As I hadn’t taken pre-rental evidence, I needed to send over timestamped screenshots/photos of the stolen items. Over the next few days, I was contacted from Jeevika and another claims person named Alex (who was also just as awesome) who asked for some more information from me. ![]() My only issue was that I hadn’t taken pre-rental photos/videos of my gear (Don’t ask me why, but as I hadn’t had any issues on the site so far, I just got lazy) I felt that they would use this as a reason not to pay out. ![]() At this point, I started to calm down a tad, feeling looked after and that I was in good hands with their lender guarantee. Once I gathered and submitted all of this information (not fun, as I had to dig through my phone, take screenshots and find products!) and filed the police report, I had a swift email back from Jeevika, informing me that she would be reviewing this information over the next 1-2 working days to make sure my claim was strong, before submitting it to the claims department. Relevant screenshots of conversations with the borrower.Main points of The ‘Lender Non Return Claim Form’: Then she emailed me after our chat with a link to fill in a ‘Lender Non Return Claim Form’ and asked me to submit a police report. We probably chatted for about 20 minutes and also discussed the fact that there was more than one person involved. She was very professional and emphatic to my unfortunate situation. ![]() Monday morning came and Jeevika did indeed call me and asked for my side of the events. She introduced herself and promised that she would call me the following day to go over what happened on the phone. Sunday morning, I received an email from a lady called Jeevika, from the claims department. Obviously it didn’t happen and whilst roaming the aisles, I contacted Fat Llama support on my phone and told them what happened. I was also secretly hoping I would get a message back from this girl with a plausible story about why she went cold and that she would be over to me shortly. Shortly after, my girlfriend and I walked down to the shops, mainly for me to get some fresh air and my mind off of what just happened. I actually felt like I was going to throw up. I heard no more from this girl, sending more futile text messages, calling and leaving voicemails. End of communicationīy 6pm, an hour after she said she was close by and still hadn’t turned up, I felt sick knowing I had been scammed. Fine I thought, maybe she was telling me a white lie and wasn’t as close as she said previously. Stress levels started dropping! 20 minutes later, I sent her another text message and she replied again, stating that she was almost at my house. She actually replied and said she was on her way. Getting no reply through Fat Llama, I sent a message to her, asking what time she will be over. Now, when a lender approves a borrower’s request, we both get access to each other’s mobile number. This is were I received no reply and started get worried. We had plans in the evening so I messaged the borrower around 4:50pm (10 minutes before she was to arrive) to see if she was close by, again through the Fat llama website. So, the following day came and my girlfriend and I were working from my home. The following day – When my kit was to be returned A few hours later, she messaged me via Fat Llama and said would 5pm be ok instead. As she was leaving, she said she’d back around the same time the next day to bring it back. Upon reflection, she seemed a little hesitant but came in to my living room and I showed her everything – I even offered her my backpack to hold all of the equipment, which she graciously accepted. I asked her to pop inside and check the kit out, as I do with all borrowers. So, about an hour and a half later, a smartly dressed black girl was at my door ready to take receipt of my photography gear. I even gave her my anker portable charger to charge the batteries on the go as she said she needed the kit urgently. ![]() After a bit of back and forth asking her what she will be using the kit for (a college project was the reason), I approved her request. I didn’t think too much of it as I have loaned out my gear to people who had no reviews in the past. The girl had no reviews or rating, and had just registered on the platform. Two weeks ago (28th of February), I received a message through Fat Llama from a girl asking if they could borrow my Canon 5D IV + 24-70 lens. Let’s rewind a bit and go through exactly what happened, how I was dealt with by the Fat Llama team and my thoughts on how to better protect yourself if you use Fat Llama or something similar. As mentioned previously on this site, I use the Fat Llama website to loan out some of my photography gear when not in use, and I’ve been very happy with the extra beer money… well up until last week that is, as my camera kit was stolen!
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