My mechanic stole my wedding ring, what do I do?!?

[Stony]

What is the name of your state? Glenn County, California

Ok, heres what happened,
I had to get the seat of my jeep welded at a shop, so I took it there, you know, took my ring off, put it in the coin holder part of my jeeps center column, pull the seat out, it was welded, and I put it back, back on the road I go, I look down to grab my smokes I see my ring, thats good, I smoke and onto the junk yard, its closed so I keep going, onto the mechanic shop to get a smog check.

I don't think about putting my ring on, I was really late, and so I kind of just ran in, tossed the mechanic my keys like is normal (I've been there afew times) and he tossed them to his assistant, who reparked my car, the smog test went over well, I was in the waiting room watching like a hawk because by the time it was hooked upto the smog machine I realised I wasn't wearing my ring, and theres a no people allowed in work area sign, so I can't get in there, you know, so I watch the whole thing, and I get the keys back, I was the last customer there, they were closing shop, so I said thanks, and drove to the gas station about a block away.

I glanced down as I hit the intersection before the gas station (shop on one side, gas on the other) to see if my rings still there, it isn't, so I pull into the gas station, and look through the car frantically, I drive back to the shop, their still there, and I'm like "Wheres my ring!"

And all three of them (master mechanic, secretary, assistant mechanic) come out to look at the car to see if they can help, but the assistant just kind of leaves without saying anything, just walks away and gets in his car and leaves while the other two are helping me look, when the secretary noticed that my wire cutters with my name on them were on the roof of the car, why would they be on the roof of the car, they were in the little box where the e-brake fits when its down because I was splicing wires earlier that day.

So then I realised that someone touched something in my freakin car, you know, that its not just an accident, someone put my wire cutters on the roof of my car, which means they were looking around in my car, and touched my stuff, I'm cool with the mechanic and the secretary, so I said I don't think it was them, but I don't know about the other guy, so I drive home and call the police, its been two days, and they havent called me back, I've called them 7 times, and they said that everyone there says they didn't take it, so its my word against theirs and I can't prove anything, so the case is pretty much stagnent.
I only had the car out of my vision for all of 5 minutes when the assistant was parking it.
He's the only one I wasn't watching like a hawk.

This is my wedding ring, its very important to me, and I've only had it for all of 10 days so far, its brand freakin new, what do I do?
I can't just write this off as oh well, because its a $900 dollar ring, and its on credit, so I have to pay for it nomatter what, so what can I do?

[Hypocritical]

(you bought your own wedding ring?)

I don't suppose you had insurance on your ring. (?)

[justalayman]

Two things that make me question your story:

Even though the sign was there, if you were so worried about your ring, you could have easily asked them to either allow you to get your ring or for one of them to retrieve it for you. You did neither.

Second, if the ring was of such concern as you sat there waiting on the vehicle, it would seem the first thing you would have done is to put your ring back on when you had the opportunity.

With neither of those two things happening, I tend to not believe your story.

Since it is your word against theirs, your only real choice is to go to small claims court and let the judge decide. You don't have much chance as things set but maybe the judge will judge one of the defendants as less believable than you and award you the decision.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by Stony

what do I do?

Very simple. File a complaint with the police department. Contact your insurance company.
Wow!! That sure was easy... next case!!!

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by JETX

Very simple. File a complaint with the police department. Contact your insurance company.
Wow!! That sure was easy... next case!!!

I rolled my car on the freeway in Illinois. How do I get the $4.50 in quarters the Highway Patrol did NOT put back in the wreck????

[Stony]

Originally Posted by justalayman

Two things that make me question your story:

Even though the sign was there, if you were so worried about your ring, you could have easily asked them to either allow you to get your ring or for one of them to retrieve it for you. You did neither.

Second, if the ring was of such concern as you sat there waiting on the vehicle, it would seem the first thing you would have done is to put your ring back on when you had the opportunity.

With neither of those two things happening, I tend to not believe your story.

Since it is your word against theirs, your only real choice is to go to small claims court and let the judge decide. You don't have much chance as things set but maybe the judge will judge one of the defendants as less believable than you and award you the decision.

(I did not buy my own wedding ring, just so you all know)
And the reason why I didn't put my ring back on immediately after I got there, or said much to anyone (I did talk to the secretary about "crap, I left my ring in the car" she said it would be ok)
Is because I've been there afew times prior, not really with my car, but my moms car (No, I don't live with her) so I got to know the people there, and I trusted the mechanic, I've only seen the assistant that time and one other time, I didn't pay much attention to him, he was always working, but the master mechanic and the secretary were always in the office and so I starting talking to them abit, I just figured that if I could truth them, I could trust him, and there wouldn't be much of a big deal, think about it, a professional isn't supposed to put his carreer on the line to steal something.
I realise that on the legal end, my story has to be look at as possible/not possible, but I can truely say, this is seriously how it is, I trusted them because I've never had a problem with them, I always heard good things about them, and I only had my wedding ring for alittle under 2 weeks, its not like I'm used to wearing it yet, it still kind of wierds me out to have a ring with diamonds in it, I always feel like I'm going to break it, so I just take it off and put it in my jeep when I'm working on the car.
I've never ran into a problem until I took it to that shop, say what you will, but it slipped my mind to put it on, and when I noticed I did mention it, I wasn't screaming or slamming my hands on the desk, I was just like "I left my ring in the car" and she shrugged it off and told me it would be ok.
At that point I thought "Ok, its cool" not "Oh my god, what if they steal it!" I'm sorry, but that just doesn't come to mind when I am at a mechanics shop, their bussiness is based on trust, my grandfathers are retired mechanics, I think of them like car doctors, noone expects a doctor to molest a patient, sure, it happens, but you never think its gonna happen when your sitting in the waiting room.
And now my rings missing, and the cops havent called me back yet, its been days since they've called me, I've been trying to get ahold of them with no luck.
I'm aware of how hard its going to be to get it back, but seriously, what can I do, I know small claims, but how do I set that up?
And I don't even know why someone would lie about this, I don't take offense about what you said, I'm just saying, what would be the point, I still have to pay for it wiether its here or not.

[edited for typos]

[justalayman]

There are a lot of people who lie for no real reason. There are some people who would hide the ring and look for another to pay for it for them. Not accusing you of anything, just stating a fact.

If the police have not responded, get in your car and drive to the station and make the darned report. As JETX posted earlier, file with your insurance company for the loss. If you cannot get satisfaction through them, then go to the courts and file a small claims suit. Very easy and simple to do. They print instruction pamphlets to assist in most courts.

I was simply trying to point out what didn't jive with your story, to me. Personally, if it was my ring and I was this concerned, the first thing I would have done when getting the car back from the mechanics would be to check for the ring. With the amount of concern you expressed, I would think this would be the case for you as well. You didn't do this. Maybe it was not on your mind as intently as presented. Only you know.

The facts you presented do show a possibility of somebody looking through your car without justification. If the garage owner believes you and agrees with you, maybe they will help in your case against the mechanic. Maybe not.

Do what you have to do to try to get satisfaction.

[rmet4nzkx]

Have you only been married 10 days or is this not the first time you have "lost" your wedding ring?

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by rmet4nzkx

Have you only been married 10 days or is this not the first time you have "lost" your wedding ring?

There's a lie somewhere in the post.

First,

because its a $900 dollar ring, and its on credit, so I have to pay for it nomatter what

Then,

(I did not buy my own wedding ring, just so you all know)

And then,

I still have to pay for it wiether its here or not

OP also must not have insurance, since she ignored that part as well.

[Stony]

First off, I'ma guy.
And just so you all know, with some relationships, those that don't have the money for things right off the bat, they get credit accounts in both their names, and they buy things together, and pay for them together, so in a sense, yes, I do still have to pay for it, so does my wife.
same with her ring, because our money is the put together, like it should be when your living together, and doing the married couple thing, the only thing is that my rings gone, and I figure that its the right thing to do to pay for it myself, she shouldn't have to pay for something that someone took from me when she wasn't even there.
I don't have renters insurance on my apartment, I have theft insurance on my car, which I thought covered theft in (and of) my car, which it does, but only through forced entry, which the insurance company said "You handed the mechanic your keys, so its not forced entry, so its not covered, sorry, we can't help"
I shouldn't have to defend myself to the idea of being called a lier based on the fact that I didn't write out a 3 page post of every little detail, does it help that I went and took a leak while I was waiting for my car?
I'm sorry to take offense, but seriously, if I was going to be a con artist or something, I'd be doing it with something that meant alittle less to me then my freakin wedding ring.
Me and my wife have been together for afew years, saving up to get our lifes going, and this was the first real jump into something other then the boyfriend girlfriend thing for us.
And yes, I've only had the wedding ring for 10 days, and this is the first time I've ever lost it.

I just feel stupid, cause I didn't express much concern, I just kinda figured that you see a ring, you go "Eh, its not mine" and you don't freakin steal it, the secretary eased my concern, I'm not naturally a paranoid person, is it harder today to think someone wont steal something because their actually good people then it is to think I'm some con artist.

Thank you for the help, if you guys have anymore constructive information to give, I'd appreciate it.
I'm sorry I'm not some dope slinging gang banger thats used to this stuff, I guess some people are just not as jaded and untrusting as others.

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by Stony

First off, I'ma guy.
And just so you all know, with some relationships, those that don't have the money for things right off the bat, they get credit accounts in both their names, and they buy things together, and pay for them together, so in a sense, yes, I do still have to pay for it, so does my wife.
same with her ring, because our money is the put together, like it should be when your living together, and doing the married couple thing, the only thing is that my rings gone, and I figure that its the right thing to do to pay for it myself, she shouldn't have to pay for something that someone took from me when she wasn't even there.
I don't have renters insurance on my apartment, I have theft insurance on my car, which I thought covered theft in (and of) my car, which it does, but only through forced entry, which the insurance company said "You handed the mechanic your keys, so its not forced entry, so its not covered, sorry, we can't help"
I shouldn't have to defend myself to the idea of being called a lier based on the fact that I didn't write out a 3 page post of every little detail, does it help that I went and took a leak while I was waiting for my car?
I'm sorry to take offense, but seriously, if I was going to be a con artist or something, I'd be doing it with something that meant alittle less to me then my freakin wedding ring.
Me and my wife have been together for afew years, saving up to get our lifes going, and this was the first real jump into something other then the boyfriend girlfriend thing for us.
And yes, I've only had the wedding ring for 10 days, and this is the first time I've ever lost it.

I just feel stupid, cause I didn't express much concern, I just kinda figured that you see a ring, you go "Eh, its not mine" and you don't freakin steal it, the secretary eased my concern, I'm not naturally a paranoid person, is it harder today to think someone wont steal something because their actually good people then it is to think I'm some con artist.

Thank you for the help, if you guys have anymore constructive information to give, I'd appreciate it.
I'm sorry I'm not some dope slinging gang banger thats used to this stuff, I guess some people are just not as jaded and untrusting as others.

Constructive information: Theft insurance for a car, called comprehensive coverage, only covers theft of your CAR. Your personal property is only covered by a homeowner's (renters, in your case) insurance policy.

[justalayman]

Then your options are very limited.

Have you gone to the police station to get a report taken yet??

I would suggest you speak with the manager again and attempt to come to an agreement (which I really doubt will happen). If none can be reached the only recourse you have is to try the small claims court route. While the chances are slim of winning, you have nothing else I can see.

[Stony]

Thank you
[edit: Oh, and yea, I've made a police report, they just havent called me back yet, I couldn't make it with the local police here because it happened in another city, and they said even though its the same county, I have to file it with the cities police department, which sounds reasonable, but I don't know if they are supposed to call me back or not, I gave then what happened, and all the details and what not, then they said they'd get ahold of me 'tomarrow' and it hasn't happened yet, I'm figuring monday I will know for sure whats up, hopefully, if not, I will have to drive to the police station in that city and talk to them]
But again, thank you guys