Problems with Chicago Union Station Parkling Lot

[Steve4031]

I just returned from a weekend trip to St. Louis I live in Chicago. Since other people were traveling with me, and it would be difficult for them to get cabs or take public transportaion from their homes, I picked them up and then drove to Union Station and parked in the garage that was attatched to Union station by underground walkway. In the past, I had used this facility with no probelm

However, when I returned Sunday night after being gone about 36 hours, I discovered that the after market radio had been stolen out of my car. The dashboard damaged. Additionally, and Ipod and a GPS were also stolen.

Yes, I left stuff in plain view, was busy running my mouth talking with friends and not thinking about security. But honestly, when I used this garage on solo trips, I have been complacent. So this is partly my fault.

Howver, there have been questions on the board about parking in Chicago, and this issue is relevant. The people in the garage could care less. I was charged for the parking. Yes . . . I also cussed them out so I know that did not help matters. But in my mind the point of paying to park in a garage is to have some sort of saftey for your car. Evidently, the facility attached to Union Station cannot provide this security.

Incidenly, since I will not park here again, it will be logistically impossible for myself and these friends to take Amtrak to and from St. Louis. I will continue to ride Amtrak, but will take CTA or cabs to the station from now on.

 

[Anthony]

Very sorry to hear about that, Steve, and hope everything turns out well in the end for your car. Thanks for letting us know about the parking situation!

 

[Everydaymatters]

In the loop and surrounding area, when you pay for parking, that's all you are doing. Paying for a place to park. It would seem that they would know who is wandering around their parking lot, but like you said they don't care. Sorry to hear this happened to you Steve.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Here in LNK the most common form of "theft" is "smash and grab" from cars. I'm a deliveryman and every morning as I deliver the residential neighborhoods I see smashed glass, and either the car owner bummed out or the cops doing a report. I am so careful to never have one thing in view in my car. I have had 3 car stereos (after market) stolen so I just stick with the factory stereo now. When I park in the LNK Amtrak lot, I park under a light and not have one single item visible. Theft always makes me feel so violated. Glad you are not letting this spoil your like of Amtrak. No offense to my urban friends here, but who knows...it may have been the parking lot attendents that stole your stuff or friends of theres. Also when I travel, I NEVER stop my newspaper or mail. A fellow employee stopped his paper for a week and the newspaper circulation warehouse had someone working there so he would know when people were on vacation and then he and his crime buddies when break into the houses knowing they were gone. So I make it look like I'm still home. I "hire" a neighbor to get my stuff in on a daily basis and always return from my trip with a small gift. (mostly gift certificates to a neighbor restaurant, I don't think my neighbors would like taking care of my house for a week and getting an Amtrak blanket as a gift) :lol: Live and learn (and this isn't the way I like to learn) and pray and hope that the Ipod they stick in there ears shorts out and electrocutes them! Just being a tad bit of a smart aleck here.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Brings to mind the stories we heard during a NY garbage-pickup strike of folks gift-wrapping their garbage and leaving it in their unlocked vehicles, knowing that thieves would relieve them of it. Around Orlando the police have a number of "sting" cars now, attractive vehicles with video cams, transmitters, gps locators, etc., that they park (locked) in areas of high crime rates, wait for it to be stolen, and then nab both the thief and the fence. Perhaps they need to rig some cars with attractive-looking stereos, gps systems, ipods, etc., which in actuality are explosive dye-packs, to indelibly mark the thieves and make them easier to spot. Or just use concentrated skunk oil

 

[rtabern]

We've had some of the same problems up here in Milwaukee.

If you have to park at the MKE depot, DO NOT park in the $3/day "Amtrak lot" on the south side of Saint Paul Avenue... there have been a lot of break-ins there.

Head to the $5/day pay lot across from the Amtrak station on the north side of Saint Paul Avenue.

Neither lot is manned 24 hours a day, but the $5/day lot is better lit and less likely to be broken into.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Sorry to hear about your Theft Steve.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

 

[PRR 60]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

I leave my car at stations and airports all the time. In the last year my car has resided in the Philadelphia International Parking Garage E about 30 days. That is a typical year for me. I never had a problem with airport parking. Certainly leaving items of value in sight is not a smart thing to do, but we have all done it once and a while. It finally comes down to bad luck. Your car is in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that is not a reason to never park at an airport or station.

Thirty four years ago I had a car stolen from the PATCO parking lot at Ashland Station in New Jersey. Believe me, I was not happy about that. Like Steve, I was pretty torqued. But I continued to park at PATCO. Thirty four years have passed without even a minor incident. You can't live in fear of what you can't control. You consider the odds and act accordingly.

 

[Windy City LSA]

Getting your car broken into stinks. After I had an expensive car stereo stolen when I first moved to the Big City, I vowed to: never have a nice car, leave it unlocked with nothing inside, and always just leave the factory car stereo in. I haven't had any problems since.

Always remember, though. Just because you're paying through the nose for parking in a "secure" garage doesn't guarantee any security. I'm not saying this is what happened, but it's entirely possible that it was an inside job. If not the actual people who work there, friends they tip off to visible goodies left behind in a parked car. Theives can be crafty that way. Always be careful. Never leave anything valuable in the car...visible or not.

 

[Steve4031]

Getting your car broken into stinks. After I had an expensive car stereo stolen when I first moved to the Big City, I vowed to: never have a nice car, leave it unlocked with nothing inside, and always just leave the factory car stereo in. I haven't had any problems since.
Always remember, though. Just because you're paying through the nose for parking in a "secure" garage doesn't guarantee any security. I'm not saying this is what happened, but it's entirely possible that it was an inside job. If not the actual people who work there, friends they tip off to visible goodies left behind in a parked car. Theives can be crafty that way. Always be careful. Never leave anything valuable in the car...visible or not.

That was my feelings too. I understand that paying for parking does not guarantee securit. However, I wanted to alert people to my experience so that they would be more carefuly.

 

[Steve4031]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

My friends were to females with large suitcaes who are not as public transportation savvy as many of us are. Even if they were, one of them has very poor bus service by her house, so she could not even count on getting to the station on Saturday in the middle of the day. Now factor in that we return on a train that arrives at 10:40 p.m on sunday, neither one of them is probably going to have a viable public transportation option. One would have to go to the Millineum park station, and then ride metra electirc to two blocks from her house. The other is still dealing with the bus service issue which is even worse on a Sunday Night. Would you want female frends that you care about roaming around Chicago late at night? What if the train is late? Do you want then paying for 40 dollar cab rides? And why should they reimburse me for my mistakes? That commet makes no sense.

I was foolish for leaving my stuff out and I pointed that out in the original post. I would not categorize my post as "Weasel Whining" Im not asking Amtrak for reimbursement, and I understand that parking garages still charge no matter what happens. However, it would behoove Amtrak to try to monitor to a degree what goes on in this Garage since it has Amtrak's name on it, and most people will connect their garage experince with Amtrak. I did not do this. As I stated in my post, it would be difficult to take these particular friends on

Amtrak becausee of the issues with this garage. I also stated my intentions of continuing to support Amtrak.

 

[XNWA]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

My friends were to females with large suitcaes who are not as public transportation savvy as many of us are. Even if they were, one of them has very poor bus service by her house, so she could not even count on getting to the station on Saturday in the middle of the day. Now factor in that we return on a train that arrives at 10:40 p.m on sunday, neither one of them is probably going to have a viable public transportation option. One would have to go to the Millineum park station, and then ride metra electirc to two blocks from her house. The other is still dealing with the bus service issue which is even worse on a Sunday Night. Would you want female frends that you care about roaming around Chicago late at night? What if the train is late? Do you want then paying for 40 dollar cab rides? And why should they reimburse me for my mistakes? That commet makes no sense.

I was foolish for leaving my stuff out and I pointed that out in the original post. I would not categorize my post as "Weasel Whining" Im not asking Amtrak for reimbursement, and I understand that parking garages still charge no matter what happens. However, it would behoove Amtrak to try to monitor to a degree what goes on in this Garage since it has Amtrak's name on it, and most people will connect their garage experince with Amtrak. I did not do this. As I stated in my post, it would be difficult to take these particular friends on

Amtrak becausee of the issues with this garage. I also stated my intentions of continuing to support Amtrak.

You can have your car trashed anywhere, even in a Kroger parking lot. I would not leave valubles visble. I two have parked in airport parking lots for years with no problems. I do stop my mail and paper when I am gone, as I have a good relationship with my delivery people and they keep their eyes open while I an gone. I certently would not call you a fool.

 

[Guest]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

Good thinking!

In fact, why travel at all? Live in a bunker. Or better yet, since the whole earth has crime, move to the moon.

 

[tp49]

On the one hand leaving valuables in plain view attracts thieves. Steve did admit to that and accepted responsibility for that part. I do tend to agree that in this instance it very well could have been an inside job. It's a risk you assume when you park there. The garage should do a better job of patroling if they claim it's a "secure" facility. However, it could have been that "patrol" that broke into the car.

I leave my car at the airport with some regularity since on Sunday's my public transit options are limited. Never had a problem but it doesn't mean it couldn't happen and having your car broken into does bite. Happened to me three years ago in front of a friends apartment and they got my class notes two weeks before finals.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

Hey guys, haven't we gone far enough on this Topic?

 

[Everydaymatters]

There's no getting around the fact that Steve was a fool. How difficult would it have been for his friends to get to the station, and was it ultimately worth the loss? Did his pals reimburse him? Weasel whining, pure and simple. Yes, I'm harsh, but how could anybody be so stupid? You don't leave your car at the station, or the airport, and doing so is just asking for trouble.

Very harsh IMHO. I'm sure Steve feels bad enough about what happened without hearing this.

Patrick, you need a shot of life here where I live. You're too tainted. I regularly go into the nearest post office and leave my keys in the ignition. But I don't leave the car running like everyone else does. If I go to the post office in Woodstock, a bigger town, I wouldn't find anyone leaving their cars running; only because there's usually a few people in line ahead of them.