Problems....

Sasuke_2

get in touch with the ppl

Savvy_Sue

You can buy propety marking kits reasonably cheaply, or if you contact your local police station they may have the pens you can use to write your postcode and it only shows up in UV light. They come with stickers so that you can then liberally 'sticker' your property. It might act as a deterrent for the more expensive stuff. It sounds so far as if it's things disappearing which the person hopes won't be noticed, but it's not nice. Doing a James Bond and putting hairs in place so you can see if anything's been disturbed might be fun as well! Although it doesn't get you closer to finding out who it is.

misskool

Have a house meeting with everyone and explain what's been going on.

If it doesn't stop, you could just go through the other person's things to find yours! Not really the best way but if you're looking for something that belongs to you and if there are no locks on all the doors...

YBNB

wirm wrote:

I have a web camera for my room, which has a motion sensor....but I take my laptop home at weekends....

Good job, innit.....

Serious note: if there's one of your other housemates whom you absolutely implicitly trust (and who you're sure isn't doing the pilfering), have a quiet word with them when there's no-one else around. Maybe they're having stuff go missing too and didn't want to say anything, or they might be able to help you - after all, they're in the same domestic situation than you and should be able to give good advice. Failing that, a problem shared, and all that

wirm

misskool wrote:

If it doesn't stop, you could just go through the other person's things to find yours! Not really the best way but if you're looking for something that belongs to you and if there are no locks on all the doors...

To be honest I wouldn't like to go to their level. But thanks for the suggestion.

holstar

ooo, nasty!

if its nothing to do with who you rent your house from, could you try speaking to your accommodation office at uni, see if they can 'encourage' your landlord to put locks on your doors?

or, have you tried speaking to your union reps? they may be able to give you some advice on meetings between housemates, and may be able to come and act as a mediator if it all starts getting a bit nasty.

hope it all gets sorted out for you though

Hol x

melancholly

I had things disappear mysteriously with a housemate - ended up putting something behind my door in a certain orientation and seeing if it moved when i'd been out. i did hear of a rather nasty trick someone else did to someone who kept having food stolen - the labelled up something very very clearly as theirs (i think it was a drink of some sort) then disolved lots of laxatives in it. when it went missing (as expected), the thief was very sick!! quite evil, but as the item was so clearly labelled, there wasn't really a come back!!

another option is to sit everyone down and explain that things are going missing, and that no-one in the hosue appears to be responsible. ask people if there are any sets of keys unaccounted for, thereby not directly accusing anyone in the house, then very obviously mention that you will call the police next time it happens. if that doesn't make them stop, then they really are stupid.

i had someone move out with lots of my stuff piled into their boxes - i just took it out and never said anything. people can really be so nasty, and to do it to people they live with - who are going to notice - is horrible. if you arrange all your DVDs in a particular order, it'll make it much easier to notice things go, which may put them off taking it - but if they steal, you should look at trying to get them out of the house - you can manage the situation to a degree, but in the long term you don't want to be living with someone like that!

pavlovs_dog

i feel for you wirm, i had the worst set of flatmates ever in my first year, they drove me crazy - and we only shared a kichen and corridoor :eek:

i think you've been given some good ideas already - a small safe (around £20) or even just a cashbox (£5, if that) - somewhere to keep your cheque books, money, tickets etc out of harms way, sounds like a must, just out of plain old security sense as much as anything. you shouldn't have to go to such lengths i know, but needs must and all that.

definately contact your landlord - if you dont ask, you dont get! you may find the costing is just an excuse - some multiple occupation properties have to go under a different type of teneacy if each bedroom has a lock on the door, which means more stringent fire safety regs, etc, which means more
expense for the landlord. im sure the accommodation section of your uni could help with this if you want more info.

definately speak to all your housemates (preferrably together, all at once), indiscriminatly and say that you will not tolerate stuff being taken and that it is to stop immediatly. dont point any fingers, there's no point adding fuel to the fires of annimosity, just say your piece and leave it at that.

your cd/dvd collection. either mix them up, and put everything in the worng case (used to stop my younger bro helping himself to my collection because he could never find what he wanted :rotfl: ) or put the disks in one of those storage case thingies, which in turn can either go in your safe (size allowing) or be hidden elsewhere.

crafty hiding places - pockets of dodgy items of fashion gathering dust in your wardrobe, in envelopes sellotaped to the underside/back of cupboard drawers etc. its amazing how inventive you get once you start (just dont forget where you've stashed everything :eek: )

about using the webcam as CCTV - i read something on the techie board about getting webcam to record to a remote computer, so ever if they steal your hardware, you still have cold, hard proof courtesy of your little candid camera.

check the Ts&Cs of your insurance policy (assuming you have contents insurance) to see what exactly you are covered for, and whether thieving housemates are included.

dont know how slovenly you are, but if you'd rival anthea turner, become a wayne/waynetta slob- the harder it is for them to navigate your room, the less likely they are to bother.

you say they got the tickets by going through your drawers. if they have scouted the layout of your room, chances are they know for next time exactly where to go for the best loot - why not have a complete re-organise of how/where you store things. dont give them an easy ride.


thats all i can think of for now - keep us posted and let us know how things go

p_d

jennifernil

Unless, as was said, there is a safety issue with locks, I would get the landlord to fit a lock. Much easier than anything else.

wirm

Thanks to everyone who has replied with suggestions! I never expected such a big response.

My first step will be to talk to all of my housemates as a group. Then I'm going to get in touch with the landlord.

When I come up next week, I'm bringing my webcamera with me and I'll see what I can find out.