What would you do if...you bought a doll that had been stolen?

Okay, it's late over here, so I won't be replying to the whole post, but I have something to say to this before I go to bed. I would rather have my doll back too than the insurance money. Didn't I already state so in my first post? But if you think about it, you now have a owner who has lost their doll but has the money it is worth, and a buyer who has the doll, and will deliver it back but doesn't want to lose their money. What to do then? You trade, of course, and that was actually what I meant when saying problem solved.

And I'll also mention the point about talking the situation over. I can't fathom how that could be so wrong? They are not responsible for you losing your money, true, but you're a victim too. Therefore I can't for my bare life understand what's so wrong about at least TRYING to be diplomatic and talk it over instead of refusing and leaving one of them completely miserable with their face stuffed down into the gutter? What you seem to be opposed to is the whole idea of them discussing their situation and what to do, which, really, can't hurt in any way but may, if you're lucky, solve a thing or two.

 

It's always possible that original owner will want to do something to help the buyer out. But they may or may not have the ability to do this even if they did want to. The issue to me is the idea that you have the doll, but are then asking for something in return. It's not your place to ask. And if they can't help you out, what then? The problem is that the thief never owned the doll to begin with, which means down the line neither does the buyer. The buyer has no right to ask for compensation. It's one thing if it's freely given, but this shouldn't result in a bargaining session.

Also, if the doll is found, I'm not so sure you're going to be able to collect/keep insurance money, but I am admittedly no insurance expert. As a general rule, though, they don't like to pay out unless they have to. This is assuming of course, that the doll was insured and the insurance was willing to pay for it's full value. It's not that I don't care about the buyer, it's just that there's only so much that rightfully can be done. This sense that the original owner is somehow obligated to try and compensate the buyer doesn't make any sense since they are not responsible for the mess, and the doll is not really the buyer's doll. A bad situation, certainly. But some situations are like that. What bothers me about your posts is that you expect the owner to fix the situation for the buyer as if there is some kind of obligation there. That obligation doesn't exist. I think a lot of people would want to do something nice for the buyer in return for getting them their doll back, but paying you back all the money you are out (especially considering what some of the dolls go for) may be asking for something that is unreasonable. Sometimes doing the right thing has to be reward enough, because that's all you can reasonably ask for.

 

The original owner has their doll back, the buyer has their money back and everybody is happy including the thief, because nobody is interested in persuing them.
I've thought about this recently as last year my (expensive and brand new) bike got stolen. It was insured and I received a bike of equal value, but if I would spot the stolen bike (I have the frame number in my note book) I would call the police and let them handle it. Yes, the buyer may have bought stolen property unknowningly, but the thief may be tracked down through the buyer.
I'm also not going to trade in my new bike for the stolen bike the buyer did who knows what with, just because the buyer is so sad to be out of their money, so if it was about dolls, I'm also not sure if I would trade it for insurance money. Partially, because if you receive insurance money the part of ownership gets muddy. Who's the real owner, you or the insurance company and using insurance money to buy back stolen property sounds wrong to begin with.
You can't just do whatever you like when stolen property turns up after you received compensation from your insurance company. If you get your stolen property back, then the compensation should go back to the insurance company and not to a third party. I'm sure there's a clause about it in your insurance papers and going against it is fraud.

There's nothing wrong with having sympathy with the duped buyer, but insurance fraud is not the answer.

 

contact the owner immediately or i would feel guilty

 

Completely agree with this. Insurance policies have clauses of what needs to be done should the item that you were compensated for is located. These companies exist because they make a profit and you can expect that they have policies that account for instances when any payouts have to be reversed. That, and not everyone insures their dolls.

 

If i bought a stolen doll... i would contact the owner, and the police. Depending on what they wanted to do..i.e. evidence.. ect.... i would go from there. But. i would not expect anything back.... Honestly, i buy dolls for my friends... i am a giver by nature..

I would if allowed by the police, return the doll to the Owner, and consider my money well spent. I would go to bed, every night with a warm happy feeling. The fact i would be able to help someone, in such a way. is reward enough. Plus, the natural legal activities might mean i would get something back, or, at least get the person who stole the doll.. unable to break up another dolly family.

 

Honestly, I'd just contact the original owner and inform them that I have their doll, and offer to ship it to them.

That's just plain cruel to keep the doll after you know it was someone else's and was stolen. If it happened to me, I'd be upset as heck.

I'd contact who I bought it from and ask for a refund of some sort though. I mean they're going to be blacklisted for selling a stolen doll anyway, so they should seriously lighten their reputation a bit and give me my money back before I contact the police and get them arrested for selling stolen property.

 

Contact the doll owner but maybe let a court settle things, however it works. I don't know how often (or even HOW) dolls are stolen, but it's a pretty common occurrence that a pet is lost, someone finds it, then there's a dispute over who's the rightful owner. There was that news story a while back about an exotic parrot that flew away from its owner, lived more than a decade with someone else, and then the original owner and out and they had to fight over who would get to keep him. That had to be settled in court (I can't remember the outcome).

I figure the same thing would have to apply to dolls. I mean, if the original owner had it for a week, showed it off to the wrong person and ended up having it stolen, then the theft keeps it for five years before later selling it.. By that time it's going to prove it was your doll to begin with. If five years have passed, the thief could claim it was a gift, hence why they held onto it for so long before parting with it. Then the third person is maybe an innocent bystander.. Proving who's telling the truth and who's the rightful owner would be really difficult.

So I guess people should just treat their dolls like they would their wallet: you might let a store clerk handle your credit card for ten seconds, but don't let them hold onto it and don't let it out of your site!

 

I honestly don't know how I'd feel if I were faced with someone who came to me and told me their doll was stolen, and the doll I had in my posession was said stolen doll... TBH... I'd have a hard time believing it... but if it could be proven, I'd feel obligated to return it... after I attempted to get my money back from the person who stole it, then sold it to me. It may be needed as evidence. Once I explored all way to get my money back-whether I actually did or not having no impact on my decision-I'd feel obligated to return the doll.

I just hope I, nor anyone is faced with this... it seems that people can get very emotionally attached to these dolls, sometimes as soon as they lift them out of the box... this experience could be quite painful.

 

That would be an awful situation... I'd definitely contact the original owner and let them know what happened and I would most definitely return their doll. It's not their fault that I paid for a stolen doll so I don't feel that they should have to buy the doll from me. I could only hope that someone would do the same for me if it were my doll.
Of course I'd attempt to get my money back from whomever I bought it from.

 

This may get me hated, but I wouldn't let her have the doll back. She got it stolen. That's not my fault. I might go back and forth on whether to tell her I have the doll and offer to let her buy it off me, but if she was dumb enough to let it get taken, she doesn't deserve to have it, and I've already bought it.

 

Wow. Classic victim-blaming right there.

 

Okay, your decision to not want to part with property that you purchased is fine. To be honest, I'd feel the same way... but there's no need to be so blatantly nasty.

Would you call someone that got their wallet stolen dumb and undeserving? Just because someone gets something stolen, it doesn't mean they meant for it to happen, it doesn't mean they were "dumb," and saying someone is undeserving of something because it was stolen from them is just... wrong and honestly hateful.

While I can see why you wouldn't want to part with the doll, I honestly don't understand how you can blame the one who had their doll stolen. What kind of thought process could lead someone to that...?

Just like Anna said: classic victim-blaming... and it's quite shameful.

 

Wow, your post is pretty mind boggling. People get stuff stolen through no fault of their own all the time -- it doesn't make them dumb, and guess what, legally the doll is still their property. It wouldn't be your fault that you unknowingly bought a stolen doll, but since it was stolen it's not yours to keep. If you know it's stolen and refuse to give it back or try to bargain with the original owner, then you are taking part in the crime at that point. By keeping the doll, you are also not reporting the thief (since once you reported the crime, you would be forced to give up the doll).

It's not a happy hypothetical situation, but sometimes crappy stuff happens. That doesn't negate your responsibility, however. Also try and put yourself in the original owner's shoes. How would you feel if your doll was stolen, and the buyer tried to force you to pay for the doll again to get it back? Unfortunately, there have been cases where DoA member's have had dolls stolen before -- maybe you should go read some of their stories before you decide that it's ok to treat someone so callously.

 

I seriously hope that you never go through the pain and worry of having your property stolen, be it a doll or anything else. I don't think saying unkind things will get you hated, but it will seriously dent the impression you are giving of yourself to other people. As you ask in your signature that longstanding members of the community be kind to you, I suggest that you consider other people with more kindness also. Saying that someone was 'dumb enough' to have their doll stolen is not a kind thing to say

The person who had their doll stolen is not to blame. Only the thief is to blame here. The victim didn't set out to have their doll stolen from them, someone either set out to steal it or seized an opportunity to do so. I remember a very sad situation where someone had locked their dolls safely in the boot (trunk) of their car, or so they thought, and someone actually stole the dolls out of the car! If you make every effort to keep your property under lock and key and someone deliberately steals from you, that is not your fault.

It is not for you to decide who 'deserves' to keep stolen property. Thankfully, that's what the law is for.

 

While not in doll form, I've had similar happen in real life and couldn't imagine doing any different with a doll. The expense may be one thing but so too was my own personal experience in the past. Being one to live a more honest life, I would certainly return it despite the value. I've spent a few hundred dollars on something before and found out it was stolen; doing the right thing is only good karma to maintain. The original owner was very ecstatic that I was willing to track them down and return the item. They offered to pay a compensation to me but I refused; it was nice knowing I could do something good.

In the case of BJD's, to each their own in yet a different debate of what value/connection they have with their dolls; but, so many people do give the dolls personality and so often it's to a point of almost being "one of the family." While I'm sure the original owner would realize "it's just the loss of an inanimate object," is it really? Family heirlooms are inanimate objects yet they have irreplaceable value. BJD's take on their own personalities, their own personas, their own "character." In a way, if there's knowledge of something I now own having been stolen from someone, that would be similar to holding a family member or friend hostage; I couldn't do that. I would absolutely make an effort to return said property.

Real life past experience too has put me on the other end as well in a way. Hiking around an island a few hundred feet off shore, accessible by walking through barely even chest deep water at the deepest point, my wallet fell out and down a rocky ledge. At the time, I assumed it was gone for good but months later, someone had found it on a lower rock and mailed it back - complete with over $500 cash (I was on vacation and it was back in the early 90's, before I was able to have a credit card as well). To have the contents back, relatively undamaged photos (good wallet), what then became a spare ID "just in case," and other contents, that mattered more than the money but the money was a nice bonus to have back. None of it was missing and the person used my address as the return address too. I had no way to compensate them or else I would've.

I speak from experience on both sides of the fence and must say, I wouldn't think twice; the right thing to do would be to return the doll and if there was some sort of "reward" from the proper owner, well, kudos.

 

As someone w/2 lawyers in her family, I asked! Here's what they said:
If you find out you've bought a stolen item, you should notify the POLICE. The item becomes evidence.
If the theft victim received compensation from an insurance company, said company has rules about what happens if the lost/stolen item surfaces. Often the victim has to pay back the money received from the insurance company.
Or, in the case of said brand new bike, it goes away & you get the stolen one back (unless it's ruined of course).

 

Alright then, allow me to clarify. I'm referring to a situation where the doll has been set down and left, and someone came along and picked it up (because while a wallet is small and easy to misplace, a doll the size of a purse and almost always carryed in your arms takes a lot of skill to steal from someone's grasp). I think that if you leave a doll behind or you let the wrong type of person hold it and run away with it, then you have some part in it all. Yes, the thief is still the proper wrong-do-er, but the victim does have some part in it as well. HOWEVER: If the doll was stolen due to a B&E (or hotel at con theft), I could understand that and I would never say the victim had a part in it. You thought the doll was safe at home (as it should be), but something random happened and someone broke in. That's terrible and I would give the doll back to the proper owner (as long as they proved it was theirs).

And let's just say this, I'm not blaming anyone. People being jerks and stealing dolls is not okay, and they should be punished accordingly, but when an owner leaves a doll out, I have a hard time sympathizing. The reason I don't like you saying I'm blaming the owner, is because that's like saying I blame a girl for flirting and getting raped. THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M SAYING AND THAT IS NOT OKAY. But I do think that if I left (let use a different object other than a doll to help prove my point here) say, my $1000 corgi puppy tied to a table while I went to use the bathroom, and I came back to it gone, well that wasn't very smart of me to leave it unattended.

tl;dr A victim is a victim. And they deserve to have what is properly theirs, but it's important to take very good care of your dolls if you want them to stay as your doll because petty thieves do exist and we must all be careful. If I had a doll that was stolen, but I paid a lot of money for, I would want all the details before I handed that doll over to ANYONE.

HOWEVER: It is illegal to keep stolen property, so it's not like I could keep it from her if she proved it was hers anyway.

 

I'd turn it in to the local police, file charges against the seller, do a chargeback, then contact the rightful owner. That way I get my money back and the person got their doll back and the bad guy gets in trouble. There are laws that require you report it to authorities if you realize you have purchased stolen goods. If you don't you get a nifty charge called "receiving stolen goods." The owner might be able to track you and then you'd get arrested. Its better to be honest. There's something called intrastate laws that can extradite the seller to the state for prosecution. So the bad guy would be facing jail time. This is why I only purchase in the U.S. and only use traceable payment methods.

You do know that ethically and legally you're really in the wrong. You could get nailed for what i just mentioned... You could also go to jail for extortion or blackmail... Possibly fraud too. Those are felony charges. In florida it's 10 years in jail without parole. You'd ruin your life over a doll?? I hope you change your mind about what you said.

 

I'd feel forced to give the doll back, after making sure it really is their doll, as I'd be in distress if my doll were gone. Then I'd turn in the seller, they would be the one whom would have to pay me back.