Travellers stealing money! What to do.

2015helpme

A friend of mine was sitting in his car when two teenage travellers approached him. Whatever happened they took €100 euro from him (His whole dole) and ran away. Two minutes later a guard was walking by on foot, so he approached her and basically she just took his details, and didn't want to go after the two of them, even though this literally happened two minutes before. They were very threatening towards him and not too sure what to do next. Can't let them away with it, the guard told us they're running around the town stealing from everyone. If the guard knows this why isn't there anything being done about it?

coylemj

It's part of their tradition, they're an ethnic minority and if you criticise them for what they get up to, you're a racist.

Cousin of mine runs a filling station, they regularly top up and drive off without paying, cops will do nothing.

yer man!

coylemj wrote: »

It's part of their tradition, they're an ethnic minority and if you criticise them for what they get up to, you're a racist.

Cousin of mine runs a filling station, they regularly top up and drive off without paying, cops will do nothing.

I can't understand why automatic fuel pumps never really caught on in Ireland, I mean you either pre-pay or use a card, no fuel will dispense without either. Would really cut down on this sort of stuff.

MarkAnthony

yer man! wrote: »

I can't understand why automatic fuel pumps never really caught on in Ireland, I mean you either pre-pay or use a card, no fuel will dispense without either. Would really cut down on this sort of stuff.

Because we like to do everything in cash lest the government be watching!

OP keep pushing it up the chain of command, make a nuisance of yourself.

Galway K9

It's their culture boss!

source

2 minutes is a long time for someone on foot to catch up to someone. They could have gone into a house, bar, shop, they could have got in a car or got on a bus, taxi, bicycle etc... in other words they would have been well gone after 2 minutes.

The guard's and injured party's time in this scenario is much better served by taking the details and passing those details to other units to keep an eye out.

Zambia

2015helpme wrote: »

A friend of mine was sitting in his car when two teenage travellers approached him. Whatever happened they took €100 euro from him (His whole dole) and ran away. Two minutes later a guard was walking by on foot, so he approached her and basically she just took his details, and didn't want to go after the two of them, even though this literally happened two minutes before. They were very threatening towards him and not too sure what to do next. Can't let them away with it, the guard told us they're running around the town stealing from everyone. If the guard knows this why isn't there anything being done about it?

You will note I don't ask you to expand on how the money was taken.

The garda would have. Now if she knew all the facts and made the decision not to chase or investigate, two males who had just committed essentially a robbery she would have had a good reason why.

MightyMandarin

coylemj wrote: »

It's part of their tradition, they're an ethnic minority and if you criticise them for what they get up to, you're a racist.

Cousin of mine runs a filling station, they regularly top up and drive off without paying, cops will do nothing.

Funnily enough a friend of mine use to vehemently support the travellers and got annoyed when we made statements like that. He started working in a Maxol 6 months ago and my has his outlook on them changed.

SuperS54

MightyMandarin wrote: »

Funnily enough a friend of mine use to vehemently support the travellers and got annoyed when we made statements like that. He started working in a Maxol 6 months ago and my has his outlook on them changed.

I worked in many filling stations during summer holidays from school/college, the vast majority of travelers were an issue. I remember one incident were a full Hiace pulled in, I left the "office" and locked the door before going to fill his diesel, I got a face full of abuse from the driver with the usual "would you have done that if a settled person pulled in etc. etc.", was soon surrounded as the van emptied as they assumed my lack of response was fear rather than not being bothered and having been through it all before too many times. Finished pumping fuel, got paid and wandered off to the other end of the station where there was a mechanics garage with a large mirror where I could observe the forecourt without being seen. They all pile back into the van except the driver who looks around and assumes no one is watching, quickly darts over to the rack of oils in front of the "office" and shoves 2 1 litre containers into his jacket before jumping back into the van and driving off. I hope he poured them into the engine with the same haste, all the display containers were filled with sand as so many had been stolen by travelers in the past...

Funny thing was I actually locked the door because I was planning on having lunch after serving him, I didn't know he was a traveler until he got out of the van and started with abuse.

nuac

Most travellers regard the rest of us as legitimate targets.

Fair play to SS54. Now and again, as in this case they get their come-uppance.

some years ago outside Castlebar two young lady travellers called to an elderly farmer who lived on his own. ( His house would have been identified and details passed around the traveller network )

They exposed themselves to him and promised him a passionate time, but claimed his bed was not fit for purpose. Got €300 or so from him to go into town to buy a bed. Vanished.

Many caught like this would have been too embarrassed to publicise it.

This man contacted Gardaí and saw it through as prosecution witness. Got his money back, and a conviction for those two travellers.

Neighbourhood watch is now operating well in many areas.

There are some good decent law abiding travellers, but far too many are crooks. The traveller support industry claim all their ducks are swans. Few in rural Ireland would agree

OldMrBrennan83

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hullaballoo

Patww79 wrote: »

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I don't know, surely it's a perfect set up for introverts and as$holes and we're hardly short of those?

hfallada

Patww79 wrote: »

Very few petrol stations want to be early with this, as they could lose business because people don't tend to like them.

Rural petrol stations aren't 24/7. I would prefer to use a machine 24/7, than only being able to buy fuel between 7-11 when there is staff on. When you are in a rural with generally one or 2 petrol stations in the town. You aren't going to drive 10 mins to the next petrol station because you don't like the machine.

OldMrBrennan83

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Larbre34

nuac wrote: »

some years ago outside Castlebar two young lady travellers called to an elderly farmer who lived on his own. ( His house would have been identified and details passed around the traveller network )

They exposed themselves to him and promised him a passionate time, but claimed his bed was not fit for purpose. Got €300 or so from him to go into town to buy a bed. Vanished.

Many caught like this would have been too embarrassed to publicise it.

This man contacted Gardaí and saw it through as prosecution witness. Got his money back, and a conviction for those two travellers.

That is literally the best one Ive ever heard! Its a great little country all the same....

Stheno

Patww79 wrote: »

Very few petrol stations want to be early with this, as they could lose business because people don't tend to like them.

I've come across a fair few recently in topaz stations

RainyDay

yer man! wrote: »

I can't understand why automatic fuel pumps never really caught on in Ireland, I mean you either pre-pay or use a card, no fuel will dispense without either. Would really cut down on this sort of stuff.

Probably because they make feck-all money on fuels. They only make money when you come in to the shop and buy the milk and the chocolate and the flowers for the missus.

Larbre34

Patww79 wrote: »

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They should be adopted as standard, then people may get used to it.

Its the norm in most main stations on the Continent and all of them in the US.

Its not even that you have to have a credit card. You can walk in to the man inside and pre-pay for your desired amount with cash.


In my college years a friend from my class was working in a filling station on the edge of south Dublin, a bunch of travellers attempted a drive-off and he was silly enough to try and stop them. They closed the window while holding his arm inside and dragged him out of the garage and about 100 yards up the road. His injuries included a fractured wrist and damaged ligaments in his knee, along with abrasions all up once side of his body and face. Took about 3 months until he was fully healed, physically.

At the time, about 10 of us who were fairly fit and sporty got together to try and locate the responsible group as we were planning to break many laws concerning their bodily integrity. It was pre-internet and social media so we never did find them, and it was probably just as well on reflection, as criminal convictions would have done us no favours in life.

hfallada

Patww79 wrote: »

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I worked retail more OAPs use bank cards, than pay with cash. I used to see plenty of OAPs with iPhones or Ipads, which is pretty funny. If you have no choice but to use automated pumps, you will use them. In some parts of Ireland, there is only a petrol station every 20 mins. You arent going to take a 40 round trip because you dont like machines. People are rational

billy few mates

Stheno wrote: »

I've come across a fair few recently in topaz stations

My son worked in a Topaz in a nice suburb of Dublin a few years back and apparently you could switch the pump from post pay to pre pay at the flick of a switch if you thought there was the risk of a drive away. They mostly left it post pay but if they saw a suspicious looking hi ace (or similar) they would hit the switch as the vast majority of these incidents would be by members of that community. Quite often they would get angry and storm in demanding it be switched back post pay but he would deny he had any control of it and offer to take their money up front but many would then drive off without filling up.

The other bane of his life at the time were taxi drivers who would fill their cars up to an odd amount like €20.36 then walk inside and plonk a €20 note on the counter and say 'sorry bud it's all I've got' knowing full well they weren't going to come after him for the 36c. At the end of a shift his till could be down three or four quid (more sometimes) if enough people did it. He wouldn't have to pay this back but it would be recorded against him as if he'd taken that money himself, nicking a few cents here and there is not a victimless crime.

I'm in the U.S. At the moment and every single gas station that I've been to is prepay, it's a real pain because if you try to use your card in the machine it asks for your zip code so you have to go inside and estimate how much it will cost to fill it and pay that amount.

galljga1

Patww79 wrote: »

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48, love machines and bank cards, however self service checkouts get on my mammaries: "unexpected item in the bagging area", particularly in B & Q.

dodderangler

nuac wrote: »

some years ago outside Castlebar two young lady travellers called to an elderly farmer who lived on his own. ( His house would have been identified and details passed around the traveller network )

They exposed themselves to him and promised him a passionate time, but claimed his bed was not fit for purpose. Got €300 or so from him to go into town to buy a bed.

Ha serves him right. What type of idiot would actually fall for that. Seriously that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard.

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

It's part of their tradition, they're an ethnic minority and if you criticise them for what they get up to, you're a racist.

Cousin of mine runs a filling station, they regularly top up and drive off without paying, cops will do nothing.

They are about an ethnic minority as goths. They are Irish. They share same surnames same religions. They are more mafia then ethnic.

draiochtanois

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AndyBoBandy

draiochtanois wrote: »

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Having been to HQ in Schenectady many times, I can say that that is true.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Andybobandy wrote: »

Having been to HQ in Schenectady many times, I can say that that is true.

But it's still a pain in the hole. Anything involving doing business in or with the US always has to be a torment (sorry OT.....)

MarkAnthony

nuac wrote: »

Most travellers regard the rest of us as legitimate targets.

Fair play to SS54. Now and again, as in this case they get their come-uppance.

some years ago outside Castlebar two young lady travellers called to an elderly farmer who lived on his own. ( His house would have been identified and details passed around the traveller network )

They exposed themselves to him and promised him a passionate time, but claimed his bed was not fit for purpose. Got €300 or so from him to go into town to buy a bed. Vanished.

Many caught like this would have been too embarrassed to publicise it.

This man contacted Gardaí and saw it through as prosecution witness. Got his money back, and a conviction for those two travellers.

Neighbourhood watch is now operating well in many areas.

There are some good decent law abiding travellers, but far too many are crooks. The traveller support industry claim all their ducks are swans. Few in rural Ireland would agree

I really hope you write a book someday, if you haven't already. I liked Kingdom for the most part and I get the impression you'd easily top that.

nuac

dodderangler wrote: »

Ha serves him right. What type of idiot would actually fall for that. Seriously that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard.

Creid nó ná creid, but it did happen.
The guy was elderly, the young wans were attractive.

The interesting thing was that he reported it, and followed up by giving evidence.

I have had considerable experience of interaction between travellers and the rest of the community. You must have led a sheltered life if you do not accept such things happen.

nuac

MarkAnthony wrote: »

I really hope you write a book someday, if you haven't already. I liked Kingdom for the most part and I get the impression you'd easily top that.

Thanks. May do. Kingdom?

MarkAnthony

nuac wrote: »

Thanks. May do. Kingdom?

It was a show with Stephen Fry playing a 'small country practice' solicitor. Basically a take on the 'country doctor' type shows. It even managed to resurrect Tony Slattery of all people.

billy few mates

Hey, you can't give advice about legal dramas on here, it's against the forum rules...