usually won't break into random cars in the hope that there might be something valuable in the trunk. On the other hand, a bag with nothing valuable in it on the seats is not fine, since the car may get broken into anyways, on the assumption that there's something worth stealing in there.<p>I've lived in an urban area for a while, and have seen this happen in several different ways...
Living in Finland, I haven't always been thrilled about our extensive social welfare and the consequent high tax rates. This story reminds me that even though I don't benefit directly from social welfare, there are latent benefits on the societal level. Namely the ubiquitous sense of security, because the poor rarely have to resort to theft as the government gives them money to get by.<p>I don't really have to watch out for thieves. Of course they exist and you can never be too careful with these things. But occasionally having left valuables in view inside my car, or a bag at a cafe table while I visit the restroom, I've never had anything stolen. I'm not afraid to walk in the city at night.<p>A friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight in SF, which came to me as a big surprise. I couldn't imagine that could even happen. Obviously I need to travel more to broaden my worldview...
I've been paranoid living in SF with a car the last year and sucks to hear this happened to you. Just some advice for the future and to others that park around SF: I didn't realize until recently that my car has a "valet" button and what it actually does. Basically, its a button in the glove compartment and when you turn it on, the trunk can't be opened. So what you do is turn it on, and then lock your glove compartment with your key. Also make sure if you have back seats that open that they are locked as well. This way even if someone breaks into your car, they won't be able to access your trunk.
Having suffered this a year or so ago I can feel your pain.<p>Question:<p>Why doesn't Apple log stolen serial numbers so that the second they show up (connect to iCloud, brought in for repair, or whatever), alarms, dogs, sharks with lasers, you know, the usual.<p>I feel like computers shouldn't be any more thieve-able than cell phones.
Entire story of what happened:<p>I paid $10 for a parking space somewhere near Union Square thinking my car would be safe from towing and what not. I left my backpack in the trunk because it was too heavy (big mistake). Went back 3 hours later and the rear window was smashed and they got to the trunk from the reclining passenger seat. Filed a police report and they told me chances of me getting my stuff back is slim. Went to Apple Store and tried to get a discount for the second purchase but they only offered me the usual student discount. Called my credit card company but apparently I don't have any coverage for my purchase.
>My advice to future tourists: Never leave valuables in the car or trunk.<p>That's general advice for anyone who's ever been in a car.<p>Did you have travel insurance? I've never had to use it but this seems like something that would be covered.
In my country (turkey) such thieves are quite common. In my whole life I 've had things stolen from my car for 3 times. The last one happened, even though there was nothing to steal from the car no backpack, anything. The thief stole the CD Deck! And yet another theft we had on our basement last year. The thief took my (about $60 worth) socket wrench set. I observe there's a certain pattern on thiefs actions and deeds: They seem to know if there's something worthy in any area and when they find one they steal without anyone seeing.
Login to <a href="https://www.icloud.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.icloud.com/</a> and use "Find My iPhone" to track your MacBook and iPad. If the thieves are stupid enough, they'll turn the devices on at some point, giving you a good idea of where they are.<p>Do this as soon as possible, and check back constantly. Good luck!
20+ years ago I had a thief break into my car in front of my apartment. When I called to report it, I (jokingly) asked the lady taking down the details if there was a fine or anything for shooting thieves. She got all exited about that. Here in New Hampshire gun ownership is pretty common and crime (perhaps coincidently?) is fairly rare.
See Apple's Support Pages for Lost/Stolen devices:
<a href="http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2526" rel="nofollow">http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT2526</a><p>Do you have renter's insurance in Boston? If so, check your policy, it may cover theft.
You prob park on the street. Next time pay and park inside a garage and hide your stuff in different locations! Theives know there are people around so they will grab whatever they see first!