bit of a dilemma!

[Siobhan]

Something has come up and I don't know how much rights i have as it is all just suspicion. About 4 months ago my son's DS went missing from our house here and not just the DS but the charger and a game too. A month later the neighbours kid come over to play with Ben with the same colour DS and including the black dongle thing (for wrist strap) that we had on ours (this is an accessory and doesn't come with the DS so you have to get it separately).. Anyway, we go to speak to the parents and check out the DS but all the setting are changed and the thing is cover in stickers.. I couldn't tell if it ours or not so I let it drop.. However, the boy comes over again and Charley spots the DS and she say yes it is definitely ours. we had a dodgy switch and she had put a green line on the DS itself but again, I can't prove it so let it drop.

Yesterday Ben said that this boy had a game that is the one that went missing with our DS. This game is not a popular one that most kids would pick up (I got it for a fiver so wasn't that popular).. now this is where I can prove it is our as I still have the original box and serial number. So we head over, again speak with the parent, the boy still insists he got the DS from a friend, however, it is our game, the same one that was in the DS when it went missing. Boy claims that Ben gave it to him. I wondering when? Before the DS was missing? if yes, why as the boy never had a DS so why give him a game?? There is no way he could have gotten it from Ben after the DS went missing cause the game was in the DS..

So where do I stand and what can I do? I don't have the serial number for the DS (why Nintendo thought it would be a good idea to only put the serial number on a sticker at the back is beyond me) but I have only suspicions.. the same colour DS, the same black dongle and the game that was in the DS when it went missing. Can I claim it is my sons? it this enough??? Anyone got any advise for me...

[Tuareet]

I think you are entirely within your rights to investigate further. Ask for clarification as to exactly who the friend is he says he had the DS from and take it from there. I had a similar thing a few years back when my son's friend, (now ex-friend), stole all his birthday money which was over £100 and they were only 12 years old!! His parents wouldn't initially believe he had stolen it but to cut a long story short it was him and he returned the money after my daughter confronted him in school and threatened him with the police. We had all the money back minus £10 which he had obviously spent but I even got that back in the end when his parents had to face up to the fact that their 12 year old was a thief who was also stealing from other friends. Good Luck!

[Siobhan]

He has told us who the friend is and that she just gave this to him cause she had a few DS at home. Unfortunately, this is not the 1st time this boy has taking from us. He took my son's scooter, put stickers on it and sold it to another kids in the area for €15. He claimed that time Ben gave him the scooter to keep, ditto for Ben's ball and frissbee.. BTW, this boy is only 9 and my son is 6.. so from this you can see why I am getting more and more suspicious.. I am a bit annoyed as his brother is now going around my kids school saying we stole from them (which is a lie, the mother said we could have the DS back for investigation) and that we are bad people. It is not right.. My kids are only here 7 months and I don't want them getting a bad name for something they didn't and would never do.

[Tuareet]

I think you really need to take it further or he will grow up thinking it is OK to steal from people. Take the DS back and have a good look at it, if necessary even lie and say you are going to send it back to Nintendo as they have told you they have a way of looking at the serial number inside the machine. I feel for your children, my son and his friends were initially accused of bullying the boy who stole from him by their school until they knew the truth, it ended up with the boy having to leave the school as his parents couldn't face anyone after having to accept their son was a thief.

[alan45]

I know it's a long shot but were there any marks or scrapes on the DS which might appear in an old picture of your son using it

[Siobhan]

I know it's a long shot but were there any marks or scrapes on the DS which might appear in an old picture of your son using it

The only things were this green line Charley drew on it and the dodgy switch which are both on the DS that he claims he got from this other person

[alan45]

The only things were this green line Charley drew on it and the dodgy switch which are both on the DS that he claims he got from this other person

If you had a photo of it showing the green line prior to this it would be so easy to prove. Why not get the two boys together along with the boys parents and see what happens... Is it possible that your son may have actually given the other boy the DS in a bid to make friends as the new boy in a strange country..

[Siobhan]

I don't think I have a photo of it.. and I don't think Ben gave him the DS... The boy said he got it of a girl in school as she has a few and didn't need it.. All the other things we found this boy with belong to my kids he said that Ben gave to him as a present so why lie about this if that was the case????
Ben loves his DS and he would have lent it to the boy for ages if asked.. Ben is nice like that but he gives nothing away without asking us if it is ok first as he had been taken advantage of in the past.. in Dublin one boy swapped him an old crappy car for Ben's new Buzz lightyear toy and we found out before the kid took it.. since then Ben always comes to us first.. Ben is a nice guy and will allow anyone to borrow things and would tell us if he did... He was looking for it one day and that is how we knew the DS was missing.. if he had giving it to the boy he would have known where it was

[sarah c]

when you went to speak to the parent's what was their response? I think I would base what I'd do on them.

I dont think you will get prrof that the DS is yours, and without proof you are a bit stuck, even if you know full well it is!! If the kid says he got it elsewhere, and the parents arent taking it any further with him, again you're stuck

I would be very inclined not to have him in the house again? and if for any reason he had to come in, I would not let him wander into other rooms, only the one I was in?

[Siobhan]

His dad backed him up but his mum has giving us the DS to check if it is ours.. she said she didn't realise how much a DS cost and that if he got it from a friend it was a very generous gift. That was yesterday and she hasn't come back to us so I am thinking she has a fair idea it was ours. nothing more has been said so will wait to see if they come back to us. in the meantime, we have the DS back so I will hold on to it until they can prove that the boy did get it from someone else.

eta: this boys young brother is my sons best friend in and out of school so he sometimes gets his younger brother to take things from our house. When the younger one comes over I ensure he is supervised at all times.