People these days could be so cruel...

[Joseph]

I just found out recently that a friend of mine had her ti-10 stolen at a badminton tournament. I also heard a pair of mp-99 were stolen at another gym. Where has this world gone too, people stealing other people's racquets. Those racquets cost a hefty amount of money too!!!

[bigredlemon]

Originally posted by Joseph
I just found out recently that a friend of mine had her ti-10 stolen at a badminton tournament. I also heard a pair of mp-99 were stolen at another gym. Where has this world gone too, people stealing other people's racquets. Those racquets cost a hefty amount of money too!!!
people at my school have their laptops stolen all the time... and not only are they losing $2000, they are also losing their entire year of notes or whatever they didn't back up. Imagine losing your notes before the finals!!?

Personally I doubt it was other players, probably somebody who doesn't care that much about badminton. People still shuttles from where I play all the time too

[LazyBuddy]

Well, welcome to the real world ppl...

Losing a racket or even a notebook is surely hack a lot of $$$ for a student (or, most likely his/her parents). However, compare to a lot of places, ppl just jack ur car and ran away...

One of my friends, just stayed over in his gf's house one night, and found out his car was stolen the next morning. He did not just throw the car on the street or something, but parked on the ramp right next to the house. Consider her house is on one of most "crowded" street in my town, and ppl passing all the time, u can see how bad this could be.

[badrad]

Like any public place, the gym isn't likely to have too many barriers for a thief to steal from you. You always need to safeguard yourself, lots of it is common sense. keeping your bag zipped will eliminate some peekers to see what you got. keeping the bag close to your court and in your line of sight will also help.

I've seen so many players leave their bags (myself included sometimes) wide open, with racquets and shuttle tubes just exposed on the top of the bag. Then there is like a large congregation area where all the bags are mingling, you are literally stepping over bags. An easy picking for a clever thief.

[Winex West Can]

Originally posted by badrad
I've seen so many players leave their bags (myself included sometimes) wide open, with racquets and shuttle tubes just exposed on the top of the bag. Then there is like a large congregation area where all the bags are mingling, you are literally stepping over bags. An easy picking for a clever thief.

Just like the VRC!!! So far, I haven't got anything stolen yet (knock on wood) but should probably bring my bag with me on court or at least have it where I can still keep an eye on.

[timeless]

Originally posted by Winex West Can
Just like the VRC!!! So far, I haven't got anything stolen yet (knock on wood) but should probably bring my bag with me on court or at least have it where I can still keep an eye on.

Especially your bag with all the Winex goodies inside! :D And speaking of VRC, I heard a young chap who left their bag upstairs in the lounge for some minutes came back to find it gone. He had all his badminton gear in it... shoes, clothes, racquets, shuttles, etc. Apparently it couldn't of happened to a more misfortunate soul as I hear the young lad worked very hard to purchase everything himself.

[badrad]

the vrc has been targets for thieves but seems to go in cycles. often outsiders get their way into the club and either break in the lockers, or rifle through unattended gym bags.

there is plenty of room at the end of each court, and often at the side of each court by the net, where you can keep your bag for the duration of the game. I try to remember, but luckily I have mrs badrad and little badrad that are my bag minders and movers. hahahahah....

On another note, I always lock my bag and outside clothes (jacket/shoes) in the gym locker while showering. A few years ago I actually had someone steal my courts shoes while I was in the shower. Turns out someone stole them to take my shoe tag.

[kwun]

badrad, excellent! badminton caddy!

i can totally see it, kwun at the middle of a big tournament, after a hard fought rally, walked to the court side and say to my caddy:

"i want my Iso900 SS CN... hm.. no, not this one, the one strung at 26lbs, please"

:D

[badrad]

Originally posted by kwun
badrad, excellent! badminton caddy!

i can totally see it, kwun at the middle of a big tournament, after a hard fought rally, walked to the court side and say to my caddy:

"i want my Iso900 SS CN... hm.. no, not this one, the one strung at 26lbs, please"

:D Shhhhh! not so loud! Oh no:eek: - mrs. and little badrad will be with me on Saturday with the entire group... Man, if the caddies - oops, "cherished family members" even gets wind of these titles... Ouch! Kwun, I will get even, so help me!

[timeless]

*LOL* Hilarious~
Perhaps when/if badminton makes it big time commercially, professional caddies, assistants, or apprentices will be a reality :). Although I wouldn't be surprised if this were already a reality somewhere in the world.

[nSmash]

Originally posted by Winex West Can
Just like the VRC!!! So far, I haven't got anything stolen yet (knock on wood) but should probably bring my bag with me on court or at least have it where I can still keep an eye on.
On court... playing badminton with your entire kit strapped to your back
sounds like pretty mean training to me :D Just kidding, I know what you
mean. ;)

[Matt Ross]

Originally posted by kwun
badrad, excellent! badminton caddy!

i can totally see it, kwun at the middle of a big tournament, after a hard fought rally, walked to the court side and say to my caddy:

"i want my Iso900 SS CN... hm.. no, not this one, the one strung at 26lbs, please"

:D

It's when you and the caddy bend down, close one eye and take a look at the sloping angle of the court you know it's gone too far :)

[Yodums]

I hear ya. It'd be really unforunate if it was a new and expensive racquet too. Not too pleasant to have that taken from you since the person who took it spent no time working for it and you or whoever you got the money from had to work pretty hard to get that. The clubs I play at are pretty secure. It's the main RA building that I heard there's alot of stolen racquets every year. Whenever I'm playing I carry my main racquet with me everywhere. I don't leave it behind on my bag etc.

I keep my bag closed at all times unless I switch racquets really fast and I feel like I'm being rushed to be back on the court.

Yodums

[Winex West Can]

Originally posted by timeless
Especially your bag with all the Winex goodies inside! :D And speaking of VRC, I heard a young chap who left their bag upstairs in the lounge for some minutes came back to find it gone. He had all his badminton gear in it... shoes, clothes, racquets, shuttles, etc. Apparently it couldn't of happened to a more misfortunate soul as I hear the young lad worked very hard to purchase everything himself.

Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that. :D

Did the young lad went to the office to see, on the off-chance, that someone might have turned it in?

It's amazing nowadays that people will do that (especially in a club when you know that it belong to some other member). It's a little different if you found something on the street where you can bring it to the police station and if nobody claim it after a certain period, it become yours.

But honesty is going the way of the dinosaurs. I remembered one time years ago that I was buying some groceries and was given too much change (a fact that I noticed after I had left the store). I turned around and went back to the cashier to inform her and return the extra change. Well, the cashier looked at me funny (like why didn't you keep the money).

[bigredlemon]

Originally posted by Winex West Can
But honesty is going the way of the dinosaurs. I remembered one time years ago that I was buying some groceries and was given too much change (a fact that I noticed after I had left the store). I turned around and went back to the cashier to inform her and return the extra change. Well, the cashier looked at me funny (like why didn't you keep the money).
Save her the trouble and just keep the money. If they charge you too much, ignore it too. In the long run, it all balances out right? That's pretty much what I do except my local store only overcharges me, and never undercharge. :mad:

[Yodums]

Originally posted by bigredlemon
Save her the trouble and just keep the money. If they charge you too much, ignore it too. In the long run, it all balances out right? That's pretty much what I do except my local store only overcharges me, and never undercharge. :mad:

I don't think that in the long run it balances it out is a good theory to stick by. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[bigredlemon]

but giving back the change slows the line down and cost the store time, which certainly is worth something. Also it gets them in trouble too.

[timeless]

Originally posted by Winex West Can
Did the young lad went to the office to see, on the off-chance, that someone might have turned it in?

But honesty is going the way of the dinosaurs. I remembered one time years ago that I was buying some groceries and was given too much change (a fact that I noticed after I had left the store). I turned around and went back to the cashier to inform her and return the extra change. Well, the cashier looked at me funny (like why didn't you keep the money).

Yeah it was long gone. Not only honesty, but I find common courtesy and consideration harder to come by these days as well. Quite a sad thing really.

[timeless]

Originally posted by bigredlemon
but giving back the change slows the line down and cost the store time, which certainly is worth something. Also it gets them in trouble too.

:eek: ?!?!?!?!?!

I seriously doubt anyone who's owned their own business would agree with you.

[bigredlemon]

Originally posted by timeless
:eek: ?!?!?!?!?!

I seriously doubt anyone who's owned their own business would agree with you.
Taking change back = one demerit point for the cashier for messing up. Makes the chasier look back, and reduce his/her chance of being made employee of the month. 10 cents isn't going to bankrupt Safeway. The cost of the damage to their image is worth more... even if that damage is tiny. That's why if you complain about crappy service, they'll send you $10 credit.

[Yodums]

I think this has to do with ethics and moral rights than it does with simply business. If you aren't even willing to return change, then how can you possibly return a racquet? Regardless of the value, it is the same scenario. If you take it once, there's a chance you can continue to do this.


Yodums

[bigredlemon]

Originally posted by Yodums
I think this has to do with ethics and moral rights than it does with simply business. If you aren't even willing to return change, then how can you possibly return a racquet? Regardless of the value, it is the same scenario. If you take it once, there's a chance you can continue to do this.

Yodums

There's a huge difference between 10 cents and 200 dollars. If I lose a quater or two on the street, I don't expect the person who find it to come look for me. I'd prefer them to keep it just as I would keep it if I found a quater. It's inefficient to waste time returning pocket change. If it was a wallet or a racquet, that is something different because it would be efficient to return it to the lost owner because I know the owner would spend as much energy or more looking for it as I would spend returning it. S/he would unlikely to spend as much energy look for 25 cents as would have to spend returning it to him/her.

If the store isn't willing have their workers spend an extra half second counting the change, then why should I spend 10 minutes trying to return it to them? Last time I tried to return something they gave me too much of, they made me wait in the store for 45 minutes while they figured out how to have the cash register take the inventory back. Would they even want to waste that much time for a couple bucks? No. And neither would I.

[timeless]

Originally posted by bigredlemon
Taking change back = one demerit point for the cashier for messing up. Makes the chasier look back, and reduce his/her chance of being made employee of the month. 10 cents isn't going to bankrupt Safeway. The cost of the damage to their image is worth more... even if that damage is tiny. That's why if you complain about crappy service, they'll send you $10 credit.

WTH...

Besides the obviously questionable morality of your perception on this issue...
A cashier coming up short at the end of the day would certainly look worse than one that did not. And no, 10 cents is not going to bankrupt a business but you would be amazed to how quickly repeated mistakes add up by the end of the day. Such errors hurt large and small businesses alike. And how would cashiers giving away too much change tarnish their image? From your moral standpoint, customers wouldn't be too quick to report such a things.


Last time I tried to return something they gave me too much of, they made me wait in the store for 45 minutes while they figured out how to have the cash register take the inventory back.

I personally would have just handed over the money in question and left with what I rightfully paid for.

I'm going to refrain from posting in this thread any more as not only are we on different pages on this issue... we're on different planets! :p

[JChen99]

Originally posted by Joseph
I just found out recently that a friend of mine had her ti-10 stolen at a badminton tournament. I also heard a pair of mp-99 were stolen at another gym. Where has this world gone too, people stealing other people's racquets. Those racquets cost a hefty amount of money too!!!
hmm... I guess it's still not as bad here yet. 2 winters ago when me n my friends went to a local tourney, at the end of the day when a friend was ready to leave (we were the last group before the organizers to leave) he started panicing because he couldn't find his Ti-10... low and behold the racket ended up on the ground underneath the "pull out bench" (wutever u call them). However, when he picked up the racket, he notice that it wasn't his. The color of the string was different(his string was royal blue but the racket had baby blue string on it), and the string was noticeably more worn than his (he has just had it restrung)

I dunno if the other guy had just picked up the wrong racket, or purposely picked up the racket with better strings. But after that time I made sure I kept my rackets where they could be seen by me or one of my friends that I hang out with. A swapped sting is not that bad (just $25 in total for new string and restringing) but a lost racket will prolly kill me.

[bigredlemon]

Originally posted by timeless
WTH...

Besides the obviously questionable morality of your perception on this issue...
A cashier coming up short at the end of the day would certainly look worse than one that did not. And no, 10 cents is not going to bankrupt a business but you would be amazed to how quickly repeated mistakes add up by the end of the day. Such errors hurt large and small businesses alike. And how would cashiers giving away too much change tarnish their image? From your moral standpoint, customers wouldn't be too quick to report such a things.

I personally would have just handed over the money in question and left with what I rightfully paid for.

I'm going to refrain from posting in this thread any more as not only are we not on the same page on this issue... we're on different planets! :p
We definetly have different perspectives on morality. Consider: what is right? How do we know what is right? You take the Kantian duty approach whereas I favour the Utiliarian greatest-utility approach. They are just different. If you look at court rulings however, especially in common-law countries, the utilitarian view is favoured more often than Kantian view. People have been arguing over which is better for quite awhile now, and will probably continue to argue this long after our grandkdis have grandkids so we might as well call a tie :) .

As for the case in question, I couldn't just leave because I had to sign a form to say I gave it back, and it took them that long to firgure out how to make the form.

[Cheung]

If you are playing with a group of people you know and there are not other people around, it is probably safe to leave your stuff around. In our club, where the gym is effectively closed to outsiders, this isn't a problem

However, in tournaments when there are a lot of people around, it is only common sense to take your valuable with you around. That is one good reason for taking a small racquet bag with you. The racquets can go in plus your wallet and keys and you can leave the bulky stuff on the side of the court. Many people will take the bulky stuff to the side of the court.

Basically, there are always some people who are willing to take advantage of other people's mistakes so BE CAREFUL.

My racquets look so battered anyway that I'd doubt anybody would want to take them.

[Cheung]

Sort of quite a timely fashion to bring up this topic again.

The other week, I played in a tourney. The audience seating is to one side of the arena and higher up. This particular occasion, I left my bag in the seating area and went down for my match on court bringing my racquet bag and wallet. why did I leave my bag? becuase my wife and baby were sitting aorund.

During my game, the two of them got bored and left the bag unattended walking to the other side of the hall (8 court hall). My wife happened to look up and lo and behold, she saw a guy nonchalently kick his bag to over where my bag was, move over and stick his grubby hands in my bag!! Since I was still on court battling over a three game match, she couldn't tell me.

The thief didn't even walk off when my wife came back. He sat about 5 metres away. I got back to the seating area and my wife told me what happened. Kept a close eye on him and he was stealing furtive glances over to our side area without turing his head towards us.

Basically, I was really mad (checked the bag and hadn't lost anything) partly because I lost the match. My wife was definate about what she saw so I went right up to the guy and gave him a blasting. Of course, he denied BUT wouldn't look at me in the eye and kept playing on his mobile phone. Isn't that a real sign of guilt!!!

well, then we called him a thief and shouted out to everybody there is a thief HERE (pointing at him) and everybody should check their bags. He didn't argue with us but kept looking down at his mobile phone....

Well, just a little story for a reminder to all of us. Always keep you valuables with you. I use a racquet cover and have a separate small rucksack for clothes/towels/drinks. That way, the racquet cover can be used as a little bag for my wallet.

[wilfredlgf]

Originally posted by Joseph
Those racquets cost a hefty amount of money too!!!

The probable reason why racquets get stolen so often?

[badrad]

Cheung, that is a good deterent and raises the awareness of all the other players. Call the thief a thief and make sure to help other players as well.

As for what gets stolen more often I guess depends on the center and general class of thief. The VRC has a variety of thiefs, but the predominant ones are bag and wallet theft. With the summer season and more summer members, which means an influx of new unfamiliar faces, there are reasons why a thief can have an easy time at the club.

But thefts can happen anywhere, last week one of my friends while at Guildford gym had his pouch containng his wallet, keys and over $700 in cash (yeah why that much I have no idea...) lifted from his gym bag while he was in the weight room. He had the bag by his side most of the time, but at just the moment he was not aware must be when it occured. Whether the theft occured as a matter of wrong place, wrong time or that he was being tailed, hard to say.

Definitely if you have anything worth protecting, you should consider either not bringing it to the center, keeping it always close by, or have a designated attendant. Just make sure the attendant doesn't fall asleep or disappears for pee-break without changing the guard.

[AKFT]

Originally posted by Cheung


....well, then we called him a thief and shouted out to everybody there is a thief HERE (pointing at him) and everybody should check their bags. He didn't argue with us but kept looking down at his mobile phone....



For all the audiences who are not Tae Kwun Do black belts, or have a CN racket at hand, or who do not reside in HK where most people are not armed, please do not attempt this. You may get yourself killed if the "thief" just happens to be carrying a sharp object, or in the case of the USA, a gun!:D

[chub2003]

especially in school tournaments in high school guys, watch out for your racquet, especially if its yonex, cause thats what most ppl keep an eye out for. i suggest also if you have a yonex racquet keep it in another bag, like wilson or something

[LazyBuddy]

Totally agree with Badrad's idea: don't bring relatively un-necessary stuff to the gym, if u don't feel secure.

Even though, I always carry a big bag, but most of the stuff are worthless to the theft (T-shirts, pants, spare shorts, water bottles, a cheap wallet with a little bit handy cash, etc). The most valueable stuff are 3 regular rackets, and almost none of them are pricy Yonex.

Also, try to put all the bags together with others, and don't leave it alone in a hidden corner. With piles of bags together, it's very easy for the ones on the side to "guard" everyone's stuff at 1 shot.

Maybe that's also a reason, why a lot of clubs not really willing to accept new comers (especially totally strangers with no "connection").

[cappy75]

A while back, a friend's car got broken in... your basic smash and grap. His gear was in plain sight in the back seat and the only things got stolen were his pair of baddy shoes. I guess the thief doesn't know the value of his MP77 racquet:p, but he certainly knows the value of his Nikes though.

[frictionman]

Here in Manila a thiefs favorite target is cell phones not bag or wallets, that's why in some areas it's a no no to use cell phones on the side walks. They ususally travel in pairs on a scooter for a quick get away...

[badrad]

Such brazen theifs to steal the cells as you are using them, but I guess it is rather easy to do. Hmmm. if they were able to steal them from drivers that use them whilst they are driiving, these thieves would be a benefit to safe driving.

A couple weeks ago someone stole my front license plate while I was having lunch at a mall. The odd thing is that the rear license plate has the validation sticker, while the front has none, so why they only stole that one? It is possible I may have interrupted them when I came out of the restaurant. I'va had my rear license plates stolen a few times, usually coinciding with my renewal stickers.

Last week, being the old man that I am, I left my court shoes in at the club change room. A matter of hours, when I noticed was missing, I returned to the club and did a search. nowhere to be found, no one turned it in to lost and found or office. I presume someone has the use of my shoetag for the remainder of the year.
Years ago I remember the club was more "honorable" and literally have left racquets and shoes lying around and will find them on my return. So just have to make sure to keep your wits about and a watchful eye.

[LazyBuddy]

Originally posted by badrad

Years ago I remember the club was more "honorable" and literally have left racquets and shoes lying around and will find them on my return. So just have to make sure to keep your wits about and a watchful eye.

This makes me like my new club a lot. Ppl are helpful and caring. Just for these 2 months, we've found and returned ppl's "forgotten treasure" numerous times, including MP99, MP100, shoes, pants, etc.

Feel good to stay with them, a little bit more secured. Kinda odd such group still exist in NY... :eek:

[Wizbit]

A couple of years ago, after playing Badminton session, I went to Canteen area of the leisure centre to buy a drink, and made my way out with a friend.

After a brief 5 minute chat with my friend outside the building, I realised I had left the racquet in the canteen. Surprise surprise, I went back in and it was missing!

I definetly had the racquet with me, as I retrieved money from there to buy my drink.

The timeframe was 5 minutes or less! I think the staff had stolen it, as there was only 2 of us, plus an employee who was stacking drinks in the vending machine.

So, if you are that swine who stole my beloved Prince racquet, may you go to hell. You go to hell and die! Well that, or the racquet comes swiftly back to me..

..after that thougfh, I progressed onto my first Yonex racquet :o, an Isometric 60 light I think. It broke after 3 months :(

[ruth1]

I don't think I've ever had a raquet stolen at a tournament. In fact, most of the time I leave my bag wide open, my raquet on the floor next to it, and my CD player in plain view in the open bag. Also, after a match, I sometimes forget to collect my stuff that I had placed near the court of my my match. I come back, sometimes hours later, and the stuff's still there.

At Junior Nationals there were over 150 participants and many adults and spectators. I left my Yonex warmups on the court I was playing on, overnight. The next day I went to the tournament desk and asked if anyone had turned in the warmups. Sure enough, there they were.

Maybe I'm too trusting, but the only reason I got into the habit of not being overly-cautious of my badminton stuff, is because most of the tournaments I go to, has an atmostphere of fun and love for the sport. I think if there would be theft, it would be from people who come into the gym but aren't badminton fanatics. Because at the regional and national tournaments, everyone knows someone. So I think not only is it a question of morality, but a question of reputation among the badminton community.

[kwun]

i must admit me and my friends has been lucky in this part of the world. i have not heard of any badminton theft. for most of the gym and tournaments we go to, everybody leave their stuff lying around unattended. i guess in most of the gym we go to, everybody knows everybody anyway so it is not easy to steal stuff from people.

keeping my fingers crossed that things keeps that way.

however, i do think Cheung did the right thing by telling everybody there is a thief in the house. that should've been enough to deter the thief, and if the thief is a first timer, hopefully that will stop him from further theft.