Unfortunately, in today’s society, theft of musical instruments is becoming more and more prevalent. So what happens if your flute is stolen? How do you go about recovering stolen flutes? London Flutes has recovered many stolen flutes and returned them to their owners. One such example involved a flute shop sending out on trial and then not being covered – Social Media story about London Flutes
London Flutes discusses the steps to take to prevent your flute being stolen, protect it if it has been and to try and recover your stolen flute.
PREVENTION
Do you take your flute to rehearsals, gigs, school or similar? If you do then you need to take care of it. Gig bags are useful to travel with or a secure bag. Do not just carry your flute carrycase as it is obvious that you are carrying a musical instrument and that makes you a target. put the flute in a secure rucksack, shoulder bag or similar and make sure that it is closed and not showing the contents. If you are travelling on public transport keep it in front of you so that your eyes are always on it. Perhaps add an airtag or similar in case you mislay the bag.
RECORDS
Keep a record at home of the flute, including the serial number and receipt of purchase. The serial number is the most important part, so that if you see it for sale somewhere else, you can prove that it is yours.
INSURANCE
I say it all the time to players, but Flute Insurance is vital. Even in your own home, your house contents may cover a less valuable flute from theft but not always. What happens when you travel to and from a gig or a rehearsal? It is all too easy for an instrument to be left on the train or unattended for a moment and then it is gone. Thieves are opportunistic and looking for the moment you put your bag down. Flute insurance is inexpensive and London Flutes has a discount with Newmoon Insurance, one of the leading musical instrument insurers. Read our blog – DO I NEED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT INSURANCE.
RECOVERING YOUR STOLEN FLUTE
Let us go through the initial steps when you know that your flute has been stolen. The most important first steps are to create a record:
- Report to the Police and get a crime number. This makes a definite record and will help you later if you see it for sale. This is also where your flute record of the serial number and proof of ownership becomes vital.
- Contact your Insurance company and give them the Crime number.
- Contact the flute company that made your flute. Flute makers hold records of stolen flutes and will contact you if they are made aware of an enquiry regarding that flute. It also makes it more difficult for companies to sell on.
Once you have created a record of the incident, you can now start to do some detective work. Opportunistic thieves will often not know what they have and will try to offload it quickly. There are a few options that allow them to do this and here are some to immediately look at:
PAWN SHOPS
Stolen items are often quickly pawned and so the best first option is to look at local pawn shops. You can also register a search with some pawn shops so that you know if a flute is being offered. Some of the larger chains that are worth contacting are Cash Converters, Cashbrokers Ltd and Cash Generator for example. Whilst these types of companies say that they carry out checks, stolen items do get pawned for quick money and so it is worth registering with them.
SELLING PLATFORMS
There are a number of selling platforms online for goods and so it is definitely worth scouring these for your stolen flute. The most notable places to try are:
– Perhaps the largest selling platform worldwide, Ebay have selling platforms all over the world. The main ones to check of course would be the country where the flute was stolen, but you can also look further afield. You can set up a ‘SEARCH’ that will notify you on a specific flute brand. If you find your flute being offered for sale then contact the Police and Ebay.
– Facebook Marketplace has a huge range of items being offered for sale and it is entirely possible that you may find your flute being offered on here. Profile’s can be hacked and items sold unknowingly through someone else’s name. If you see your flute being offered for sale then do not try and meet the person face to face. Contact the Police and Facebook and let them make enquiries.
Gumtree has a been around for a number of years as a simple and cheap selling platform. Few checks are carried out and so this is also a very useful source of information to check.
Other selling platforms to check include REVERB and MUSICAL CHAIRS.
FLUTE SHOPS
There are a number of reputable flute shops selling used/pre-owned flutes and whilst they all carry out checks, it is worth contacting them and looking at their stock to see if your flute has been offered to them. London Flutes, All Flutes Plus, Just Flutes, Dawkes Music, Wind Instruments are all well known flute shops and certainly worth contacting to advise them of the theft. They can then advise you if they are contacted by anyone trying to sell your flute.
IN CONCLUSION:
Protect your flute and insure it. If the worst happens then at least there is comfort in knowing that you have done your best and it is also insured. The flute is likely going to turn up somewhere on a selling platform, so do your homework! It may not be offered for sale in this country. London Flutes has returned flutes to someone in Japan, Germany, Italy and the USA. We have also confiscated flutes that have been offered to us in person and returned them. If you need advice then contact Kevin at London Flutes.