Or, you can go to Italy, and have as many copies made as you like!

Tom

I'm sorry you last your bag, but it was your bag and you did leave it unattended, what do you expect ? It's the same as leaving a Chf 100.-- on the table, going aways fro 5 minutes and comming back expecting it to be still there.

Nice to know the insurance pays for carelessness, i wonder who pays for insurance ?

will do! i wouldn't mind normally if my bag went missing but it's only been two months since i upgraded from my brick nokia phone talk and text to the iphone!! that's why i am so disgusted it's gone. so for 6-7 years i had the brick and decided to go for it and now i have gone back to the trusty old brick with a stupid orange contract that allows me zillions of downloads that i can't use. will have to look for another iphone which retails at 899chf or an android of some sort.

no i had it under my table we were all sat around it, same as i do in many places ive been to in more dodgey countries, the guy wld've had to crawl under the table to reach it. i don't think there was any stopping them if they wanted it. at least it wasn't a violent mugging. next time i will chain the bag to my arm and table leg...

I bet someone walking by your table, "accidentally" dropped something (like a jacket - big enough to hide a bag under) as they were walking past, whilst an accomplice distracted you (?).

I'm sorry to say, that I suspect most strangers of being up to no good ... until proved otherwise - even here in cheeseland.

They don't seem to care at all in France either. Depending on where you live this may be a bit closer

Yep could be even someone at the next table who pulled it with a leg....

Why rule out that it wasn't a lady? A friend thinks that her purse was stolen in the women's section at H&M. It was taken from her handbag on her stroller and she thinks she would have noticed too if a man got so close to her stroller with her daughter in it.

I attach the bag strap to my chair if it unbuckles or I put the strap under the chair leg. I think I am a little obsessive about it (working near Kings Cross in London will do that to you), but i've never been robbed (touch wood). I did manage to drop my credit card out of my purse last week though. I didn't realise until I had a full tank of petrol and not enough cash to pay for it Luckily, someone decent found it and reported it lost to the bank.

I really feel for you.
I had my purse stolen twice last year, you might think I was really stupid to let it happen a second time, but the sad reality is that there are organised gangs of thieves in our lovely towns. I live in Vevey and the first time it happened was in C and A on a Monday morning with hardly anyone around. I had the double buggy, was distracted I expect, someone was watching and took my purse out of the ( very deep) pocket in the pushchair. They must have seen me put it in there after I bought something in the butchers 5 mins previously.
I was SO upset to think that someone had done this to me, never mind the trouble and expense of stopping cards and replacing my driving license and demi tarif.
After that I was REALLy careful if not paranoid, but still it happened again in the garden centre section of the big Migros near Aigle.
Its a long story but the manager there told me that there were these organised gangs and that its very common. I was very shocked to hear this, he was very kind and sympathetic and helped me search all the bins in the car park but to no avail.
The second time, the police were very UN sympathetic, obviously thinking that I had been very careless, which I honestly was not.
Please everyone out there, be REALLY aware, these thieves are all over the place.

I am terribly sorry to hear about your lost possessions, as it is equal parts distressing and disheartening to be the victim of such acts. I really hope you do not have to replace sets of door keys for every apartment in your building.

When I lived near Vevey, I accidentally left my purse on the train. I had already departed in Lausanne and was halfway up that massive hill before I realized. I called the train station to report it missing, with plans to call the necessary authorities afterwards and begin the arduous task of canceling every card and document that may have been in the purse. To my shock, someone had seen the abandoned bag, picked it up and turned it in to the next station. The SBB told me they'd have the purse back to the Lausanne station in exactly 37 minutes.

I had also left a sporting event two years ago when I discovered my iPhone was no longer with me. I hadn't a clue where/how I had lost it. I tried calling it but it went straight to voicemail. I managed to let the darn thing slide off my lap while leaving my seat . The gentleman sitting next to me saw it, but couldn't keep up with me as I was darting through the crowd. He recognized me as the wife of a member of said event and promptly brought my phone to my husband. Upon arriving home, I called to tell him about losing the phone. He let me get all the way through my story, I was fairly frantic at that point, before telling me he already had the phone. Oh the relief. Oh the shame...

My point is this: for every rotten criminal lurking in the shadows, there's at least as many kind and honest people out there who would chase down a stranger to return their expensive item.

__________________
"If at first you don't succeed... so much for skydiving." - Henry Youngman

Lausanne is most of the time extremely safe - with common sense limits, one should not tempt fate. However, people tend to be very civil... recently my kid had her wallet stolen (left unattended for only 2 min... ), and within 1/2 hour, I had a call from the Objets trouvés (lost and found), saying that someone found it on the floor in a garden, and turned it in (all but the cash were in). Phew. So do call the lost and found to see if they got it - it is in Place de la Riponne 10, see here http://www.lausanne.ch/view.asp?DocId=20292

Regarding the keys, well - one can make copies of keys, but changing the locks will require the landlord agreement. I doubt they will change all the locks of the house - that would be absurd; I guess you will have to pick up the cost of your own locks, and use one key for the front door, and a different one for the apartment.

I'm sure it was with you at all times, but the fact remains, you don't have it, you don't know when it was stolen, therefore whatever you say, it was unsecure for a certain period of time which allowed somebody to move in.

It's one of those things that's going to happen in any big city, despite how vigelante you are, theirs always somebody who will take a chance on an opertunistic theft which appears the case here.

Anyone check if Eddie Izzard was in town....?

Seriously sorry about your situation though.

le singe est sur la branche?
La souris est en dessous de la table?

thanks for the kind words, also to know that there are more honest ppl out there who would kindly return lost things compared to the not so nice. i am definitely putting things into perspective, whilst it is annoying that there are unsavoury people out there who think it no deal to steal other peoples things, i am very thankful that it is an important (EXPENSIVE!!!)lesson learnt and that it wasn't violent. It could've been worse, they could've threaten me outside the bar/cafe. I think it was definitely a wake up call to the more seedy side of lausanne that i wasn't seeing in my glittery orange tinted glasses, after living in places like sydney and uk i was lucky to have never come across this but i think i may have become more relaxed being here and it was such a lovely bar and the ppl in there were typical friday night ppl, the guys who may have been the robbers seemed normal and just saw an opportunity. I would say something if i was drunk but i was on cokes and teas all evening as i'm pregnant, so trying to keep relaxed to not stress out my little monster
also found out that insurance won't cover it. unfortunately in the early days of not understanding a word of french i must've made a mistake somewhere on the forms

Something to keep in mind and is a bit old school- the Swiss phone book is online and your name is everywhere on your cards, store cards are the least of your worries. By just entering my first name into their search engine my address pops up. Clever eh?

Unless you have chosen to be unlisted... .

thank you i didn't know this. will try google the swiss phone book.

ok, i am very worried now...i just looked up myself, all there for the robbers to have a "welcome to my house and rob me some more". how do i get my name off the Swiss phone list?????

Not sure how to remove your name but maybe, as a precaution, you could get your husband to put an extra lock/bolt on the door, plus a chain. Also, if you are on or near the ground floor, make sure that all the windows have locks too.

As you are familiar with London you will know that everyone does that there, as a matter of course!

incase anyone is interested in taking their name out of the swiss book. just call up the number 0848 86 80 86 and ask to remove your name. The lady was very understanding. my goodess, a bit of panick there. she done it on the spot. thank god.