p3t0t

2 days ago we just got back from 12 days trip to Spain. We had such a bad luck, at the beginning of the trip (on day 2), my bag (pocket book) got stolen while eating at a restaurant. We travel a lot and yes we were warned about how bad the thieves/pickpockets are in Spain...and that is why I am kicking myself now...only if I could rewind the time

Anyway, that morning, we just printed the Renfe tix that we bought in advance (over the phone) -- total worth about 800 EUR, and we lost all those tix including some cash, CCs, driver license, etc.
We reported to the local police and got the police report. We went back to Renfe office afterward to ask them to re-print the tix or to cancel them, and they said they could not re-print the tickets anymore, and to cancel them, they would charge 30% fee.
We were so frustrated!
We have the purchase protections from our CC companies, but they claimed that train tickets (like in our case) cannot be claimed
We bought a travel insurance, but it was only for the basic thing so I doubt it that we can as for a reimbursement.

I am reaching out to fellow Fodorites here...perhaps some of you have knowledge in this area, or has experienced the same...can you pls kindly help..what are our options here?
We ended up bought new train tickets again (which costed us more money), and we hope not be held responsible for the charges of those lost tickets.
Is it possible?

Pls help. TIA!

cafegoddess

Tia, This is awful! I hope somebody can help you. I am so sorry this happened to you.

josele

So bad.
Please, post the name of the restaurant you were when stolen.

WomBatt

What is 'basic thing' insurance? Basic to me would include theft and therefore, if you have detailed the train ticket loss on the police report, I cannot see your insurance company not paying out.

Neither do we know what you mean by purchase protection from your C.C. company. If this is purchase protection insurance you have paid extra for or has been offered to you for free when you opened the card and if so should include theft.

nytraveler

Was the bag stolen from your lap? (Please don;t tel me that it was on the back of your chair or the seat of a vacant chair or just sitting on the floor unattended.)

In any case, trip insurance should include theft. If it doens;t, find out if your homeowner's or renter's insurance covers theft of belongings while travleing.

progol

Cafegoddess, I think TIA! means "Thanking in advance!"

I don't have any additional advice for you, p3, other than what was written. I would pursue your credit card protection a little more, though.

Paule

ekscrunchy

Please tell us where and how this happened. Good luck--what a terrible experience.

fmpden

For other travelers this is the classic example why money belts are recommended and anything of value should always be attached to your body. Not to be critical but it was not bad luck but bad planning. On another travel site there was a recent long discussion on the subject, Is a Money Really Necessary. As usual a number of posters believe that they bag, purse, etc. is absolutely safe because no one will ever taken it from me. It might be helpful to know what distracting was used to get your bag.

As a small side bar, we always carry at least one day bag but every time the bag is off our back we use a small cable lock to secure the bag to something -- a chair leg, back, table leg. No one can grab it and run

spaarne

Since you bought the tickets the CC company is probably not liable. There was no fraud there. I would assume that your homeowners insurance would cover the loss.

I am also curious about how your bag was positioned and what distraction was used. And ditto fmpden, valuables should always be concealed and attached to your body.

djkbooks

You really need to review your insurance policy/certificate determine whether your lost items are covered.

It's a tough lesson, but as mentioned, cash and other valuables should be carried more securely, and it sounds like your bag was stolen due to carelessness.

I'm confused about the train tickets, though. You didn't cancel the stolen tickets, because there was a 30% charge, but purchased new tickets and hope, somehow, to be reimbursed for the stolen tickets? If your travel insurance does have coverage, you would be required to have canceled those tickets and obtained the refund.

Michael

A friend of mine had his business lap-top stolen while he was eating in a restaurant (or probably its outdoor area). He thinks that the restaurant staff is complicit, but can't prove it.

cruiseluv

I'm sorry , but your decision not to have the tickets canceled and reissued was a very poor one. Check with your homeowner's insurance. I have been surprised in the past as to what they will cover.

Pegontheroad

My sister's purse was stolen in a restaurant called La Garduña in the Boqueria in Barcelona. Was this by any chance the restaurant where you were robbed? If that was the place, perhaps the restaurant was complicit. It's hard for me to believe that it was the first and last time a patron was robbed in la Garduña.

If the restaurant is not complicit and thefts of this kind have happened there before, I think the management should warn patrons.

Fortunately, my sister had given me her debit card and her passport to keep in my moneybelt, so all she lost was a camera--an expensive one, but that wasn't the loss the other things would have been.

I always carry my valuables in a money belt, even in countries where theft isn't so high.

Other than that bit of advice, I really don't know anything that will help you. It's really a shame that this happened to you.

p3t0t

Thank you all for the replies.

Yes, it was more of my careless part and yes, it was really a tough lesson.

I had all sort of incidents in the morning before we actually left the hotel (I left my pocket book in the room and had to make a special run for it)...now I wished I followed my instinct, and just leave my bag that day
DH (always) carried a backpack and we had a lock for it.
So many "I wished I could have...would have...etc" thinking now... (sigh)

Let me tell you the whole story...
It was day 2 in Madrid, and it was rainy and cold. We had walked a lot and did some window shopping. It was about 2 pm and my DH was feeling hungry and started to get moody (yes, he does that when he's hungry). He said he wanted some quick lunch like MacD or Burger King type of place. Not (never) my choice of a place to eat, but I wanted to do some more window shopping and so I needed to make DH happy
We actually found a BK near Chueca area and I found a table toward the back.

2 guys (an older guy and a young man; and they definitely did not look like gypsies) came about 10 mins after and seated behind my on & DH.
The younger man actually had tried to pickpocket my mom's jacket as she felt that he jacket was being pulled away and when she looked behind, the guy was sitting very2 close to her and was saying things in Spanish. In my mind, I thought weird that the guy was actually sitting too close to my mom, but not sure why I never paid any more attention (I really should have!)...
Anyway, they must had been watching us. I needed to go the bathroom and asked DH and my mom to look after my bag (yes, it was really stupid of me, I just put the bag on my chair, unattended)...and the next thing I knew...when I got back, my bag was gone (DH & mom did not even realize it). They didn't even know what happened until I asked if there was anyone came over and talked to them....and they said yes.
They said there was an older guy asking if the umbrella dropped on the floor (behind their seats) were ours...and appearantly that's when the younger guy ran away with my bag
I always had my bag with/on me all time (I carried it crossed body)...except for that time, when I needed to go the bathroom.
When I found out what happened, I wanted to cry. All the Renfe tickets that we just printed out that morning were all in that bag!

When I went to the local police, there was another girl reported the same incident...happened also at a BK (diff location), but it was a family of 3 (with a small child) who stole it.

I told DH to never ask me to go to BK ever again.

During our trip, we met some nice (and some not nice) ppl, and we exchanged conversations with those nice Spaniards..and we told them our story...and they said it was a very2 common thing there. A friend's of a woman (whom we talked to) actually experienced it 4 x in her home town (Madrid).
While in Barcelona (at Starbucks), we actually saw a woman (she looked American) whose bag just got stolen almost the same way (but we did not see the thieves), we just overheard the conversation. Oh, how I could relate to her pain.

We begged the ppl at the Renfe office, and they said they could not re-print, nor re-issue the tickets because they were already printed.
We must have been so emotional, and did not think straight....now if I thought about it again, yes..we should have just cancelled the tix...having to lose 250 EUR is better than 800 EUR

Our travel insurance that we bought only covers for travel delays, and it clearly states that train tickets are excluded.

The purchase protection from CC is only to cover items that we bought using the CC (within 90 days) and unfortunately when I asked one rep, she said that train tickets are not eligible.

Is home insurance our last resort for this? Pls help...TIA!

CathyM

I always print my train tickets from home and save them in a .pdf format also. I email the files to myself so if I loose my printed tickets I can pull up my emails and reprint. I do this with all of my transportation tickets, hotel reservations, etc....

I'm not a fan of money belts and have never had anything stolen. However, I never carry anything with me when I'm sightseeing around town that would be a large loss if stolen (not alot of cash, an extra credit card in my hotel room, and only a copy of my passposrt).

Sorry to hear about your experience.

fmpden

They only problem with claiming on homeowners insurance is that it could affect your rates depending on your claim history. It is a small claim and would not work for us since we have a $2000 deductible. Unfortunately you did walk into. The BKings, McDs, KChicken are all tourist magnets and, of course, the pickpockets know it as a good hunting grounds. You may want to cross this one off to the University of Hard Knocks. I sure this will affect future behavior.

p3t0t

^^ Yes, definitely. This was a really tough lesson to learn, but one that we shall never forget.

BillJ

Ok, p3: I really feel bad about your situation. I too have been a victim of theft, once in Chech Rep, and another in Dubrovnik. But they stole items that were carelessly in a vulnerable position. (Camera in a pocket, and a gps in a bag.) (I'd have given them the camera if I could have kept the chip. Thankfully, DW and I both carry cameras.)

But hey, you must have had some great days in Spain to at least partially offset your misery. Hope in time you can remember the good parts.

nytraveler

Thefts happen in every hotel dining room (esp at breakfast buffets) and in many restaurants - esp if you are seated in an outdoor area. Your bag should be held in your lap at all times - under the napkin - then no one can get it. Put it anyplace else and it is subject to being picked up by anyone leaving the restaurant - and no the restaurants are not usually complicit - they don;t need that kind of trouble.

(And sorry but I have been to europe more than 70 times using a purse the whole time and never had a problem. But then I've never had a problem living n NYC for 30 years taking the subway twice a day at rush hour for many of them.)

If you're really aware it's hard for people to get anything from you - and they pick on someone more careless.

p3t0t

Bill: Yes, we enjoyed most part of our trip, esp in Seville. But Madrid just made me sad

Nytraveler: Yes, I agree with you...this can happen any where even in Boston!
We have travelled about a dozen time to Europe and always (or, usually) take pre-cautions about the pickpockets & thieves. We grew up in Jakarta where pickpockets & thieves have good life (or that's what we like to think) ...
Nevertheless, we admitted that we were careless that day (sigh).

Perhaps with my posting here, people who are going to Spain can be more extra careful now.

At the gate (before boarding in Amsterdam), I was asked to present a second ID (other than passport), and I told her (security woman) that unfortunately my bag was stolen and I lost my driver license too. She asked me where we were coming from, and when I said Spain, she said this "I'm sorry that you lost your bag, but let me tell you this - A lot of ppl that I interviewed, who were coming from Spain vacation, they either got pick-pocketed or their bags got stolen, but mostly happened in Barcelona"...
yeah, her saying kinda made me feel a tiny bit better