Meter bay theft

[enzothebaker]

Hello,
Can anyone give me any tips on how to prevent thieves breaking into my meter bay doors. 7 times in 3 mos, had new cameras put in but of course they just give evidence after the fact. The cameras have not derailed this one bit. I have Coleman equipment and I don't want to air out all the details of what he is doing but I'm sure it has happened to one of you guys and details are not needed. Please pm me if you have any tips on what I can do besides the extreme (sitting up there for weeks hiding), or if I need to give more detail in private. Thank you in advance.

 

[Jim L.]

Tokens...worked for me.

 

[BBE]

We never used to have a problem with meter boxes. Bill changers yes. Going to tokens worked for us as well.

 

[Randy]

Last year I had the police at my wash 18 times. Now every day we pull all the money from the vac’s, vending and coin vaults. We also pull the cash from the bill changer every day and keep a minimum amount coins in the hoppers. It’s a royal pain in the a$$ but you got to do what it takes. So far this year we’ve been broken into twice. Tokens didn’t help us much, they still break in and then sell the Tokens or buy vending item and sell those.

 

[Stuart]

Had vandalism all the time when we were all cash. Meters attempted to be opened and a few times succeeded but mostly damage and frustration. Equipment room door broken, actually got inside even with the alarm system had enough time to do damage to the back of changer (didn't get cash) but took off before police arrived.
Switched to tokens and very minimal damage or attempts. A fraction of what we had before!!! In changers we sell
1 token=$1 2tkn-3dollarcoins=$5 Times 2 for a 10 and times 4 for a twenty. I got alot of 20's and then a few years ago put in credit cards. Fewer twenties.
Really the only people who have problems with the tokens are the ones who use a big bill to use one dollars worth of time-a rinse down. What really gets me is how much money (millions) and time the Government spent to educate the people about dollar coins and customers go "I got all tokens". No you didn't, these are dollars--- Oh really???? duh

 

[Randy]

We’ve been using Tokens since 1992 and going to Tokens didn’t seem to help much. They still break into the equipment. We got a guy just buying up the vending here last summer. He bought $250 worth of Tokens for $75 in the parking lot at the casino. We called the police and they never showed up. He had the nerve to ask for his $75 back, he didn’t get it or the vending items he had purchased.

 

[MEP001]

If you do try tokens to reduce theft, you could paint some of them red and leave some in the vaults. You'd have to remove them from the tokens being dispensed to customers, but after any break-in anyone who brings in the painted tokens would be your burglar.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

enzothebaker,
I sent you a pm yesterday and haven't heard back from you. I believe I know who is doing this to you. Get in touch with me.

 

[mjwalsh]

Hello,
Can anyone give me any tips on how to prevent thieves breaking into my meter bay doors. 7 times in 3 mos, had new cameras put in but of course they just give evidence after the fact. The cameras have not derailed this one bit. I have Coleman equipment and I don't want to air out all the details of what he is doing but I'm sure it has happened to one of you guys and details are not needed. Please pm me if you have any tips on what I can do besides the extreme (sitting up there for weeks hiding), or if I need to give more detail in private. Thank you in advance.

Enzo & others,

Even in our relatively low crime area ... we have had our ups with downs ... not just with theft but with vandalism. Without going into too much detail ... we have used a "24 hr/7 days" two way intercom setup. The key is the ability to respond quickly so it is better than just an "after the fact" looking at the crime on the video recording.

Just a heads up, Microsoft very recently made a free remote desktop Android & Iphone App ... including sound available. We have paid for & used Xtralogic with success but they never did develop the remote desktop with sound App for Iphones. Logmein just discontinued their free Remote ... but they did not have sound anyway on that specific App. Caution: Via just cell phone could kick up the data usage making it expensive. 4G is definitely a plus though.

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/remote-desktop/051f560e-5e9b-4dad-8b2e-fa5e0b05a480

Mike Walsh http://kingkoin.com/USA_Deficit_Reduction.html

 

[cwguy.com]

I know exactly the problem if you have Coleman doors. I had those also. They would bust them open and steal my sensortron quarter! Sometimes kill the acceptor. The people in my hood are like nomads..... So I don't know if tokens would help?

What about motion sensors for an alarm? Or smaller meter boxes? I had this suggested to me and I think it is a great idea..... Weld the door shut!

I wouldn't really bother to much with cameras.... At least I saw 95% of the break-ins were walk ups. Unless they made a half way attempt at the safe and then they parked by the road. Just my knowledge and options.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

Hello? Enzo, are you out there?

I am confident that I know who your thief is. My videos of him are not clear enough to lock him up. If you have clear video and my ID we can get rid of him.

@cwguy, this guy is not stealing the quarters out of the coin acceptors, he is emptying the vaults through the meter boxes.

 

[cwguy.com]

Ghetto Wash.... I believe there are some threads on preventing that also? Besides depending on meter security.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

Ghetto Wash.... I believe there are some threads on preventing that also? Besides depending on meter security.

I'm not looking to prevent it, I already have. I am looking for clear pics of the guy doing it so he can be locked up.