Drove 8 hours to oshawa only to get robbed

[TDC#2]

It was some kind of con job, not a strong arm. I don't think the mean streets of Canada were the problem here.

[Synergy5/2SS]

Originally Posted by SSFury

"Dont see any problem there"... wow. I'm sure thats not exactly what he wanted to hear.

Situational awareness is a wonderful tool. Our cars are great, and get distracting at times, but a stranger starts walking towards you at a car wash.. probably with a hand in the pocket.. the self-defense instincts have to kick in quick. Hope everyone is nice/polite/respectful, but instinctually.. be ready for everyone.

Still, your in a crappy situation.. sorry to hear that, and good luck in your endeavors to return across the border

Yeah, try to carry a gun/knife into Canada and have a nice vacation there or squirt the robber with the high pressure spray wand?? Happy your ok its just stuff.

[Synergy5/2SS]

Originally Posted by Gene Culley

Sorry to hear that bro. I'm sure you'll get back just fine. This must be a real downer as well as a scary experience. First thing you should do when you get home is get a carrying permit and a new toy. I certainly pack more than my lunch.

Rambo, is that you?

[Carzzy]

Very sorry to hear about this! One never knows what to expect in uncharted waters. Glad to hear that you are ok and rest assured I am a firm believer in what comes around... goes around. He will get his soon!

[Gene Culley]

Originally Posted by Synergy5/2SS

Rambo, is that you?

I mean seriously... wtf. Yeah I do carry a firearm and as long as people aren't bothering me then I'm not bothering anybody. There's a reason to carry!

[NicksVSix]

Originally Posted by Synergy5/2SS

Yeah, try to carry a gun/knife into Canada and have a nice vacation there or squirt the robber with the high pressure spray wand?? Happy your ok its just stuff.

You can bring weapons/firearms into Canada from the USA so long as they are legal here, but you cannot carry firearms of any type in public places here.

[King Sun]

sucks to hear this man but I could only imagine how a Canadian would sound like trying to jack someone....... "get your wallet eh!"

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by stieger

Wow. I am so sorry that this happened to you. I always thought Canadians were nice, guess not :(

gotta be careful!..lot of people up against it these days!.economies are "f**ked
all over the world!..you have my sympathy!

[blizzpat]

I really want to hear this story

[apeko]

Originally Posted by SSdude

Got robbed at the car wash yesterday night in oshawa of all the places. Worst part is apart from the money and credit cards my green card was in it too so now I have to spend the rest of the day today trying to figure out the paperwork I need to do before I can come back to NJ. This sucks big time. No factory tour for me :(

In possible! Michele More says that Canadians are so honest that they don’t even lock their doors and I believe everything he says.

Sorry that happened to you hope it all gets worked out. :(

[SSdude]

Ok I guess a lot of folks are curious about what went down so here goes.


----------------------------THE STORY---------------------------------
Thursday - Reached oshawa with the PA/NJ caravan after a day long drive late in the evening and by the time I got to my hotel, the car was messed up with the zillion bug splatters on it so I thought to myself this car just cannot be going to the nationals in this state. I have some dinner and head out to the car wash at night to get her cleaned. I have a habit of keeping my wallet in the cup holders in the middle. At the car wash while washing this couple pulls up in their truck in the adjacent bay .They were probably in their early fifties. The guy comes over to my bay and strikes up a conversation on cars and wants to see whats under the hood. The guy starts going on and on about his baracuda and dodge viper and custom jobs etc and in the meanwhile his wife shows up and literally snatches the cloth I was using to dry the car and says "Honey let me dry the car for you". At that point I found that odd but not odd enough I guess so I obliged her anyway. She did seem a little overly chirpy . I wasn’t sure if she was high or whether that’s just the way she was. During this time the guy is constantly talking to me nonstop and trying to get me to talk to him [i.e. look away from the car which was open with my wallet inside]. I found that odd too but not odd enough at the time. There were a couple of points during that conversation where I was not looking at the car or what the lady was doing. Anyway I left the car wash after that and I came back straight to the hotel and by this time I was completely bushed from the long drive and the wash so I was out like a light.


Friday morning - 5:30 a.m Alarm rings. Got to get ready in time for the plant tour. Yay ... I get up and start hunting for my toothpaste which I had forgotten to pack. Rats.. Now I need to go out and buy some so I try and grab my wallet-- wait a minute where is the damn wallet.. I search the room and the car frantically but no sign of the wallet. I was pretty sure I had it yesterday night when I got dinner but where did it go after that... The only place I went to was the car wash after which I came straight to the hotel and went straight to bed. Then I backtrack and think of all possibilities and in hindsight I start playing out all possible scenarios and the only scenario that made sense to me was that I had been had by the overly enthusiastic couple. One more round of searching happens of the room and the car without luck. As more time passes without the wallet, I get more convinced that I had been had by them. At this point I'm beginning to wonder about my re-entry back without a green card which was unfortunately in the wallet, plus I had zero money and not even enough gas to get to the border. I call the police and lodge the incident with them and the operator tells me to wait till 8 after which I should go to the Durham Police station to get the formal paperwork done. I start making frantic calls to cancel all my credit cards which took quite a while as I had a bunch of them. At 8:30 a.m. I head to the police station and explain the whole situation again and about an hour or so later they provide me a copy of the report using which I was hoping to cross the border and be on my way.
By 11:00 a.m. I head to the car wash where I think it happened and start going over the trash bins in the hope that I may find it but no luck. I then head to the bank to get some money which my friend had wired me so that I could get back. I take the money head back to the hotel. Luckily for me the front desk at the hotel had already put in the transaction for the full amount of the stay when I checked in so I didn't owe them anything. I explained the situation to the front desk anyway and checked out to make a dash for the border. Got to the border after 4 hours [401 traffic congestion sucks at certain places] and explained my story to the folks at the US immigration where they take me in for further questioning. An hour later I get a waiver to get in to the US and drive past the border heaving a huge sigh of relief. About an hour and a half into my drive on I81 just when I thought it was all over I get a call from the hotel informing me that they found my valet. It had gotten into a nook that I had missed in my search. Gees. That hits me like a ton of bricks. How the f**$ did I miss it. And what now? After thinking about it a minute I turn right back and start making a dash for the border again in the hope that they will allow me back into Canada. I pull over in the lot next to the US immigration just before the Canada immigration checkpoint and explain the situation to them and they advise me to go back to Canada and retrieve the wallet. The folks at the Canada checkpoint also question me but they were nice and sympathetic and let me in. I reach the hotel late in the night exhausted but glad that I got my stuff back. I call the police and explain that it was my fault and I’ve found the wallet so they can close the case. Hit the sack and am out like a light again.
Saturday: Woke up late in the morning. By this time I have had enough both mentally and physically and just wanted to make it back home so I check out before noon and leave a nice little something for the lady who found my wallet. Crossed the border after a lot of explanation again at the US immigration and finally reached home at night.

----------------------------THE STORY---------------------------------

So it turns out that I was my own robber and had managed to rob myself of a great time. Anyway lots of lessons learned and at the end of it everything’s back to normal. Apologies to all my Canadian friends for the unnecessary Canadian flaming that started as a result of this thread.
By the way I had some fantastic runs on a practically empty I81 on my way back home with lots of thumbs ups from fellow motorists. A big thanks to the Oshawa team for making it possible to own this beast.
I know I’m only setting myself up to be flamed and am probably an embarrassment to the C5 community but trust me the way things played out I’m pretty sure most people would have done exactly what I did.

Also a big thanks to all those who offered to help. It's the nice folks like you that make the difference.

[Formula]

Did she actually open the car door when she was drying it? That is when I would put an end to it.

I always leave my wallet in my car when i wash it and get gas, this makes me think I shouldn't (even though I don't leave the car).

[NicksVSix]

Well SSDude, if it makes you feel any better, I left my passenger side window open about 1/2 inch to let this stupid bug out that I couldn't catch and it rained heavy that night, lol. I think I feel like a bigger idiot than you do!

Glad you got your wallet back, that kind of thing can be very unnerving.

[sscamaro]

I'm glad everything turned out alright for you. That can rather un-nerving. Thursday night I forgot my $50.00 sun glasses at the resturant. I went back on Friday and nobody turned them in. Now when they cleaned off the table they would have found them. I guess that person saw it said "Corvette" on them. I guess they kept them. Yea well that's the way it goes.