I Suspect Store Owner Vandalised My Car

I usually park my car on the street around the corner from my unit because I don’t have a car spot. There’s a small convenience store on the corner there. I parked my car near the store and didn’t get back to my car for two days. Upon arriving there was a note saying “Don’t park in front of my house/store”, that seemed to be left there for a couple of days. I noticed that someone has spilled a full cup of coffee on my passenger windscreen from the top and someone has kicked in my front and rear passenger side doors.

I highly suspect it was the shop owner.

What can I do about this? Seeking advice as I haven’t encountered something like this before.

Comments

  • +27

    If you have no evidence, then there's nothing you can do.

  • +11

    Maybe stop parking there?!

    • +32

      If it's a legal parking spot, why should he? He has a right to park there without his car being vandalised by someone who hates their life.

      • +7

        His rights may not extend to someone who doesn't hate their life.

      • -4

        Well, if you know someone is vandalising your car there : you ever accept it or move on. You don t go around making some assumption or complaining about it because i don't see what someone on a forum can do to help.

    • +2

      I think we have the suspect.

  • +14

    This can be anyone, unless you have prove. I would just get a trash car and park there, no need to move it for months.

    • I would rather get a trash truck with big back doors and an inclined ramp. park it in the spot, puncture the (profanity) tyres and use it for parking your car. Decent sun and vandalism protection.

    • +1

      Who else would want OP to "stop parking in front of the store" except the store owner themselves? Obviously this store owner thinks he is losing valuable customers who are driving in from all over town to shop there /s

      • No matter of suspect, everyone who it would be but you cant prove then nothing you can do

  • Could try calling the police. If you are extremely lucky they might ask some questions but very low chance of that.

  • +40

    What can I do about this?

    Contact the NSW Police State Crime Command on 131 444, ask to speak to the Commissioner (just say "chuck me onto Mick") and request an investigations team from the Forensic Services Group. They can send out a handwriting analysis expert to attend and take that letter into evidence.

    Or you could drive your car through the front window of the store and ask the owner if they damaged your car and left a note on it.

    • +31

      I like option 2. Poll?

  • +12

    Bikies

  • +94

    Ask the store owner if they can give you their CCTV footage of the incident.

    • +1

      Excellent idea hahaha

  • +12

    That's a bloody outrage, it is! You should take it all the way to the Prime Minister!

    • +6

      "Hey! Mr. Prime Minister! Andy!"

      "Hey mates! What's the good word?"

  • +12

    “Don’t park in front of my house/store”,
    I noticed that someone has spilled a full cup of coffee on my passenger windscreen from the top and someone has kicked in my front and rear passenger side doors.

    Buy a $1 coffee and return the favour. Kick in two windows while you're at it and call it karma.

    • +7

      That’s not how karma works, that is more like “retribution” what you are suggesting…

      • I think you spelt 'jail time' wrong.

  • +11

    Just keep parking it there. See how much they can bang it up.

    • This, it can only get so damaged

    • Ok that made me laugh
      Good for a Monday morning

    • +1

      And add parking based dashcam.

  • -5

    Take the note and put it on some random persons car. Throw coffee over the windshield. Kick in their doors.

    This won't solve your problem, true, but it'll make feel better about not being the victim anymore.

  • +5

    Sounds like, day 1 - note, day 2 - coffee and day 3… Doors.

    • +17
      • +1

        I lol'd

      • +21

        Day 5 - your car has been turned into a cube
        Day 6 - please move your cube

        • Haha where did I hear this from before? Was an old TV show I think.

  • +7

    Why have I got a sneaking suspicion that this wasn’t just “two days” parking and wasn’t the “first warning” OP has received…

    • +18

      One or two days shouldn’t matter when Op may legally park there for 365 days.

      • Will need to move the vehicle at least once to go and get a pink slip to maintain rego, but otherwise…

        • +1

          Brand-new vehicles in New South Wales are exempt from safety checks for the first five years.

          • @whooah1979: and given the average age of vehicles in Aus is around 13, I'd say there is a fair chance it is older than 5y.

            • +1

              @Euphemistic: I’d say the car was a bomb even before the doors were kicked in. Hence the store owner’s displeasure at it being parked in front of his/her store, as it wouldn’t exactly attract business. OP needs to post a pic of his car :-)
              OP is noticeably absent from this string, BTW.

              • @Ozpit: And a photo of the note that was left. Also conveniently absent…

                • +1

                  @pegaxs: And a photo of the coffee maker in the shop so we can enhance and get fingerprints.

  • Was it this bloke??

    https://youtu.be/aUet1zeS9QQ

  • +2

    I highly suspect it was the shop owner.

    Use your brain for a second. Why would the shop owner attack your car when it was parked outside of his place? He would literally be the first suspect, not to mention that he would be the first target of any sort of retribution.

    Either way, the fact that you suspect him is irrelevant. Nobody cares. You need evidence.

    That said, your story is entirely inconsistent, e.g.

    I parked my car near the store and didn’t get back to my car for two days. Upon arriving there was a note saying “Don’t park in front of my house/store”, that seemed to be left there for a couple of days.

    How can you park there for two days but there was a note that was left there for a couple of days?

    • +5

      Ummm …a couple of days is two days

      • +1

        Ummm …a couple of days is two days

        So OP parked there and the moment OP left, the store owner got out and wrote that note? Does that sound even remotely logical?

        • -1

          You seem highly agitated for some random on the internet…

    • Use your brain for a second. Why would the shop owner attack your car when it was parked outside of his place? He would literally be the first suspect, not to mention that he would be the first target of any sort of retribution.

      Well, based on:

      note saying “Don’t park in front of my house/store”

      A home owner in't going to write 'store' are they?

      • +1

        Might be a ruse….someone using the house/store owner as a scapegoat.

        Need evidence. If the store owner is happy to give cctv (Ie, no excuses), then I doubt he's the guilty party.

      • Yes, I agree that the store owner might well have written that note. However, my point is that if you've written the note, the car is parked right outside your store, would you go and smash the car as well? Either the store owner is ridiculously stupid, or it wasn't him.

        • +9

          The world is filled with angry, stupid people. I wouldn't rule out the store owner.

      • What if you run your business from your home? In which case they would write store as well….

    • Use your brain for a second

      Who else would be upset a car was parked in front of their "store"?

  • +9

    Take note of who normally parks in that spot. If their car has been parked there for a few days and it hasn't been damaged in any way, it's them!

    • Reminds me of a time years ago when I visited my sister and the only street parking spot I could find was a few doors up from her house. When I got back to my car the windscreen wipers and aerial had been badly damaged and needed to be replaced.
      It seems I had parked in the ‘private’ and ‘personal’ parking spot of a young bloke who lived in the adjacent house with his parents and brothers. My sister said he ALWAYS parked his car in that spot, and that the whole family had a reputation as low-lifes.
      Could I prove it was he who damaged my car? No. Did I entertain thoughts of retribution? Yes. Did I act on those thoughts? No. Did I ever park there again? No. Did he win? Yes.

      • Could I prove it was he who damaged my car? No. Did I entertain thoughts of retribution? Yes. Did I act on those thoughts? No. Did I ever park there again? No. Did he win? Yes.

        Are you going to let him win? No.

      • Did he win? Yes.

        The game's not over yet.

      • +2

        Did he win? No.
        As someone said upthread the world is full of angry stupid people - but the point is that angry stupid people are losers who invariably lead miserable lives. He has lost the game that matters.

  • +2

    Maybe he didnt want you to park your dinted up kicked in coffee stain of a car outside his shop.. really doubt he would have been the one to vandalise.

  • +1

    Put in a police complaint.

    Put a camera in your car and leave it in the parking spot.

    Wait for round two. Bingo.

  • Discretely throw coffee over the window of the shop and do nothing else. If he approaches you about it, you will have entrapped him.

  • Made my day thanks for sharing lol :)

    BTW what the estimate of damages ?

    • +1

      $1500 to replace the car with an equivalent model without damage.

  • -4

    It's a message you should heed and respect…. These spots are usually for customers ducking in and out of the shop, and your parking there for any length of time affects the owner's business. You can not prove anything, you may report it, but you have no witnesses to prove your "assumption".
    Just don't park there and respect your neighbourhood.

    • +4

      Unless parking is marked as a limited time limit, ie: 15mins, or if the parking lot is on the store owners land, the store owner has absolutely no right to reserve these spots.

      If it is a length of road with no restrictions on parking, then the store owner needs to grow up and not think they own the portion of road in front of their shop.

      The store owner has every right to ask council to put in a parking time limit in front of their store, but until that actually happens, they need to suck it up or move their store to a different location.

  • +2

    Subscribed. Awaiting photos.

  • Probably thought it was a stolen car.

  • park again an get a dashcam

  • +2

    Policelink 131444.

    Believe it or not they dont get payed 70k+ pa to just hand out speeding tickets.

    They do other stuff too.

    • Like beating and gassing hippies :3

  • +2

    If you're trying to run a convenience store and make a dollar, the last thing you need is a resident ditching their car for days in your best customer car park.
    Parking some place else would be polite.

  • At least it wasnt op's "friend"

  • Park there and put a note on your windscreen that says "I'm watching you". Drip a few blood on the note

  • +1

    Kind of a stupid move to damage a person's car just to keep a private spot. The victim could do as much damage if not more.

  • +11

    Go into store. Act real casual. Tell attendant "Do you park around here? Because oh my god, my car got kicked in outside your store. But my dash cam will have caught it all. I'll probably take the footage to the police tomorrow" Watch for reaction. Exit.

  • +2

    You could report it via the Police Assistance Line so there’s a record, but unless you have evidence, nothing will happen. You could go down the path of dashcams and evidence gathering but my guess is it’ll just be easier if you park elsewhere.

    My old man was the same as the shop owner, thought the street in front of the house was his private parking spot and would abuse anyone parking there. Most people thought ‘f**k it, I’ll just roll my car 5 metres and not deal with the looney’

  • +2

    leave it there and setup recording. front and back dashcam on the rear windscreen should cover almost the whole car and with tinted windows be hidden from the outside.

  • What car is it?

    • +7

      The one with the doors kicked in and coffee all over the passenger side window.

  • Unfortunately OP there's not much you can do unless you have some evidence. That's the world we live in, unless you have special privilege, getting justice is extremely costly.

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