Thieves on the Job

6343 Views 49 Replies 28 Participants Last post by dielectricunion, Nov 18, 2013

BuilderToBe

Discussion Starter · Nov 11, 2013

Last summer dad did a whole home remodel in bad neighborhood. They stripped the HVAC unit overnight. They didn't just cut out the compressor, they spent what was probably hours carefully removing components. After it was replaced, we had a cage installed over the new unit. Well, now there is a similar job we are doing in the same neighborhood. Dad has ordered a deer camera, so if they strike again, we will have pictures of them. Unfortunately, it has a memory card. I would have purchased one with wireless, so the pictures are stored online, and you can watch the live feed :thumbup:

What have been your experiences with thieves?

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slowsol

· #2 · Nov 11, 2013

Worked for a company that did hundreds of low income housing, single family homes in Detroit.

We had condensers with cages, but the thieves actually pulled the cages with the condensers right off the houses. Used a chain and their truck.

Nobody saw anything either.

BuilderToBe

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 11, 2013

slowsol said:
Worked for a company that did hundreds of low income housing, single family homes in Detroit.

We had condensers with cages, but the thieves actually pulled the cages with the condensers right off the houses. Used a chain and their truck.

Nobody saw anything either.

I guess the neighbors fear the crooks more than the law, either that or they don't want their children locked up :whistling

Reactions: 1

rselectric1

· #4 · Nov 11, 2013

BTB, unfortunately they will always find a way to steal things and the deer camera will be gone as soon as they see it flash too.

I stay out of the bad neighborhoods now because if they are not stealing things out of the work site at night, they are stealing things out of your truck while you are there (even if it's locked).

That's my advice to you as well. It's not pretty.

Reactions: 1

rselectric1

· #5 · Nov 11, 2013

BuilderToBe said:
I guess the neighbors fear the crooks more than the law, either that or they don't want their children locked up :whistling

Pretty much nailed it.:thumbsup:

The Coastal Craftsman

· #6 · Nov 11, 2013

As RS says stay away from these neighborhoods if you don't want problems. I worked in London for a while and people would smash your Windows on your vehicle and get what they could even if you were 10ft away from it. I have seen kids do this whilst there's cops standing there taking statements from other people who just had the same things done to them. There's a certain kind of contractor who's set up to work these areas and they don't have anything of value worth stealing.

Reactions: 2

barry1219

· #7 · Nov 11, 2013

There is a silver lining..if you do a lot of Section 8 work you earn what is known as the " pass". This happens when they realize you are the guy who fixes their broken stuff and they keep people away from stealing from you because it will just delay them down the road when they need a new sink or toilet of whatever..the Pass. hard earned though.

Reactions: 1

rselectric1

· #8 · Nov 11, 2013

barry1219 said:
There is a silver lining..if you do a lot of Section 8 work you earn what is known as the " pass". This happens when they realize you are the guy who fixes their broken stuff and they keep people away from stealing from you because it will just delay them down the road when they need a new sink or toilet of whatever..the Pass. hard earned though.

I learned to take a pass on the pass since it doesn't even transfer a few hundred feet away in many cases, especially if you cross a certain unmarked boundary where a different gang is predominant.

Sorry, but let them drown in their filth.

The last one I did was for a bank owned property on the far south side of Chicago and it was summer and the windows were down. They didn't like the fact that the "white boys" were in their hood. No less then 5 guns were made present.

Not worth it.

I'll stick to the suburbs.:thumbsup:

KennMacMoragh

· #9 · Nov 11, 2013

I had thieves torch into our Knack box. They still didn't manage to break into it but they melted our radio. I was on one job where they had a security system called Wife eyes. It was fenced in with cameras every where, a security guard was there too. It seemed to work, we were In a really bad neighborhood and I don't think anything got stollen.

Tinstaafl

· #10 · Nov 11, 2013

Results vary. A couple of years ago, we spent weeks installing metal siding on a factory in a bad neighborhood and struck an agreement to save our "trash" for a scrapper who lived across the street.

He put the word out, and we had no problems at all. :thumbsup:

BuilderToBe

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 11, 2013

rselectric1 said:
No less then 5 guns were made present.

Part of the reason this was posted in the safety section. I guess it does apply to all trades though.

Reactions: 1

Easy Gibson

· #12 · Nov 11, 2013

I went to look at a job doing some odds and ends at an old metal factory in Irvington, NJ. Definitely top 5 worst towns in the state. The factory had huge roll gates so that delivery trucks could get in.
I told the guy I would only take the job if he would give me a key to the gate so that I could literally drive inside and park on the floor of the factory and lock the gate behind me.
After thinking about how ridiculous a statement that was, I declined to take the job. That was the first job I ever turned down. Really could have used the $700 at the time, but my truck is worth 5 times that. Not worth it.

hdavis

· #13 · Nov 12, 2013

Some people can get passes in a lot of areas because of their family connections. Others are known to be sadistic sociopaths or actually crazy.

Personally, I won't work in really bad areas. When I was younger, I'd go into some really bad areas to check out the bars, and even then I wouldn't have worked in them.

hdavis

· #14 · Nov 12, 2013

Easy Gibson said:
I told the guy I would only take the job if he would give me a key to the gate so that I could literally drive inside and park on the floor of the factory and lock the gate behind me.

I would have done it. I don't think there are really bad areas any where in Maine, but there are areas where there are schizophrenics, drug and alcohol addicts concentrated in a block or two. Get a schizo who's whacked out and starts throwing rocks at your windshield and there isn't a lot you can do. Local police don't want to deal with them, either.

Easy Gibson

· #15 · Nov 12, 2013

Yeah. Irvington is rough because there's no reasoning with people that have nothing but substance abuse and mental illness.
I used to live in some pretty lousy areas in Brooklyn and would go to even worse areas to hang out. No big deal. I can get along with pretty much anybody who can be reasoned with.

That warehouse I went to check out was ridiculous. Thieves had already stolen everything. He wanted me to put razor wire on the skylights and extra deadbolts on the doors.
Friend of mine who's an alarm guy went there to check it out and while he was there there were guys on the roof trying to get in. Junkies are the worst.

Reactions: 1

CO762

· #16 · Nov 12, 2013

BCConstruction said:
I worked in London for a while and people would smash your Windows on your vehicle and get what they could even if you were 10ft away from it. I have seen kids do this whilst there's cops standing there taking statements from other people who just had the same things done to them.

And england was worried about joining the more socialist/communist EU out of fear of losing their national sovereignty? :laughing: As always, great fun watching delusions happening.

There's a certain kind of contractor who's set up to work these areas and they don't have anything of value worth stealing.

One that shows up with no tools?
One that takes mass transit there so their car/truck won't be stolen?
One that shows up with no smart phone to be stolen from them during a "level the playing field robbery"?

I see why you voted with your feet. More need to. I did also.

CO762

· #17 · Nov 12, 2013

barry1219 said:
There is a silver lining..if you do a lot of Section 8 work you earn what is known as the " pass". This happens when they realize you are the guy who fixes their broken stuff and they keep people away from stealing from you because it will just delay them down the road when they need a new sink or toilet of whatever..the Pass. hard earned though.

I see you have earned your lashes.

I just don't work some areas of "urban areas". OK....I eventually left urban areas....

jhark123

· #18 · Nov 12, 2013

I work in a town of 10k people. Some loser stole my gas cans, but the cops got them back for me:thumbup:

Reactions: 1

rrk

· #19 · Nov 12, 2013

barry1219 said:
There is a silver lining..if you do a lot of Section 8 work you earn what is known as the " pass". This happens when they realize you are the guy who fixes their broken stuff and they keep people away from stealing from you because it will just delay them down the road when they need a new sink or toilet of whatever..the Pass. hard earned though.

It take a few years to get that pass, I used to a lot of work in the Newark area. You got that pass by helping out the older people. Once I got that pass it was much easier, unfortunately once my boss found out I was the only one who got to go to those areas.

I think it is different now though. Not much respect for the older folks anymore.

Cole82

· #20 · Nov 12, 2013

The town I live in has a population of 255 people. There is one house a single 40 something guy lives at that is sketchy he has a beard and long hair. I totally know where you guys are coming from.

Cole

Reactions: 2

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