Most Expensive Vandalism?

[Broomjockey]

I remembered one incident from a few years ago, and was just wondering what the most expensive case of vandalism anyone's delt with was?

Mine was about $10,000 Canadian.

A teen girl (tg) came to the theatre with a bunch of her friends for her birthday. They showed up way too early and I guess they got bored.

One of tg's friends climbed behind the screen and unhooked part of the screen from its scaffolding. TG then got the brilliant idea to poke the screen.

Unfortunately, without the tension on it, it ripped like paper and a nice 6-inch hole was put in the screen.

The girls panicked and ran out. The police managed to catch tg and one other at the bookstore near-by. The police brought the girl back, and she was absolutely bawling. Parents were called. They were yelling so loud you could tell someone was shouting from the other end of the theatre.

The parents had to pay for the new screen, and for it to be delivered from somewhere in the states.

How 'bout it? Anyone have stories of SCs vandalism or unintentional destruction?

[Think Blue]

Last September, We had a few teens sneak into our warehouse(in the middle of the afternoon) and they decided to play with our production machines.

Now these machines are niether cheap, (smallest one was about 200k) or easy to operate, in fact there are warnings about potential loss of limbs if not used properly.

So these punks thought it would be fun to pour their sodas into one of the dry mixers. Water is never to touch this machine, hence the name. They threw in their soda bottles, and candy wrappers and turned the machine on.

The mixer BLEW UP!!. The idiots just stood there as everyone from the office ran towards the back trying to figure out what happened. They realized the were in huge trouble, they tried to run.

Luckily the production workers grabbed them and locked all the exit. They refused to tell us who their parents were. So when the cops were called, they gave the information up in a heart beat.

The faces on the parents were something like then when they found out the machine would cost 320k because it could not be repaired. They looked as if they were ready to murder their kids.

[Lehk]

anyone have a copy of the guitar shop story before the latest reset?

[Brighid45]

We have college students come in during summer vacation at my workplace, and some of them come in several summers in a row. A few years back we had one young guy who was a total loser. Amongst other things he had a fondness for alcohol.

One evening this kid, J, decided that since the production manager wouldn't teach him to drive the electric forklift, he would teach himself. So he drove drunk to the plant, popped one of the side doors open, got the forklift off the recharger, and proceeded to drive around and around the plant . . . until he drove the forks into one of the back room garage-style doors. J panicked and left the forklift in the door and took off. The production manager found the mess on Monday morning.

This happened not once but twice. Don't ask me why they let J stay on there after he pulled that stunt. It was not his only stupidity, but it was the most expensive. They had to replace the door twice.

[theredbaron47]

anyone have a copy of the guitar shop story before the latest reset?

I'd like to see that reposted as well, about the mom with the little kid who climbed the guitar rack.

[Greenday]

Um, I'd guess that it was at the pharmacy I work at, and it was some guy who stole over $250 in shaving stuff and anbesol...

[One-Fang]

anyone have a copy of the guitar shop story before the latest reset?

I was kind of afraid to start a new topic with my very first post, but hopefully this story will make up for it. So two days ago, on my 18th birthday, I started my new job at a local music store. Our store sells everything from entry level guitar starter packs to ultra expensive vintage and /or custom guitars. Most of our instruments fall in the $500-$1500 range, just cheap enough for dumbass SCs to feel justified in screwing around with them, trying to impress us (yeah right). Anyway, today, my third day on the job, all hell breaks loose. A woman comes in with her two sons, one maybe 10, the other probably around 4 or 5. Her older son wants to spend his hard earned (i bet) money on a guitar, despite obviously not knowing a single thing about them. I'm a bass player, so I naturally work in the bass department. However, there was no one looking at basses at the moment, so I was sitting on an amplifier watching my guitar-expert colleague attempt to serve these morons.

GT - Guitar tech
SW - Stupid woman
SK - Stupid kid

SW: My son wants a guitar.
GT: Ok, what kind of guitar do you want? Were you thinking an acoustic, electric, bass, or what?
SK: A red one.

This is highly amusing, but things suddenly get much more complicated. The aforementioned 5 year old has wandered off. Uh oh. Now, at our store, guitars are hung on our back wall on racks that hold five instruments each. There are about 30 of these racks, and they extend in rows across the wall and from floor to ceiling. This is about to become important. Suddenly, we hear another customer literally shout "WTF is that kid doing?" We all look at the back wall, and we see that the little terror has managed to climb the guitar racks all the way up to the ceiling, maybe 10 feet off the ground. His mom shrieks at him to come down, so he swings his legs down, apparently ready to jump (too bad he didn't). Didn't matter though, cuz a second later the entire rack rips out of the wall and drops onto our nice hardwood floor. With it comes the stupid little kid (sadly unhurt), and, more distressingly, 5 of the absolute nicest guitars in the store. Guitars are not built to withstand 10 foot falls onto hard surfaces, although these actually survived admirably. Still, all 5 had their necks snapped off and bodies cracked, and were, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. The mother looks like she's about to faint, but only for a split second. Then she does possibly the worst thing she could do under the circumstances: SHE GRABS HER KIDS AND RUNS OUT THE DOOR. Needless to say, plates are noted, authorities are called, and this SC will be having a very bad day sometime soon. And I do mean a VERY bad day. Here's what she's hopefully gonna get to pay for:

1974 Fender Stratocaster: $2200
1978 Les Paul Standard: $2100
1957 Fender Telecaster: $3050
1977 Fender Jaguar: $2650
2006 PRS 22 (Customized): $4900

Grand total: $14,900

---

Ok, I know you guys have all been clamoring for an update, but I never dreamed it would work out like this. Let's just say it's perfect CS material. So the woman comes in yesterday, saying the police had contacted her but had said only to come to our store and talk to us. Apparently she had no idea she would be responsible for paying, because she freaked out. It turns out she'd been going around thinking it was our fault and that we would be footing the bill. Uh, yeah right, you idiot. Like we're gonna eat $15K of guitars out of the goodness of our heart? I don't think so. She did though, and put up a huge fight. Her argument? There should have been a sign. My good friend the guitar tech felt compelled to ask her what exactly such a sign would read. Her response? "No Climbing." We just laughed in her face. She claims she is going to sue us for negligence. But that's not all. When she came back this time, she once again brought both her sons. (WHY?) So as we argued with this woman, her older son wandered back into the guitar section. He picked up another Fender and started playing it. Surprisingly, he wasn't that bad. I detached myself from the argument and went over to compliment him. As I walked over, his younger brother also decided to come see what was happening. Somehow, he tripped and fell straight into an amplifier. This amp was a vintage Marshall full stack. (For those of you who aren't familiar with stuff like this, think of it as the '57 Corvette of amps. If you're not familiar with cars either, then think of it as really really really nice.) Basically this thing came with an inch or two of tipping over and getting smashed apart. Luckily, a customer was standing on the other side and saw it tip and pushed it back. If he hadn't been there, that woman would have owed us another $7800. Anyway, the ordeal ended with her storming out, threatening to sue us for negligence, and vowing not to pay. My owner, at first reluctant to press charges, is now relishing it. This should get better. I'll keep you guys updated!

--

I didn't keep the other update, but the woman did eventually write a check, and the teenage boy still got his guitar.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The only vandalism we get at my store is the truck unloaders writing things on the insides of the trailers with black magic marker. Then the DC charges us to remove the graffiti. The managers told us that because we had to pay to have the trailers cleaned up, we couldn't have a Christmas party.

Years ago, some kid set a rack of clothing on fire, but fortunately it was extinguished before it could do a lot of damage.

[BigPete]

At our Hy-Line Cruises ticket office in good ole' Nantucket, somebody threw a rock through our side door.

Boy, our boss, L was pissed off!


We caught the little turdlet, she was a 10 year old "Punk Rebel"


Oh yeah, listening to Avril really makes me wanna break windows.

Yeah right, those little sharts should get a life.

[Imogene]

Oh yeah, listening to Avril really makes me wanna break windows.

Yeah right, those little sharts should get a life.

Vaguely related, I heard this story from Lesbian AM, who was also really cool, and fun to talk to...

One day, she's busy watching the floor at Chesterfield, when these two wannabe punk girls walk into the store, wander around a bit, pick up a copy of Flashdance (I think it was... or footloose...) and say, "This chick's copying Avril Lavigne by wearing a tie!"
'This chick', of course, being Jessica Biel.
Lesbian AM nearly slapped those girls. "Jessica Biel's older than Avril, hell, the movie you picked up is older than Avril, she is NOT copying the Canadian ditz!"

[El Barto]

The faces on the parents were something like then when they found out the machine would cost 320k because it could not be repaired. They looked as if they were ready to murder their kids.

320k? I think we have a winner.

[Lehk]

320k? I think we have a winner.

probably tapped out the liability/homeowners insurance for all of the involved families.

ouch that'll be a rate hike they won't forget (the only forgetting will be the insurance company "forgetting" the lube)

[SteverinoNY]

Not 320K, but pretty bad nonetheless

At my college last year, a group of rugby players living in upperclassman housing (aka townhouses; they were seniors) thought it would be a fantastic idea to rip all of the kitchen cabinets off the wall, smash all of the appliances (stove, refrigerator), remove the kitchen sink, allowing the kitchen, living room, and downstairs bedroom to flood, destroy both bathrooms and punch massive holes in the drywall. This does not include the furniture that they decided would make great kindling for their fire pit. All and all, $32,000 in damage was done to the house and the college was forced to close that townhouse down for the duration of the summer while everything from carpet to drywall to kitchen fixtures to bathrooms was replaced. That's my story, not nearly as insane as the $320,000 for one machine, but pretty bad nonetheless.

[Mixed Bag]

About the guitars--I assume you're quoting retail prices?

Shouldn't wholesale replacement cost, plus some extra for the trouble, be sufficient? Why should the store make money on an item that otherwise wouldn't have sold for full price anyway (since if a later customer buys the replacement item they wouldn't have done so if the original was available)?

Not to defend negligent customers, but if "you break it, you bought it" means the store is making a profit off an accident, that strikes me as greedy--especially since the worst kinds of other SCs rarely pay extra (directly, at least) for deliberately abusing employees and companies.

[SteverinoNY]

About the guitars--I assume you're quoting retail prices?

Shouldn't wholesale replacement cost, plus some extra for the trouble, be sufficient? Why should the store make money on an item that otherwise wouldn't have sold for full price anyway (since if a later customer buys the replacement item they wouldn't have done so if the original was available)?

Not to defend negligent customers, but if "you break it, you bought it" means the store is making a profit off an accident, that strikes me as greedy--especially since the worst kinds of other SCs rarely pay extra (directly, at least) for deliberately abusing employees and companies.

ON giving my

Not to be rude or insolent, but I agree with the policy of "you break it, you bought it" when it comes to more expensive goods like those guitars. Those are more than a guitar. The craftsmanship that goes into making such an item is phenomenal. If I were to break something like that, I would definitely step up and pay for it. I think any expensive item or a store that sells expensive items should have policies regarding small children in the store. I am not saying that small children should not be allowed in the store, but the parents (not the employees) should be personally responsible for keeping an eye on Junior's sticky fingers. If the litte one picks up something and breaks it, mom or dad should pay for it. I would consider being nice and giving them a break if they weren't an SC about it, but the minute the whining starts, you are going to pay the item and its into the for you.