Every woman's nightmare happened to me a couple of weeks ago. While DH was at work, and I was on a business trip, a couple of teenagers broke into our home and ransacked everything. It has been quite an experience for us. Since then, we have taken many precautions to prevent a repeat robbery that I wanted to share with all of my lovely TPFers. Especially since we all love Chanel and so do burglars.
My tips to help you not go through what I have gone through:
1. Keep all of your Chanel costume jewelry that is worth $1000 or more in a safe. All of my Chanel jewelry is gone. Didn't expect something like this to happen so kept everything in my jewelry box.
2. If you don't mind keeping your Chanel costume jewelry in your jewelry box outside of its dustbag, do that. Mine was all stolen since I kept them in their little dustbags so the thieves knew it was Chanel. Believe it or not, the police said they probably wouldn't have taken them if they were not in those descriptive dustbags. He said that most people don't know what the CC's stand for. So unless Chanel is spelled out, they won't know it is Chanel.
3. Keep your Chanel bags very well hidden. The only reason why I still have my Chanel bag collection is because they were all at the very top shelf of my closet and the robbers didn't see them. All of my babies are still with me only because of that reason. The police said if they would have seen them, those would have been stolen even before my jewelry. Keep your bags that aren't being used out of plain sight. They must be hidden.
4. Keep your designer shoes in their dustbags but not in the box. The designer shoes I had in boxes got stolen, but the ones in the dustbags alone did not. They went after the Chanel and Prada shoes the most.
5. Get a safe. Keep all of your expensive jewelry in a safe. I also have my most expensive Chanel bags (exotics) in my safe now. The leather bags are staying at the top of my closet. A safe is a good way to go if you have a lot of luxury items worth more than $1000.
6. Get a home alarm system. If you have a lot of Chanel bags, shoes, jewelry, RTW, definitely do this. The police said most thiefs choose homes that do not have alarms since they want to be in and out without drawing any attention to themselves. I don't have any Chanel RTW, but the police said it is common for luxury clothes to get stolen too.
7. Be sure your homeowners policy covers all of your Chanel items. Luckily mine covers the shoes, and some jewelry taken but not all of it. If you have a big collection, be sure it is covered under your insurance. You never know if this will happen to you.
Thanks for letting me share. It has been really hard on me. I was off of TPF for a while since so much of my Chanel stuff was stolen. I will always be eternally grateful though that my bags are still with me. Please let me know if you need any additional tips.
My tips to help you not go through what I have gone through:
1. Keep all of your Chanel costume jewelry that is worth $1000 or more in a safe. All of my Chanel jewelry is gone. Didn't expect something like this to happen so kept everything in my jewelry box.
2. If you don't mind keeping your Chanel costume jewelry in your jewelry box outside of its dustbag, do that. Mine was all stolen since I kept them in their little dustbags so the thieves knew it was Chanel. Believe it or not, the police said they probably wouldn't have taken them if they were not in those descriptive dustbags. He said that most people don't know what the CC's stand for. So unless Chanel is spelled out, they won't know it is Chanel.
3. Keep your Chanel bags very well hidden. The only reason why I still have my Chanel bag collection is because they were all at the very top shelf of my closet and the robbers didn't see them. All of my babies are still with me only because of that reason. The police said if they would have seen them, those would have been stolen even before my jewelry. Keep your bags that aren't being used out of plain sight. They must be hidden.
4. Keep your designer shoes in their dustbags but not in the box. The designer shoes I had in boxes got stolen, but the ones in the dustbags alone did not. They went after the Chanel and Prada shoes the most.
5. Get a safe. Keep all of your expensive jewelry in a safe. I also have my most expensive Chanel bags (exotics) in my safe now. The leather bags are staying at the top of my closet. A safe is a good way to go if you have a lot of luxury items worth more than $1000.
6. Get a home alarm system. If you have a lot of Chanel bags, shoes, jewelry, RTW, definitely do this. The police said most thiefs choose homes that do not have alarms since they want to be in and out without drawing any attention to themselves. I don't have any Chanel RTW, but the police said it is common for luxury clothes to get stolen too.
7. Be sure your homeowners policy covers all of your Chanel items. Luckily mine covers the shoes, and some jewelry taken but not all of it. If you have a big collection, be sure it is covered under your insurance. You never know if this will happen to you.
Thanks for letting me share. It has been really hard on me. I was off of TPF for a while since so much of my Chanel stuff was stolen. I will always be eternally grateful though that my bags are still with me. Please let me know if you need any additional tips.
... I'm so sorry! What an awful experience to come home and find it ransacked ... that would be my worst nightmare! At least you and your DH is safe and no one was hurt ... it would have been worst if they tried to rob you while you were home. Thanks for the tips ... we do have a home alarm system and I feel better when it's on. I always put it on especially if I'm at home alone with the kids.
