An Open Letter to Loon Lake Lodge: Get some security

We ate our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday afternoon.  My in-laws traveled up from Tennessee after spending a week visiting other relatives there. After two days of turkey – and despite The Wife’s fabulous cooking – they opted against turkey dinner leftovers for a third night in a row.

They offered to take us out to dinner, so we started the laborious process of figuring out where to go. We narrowed down to two choices and finally decided to try Loon Lake Lodge on 82nd and I-69.

After finishing our dinner, we returned to the car only to find the passenger window on the driver’s side smashed in. The Wife’s laptop and my son’s school backpack were gone. The car parked next to us had its passenger window smashed. They lost a purse. Fortunately, it was a smash-and-grab, so the thief missed other valuables. The other people had a camera and laptop in their backseat, and my oldest son’s PSP and my FLIP were also in the backseat of our car but weren’t taken. 

We asked the manager at the restaurant to call the police for us. He was sorry it happened to us, and indicated that this had happened before in their parking lot: THE NIGHT BEFORE! My neighbor ate dinner there this summer and both of his coworkers’ cars were broken into and their property stolen.

I understand our personal responsibility in this; we should not have left valuables visible in the car. I also understand that the restaurant can’t be responsible for damages caused in their parking lot. At the same time, however, I think they should take some ownership to protect their clientele.

The parking lot is dark and deserted. Better lighting and cameras would deter thieves. Hiring a security person would also protect cars from vandalism. The management knows this is a problem but they don’t seem to care. They didn’t even try to win us back by offering gift certificates or a cold drink while we waited for the police.

I wasn’t  sure I would eat there again. After the break-in I definitely won’t eat there again and I would warn others not to eat there as well.

We should have gone to our other choice – Stone Creek Dining Company – instead.

Posted on December 1, 2008 in Uncategorized. 5 comments   

5 Comments

  1. roneyii said:

    FWIW my car had an attempted break in a few months ago at Community North (the other side of 69). Luckily my theif didn’t break windows. He punched in my driver’s side lock, which makes life difficult for me, but managed to still keep him out of the car.
    My TomTom GPS was on the windscreen.
    We had been away from the car for under 10 minutes.

    December 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
  2. The Wife said:

    I was disappointed at how they handled it as well. I can’t believe all of the people I have spoken with just today that also know of incidents with vandalism and break ins at Loon Lake Lodge. Having a problem is one thing. Ignoring a problem is irresponsible. I had decided not to eat there again during dinner. Food was cold and not very good.

    December 1st, 2008 at 11:07 pm
  3. Dan said:

    You’re doing the right thing by spreading the news. It is the only power we have, and it is a devastating one: not purchase from incompetent cowards and make sure others don’t either. This guy obviously does not give a damn about his Restaurant and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there are health violations in the kitchen either. These kinds of things go together!

    December 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
  4. y0mbo said:

    Sounds like everything has gone downhill at Loon Lake Lodge. Apparently, the first generation of the family ran a great restaurant, but the second generation has not been so careful with the reputation and goodwill that had been established.

    December 5th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
  5. Tom Britt said:

    you would think with all the animatron going on that at least one coyote would have a camera in it?

    December 22nd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
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