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

I know that I would make sure that it was indeed the other person's doll, once that was confirmed, I'd reassure them their doll was safe and that I would get it back to them asap! I would let them know that authorities may wish to confiscate item should their be a police report filed, but I would let them know they can claim their item so long as they have proof of ownership. Pictures, certificate of authenticity, etc. Then I would take legal action especially if this was an incident outside of ebay's protection. Since paypal won't save my arse, I'd try ebay. If it was an ebay transaction, I think ebay has protection against fraud. If you call ebay on their hotline and report that a seller on ebay sold stolen merchandise to you and that you would like to file a complaint to get your money back. I'm sure ebay would give you seller's contact information even if you couldn't get your money back. You could hand this contact information to the police along with the doll that was stolen so they can keep it safe. If all goes well, the seller will be forced to pay for monetary and emotional damage to both me and the original owner. I'd honestly persecute the thief and make sure they got what they deserved. And in the end, who knows? Maybe the original owner and I can become friends? -I hope I worded everything alright, I'm a little out of it from being sick- ^^;

 

I don't know much about recieving stolen goods. It never happened to myself or anyone I know so I never looked into it. I would get in contact with the owner ASAP to let her know the doll is safe and to double check that it was indeed the stolen doll and not just a mistake. I would get advice from the seller on what to do next and just go from there. I can't say for sure what steps I would take with the police.
Im not sure if they know how to ship the doll, lol. I would like to do it myself but I would understand if I can't. Legal action would def be taken against the seller on my end to get my money back.
But I would

 

I would probably spend a few minutes cursing, and then contact the original owner immediately.

 

Should you even contact the original owner if you're in this situation, shouldn't you just contact the police and give them the stolen goods and original owner plus the sellers information and let the police handle it entirely. You can pursue getting your money back through the courts independently of this.

I mean what if the original owner takes it upon themselves to view you contacting them as some sort of scam to con a reward from them. It could be like how people steal dogs from parks. Theoretically a person could browse through the thread for lost and stolen dolls and contact people claiming they've bought or found that persons doll and ask them to send the shipping fee.

 

I agree completely with Tallenvyaere, in that extortion in any way shape or form is wrong.

I would contact the original owner right away and arrange to somehow get their doll back to them. Heaven knows how much goes into each and every doll. The time, the wait, the money put into clothes, eyes, wigs, faceups (if you have them commissioned by an artist), etc. It would be very wrong to keep the doll or even worse, extort the original owner.

I don't know about the rest of the community, but I stand by the age old truth that "karma is a bee-hotch." No one needs karma biting their bum!

 

The first thing I'd do is contacting the original owner of the doll, but I won't give back it back untill I know he/she is the real owner of it. And in the meanwhile I'd contact the person I've purchased the doll from.

 

I know for sure I would take legal action against the seller. Who knows if the seller was the thief, or in on the theft? Even if I may not have a chance to recover all my funds, or if I have to wait a long time to get those funds back, I would much rather have this thief brought to justice so he/she/them can not hurt anymore people.

And of course get the police and contact the owner. Probably Police first, and hand in the doll, with all evidence, and then contact the owner so they can deal with the police in getting their property back.

Sure it may be "a lot of paperwork" but seriously, this paperwork is to protect you and make note of the incident.

I would feel rotten for keeping the doll, even if I could "get away with it". I've had very expensive things stolen from me before. Not only do you feel violated, but also hurt. It doesn't go away either, not for a while at least.

 

I would be extremely upset, but I would definitely make an effort to contact the owner at the very least, and then hopefully there will be some recourse to recover my money. Depending on the situation I might lodge a police report but I don't think there is much I could do if the seller was in another country and I had bought the doll on this website.

 

Sorry have deleted message as doll may be off topic.

 

Step 1: Be depressed for an hour.
Step 2: Contact the owner.
Step 3: Return it for only shipping fee.
Step 4: Feel guilt free but a little upset that I lost out.

But really folks, I can't believe some people would make the owner pay for the doll itself. You can't compare a few hundred dollars worth to doing the right thing and the happiness of another person. You can always make more money... but theres only one of the stolen doll that could be returned. People are priceless... dolls have a set price.Yes I understand the frustration, but all in all, this is whats important.

Does having a feeling of guilt even really matter? The fact of the matter is doing the right thing. Your feeling should not hold head importance.


babycham Police do work very slowly. They wouldn't return the doll right away, they'd keep it as evidence for months and end up returning the doll like 1-2 years later.

 

This I don't understand. There's something wrong with this world because of this sort of mindset. People shouldn't have to worry about theft. They shouldn't have to worry about being careful. Because people naturally should trust one another and always give people benefit of the doubt. It is this kind of thinking that further produces mistrust and crime.
I could say it is your fault. You didn't research where the doll came from, you didn't take care of noting that the doll could have come from.
Jesus Christ... who are you to get off telling people that they don't deserve to have the doll. Are you perfect? I don't think so.

Sheesh, that got me riled up.

 

If the person can proof clearly that is her doll, I will contact police and let them handle the situation. There's as many fraud fans as thefts, so without evidence of owning this doll before I would do nothing.

 

I think I would be very upset to know that the doll was stolen, but I would contact the owner and return it. Probably have a good cry on the quiet though.... Seriously, its not nice to have anything stolen. I feel that people (most people) work hard for what they have, and deserve to have it back.

 

The fact is its not the buyer's fault if the doll was stolen in the first place. Most people take it for granted that the seller obtained the doll legally. That said, there are people who steal - you are right we shouldn't have to worry about theft but it happens. Personally, I would be very upset if anything was stolen from me as I am not wealthy and some things are not easily replacable.

 

Oh I know that it isn't the buyers fault at all. I was just comparing the blame the same way she blamed the original owner. It really irked me. My point was that a person and doing the right thing should take place over monetary loss.

I'd be upset too, probably to the point where I'd cry since I'm so sensitive. But fact of the matter is, not only is it illegal to keep stolen goods, it really is ethically wrong.

 

Cry! Because I'd feel too guilty to keep it. I'd try to get my money back for it from whom ever was the seller. It would totally suck to not have either the money you paid for the doll nor the doll itself. But there would be no way I could keep it; no matter how much I loved him/her. :`(

 

There's a solution to what I've highlighted. I, too, have read about this happening, and they say you shouldn't give too much identifying info (special markings, or dents, or chips) in your "stolen doll" post. That is how people get scammed - you give too much away, then you don't know if they're telling the truth or not.

Before your doll is stolen: If you notice on your doll that there is something significant about the doll - scratches, a small chip, a stain that won't come out - take pictures of them all. Take a picture on all sides (back, left, right, front, and in-between if the mark is not very viewable from one of those). Yes, the scammer might try sanding them down, or covering them up, but if you can call attention to places where the marks are, perhaps the "new owner" can tell you there's something covered up? That's a sign.

Stolen: If your doll is ever stolen, and you post about it, give only a few things away - the basics (mold, brand, color), and also one or two identifying pieces of info about the marks you recorded before. Maybe there's a chip on the ear or ankle that's worth mentioning because it's very large, and would need epoxy? Don't give every detail away.

If they ask if there are any other marks that you can think of, have them photograph the parts of the doll where you know there are other dents or scratches. Have them photograph it from all sides, and in the best light they can. If their photos come out blurry, make them get someone else to take the picture. This is too important to go just go by blurry photos. You examine them, and if you see the places that match your doll, they might have your doll, legitimately.

But even so, it's best to contact authorities; neither of you know how many dolls have been stolen and sold by the individual in question, and I'd rather wait a few days or a few weeks if I knew that one more scammer was stopped. Chances are, you're both hurting for different reasons, and you would like it if the scammer/thief was caught. It might not be the person that sold you the doll (it might have been passed to a few people), but hopefully someone is eventually found.

I've been thinking more about the people who would want to be paid so that someone could have their doll back, and I think now, if I was ever in that situation, I would be angry. Not just a little peeved - furious. And so would my family when I tell them how this person is trying to extort money from me. I think about how I would feel already - my doll is stolen, I feel stupid, I feel ashamed. I'm probably crying because of that. We fill out the police report, and they're probably going to tell me there's a slim chance of getting it back.

I hope no one makes that mistake and pays someone back for their own doll; once you get them to make clear their request, you print it out and give it to authorities. They will have two issues now, instead of one. I would also be especially furious if the police told me the new owner was not willing to return the doll to me.

I'm also not sure how I'd feel about remaining friends with someone who I knew was intentionally keeping a stolen doll - even if we've been friends before BJDs. It would just seem too weird knowing that whenever we had our dolls out, the stolen doll would be there, too. I would feel bad for the original owner who lost the doll and might not get it back. I would be conflicted as to whether I should contact someone or not, but I would consider contacting the original owner, and at least telling them that I think I saw the doll somewhere. I'd tell them that I did not take it, but I am uncomfortable telling them everything, and request the authorities contact me; I'd then tell them everything.

 

i would send the doll back to the owner and somehow arrange getting my money back from the seller and reporting him to the police that way no ones out money and the stolen good are returned x.x i guess its a matter of fact on how you paid ect @[email protected] the time frame...but i do think that the owner should get back her doll because its not the owners fault nor should the owner be punished for this.

 

I would return it to original owner right away. The only thing I'd request is the shipping cost, and for them to help me take action against the seller. I'd want my money back of course, and swallowing the loss of so much money would be extremely difficult, but it wasn't the victim's fault that his/her doll was stolen. And while giving up the item to the police might be the smart thing to do legally, I'd like to give the original owner some say in what s/he wanted to do with the doll. Imagine if the police department kept, damaged, or lost the doll! :< This is all anecdotal but I've heard of it happening before.

 

I would not hesitate to turn over the doll to the police in the original owner's jurisdiction as evidence, to provide as much detail as I could about the sale to help catch the offender, and to take the offender to small claims court to try to recoup my money.

I wouldn't stick the doll in the mail just because someone claimed it was theirs and sent a few pictures, though. If someone contacted me about it, I would ask them to file a police report if they hadn't done so already. Once they'd taken that step, I'd be fully cooperative with the authorities.

The thing is, claiming a doll is stolen could be a scam, too. Just because the person owned the doll during the doll's history, doesn't mean the doll is gone because of theft. Just because someone handled the doll at some point and took pictures doesn't mean they ever owned it. Just because they have pictures doesn't mean they've ever even seen the doll - it's not hard to swipe pictures from someone else's albums. The whole story could be a lie, and the seller and the claimed original owner could be in on it together, to profit from ending up with the sales money and the doll. Both could even be the same person using different internet aliases.

I wouldn't want to keep someone's stolen doll from them. But I'm also not going to immediately jump at any plausible story a stranger tells me. There has do be some kind of boundary... and for me, the boundary is the police report. If the original owner isn't willing to take the steps needed to prove that a theft occurred at all, I'm probably not going to feel comfortable enough with their story to take the financial loss myself. Once the original owner provided some official documentation, I'd do what I could to help.


By the way:

While I know this is true, I see it as just kind of... one of those things. Yeah, that's not a lot of fun for the original owner to have to wait and go through bureaucracy. It's not a lot of fun for the buyer to be out a doll with no guarantee of recouping their money, either. The situation wouldn't be ideal for either of us, because having a doll stolen just isn't ideal period. I'd still rather go through the appropriate legal channels rather than risk getting scammed myself in the process.