Emily's Bad Day

Have you ever wondered what you would do if your purse was stolen?  This happened to my daughter, Emily, earlier this week...an unpleasant and frightening experience.

It happened at work - she works in a building with no security, where people come and go at will.  She was one of two people at work that day and the other person was in and out all day.  When Em returned to her office after going to another floor to check things out, she noticed her purse was missing.  She searched the whole office, the waste cans, the dumpsters behind the building and the trash bins out in front.  No sign of her purse.

She called me for help and moral support.  Her husband was out of town for the week so he couldn't help.  By the time I got to her, she had called the bank and cancelled credit and debit cards, called a locksmith to have her apartment locks changed, and walked the few blocks home to her apartment. 

She notified the building manager about the theft and had her parkade entry key fob deactivated so the thief wouldn't be able to use the address and keys in her purse to get at her car.  She also had to have the security entrance fob deactivated, so once she was in the building she couldn't get out again until the manager was able to get a new fob/key for her.

So I met her in the foyer of her building and we waited there for the locksmith.  He came very quickly and soon had new keys made for her lock and dead bolt, and she was in her apartment.  By now the building manager had gone home for the day so she would have to wait till morning to get her security key/fob.  In the meantime, she couldn't leave the building because she wouldn't be able to get back in.  At least she knew that the thief wouldn't be able to get in her building either.

The next morning we began the task of trying to replace what was lost.  The apartment manager had given her new keys to the building and parkade so she was able to get to her car, but she didn't have a key for the car so she called the dealer about having another one made.  They insisted that she had to bring the car in so they could do it.  But she didn't have a key to use to bring the car in.  So, AAA to the rescue.  It took two trucks, two strong men and a lot of maneuvering to get the car out of the parkade.  But they got it done and we headed to the car dealership.  They were very nice and had two keys made for her, and washed her car, before we finished the rest of our running around.

The next stop was the police station to file a report.  Without a copy of the report she wouldn't have been able to get a replacement driver's license.  That was handled fairly quickly.  We certainly don't expect the police to mount a search for the stolen purse but it was important to file the report.

Once that was done, the next stop was the bank where Em got a new bank card and access to her account.  The credit cards will be mailed separately. The bank determined that the credit cards hadn't been used since the theft so that was a relief.

Then on to the Motor Vehicle Registry office where she got her driver's license.  The stolen one was going to expire on her birthday in May so she was due for a new one anyway.  She now has a temporary license until her new official one is prepared and mailed to her, within a week.

So Emily's feeling almost normal now.  She can come and go from her home safely, drive her car with a valid license, and access her bank account.  What a nuisance it is to lose your purse.  Not to mention the expense - about $600 when you factor in the locksmith charges, car dealer charges, etc.  Thank heavens for AAA.  Who knows what the tow would have cost otherwise. 

And what did the thief get out of it?  Nothing except for a few dollars cash, which will probably be used for drugs.  The only other concern would be identity theft but having filed a police report and notified the banks, she should be somewhat protected.  We're going with the drug money theory though.

You can bet we'll all be hanging on to our purses a bit more tightly from now on and not letting them out of our sight when we're not at home.