People aren't perfect. I'm pretty sure her version of the events paints you guys in a more negative light just like your version paints her. The important thing is you got the camera back with only minor inconveniences (imo) which you should expect after you leave an expensive camera in a public area. Hell I would have guessed you'll never see that camera again initally, but again at least the person owned up and returned it even if it wasn't super timely.
I would have demanded five thousand boxes of cookies from "the Girl Scout authorities." Thin Mints ftw.
You should use that camera and take photos of your wife and email them to me. Or have your wife take photos of herself, and email them to me. Or that lady that had the camera hopefully taken pics, and left them on the camera, and you can send that to me.
Our only contact with her was the Monday before the Tuesday pickup. She thought she was doing the right thing by securing the camera for a friend. Had she returned the camera immediately to the GS Camp, that would be one thing, but it was about 10 days and even after initial contact with the GS Camp, the GS Camp told us that she has stopped responding to email inquiries. Don't know about you but even if something I leave in a public area (and this was a Girl Scout Camp not a public area), I expect to get it back. Don't know about you, but if I had done what she did, I would have inconvenienced myself to get that camera back to the GS Camp when I learned that it didn't belong to the friend I thought I was helping Right then a there I know I have something valuable that belongs to someone else. Up to this point, I just think she's kind of thoughtless and stupid, perhaps but my wife describes her as pissy and angry when (keep in mind) she shows up at the appointed place in a different car than she indicated and without the only means of communication established (her cell phone) and complains about being kept an hour... So now we are up to thoughtless, stupid and b****y.
Sounds like there's more to this story than we're getting here. That camera could very well have been left there intentionally as a "bait cam", specifically targeting this lady she's having a disagreement with so that she erroneously picks it up on behalf of her friend. Especially considering your camera just happens to be the exact model of her friend's camera? Entrapment, & possible blackmail ("I'll tell the police unless you give me the camera"). Anyway I'm glad you got your camera back, and no one was hurt. That's the main thing. Just be careful in the future with this stuff- that lady was probably scared out of her mind, being forced to meet a stranger in some random parking lot, at night. Which also explains all the car switching, & being late. You're just lucky she didn't (if she had known the law) drive right past your wife's little ambush, use that camera to take a photo for evidence, then take it straight to the police. Or worse, a REAL drive-by.
If the woman showed up with no cell phone and in a different car than she told your wife how did they eventually meet up if they were on opposite sides of the parking lot?
Yes. They were both in the parking lot at the appointed time for quite a while, but Camera Lady was in a different car than she described and she didn't have her phone with her so there was no means of communication; Mrs. G called 2-3 times during that time to no avail. My wife even accosted a couple of ladies who were "hanging" around the entrance to the grocery store to see if they were the person she was supposed to meet. In time, Camera Lady drove home indignantly and checked her messages and finally called my wife. She grouchily agreed to return to the shopping center with the camera all the while griping about being inconvenienced... Mrs. G felt like slugging her. It took 38 days to get the camera back. We drove the distance-- not her-- not once but twice. Lessons: 1. Don't walk off with something valuable unless you are absolutely certain to whom it belongs, 2. If you violate Rule #1, post haste return the item to the proper authorities (in this case the directors of the Girl Scout Camp), 3. If you violate Rules 1 and 2, promptly respond to all efforts to communicate with you and express your honest intentions. 4. If you violate Rules 1, 2 and 3, answer all questions truthfully that the officers ask. :grin:
That b**** "knew" who it belonged to because she wanted to keep it for herself. When her plan was thwarted, she got hella pissy. Giddy, I don't blame you or your wife for being pissed off. If someone kept my expensive camera for over a month and was very shady about it's return to me, I'd go ballistic as well.
Yeah, not sure I'd be too fomfortable having my wife meet some random stranger in a parking lot by herself... Glad everything turned out okay.
Bottom line: if not for the initial act of this woman, your camera would be forever gone. If she had any intention of keeping the camera, she would not have mentioned it to the GS camp moderators and had a nice new camera. Once she realized it was not her friend's camera, getting it back to you became more of a hassle than she wanted. Despite her pissy attitude, you owe her your gratitude.
Lessons: Don't leave a $1,000 camera laying around. If you choose to do so don't get butt hurt when somebody doesn't go out of their way to make sure you get it back immediately. And maybe she had a pissy attitude because you were threatening to call the cops on her even though she intended to return the camera.
