Dorje' gear nicked in Berlin

Teetonetal

https://m.facebook.com/officialrobchapman/

Yet another reminder. Don't leave gear unattended in a van....

I think a go fund me campaign with a target of 17k is taking the piss somewhat.

Edit: Removed Robs name, as he's just posting the link, not setting it up

sinbaadi

Somewhat?  Completely.  Even without the overall context of shit things that happen at gigs and no apparent mention of that on the Twitter feed.
You don't need insurance if you've got fans.  Fans who need their heads examining.  

monquixote

Luckily rob had scribbled his name on the headstocks of all the guitars thus rendering them worthless to the thieves.

Teetonetal

monquixote said:

Luckily rob had scribbled his name on the headstocks of all the guitars thus rendering them worthless to the thieves.

It was laptops, passports and camera gear.

monquixote

Teetonetal said:

monquixote said:

Luckily rob had scribbled his name on the headstocks of all the guitars thus rendering them worthless to the thieves.

It was laptops, passports and camera gear.

And my funny ship

breakstuff

Teetonetal said:

monquixote said:

Luckily rob had scribbled his name on the headstocks of all the guitars thus rendering them worthless to the thieves.

It was laptops, passports and camera gear.

Bloody hell,is he selling them now as well?

tone1

Definitely opportunist thieves then....couldn't possibly have been targeted...

vasselmeyer

How to sound like Rob Chapman without breaking the bank... 

Dominic

Well the passports will be pretty useless ………THE Chapman and Massaad hairstyles are an offence in themselves
……although I think he has removed the woven-in Trustafarian dreads

Fortheloveofguitar

I saw this on FB earlier

It's an awful thing to happen but a fund page is taking the piss

I don't know of his money situation but to travel around like this without even a basic insurance policy is ridiculous to then hold your hand out asking fans to potentially pick up the bill is a bit of a dick thing to do 

guitarfishbay

I don't understand what's happened here re: insurance or not, but it looks like most of the stuff stolen belonged to other people not Rob.

I'm copy pasting the statement because I know a lot of people aren't going to click the link before they comment.

"We are extremely sad to say that Dave and our tour manager Max had their bags stolen from our band van today at around 12:30am outside the SO36 venue in Kreuzberg, Berlin.

If anyone has any information or saw anything after the gig that could help we'd really appreciate it.

The thief made off with laptops, cameras, wallets, drones, various other personal possessions and all of the touring party's passports.

Ultimately, all of the things that both Dave and Max need to function and do their jobs have been stolen.

Anything you could do to help us replace their equipment would be amazing.

Thank you - Dorje"

digitalscream

I've seen quite a few similar posts in the last few months from various bands - it seems that travelling with insurance isn't cool enough for the cool kids.

Not bashing Dave or any of the Dorje lads here, but...I'm of the opinion that travelling with £20k (according to the Facebook post) of uninsured tech gear to save money and then asking your fans to cough up to cover for your mistake isn't cricket. And if it was insured, it's plain taking the piss.

EDIT: And what happened to the standard band rule of "If there's gear in the van, somebody stays with it at all times"?

Teetonetal

digitalscream said:

I've seen quite a few similar posts in the last few months from various bands - it seems that travelling with insurance isn't cool enough for the cool kids.

Not bashing Dave or any of the Dorje lads here, but...I'm of the opinion that travelling with £20k (according to the Facebook post) of uninsured tech gear to save money and then asking your fans to cough up to cover for your mistake isn't cricket. And if it was insured, it's plain taking the piss.

EDIT: And what happened to the standard band rule of "If there's gear in the van, somebody stays with it at all times"?

Bea and Max have both commented on my post, that the band was with the van and it was deadlocked. Yet they still managed to nab 17k worth of stuff.

I just cannot believe that a touring band would not be insured for this.. it's insane. Sadly bands have stuff nicked on a regular basis, and there follow be on the lookout for the following gear etc. I mean, I only play small gigs and all my stuff is insured. There is no way I could afford to buy it all if it was lost, damaged or nicked and no fund me campaign would come to my rescue.

ThePrettyDamned

digitalscream said:

I've seen quite a few similar posts in the last few months from various bands - it seems that travelling with insurance isn't cool enough for the cool kids.

Not bashing Dave or any of the Dorje lads here, but...I'm of the opinion that travelling with £20k (according to the Facebook post) of uninsured tech gear to save money and then asking your fans to cough up to cover for your mistake isn't cricket. And if it was insured, it's plain taking the piss.

EDIT: And what happened to the standard band rule of "If there's gear in the van, somebody stays with it at all times"?

It absolutely should have been insured. 

Insuring stuff isn't even expensive - I insured my camera kit, as new-for-old against theft or breakage, and it was about £100 iirc for £4k of gear (I didn't spent that much, some was second hand and now unavailable so they insured it as the latest version) for a year. That also included public liability, and covered all of the UK - including EU only added a small amount on top, but I'll only add that if I got out of the country. 

I'd guess that insuring £20k of stuff for a year would cost under £1000.
Which is cheap. Just not as cheap as asking your fans to bail you out... 

m_c

It's all very well criticising others for lack of insurance, but what does it actually cost?

I know for bicycles, if you need standalone insurance, you're looking at 10% of the bikes value, and a list of exclusions that mean the insurance company has got lots of get out clauses, so unless you're extremely diligent, it's not worth it.

digitalscream said:
EDIT: And what happened to the standard band rule of "If there's gear in the van, somebody stays with it at all times"?

Because people think vans are secure. At work we can get in any van within 15 minutes, and that's with minimal damage. With damage it would be under a minute with the right tools.

One thing I do like about my work, is we've got to do an annual security awareness course, which some people think is pointless, however it highlights things lots of people probably would never think about.
Things like, if you don't put your laptop bag in the boot of the vehicle when leaving, don't put it in the boot when you're parking up somewhere, as somebody could see you and then know there is a laptop and where it is. It's far safer to just leave it in the footwell/seat, and through a jacket over it, as then anybody looking in won't be sure what it is.

digitalscream

m_c said:

It's all very well criticising others for lack of insurance, but what does it actually cost?

https://www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk/our-policy/bands.asp

They cover everything (electronic gear like laptops included), and insuring £15k of gear is about £15-20 a month. For professional musicians - which is everybody in Dorje - that's a total no-brainer.

joeyowen

digitalscream said:

Not bashing Dave or any of the Dorje lads here, but...I'm of the opinion that travelling with £20k (according to the Facebook post) of uninsured tech gear to save money and then asking your fans to cough up to cover for your mistake isn't cricket. And if it was insured, it's plain taking the piss.

Bingo.  Rob probably got a lot of that stuff using money he earnt from his fans.  Then he hasn't insured it, and wants their money again.  Doesn't sit right with me at all.  That being said, I hope it turns up for them

£17.5k is beyond a joke sorry, get back in the real world

digitalscream

joeyowen said:

digitalscream said:

Not bashing Dave or any of the Dorje lads here, but...I'm of the opinion that travelling with £20k (according to the Facebook post) of uninsured tech gear to save money and then asking your fans to cough up to cover for your mistake isn't cricket. And if it was insured, it's plain taking the piss.

Bingo.  Rob probably got a lot of that stuff using money he earnt from his fans.  Then he hasn't insured it, and wants their money again.  Doesn't sit right with me at all.  That being said, I hope it turns up for them

£17.5k is beyond a joke sorry, get back in the real world

To be fair, it wasn't Rob's gear - it was Dave and Max who lost their gear.

guitarfishbay

digitalscream said:

m_c said:

It's all very well criticising others for lack of insurance, but what does it actually cost?

https://www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk/our-policy/bands.asp

They cover everything (electronic gear like laptops included), and insuring £15k of gear is about £15-20 a month. For professional musicians - which is everybody in Dorje - that's a total no-brainer.

Did you call them? And did that include the optional extras of personal & public liability, worldwide cover, and theft from unattended vehicle?

It looks like you need to call them to get a quote for a band. 

"Please call us on 0330 100 9903 if you are representing a group, band or orchestra, your instrument is valued at more than £10,000, or the total value of your instrument or equipment is greater than £25,000."

I still agree they should have been insured regardless, but I'd be surprised if £20/month covered everything necessary for an internationally touring act 

monquixote

I suspect the insurance would be more expensive than that if it covered professional use.

Most people on here don't realise that when they are driving home from a gig they aren't insured on their cars unless they have business cover.

DefaultM

I've got a similar amount of insurance and it costs about £25 a month maximum. It's such a small amount that I can't actually remember. If you can afford to take £20k of gear out with you then either you can afford to insure it or you can afford to lose it. Don't do neither and then ask other people to cover you for it.