HEARTLESS thieves have hit Bentinck Street business Harmonikos twice in two days, leaving the owners to count the cost.
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In both incidents – late on Monday night and early yesterday morning – thieves smashed their way through the front door of the shop.
Around $2400 worth of musical instruments were stolen in the first incident and hundreds of dollars worth of stock was stolen in the second.
Owners Phil and Cath Snitch say they were woken early yesterday by their security company, which told them the shop’s alarm was going off.
They went straight to the business to find thieves had again smashed their way into the shop.
Yesterday’s theft was a blow for the couple emotionally and financially.
“When we got the call we knew straight away what had happened,” Mrs Snitch said.
“The only difference was they smashed a different side of the door this time.”
Still coming to terms with the first break and enter, Mrs Snitch said she couldn’t even work out what had been taken the second time.
“We reviewed the CCTV and it was clear what he took: a bass amp worth $740 and two bass guitars.
“The first was a Washburn guitar worth $900, it was beautifully made from solid wood grain, and the second was a red Essex guitar worth $400.”
Unable to pay for the replacement of the stolen items themselves, the Snitches will have to claim through insurance, paying two excesses and facing a significantly increased premium.
They have also had to foot the replacement of two new doors, worth $500 in total.
“Replacing the glass wasn’t worth going through insurance,” Mrs Snitch said.
She said the past 48 hours had been very disheartening.
“We’ve tried to offer a good range of options so we can demonstrate quality instruments, but we are rethinking that now,” she said, adding the business may have to revert to taking special orders.
She also said she and her husband had done everything they could to secure the business, including installing CCTV at a significant cost.
“The only thing left is to put grilles on the windows and front doors, and we can’t really afford that at the moment,” she said.
The break-in at the shop was one of four break and enters reported to police in 24 hours.
In one of the incidents, a couple were awoken in their house in Lambert Street to find a person standing in their bedroom.
The intruder was chased through the house, but escaped out a door and on to the street.
