Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT: BAMBOO SUNGLASS SNATCHERS!
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June 12, 2009 at 10:27 pm #591209
breanna43MemberFirst, I take responsibility for leaving them behind. I know they belong to me and I should’ve been more aware. We rollerbladed down, decided to stop and get a bite to eat at the Bamboo, and I left my sunglasses on the table. My fault.
I just feel like when I went back this morning, less than 15 hours later, they should’ve still had them. Instead, they pull out this raggedy box of broken and crappy sunglasses and ask me if any of them look familiar. No, of course they don’t. Because the sunglasses that make it to that box are not the ones that people would want to take, and mine were! At least do a week-long hold on stuff before you feel free to take them for yourselves!
Im not accusing anyone in particular. But I know it was an employee, not a patron, because our table was already being cleared as we rolled away. Maybe they made it to the lost and found. But the person who found my sunglasses was NOT the same person who lost them!!
I will always attempt to return lost belongings to their rightful owner. I liked those glasses!
June 12, 2009 at 10:44 pm #669604
EmmyJaneParticipantI felt this same frustration lately. I left my sunglasses in a movie theater and when I checked back the next day they were no where to be found. I don’t think people make the connection between “someone left these behind accidentally so its ok for me to take them” and “stealing.” Same thing.
June 12, 2009 at 11:03 pm #669605
swimcatMemberI just think it’s kind of gross to take others things (I also don’t think stealing is okay). I left my swimsuit at SW Pool one day, and I went back the next day looking for it and it never turned up. Not that I have cooties, but ick! Would someone seriously wear a stranger’s swimsuit????
Well, the glasses seem to be gone forever which stinks, but maybe you’ll get lucky and find an even better pair to replace them!
June 12, 2009 at 11:08 pm #669606
breanna43MemberThanks M. Im probably weird, but I went this afternoon and re-bought the same exact pair. Otherwise, I’d just keep thinking about the ones that got lost/taken. $170 lesson. But it gives me a renewed motivation to always try and find the owner of anything I may find…
June 21, 2009 at 5:48 am #669607
breanna43MemberFollow Up:
So last night, we are at the Bamboo for a birthday party. My husband and I are up at the bar ordering a drink and so is our waitress from the sunglass-snatching night. My husband nudges me and points to her head. Arent those your glasses, he asks? WHY YES!! THEY ARE!! SHE was the one who took them! So, I reached up, grabbed them off her head, and let her know that they’re mine and I know she took them. She admitted it and apologized.
So here’s the new problem: She destroyed my glasses in the week she had them. Since I had already bought a new pair, I tried to return them today and the guy laughed at me. There’s NO way he could re-sell those, he said. They’re so scratched up. So I went to the Bamboo and talked to the mgr. about asking the sunglass-snatcher to pay for them. I’ll keep you posted….
June 21, 2009 at 8:22 am #669608
JanSParticipantjust amazing…employees who steal, basically…and she’s still working there? again, amazing. More things come to mind like..the nerve, and then to wear them at work, like you wouldn’t ever go back to the establishment. You said in your original post that you thought it was an employee…wow…
June 21, 2009 at 8:24 am #669609
carrieannMemberOh, to be a fly on the wall during that confrontation. To not only have the nerve to take them, but to then wear them to the place you stole them from like it’s all just peachy keen? Wow. Ballsy.
June 21, 2009 at 8:57 am #669610
JeannieParticipantDon’t let them bamboozle you! Good for you for grabbing them back. The waitress has a lot of gall, or isn’t too bright.
June 21, 2009 at 3:16 pm #669611
AlkidancerParticipantI’m seriously suprised she didn’t get fired for that. Is that not the WORST possible customer service you can give? NOt only to not try to let you know you were leaving something behind as she cleared your table but to actually keep the sunglasses. What did she think they were a tip? If I was her boss I would have fired her. When I was a rest. manager I wrote up a lazy waitress for not trying to chase down a patron who left behind their credit card. Then again we are in Seattle land of the worst service on earth.
June 21, 2009 at 4:11 pm #669612
JoBParticipantbreanna43..
they were your glasses. you left them. you didn’t return to get them for 15 hours.
your waitress took them. She treated them like she treats all of her things… they got scratched.
you taught her a lesson.. you snatched them off her head in public and made her publicly confess…
now you think she should not only get fired but pay for the glasses…
because store won’t give you your money back on the glasses you recovered.
she didn’t steal them. she didn’t return them when you lost them.
I am not sure what lesson anyone is learning here.
June 21, 2009 at 5:02 pm #669613
breanna43MemberWell, a couple of things JoB:
First of all, thanks for your input. I don’t think I was clear about a couple of things. I don’t want her fired. In fact, I told the dayshift manager not to even tell the GM, because I didn’t want her to lose her job.
Secondly, she was clearing our table as we were standing up and fixing our rollerblades to leave. She had MORE than ample time to call to my attention the fact that I’d not grabbed my sunglasses. So I disagree with you there- she STOLE them! And the police disagree with you too, and said it is theft, and I could get her charged if I wanted. But I don’t. I don’t want anything except for her to pay the $180 for the glasses she stole. And she can have em back…case and all!
June 21, 2009 at 5:18 pm #669614
JoBParticipanti guess i am confused…
Are you saying that the waitress took the sunglasses off your table when she cleared the table as you were sitting there putting on your rollarblades?
And.. how would you know that is what happened? Did she tell you she took them from your table before you left? Because that would be theft.
It isn’t theft just because the police will accept a police report… i think it is only theft if it can be proven that she took them before you left them.
I agree completely that she had a moral obligation to turn the sunglasses into her manager and that her manager had a moral obligation to put them into the lost and found so they would have been there when you returned…
but unless they were removed from the table before you left it… didn’t you have as much responsibility to pick them up as she had to turn them into lost and found?
So.. why should she assume the full cost of replacement?
June 21, 2009 at 6:39 pm #669615
breanna43MemberYes, she must’ve just “cleared” them with everything else. It was sneeky. And being an employee of that restaurant, she is also representing them. She not only should have given them to me right then because its the right thing to do, but also because she is part of a bigger unit, the Bamboo. I think it’s sad that we as a country have become so desensitized to immorality that we put more blame on the person who accidently left their belongings somewhere than a waitress that capitalizes on the opportunity to pocket those belongings. That’s pretty cutthroat.
And she should assume the cost of the replacement because I cannot return the old glasses, because she ruined them. And if I return the new ones, Im stuck with the glasses she destroyed. It’s legally called restitution, but Im not trying to go that route. Im trying to be reasonable and giving her the option of paying the restitution without getting the theft charge on her record. Seems like a pretty good deal to me….
June 22, 2009 at 3:19 am #669616
JoBParticipantbreanna43..
i ask about when she found the sunglasses because more than once i have left my glasses on a table and immediately gone back for them after the table was cleared and they are generally still on the table… over by the salt and pepper and stuff…
the person who cleared the table didn’t leave them there for me.. they just hadn’t seen them.
if that happened here.. it is as likely that the next person at the table pointed them out to her long after you left or that she found them as she refilled the salt and pepper for the next day’s shift.
I agree that the right thing to do even then would have been to put them aside so you could reclaim them.. and i have been that lucky when i left things behind a couple of times.. but i have also returned to find them long gone..
and at that point it doesn’t much matter who has them… i left them.
June 22, 2009 at 4:58 am #669617
breanna43MemberOk, here’s the sequence of events:
During the meal, my glasses were on top of my head. When it was time to leave, I turned my body sideways to re-fasten my rollerblades. I realized my glasses may fall off when I leaned down, so with my right hand, which was closest to the table, I took them off my head and set them on the table. I set them near the isle part of the table, anything else wouldn’t have been physically possible. I then stood up, adjusted my pant legs, and out the door we went. As I was doing all this, the waitress was clearing our table.
I really appreciate your optiminism JoB. It’s just that, in this case, the glass isn’t half full when it comes to that waitress’ intentions. She knew what she was doing.
June 22, 2009 at 5:18 am #669618
celeste17ParticipantI feel that she should have to pay for the glasses. I have worked for restaurants and we always put everything in the lost and found. If the person didn’t call or come by after three months if it was something simple we could claim it. If it was something more valuable then it was up to the manager to approve us claiming it.
June 22, 2009 at 6:06 am #669619
bluebirdMemberbreanna43, you are definitely being the bigger and more charitable person to offer a compromise to this waitress. She’s getting off pretty easy with the offer by you, to be reimbursed. I would even think if she doesn’t come through, the restaurant manager should offer to pay for them. To leave the impression your things can get stolen by an employee, wouldn’t be the outcome I’d want.
Wouldn’t an unclaimed item belong to the restaurant anyway? It’s not as if they were left at her house. The waitress was fully aware the glasses weren’t hers, so any way you look at it, she’s stealing from someone.
June 22, 2009 at 6:21 am #669620
CaitParticipantAs someone who has found many a cool item in her time, I understand where someone might pick something up off the street and keep it.
Playground/street rules are that the finder is the keeper. This however, does not apply in a few situations. A) If the thing has anything on it anywhere denoting who the owner is. B) If it is found somewhere where the owner is likely to return (anywhere that is not a sidewalk or gutter, ie a restaurant or business.)
I love cool little finds, but I will try to find the owner or check with places around that might be able to return it to the owner.
THIS situation – BOLD. And violates street rules of finders keepers and all amendments. Good luck getting her to pay you for them, but I hope it happens. This sounds like a bad situation made in a split second – let’s try not to judge her too harshly. She apologized, it may be completely out of character and she has the option of making it right. Keep us updated. It’s a rough situation but let’s give her a break…
June 22, 2009 at 4:16 pm #669621
JoBParticipantbreanna43…
don’t get me wrong.. i am not condoning anyone taking anything that doesn’t belong to them…
but eyewitnesses to an event are more often conflicting than in agreement… and if you had seen what happened.. you would have walked out with your sunglasses… it is impossible to know what happened after you left the table.
Were they taken as she cleared and you were in the entry putting your skates on? were they pushed aside and left on the table in case you returned? were they knocked to the floor? If so, who knocked them to the floor? did the waitress discover them or another patron?
There is only one person who knows the answers to those questions… and probably no-one who can verify her answers.
I understand completely why you are upset… and i agree that this waitress has clearly violated the finders code… and i would want restitution too.
beyond that, i would be pretty angry that someone would take my expensive sunglasses and treat them so badly that they were scratched beyond repair.
but as you stated in your original post, “I take responsibility for leaving them behind”
You recovered your sunglasses, even if they were damaged… which is more than most victims of loss can claim.
Making it right may not include full payment for your replacement sunglasses.
Sadly… full restitution for our own mistakes seldom happens… even when those mistakes are compounded by others.
June 22, 2009 at 4:26 pm #669622
JenVMemberI would have her fired and press charges for theft. Today it’s sunglasses, tomorrow it might be someone’s identity. She knew what she was doing when she took the sunglasses – she’s a thief – and I can’t believe she’s still working there. I never liked Bamboo, and am less likely to visit there based on this tale.
June 22, 2009 at 5:08 pm #669623
beachdrivegirlParticipantI am 110% with JenV. She was completely out of line to take the sunglasses. Even if they had fallen off of the table and a patron did hand them to the waitress it was still the responsibility of the waitress to turn the sunglasses into the lost and found box. typically, there is a policy that after 30 days in the box they go back to the finder. the waitress should have waited for her the 30 days.
June 22, 2009 at 5:37 pm #669624
KBearParticipantIf the sticky-fingered waitress isn’t willing to cough up the $180, she deserves whatever other consequences the manager or the police might have in store for her. She already had several chances to do the right thing. If the money is really what’s important to you, Breanna, you needn’t feel guilty about pursuing it.
June 22, 2009 at 6:25 pm #669625
MrJTMemberReally, is this someone you want to hand your credit card to ?
June 22, 2009 at 6:30 pm #669626
maplesyrupParticipantShe’s damn lucky if she gets out of this for $180 and a little embarrassment.
June 22, 2009 at 6:35 pm #669627
MunchkinMemberI detect some criminal apologists in this thread. You libs really frost me sometimes. A crime is a crime, the offender needs to step up and make this right for Breanna43. I for one will not patronize the establishment.
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