Bike Register not showing a bike is stolen
Hi all,
I just had the privilege of being visited by 2 officers coming and taking away my bike that I had posted for sale recently on eBay stating it was stolen in 2024.
I bought the bike frame about a year ago off Gumtree, and before purchasing it I put the serial number through both Bike Register and Bike Index. Neither of which indicated the bike was stolen. I just checked again and even asked Gemini to search known databases and it shows that it is all clear (see the attached images).
When I mentioned this to the officers, one of them brought up a page showing it was marked stolen; however, I assume those might be from a police log in so maybe they get more information? Am I just doing something wrong?
Has anybody had issues with this before? This seems like quite an issue on Bike Registers part. Is there any way I can go about recouping the money I spent or am I just out of luck?
The unfortunate thing is I just bought the frame, but they wouldn't let me take stuff off of it despite me purchasing that all separately and everything attached to it is worth significantly more than the frame itself.
They said that either the original owner would have to verify that those parts aren't theirs, but if they don't I'll have to prove it(I have receipts so this won't be an issue).
I'm pretty disappointed in Bike Register as I feel I did my due diligence, and now I'm just screwed.