Hey Carl,

I would call a lawyer and get some advice over the phone. It would seem to me that if you have a signed work order that the place of repair is fully responsible for all damages. If they leave boats in a situation where they could be stolen then they need to have that as a disclaimer, if not....pay up.

I managed a garage once, damage was done to a car that was not in our posession but since the customer had a signed work order....we had to foot the bill. Courts will side with the customer. You had reasonable expectations that the store wouild take reasonable care of your boat and make sure it was not stolen. Placing an unsecured trailer in an unsecured lot for whatever time with no security or cameras or anything is negligence. Sorry that business is so good that they have to park there but still negligence.

Also, call the police and see if the store filed a stolen boat report. It would be good to write down sequence of events too. If the store made no effort to find you, file a report or anything then you have them over a barrel.

Don't settle for anything less than full replacement of what you had. Don't let them discount the cost for wear and tear....you had perfectly working stuff that was not old.

Finally, I can't say it enough..... find another place to live and do business. At least it will get you to a better area and maybe get you off the scope of whomever has you targeted.

I do not think this is random. Too many things happening in too short a time.