Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Malcolm Reade on August 30, 2009, 07:40:39 am
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And on the subject of props....
Ron Dean kindly loaned us his Raboesh display boards containing samples of Raboesh bow thrusters and propellers. Yesterday at the Birchwood Model Boat Show some paricularly nice individual stole the boss from one of Ron's cast propellers on the display board rendering it useless.
I will now have to scrap another propeller at my own expense (If I have a similar one in stock) and use the boss to repair Ron's display board before we send it back to him on Tuesday..
I'm sure that the good folks of the Mayhem Forum and our other customers, the vast majority of whom are completely honest and decent, will fully understand why we will now need to have continuous CCTV surveillance of our stand at model boat shows shows from now on?
Anybody caught stealing anything from our stand in future WILL be prosecuted (for a start)!
Malc
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If anyone ever stole anything off me,and i caught them,I think perhaps it would be me that ended up getting prosecuted,
Wasyl,
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Most traders in the model boat business at have stock stolen at some time or another. The problem is that it's extremely difficult to watch what's going on all of the time.
We used to have an open area stand where modellers could come in and have a good look at the stock hanging up on a grid-wall point of sale system. It was a very customer-friendly way of doing business. We will never be able to assess the amount of stock that we lost to theft, but it must be a lot? We have now reverted to a conventional table type stand layout - we keep the public out of the stand, and the stock in drawers under the tables.
One year at the Blackpool Show, somebody took 4 x 50Amp American Maxx solid state speed controllers off a display hook on our stand and walked off with them - they were selling (from memory) around £35 each - and cost us £32 each to buy. That particular loss cost us our net profit for most of the weekend, so we no longer sell speed controllers for that very reason.
It leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.
We have sourced CCTV equipment today (I only hope that nobody steals it :embarrassed:), so in future, as from our next show, whatever happens on our stand will be recorded in full glorious colour. I hate having to do this as most of our customers are genuine, honest decent folk with whom we have become friendly over the years.
Malc
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Unfortunately, this sort of thing tars everyone with the same brush. It will never go away but it it will make the honest buyer/browser (the vast majority of us I hope!!) feel guilty/wary simply by just picking a product up and looking at it.
Now, with you going down the CCTV route, people will feel that it is a case of "look, but do not touch". Is that fair for the person who genuinely wants to see what he/she wants before purchasing? No, but one that we have to put up with is the answer I suppose. Certainly not your fault.
Sometimes, I have picked up something interesting at a show/shop but have always made an effort at not looking as if I was indenting to keep it but rather to put it back just in case I thought that I was being "observed". You end up totally paranoid and that takes some, if not most, of the enjoyment of going to shows/shops.
What a shame that there will always be some small minded, cheapskate thief, that ruins it for the honest, fun loving boat builder/hobbyist.
Ron.
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Malc,
Sorry to hear of that incident. Re cctv, I take it you have checked out the regulations regarding recording people on cctv?
Ian
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Yes the data Protection act I think is one you will have to regester for..
Proteus
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Yes, we deal with data protection matters on a regular ongoing basis and are fully aware of the regulations...
We are aware of and will fully comply with the ICO's Code of Practice.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/detailed_specialist_guides/ico_cctvfinal_2301.pdf (http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/detailed_specialist_guides/ico_cctvfinal_2301.pdf)
Essentially, the footage collected at each show will be reviewed once, and if nothing untoward is found, the files will be immediately and permanently erased. Anything found that is suspicious will be immediately passed to the Police.
Malc
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All this aside i hope you still had a profitable weekend :-))
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I thought with video images you had to keep them as anybody you video has the right to have a copy, I think there was a set fee it used to be £10 the same way as any infomation you hold on someone they have the right to a copy so you cannot just say that it has been destroyed I think there is a time limit on it.
you can walk down a street and apply for a copy of the stored video .
Proteus
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See my previous post....
"We are aware of and will fully comply with the ICO's Code of Practice"
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Dear Malcolm,
Sorry to hear of your recent 'irritation'.
Whilst I am certain that no Mayhem member would do such a thing, maybe you might let everybody know the size of propeller - and possibly what the part looked like - so that all can be aware of what was pinched. The item sounds rather specialised (fast possibly?) - and possibly 'largish' - and might be used for one type of vessel only? - so someone somewhere might just get a touch 'nervous' if they eventually knew people where watching out for the size of the prop. and a known part - v.partic. if others knew/know that something had dropped off someone's vessel - the theft of one partic. part does tend to suggest a specific loss doesn't it...
Pity one has to resort to CCTV... the innocent get tared with the same brush as someone else has said... but such is life these days unfortunately...
I have found Alarm Guns v.useful & effective in the past... but they wouldn't be very practical for your purpose... %) :o :} (For those who don't know what an Alarm Gun is, it's a mechanism with an empty 12bore cartridge (no 'load', but still goes off with a nice bang!), with any length of clear nylon trip wire attached... trip the 'wire', Bob's your Uncle!!! :-) :-))
Regards, Bernard
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... I should add that you need a shotgun licence to get the cartridges (before anyone get's any DIY home protection schemes!). The mechanisms can be got from any good farm supplies shop. Locating these devices needs care and thought, so are NOT for the uninitiated.
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Hi Bernard
Thanks for the advice...
I used to hold a shotgun licence here in the UK - I used to do a lot of rough shooting many years ago, and sometimes a little at clays. I couldn't bring myself to shoot anything nowadays though.
I don't think that it will be necessary to resort to that sort of violence - most unbecoming of a gentleman. FLJ and I did discuss the possibility of a couple of brackets on the wall at the back of our stand on which to mount a baseball bat however...
<*< <*<
Malc
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But who would FLJ get to wield his baseball bat for him ? {:-{
Very careful with the answers please. ;)
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Can we get off all of this talk of violence please?
(I much prefer phsycological torture) - didn't need the spell checker!!!
Thanks...
Malc
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Pity you didnt use the spell checker Malc, you spelt psychological wrong ok2
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Ouch :embarrassed:
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Sorry couldn't resist it ;)
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Glad you noticed the deliberate mistake :embarrassed: :embarrassed:
(S'funny, the spell checker didn't red line it as I was typing)?
Malc
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{-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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wire the stand up to 50v dc. Enough to put the toerags off !
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Moderators any chance of splitting this so its back to PROPS
Proteus
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wire the stand up to 50v dc. Enough to put the toerags off !
I spent most of my working life fiddling with live 50 volt gear. It doesn't even tickle on a hot sweaty day. 75vAC superimposed on 50vDC, now that's a much better prospect. Sadly, it would probably be counted as a man-trap, which would be illegal.
Most modellers try to economize, but theft is a totally unacceptable way of cutting costs. Too many show visitors think that the shows just happen, nobody has to foot the bill for the venue, traders don't have any overheads like travelling to the show, paying their whack of the rent, buying their stock etc and therefore everything that they want and is not nailed down is for the taking. And yet, "borrow" a pen off one of these alleged people and "forget" to return it, they will explain the difference between right and wrong at great length.
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Just go straight for the 240 , if you can get done for 50v might as well make it worth while.. %%
Isnt there a product other than super glue you can put on nuts & Bolts to stop them moving which then need that bit more force to shift them. Lock tight or somthing.?
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Isnt there a product other than super glue you can put on nuts & Bolts to stop them moving which then need that bit more force to shift them. Lock tight or somthing.?
Loctite Threadlocker - Google for suppliers or buy it in most motor parts shops.
Colin
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But who would FLJ get to wield his baseball bat for him ? {:-{
No need, dear old thing. Such crudity is beneath me. We had a "shoplifter" at one show.
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I ate his liver with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti............ 8)
FLJ
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As a Customer there is nothing like a good display presentation to be able to see exactly what you are buying, and you may not know you need to buy one until you see it. Today that needs a plastic covered display case, extra cost but solves some problems.
If the stuff is on a wall at the back of the stand for security please make sure descriptions/notices/prices are clear enough to be read by people without their glasses. You don't have time for "can I have a look at that widget, no the one above, no up a bit, how much...."
It would help in some cases to provide a lot more information on the shop's website which is tedious but lower cost and lasts a while. "widget - picture not available " is not much use. Widget, pictured with 3 views square on to some graph paper with a clear dimension, a helpfull description like 'suitable size for 1:32 scale tug of 1950's German design' material of construction and a part number helps a lot more and must result in more orders.
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There's an old saying "You look with your eyes not your hands" an so called model makers are just as bad as very young children with regards to picking things up and getting close to very fine rigging with that pointed finger. I seem to remember an instance at the Model Engineers show, London, some time back, a guy picked up an piece of work that was on display and walked off a short distance to show his wife "darling isn't this wonderfull" he exclaimed, security went in a right tizzy over it, and top it off the guy admitted he was a model maker to boot!
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There's an old saying "You look with your eyes not your hands"
Agree about picking up a model or touching someone else's pride and joy without permission , however when purchasing something a customer should be able to view closer if required , which in most cases is actually the case , particularly with the traders on this thread , On a occasions I have asked if I could take something away to check that it is the right size or would do the job, a lot of it as always is trust which unfortunately is ruined by a small majority.
Larry