Salt Pond Theft?

[stjchica]

So in light of all this....What's the concensus.....
Do you all leave your rental car unlocked and windows down on STJ?? Has anyone ever had a car stolen? That's the only thing I would worry about doing that...

[Bonny in CA]

Good question! I think we'll be leaving our jeep unlocked with the windows down this time! I will definitely not be leaving any jewelry in the car this trip!

I am embarrassed to admit that last year I did lock a necklace in the glove compartment of our jeep at cinnamon and maho. I left my iPod in the jeep a lot too. I guess I was lucky that time, but I won't push my luck again!

[PA Girl]

We leave the windows down (partially down) simply because I don't like getting into a hot car.

My husband keeps cash in his pocket as all of his trunks have at least one zippered with velco tab pocket. Any cards we take along are in the bottom of the beach bag. I suppose someone could steal our beach bag but I think that is so unlikely, I don't even worry about it.

If I have jewelry on, I just wear it in the water and don't worry about it.

[STJVI]

FYI... another car was broken into 2 days ago... they stole beach towels, hats, everything...

[stjchica]

That's craziness. We won't be at Salt Pond...but we won't be leaving anything in the car anywhere we go..Better safe than sorry...

[toes in the sand]

I would not advise leaving your windows down on StJ. Rain showers/storms pop up so quickly and you are responsible if the interior is damaged or if mildew appears. We leave ours unlocked with absolutely nothing inside of the jeep. Everything of value is left at the villa in the safe. Anything we bring with us we take to the beach. We have a cheap digital point and shoot that if it gets damaged on the beach or lost or stolen the biggest investment in it is the SD card. We download our pictures each day. I have had a camera stolen from our rental car in Cozumel and our biggest loss was all of our trip pictures. Our biggest gain was a learning moment. We no longer trust the security of rental cars and we do not travel to Mexico. Sorry for fans of Mexico. Left a very bad taste in my mouth both in the fact that we had our stuff stolen and how it was "handled" by the police.

[settlecm]

Crime certainly happens but fraud does too. I'd bet that insurance scams are more common than we'd like to admit.

Insure your jewelry and "lose" it snorkeling or have it "stolen" from a locked car.

Criminals don't just steal from cars or villas.. they also wear nice suits and take out large policies.

It was my ring that was stolen; how dare you STJVI insinuate that I am commiting fraud. You should be ashamed of yourself. I didn't have insurance on my ring, so your slanderous comments can be proven to be incorrect. I am very upset that my engagement ring was stolen and reading mean spirited and ignorant comments such as yours make it worse.

Christy Settle

[settlecm]

I don't know why I find this story, fishy. First they talk about saving for years to buy a $4000 ring, yet we all know they had to spend a few $1000s to go to STJ. Second, it does seem odd to leave it in the car. Just saying.

Cocosmom, how dare you suggest that I had anything to do with my ring being stolen. Firstly, my fiance and I do not have any credit cards, so we saved up all last year for our dream trip to St. John. Secondly, my fiance saved for years to buy my engagement ring. There is nothing "fishy" about saving money to purchase things. Thirdly, I live in a small beach town in NC, we leave our doors unlocked all the time and no one steals your property. I was very niave in thinking that if I locked my ring in the glove box in a locked car in St. John, that it would not be stolen. I was wrong. But you, are even more wrong and pathetic for hiding behind your computer and slandering me on the internet. Just saying

Christy Settle

[settlecm]

I thought that comment seemed weird about saving up for a long time to buy the ring yet being a comparably priced vacation, but there are several explanations.

Maybe they stayed with friends or family for free on the island? Or maybe they camped inexpensively at Maho or Cinnamon? They’re from North Carolina, and decently priced flights can be found from the east coast, especially in the off season. $4000 isn’t a very expensive engagement ring, my husband spent more than that over 10 years ago when he was fresh out of college and not even working yet, so the price of the ring does line up with people who aren’t big spenders.

Maybe they got engaged on STJ, and that’s why they had the ring with them?

There are a lot of explanations that could make them an honest couple.

Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why it's weird that someone saves up for years to purchase a 4k diamond. BTW- It was my ring that was stolen.

Christy Settle

[seagrape]

This keeps happening at the same location. Why don't the authorities set up a camera or an ambush to take care of the problem once and for all?

[Teresa_Rae]

I thought that comment seemed weird about saving up for a long time to buy the ring yet being a comparably priced vacation, but there are several explanations.

Maybe they stayed with friends or family for free on the island? Or maybe they camped inexpensively at Maho or Cinnamon? They’re from North Carolina, and decently priced flights can be found from the east coast, especially in the off season. $4000 isn’t a very expensive engagement ring, my husband spent more than that over 10 years ago when he was fresh out of college and not even working yet, so the price of the ring does line up with people who aren’t big spenders.

Maybe they got engaged on STJ, and that’s why they had the ring with them?

There are a lot of explanations that could make them an honest couple.

Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why it's weird that someone saves up for years to purchase a 4k diamond. BTW- It was my ring that was stolen.

Christy Settle

First of all, take a deep breath. This is a friendly community here, where many of us know each other, either through established online relationships or actual in-person friendships. You walked in and took a dump in our living room and told us that our baby is ugly, so to speak

I understand why you're upset that some people wouldn't automatically believe your story...though it would have been nice if you could have expressed yourself without the abusive language you used toward a couple other VIOL posters. It would add insult to injury if I had something stolen from me and someone insinuated that I was committing fraud. But remember that the posters who questioned the validity of the story don't know you personally, all they knew was what they read in a newspaper. If you were a known poster here, nobody would have accused you of fraud. Don't take it personally, because it wasn't personal.

I defended you quite succinctly, in spite of having no personal knowledge of whether you're an honest person or not.

I think my comment about saving for a ring speaks for itself, but I will explain further. Of course it is not weird to save for several years to buy an engagement ring. But if it takes someone several years to save for an engagement ring, it is odd that the same person would also be able to afford what is typically a comparably priced vacation to St. John right after said ring was purchased. Since the ring costs about the same as the vacation, it would make sense that if it took someone 4 years to save for the ring, it would take another 4 years to save for the vacation. That is all.

I am very sorry that you got your ring stolen and that your trip to such a beautiful island will forever be tarnished. While I love STJ and have vacationed there 10 times, I make no qualms about the fact that the burglary rate is quite high there, much more so than at home. I hope the perpetrator is caught and that you get your ring back. I completely understand why you are devastated.

[SeaHorse02]

Please note that Christy did not originally post on this forum. The forum was shown a newspaper article regarding her loss. This forum is usually a friendly place. Instead of attacking the victim it would have been kinder to offer sympathy, or only discuss similar problems at Salt Pond, which are not that unusual. Nor is it unusual for couples to budget for several different major expenditures at the same time. A first time visitor who arrived in paradise would have no idea that paradise is not perfect without prior knowledge of thievery that unfortunately is everywhere in our world today.
Christy, I am sorry for your loss and hope you have an opportunity to enjoy a happy life and perhaps a happier vacation on St. John in the future.