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• #2
If other tagged bikes were there and yours was not then it really sounds like your bike was nicked by scrotes, not tfl.
How long was it left unattended?
If bikes are left, tagged, for several months before removal, then you'd expect to see it tagged before it disappeared.And if they had loads of these tagged bikes in storage, why would they nick yours? Was it a much nicer bike than the others in store? If it was, this reinforces the idea that it has been nicked by a thief rather than the authorities.
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• #3
Were all the other bikes gone too?
How long was you bike there?
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• #4
as you left it outside waterloo and went abroad, I'm going to go out on a limb here:
it was nicked
but if it is obviously covered by CCTV then chase for the footage quickly as tiswas said
if you've been abroad for a whole though it will have been wiped
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• #5
as you left it outside waterloo and went abroad, I'm going to go out on a limb here:
it was nicked
Were all the other bikes gone too?
How long was you bike there?
They can remove anything that is causing an obstruction. They must otherwise obtain the bike keeper's consent to remove it.
Fill out a report at the local copshop, ask that the CCTV be viewed.
The bike was inside the station. Locked to some palisade fencing around some plant with cycle racks beside it on platform 19 (you may know the place). It was not obstructing in any way and I have used that spot for years. I've Seen other bikes tagged and removed a few times over that time and mine never was. I don't discard ordinary theft, but I have a hunch that on the day of lock cutting, mine being way nicer than others around it, and technically illegally parked, was also removed and taken home by some clever fucker. Let's see what CCTV says
It was left for 6 days.
I was shown the removed ones stored away and recognised one that was right beside mine. As I say, it may be just coincidence, but I think is worth trying, because if it wasn't causing an obstruction, and was removed without notice, ther is a posibility (remote, I guess) of getting TFL to compensate?
Lets see
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• #6
The bike was inside the station...It was not obstructing in any way
I would be interested to find out what happened. Station staff are often not very understanding or sympathetic people.
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• #7
what kind of bike was it? If it was nice, probably nicked-6 days is long enough and even though there is cctv, depending on the locks you had, it wouldn't take much for a decent tea-leaf to make off with it.
I really doubt a tfl employee would risk his salary for the sake of a bike but you never know...
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• #8
It's only a coincidence, and therefore suspect that TFL don't have it, if all the bikes were removed, is that the case?
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• #9
They can remove anything that is causing an obstruction. They must otherwise obtain the bike keeper's consent to remove it.
Fill out a report at the local copshop, ask that the CCTV be viewed.
+1 also worth taking a photo for your records of exactly where it was stolen (either by TfL or others)......
Just to be clear though... I assume you are certain this would have been removed by TfL and not Network Rail who (I think) run the station... might be worth just checking with them too... belt n' braces.... and all that.
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• #10
Well, I tend to agree with Gregorio etc, It may be just coincidence. Police is checking the CCTV records, I have to say I consider the bike lost. However, the possibility is worth exploring
I have spoken to the station management, which is Network Rail as you say, and they haven't been very helpful so far.
In essence, I wanted to know if the bike has been removed by them, and if so if it was lawfuly done.I'll keep you guys posted
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• #11
I'll echos what everyone else have said - it was nicked.
hell I even seen a theft trying to steal a bike with a bolt chopper a couple months ago when I was taking the train at 12am.
6 days is a very long time to leave a bike locked up in London (unless it's a beater), especially when you said that your bike is way nicer than the others on the rack.
Theft check out the rack and went for the nicest one, that's all there to it.
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• #12
Inside Waterloo station is definitely private property owned by Network Rail. We had a bust up with them about 15 years ago, before then they used to remove bikes without warning and dumped them. Now they go through the process of tagging for a few weeks and then removing to a store before dumping.
Stations are policed by the British Transport Police who have been quite good at going after bike thieves recently. They are unlikely to go through a full 6 days of cctv, even if they have the spot covered. My guess is that they might be less sympathetic as there are now hundreds of racks at the front of the station which weren't full up last time I looked. -
• #13
just as you say charlie, the police were nice but won't look at the 6 days long movie... (just been told) I am now fully into the search for a new bike...
see you in classifieds...
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• #14
Do you not have insurance?
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• #15
just as you say charlie, the police were nice but won't look at the 6 days long movie...
It's not like they have to sit watching it for 6 days! If it's a similar software to the one at my work they could find the moment it happened in 5 or 10 minutes.
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• #16
you locked it illegally inside private property. they would of removed it for sure. you don't have a leg to stand on.
whats the go with people trying to blame others for them being stupid?!?
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• #17
It's not like they have to sit watching it for 6 days! If it's a similar software to the one at my work they could find the moment it happened in 5 or 10 minutes.
Statutory bodies, or large and older companies, hardly update their CCTV to the latest motion-detection types. It costs a lot of money, and would have to be rolled out of a huge area. They'd be lucky to be using digital now, instead of ancient VHS tapes.
you locked it illegally inside private property. they would of removed it for sure. you don't have a leg to stand on.
whats the go with people trying to blame others for them being stupid?!?
I didn't want to say it this way, as I have grown so tired of offending people; but I work in the security industry, and fully agree with what dogsballs has said here.
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• #18
Stupid is a bit harsh - extremely careless is more accurate.
If I'd locked my bike to railings and then gone abroad I would not expect to see it when I got back. In fact, I would be bloody amazed if it was still there.
Personally I feel twitchy when my bike is locked outside a shop for more than ten minutes.
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• #19
Personally I feel twitchy when my bike is locked outside a shop for more than ten minutes.
Yes, you should be in and out of a shop you're holding up so fast that you don't even have to lock up your bike. Anything else is, frankly, just amateurish.
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• #20
you locked it illegally inside private property. they would of removed it for sure. you don't have a leg to stand on.
whats the go with people trying to blame others for them being stupid?!?
Dogsballs, I am not blaming anyone.
I had to do it and was aware of the risk. I wouldn't have left it otherwise
The bike is gone and just wanted advise on the legality of a potential removal by Network Rail. (Which in fact did not take it)What's the go about people jumping to conclusions and being offensive just for the sake of it?
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• #21
.
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• #22
What's the go about people jumping to conclusions and being offensive just for the sake of it?
If I may be frank, thread title seemed to be pretty harsh.
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• #23
If I may be frank, thread title seemed to be pretty harsh.
Yeah, i'll give you that. I was fucking angry
no hard feelings dogballs
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• #24
Sorry about your bike and all that. A stolen bike still means a cyclist with no bike - however it happened. I crashed mine recently and I've been bereft WITHOUT IT. Didn't realise how lost I'd feel without it until it happened to me. (Note to self: fix up that beater.)
Just to put myself in the shoes of a bike thief, if I were nicking bikes I'd pick something like this. Platform 19 is the last platform on the station, so when a train is in, almost nobody can see you. You've been through a few times and spotted a bike that hasn't moved for a few days, chances are it won't move for a few more. Bolt cutters don't take long to use. If someone shouts, you can say it's your bike, you just lost your keys. "Look, it's about to get cut away and dumped by Network Rail." After all, who would be nicking bikes here in the middle of the station under CCTV? But that CCTV is often rubbish - I've seen the footage from station cameras. I could only identify my friend because I knew where he was standing, it could have been my mum for all the detail I could make out. Jumping on the train with the bike means you getting 5 or 10 mins to drop the saddle to your height etc. before you get to Vauxhall or Clapham Junction. Do it at night when the barriers will be open at the far end (so you don't get tracked by oyster) and you're free and clear. Just some grainy CCTV pictures of someone with their back to the camera left behind.
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• #25
Tea_Bea just give the bike back already. You've proved your point.
Some legal advice please.
I had to leave my bike locked to some railings beside full cycle racks in Waterloo Station a few days ago. In a place I use every day which is technically not to be used but never had a problem in years. I had to travel abroad unexpectedly and in coming back the bike had desapeared. When asked, the sation management stated that they had removed illegally or abandoned bikes from that platform that had been tagged for removal months in advance. I know this because I have been seeing one bike nearby with the removal notice attached just beside mine for several months. They took me to the place where they store these bikes and mine was not there. They say it must have been stolen but I find the coincidence more than suspicious.
The question is: Do TFL have an obligation to notify in advance their intention to remove a bike? Or can they just do it if the bike is not in a designated bike parking space?
The platform is obviously well covered by CCTV and it should have filmed the moment the bike was removed (by tfl or others) if the obligation exists, there is some hope for compensation from tfl, if not... well, another stolen bike to go on that sad thread. Does anyone have any idea?