Mrs

[Willow]

I knwo some on here work with the police so I'm hoping they can help give some idea what I do next.

 

My son's glasses were (accidentially we assume) taken by another child when he was swimming on Sunday. The mother reported them to the swimming pool when she came across them but asked that her details not be given to the people who reported them lost.

 

I rang the pool again today and according to the pool she has apparently now decided it's too much hassle to return them because I'd asked for them to be packaged up securely not just popped in an envelope

 

These glasses are new and cost £50 and he needs them, anyone know what our rights are ? He has out of date spares but the reason he has just got new ones is his old ones are out of date.

 

We're 1/2 hr drive from the pool one direction and she is 1/2 hr drive the other, since she won't provide me with any details of who they are I can't go and collect them although I would. I have asked the pool to ring her and ask her to leave them with her nearest police station with our details but no idea if she'll do it.

 

I'm so mad at someone being so cruel as to not return them when he really needs them I can't work out why she rang the pool in the first place.

[PurpleTree]

Haven't got anything useful to say, but it seems a bit mean. Can't she take them back to the pool? Wonder why she's so secretive about leaving details especially as you're willing to go and pick them up?

 

Good luck, hope you get them back soon

[Chucky Mama]

How bizzare, it is all a bit cloak and dagger isn't it. I assume that she regularly uses the pool so why doesn't she drop them back there for you to collect? If no one has her details I don't know what you can do Hope you get it sorted

[Willow]

She feels the pool is too far away for her to take them back.

[Chickendoodle]

Golly, that's so difficult. I'm sure that you would be more than happy to pay for the postage (even though it was her son who took them) but without knowing her address you can't send it to her?

 

Surely if she is refusing to return the glasses it is theft and can be reported as such. Assume she wouldn't want a criminal record! Difficult for the pool as well as I don't suppose they are too happy at being used by her as a go-between.

[Charlottechicken]

She feels the pool is too far away for her to take them back.

 

Yet not too far to go swimming

 

I'd phone the local police station for advice. She now appears to be witholding your son's property and denying your son the use of them.

[Egluntyne]

I'd phone the local police station for advice. She now appears to be witholding your son's property and denying your son the use of them.

 

I agree, She has admitted to a third party that she is in possession of them and that she is aware that they belong to someone else. Not a smart move.

[C&T]

I'd phone the local police station for advice. She now appears to be witholding your son's property and denying your son the use of them.

 

I agree, She has admitted to a third party that she is in possession of them and that she is aware that they belong to someone else. Not a smart move.

 

 

Agree - and then the Police I would have thought would be able to get her details from the Swimming Pool centre.

 

If she didn't want to do anything, why admit she has them in the first place!

[Chucky Mama]

She sounds a bit potty to me. It is almost as if she is attention seeking. If she didn't want to get involved she should have returned them to the pool Might it be someone that you know and maybe don't like?

[Cinnamon]

I thought theft by finding was an offence?

I thought if you found something you are obliged to take it to the Police.................

 

Phone the Police - they belong to YOU not her,& by wilfully witholding them from you she is being stupid,spiteful & possibly breaking the law

[Alis girls]

Do you know if her kid wears glasses or did he take because they were there. I'd call Police too I think - sounds like the lights on but shes not at home

[Cinnamon]

...................or that she knows darn well that her child has taken them maliciously,rather than by mistake

[Chicktastic]

Yeah I would phone the police too, some people are sooooo strange!!!!

 

Both myself and my chilldren wear glasses and I would personally go out of my way to return them!!!

 

Keep us posted with how you get on!! Good Luck xxx

[Ygerna]

The definition of theft under Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 is:

A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.

 

She is intentionally withholding these this from you. She knows they are not hers. She knows they belong to someone else. She is not intending to return them.

 

Seems to fit the 'theft' definition to me. Call the police.

[ladyjulian]

Politely disagree: intention to permanently deprive - she's already phoned the pool to say she wants to return them, it's just the means of returning them she's quibbling about.

 

Having said that, I don't think you're likely to get her (or her son) nicked for theft, but a visit from a copper could 'encourage' her to return them sooner rather than later...

[Willow]

What isn't helping is I'm getting conflicting information from the pool Earlier today they told me she'd decided it was too much hassle to return them so she wouldn't (the hassle was because I was nervous about them being popped in an envelope and put in normal post and had asked if they were posted for them to be well wrapped) whereas this evening they said she told them today when they rang she'd posted them first class Monday |Our post locally is actually very good so I'd have expected them by today.

 

She was very odd Sunday when she rang me and had put in the code to withhold her number so I couldn't see it on caller id. I have no idea what age her child is but I've noticed many young children who don't wear glasses seem fascinated by them so wonder if her child intentionally picked them up.

 

She was very much on the offensive saying my child shouldn't have left them lying around - er there is never anywhere designated to leave glasses and if you can't see well you can't get from the locker to the pool easily if it's an unfamiliar pool and you can't wear them in the pool because they come off.

 

I don't know why she rang me And I don't know how she can be so mean as to not return them/let me collect them when he depends on them.

 

If they don't turn up tomorrow I'm reporting it to the police but I'll have to order him new ones, his eye sight is deteriorating too quickly to leave him in out of date ones for weeks.

 

I think unless your eyesuight is bad it's hard to understand, but your glasses are a part of you and I need to get them sorted for him quickly - a £50 pair of trainers wouldn't upset me the way this does.

[Willow]

No sign fo the glasses in todays post although something I'd ordered by posting a 2nd class letter on Monday arrived today so no problems with our post locally !

 

So I've reported it to the police

[docsquid]

No sign fo the glasses in todays post although something I'd ordered by posting a 2nd class letter on Monday arrived today so no problems with our post locally !

 

So I've reported it to the police

 

Good. It does sound a bit fishy that this person claims to be unable to get to the swimming pool, unable to post them properly wrapped, and then claims to the pool that they were posted.

 

I have the same problem with glasses when I am swimming although I now have prescription goggles which I can use to get to the pool from the changing room. There should be a few free glasses lockers next to a pool so that people can put them in there safely while swimming.

[Redwing]

Are you sure she didnt post them to the pool rather than to you maybe?

[Cinnamon]

Just a thought - maybe they have got broken somewhere along the line & she is trying to cover her tracks?

[chickenanne]

She sounds a sandwich sort of a picnic to me.

 

I mean, young kids do take things by mistake, confusing there stuff with someone elses or just playing with them, getting distracted, and sticking them in a pocket without thinking. In an ideal world kids wouldn't be careless with belongings, but they're kids, so they sometimes are!

[Looney]

What a horrid situation I have to admit, I thought the same as Sarah that perhaps the glasses have been damaged and she doesn't want to be liable for paying for the damage

[Happy chickens!]

Why do some people have to make such a simple thing complicated? I can't imagine not returning them to the pool, very odd they have been sent back but not received.

 

Couldn't you get a free pair of nhs glasses to tide him over? Handy to have as a spare pair anyway.

 

Hope the originals turn up soon. x

[Willow]

The police have sent an PCSO to the pool and got her number. She didn't leave a name or address with the pool only a phone number which he felt was odd !

 

He's tried ringing a couple of times and left a message just before the end of his shift for her to ring the control room and has left a message with the control room. Have to say the police have been lovely since value wise this isn't much. He said if he could get an address he would go and fetch them and leave them with his station for me to collect

 

I don't believe she has sent them yet as despite the bad press Royal Mail sometimes get mostly when you post something 1st class it gets there the next day and at worst the day after I'm hoping that with this much hassle she decides to send them first class or take them to the police station.

 

I didn't think of asking for a free nhs pair to tide him over good idea. Although tbh at the beginning of the week it didn't occur to me the finders would spin this out all week. I thought the worst case was they'd put them in the post inadequately packaged If they aren't in my post tomorrow am I'll ring the optician and see what they advise.

[Cinnamon]

Hate to be cynical, but I am wondering if they have been broken, she is saying they have been posted but she hasn't done so,so they will be 'lost in the post'

 

Its just odd that she wants to remain anonymous, and keeps changing her story......