A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Hey everyone,
I stumbled upon this site while looking for seperate ICE Insurance and thought what a good idea.
With the ever increasing ICE available nowadays and like most I want to protect it as I've had my Scirocco broken into 3 times (Long time ago now) and now spending a fortune getting the Galaxy ICE installed as well, I want to protect it as much as possible and the Scirocco when it comes out.
So.....
The ICE Register is a privately-owned organisation, started by three friends in early 2006. The ICE Register is not owned or operated by any of the companies or dealers mentioned on the website; they're completely independent, and run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts!
They have three simple aims:
1) To help you to secure your valuable equipment;
2) To make it harder for thieves to sell stolen equipment;
3) To identify stolen equipment, and get it back to the rightful owner as soon as possible.
Many years ago, I had an idea about an online database that people could use to register the details of their equipment, so that potential buyers could search by unique ID or by serial number to find out whether an item was for sale from a legitimate seller, or whether the kit had been stolen.
I then did what I do best - precisely nothing - for the next four years, until I found a couple of people from the Talk Audio forum to work with on the project - Jexdirectedtech, who has years of experience with car audio and security products, and Harry Bo, one of the most talented programmers I've ever met.
Many hours have been spent thrashing out ideas to get the concept down, and to get the website just right...a nice compromise of simplicity and flexibility...and I really do think we've got there at long last!
The concept is simple.
You buy a new piece of audio equipment, and it ships out to you. Somewhere on that bit of kit, there is a serial number. You sign up to the ICE Register, and add your vehicle. Then, you can simply add all of the equipment you've got and each one will be given a unique ID number. No serial number? Tag the item with your IR ID number instead!
So, how will this work?
Buyer
Firstly, let's look at the market from a buyer's point of view. They want to make sure that the expensive piece of kit they have seen - be it on eBay, in the Friday Ad, or beign sold by a mate - is genuine. Nobody wants to be responsible for handling stolen goods.
So, our buyer reads the eBay listing, and notices that the seller mentions that the kit is registered with us. He (or she) simply visits our website, signs up for free, then uses the search function to scan our database for the equipment they want to buy. They will then see - very quickly - whether the item is being sold from a genuine seller, or whether it's stolen kit.
Once the sale has gone ahead, the person selling the equipment can transfer that piece of equipment to another ICERegister user - all done in a few clicks!
Seller
So, the temptation to upgrade has finally got to you. You bought the shiny new toy and have decided that your old one will need to go. So, as well as creating an entry in the classifieds section of your favourite car audio forum, you simply sign into the ICE Register with your username and password, locate the item you want to sell, and change it's status from "OK" to "For Sale". That's all you need to do. Now, when anyone performs a search on the equipment you have listed in the classifieds, they'll see the search result come back, telling them that you want to sell the kit. They will then know that you are a genuine seller, and will be able to buy your equipment with confidence. Once the transaction is complete, you can ask them for their ICE Register ID, and simply transfer the kit over to them. It only takes a few seconds!
Thief
Heard a car with an install? Fancy your chances? Not any more, matey!
So you've managed to steal a bunch of equipment from a car, despite it having the ICE Register window stickers on display. Now you've got to sell it on. How about eBay? How about a forum with a classifieds section? Maybe the local Cash Converters, or down the market?
Fine by us - any sensible buyer will ask for a serial number before buying second hand equipment. They will then be able to run this serial number against our database, and within seconds, they'll be able to see that the original owner has flagged the kit as stolen. From there, it's a nice, simple procedure to pass all of your details on to the police.
We will be offering portals into our database, so that searches can be carried out without the need of a computer, and we will be able to generate lists of stolen equipment to provide to the police to help them track down stolen gear. Once you are found, the kit you stole will be matched up to the rightful owner, and we will arrange for it to be returned to them as soon as possible. And you'll get what you deserve.
What does it cost?
There are currently two types of access. A basic account, and an Advanced Member account.
The basic account is just that. It will allow you to register a single vehicle, and add equipment...perform searches, and transfer kit once it's sold. We're not in this to make a huge amount of money - so by providing these functions for free, we hope to get as many people to sign up as possible...the bigger and more comprehensive our database is, the more
effective we will become.
So is this not a good idea?
It's free for membership unless you want to upgrade in which case its only £5.
So as i want to list the Scirocco ICE as well, I paid via PayPal.
I personally think this should be a sticky as it could be a valuable database we could all benefit from if it ever happened to us and the more people get to hear about it the better for everyone.
A:
nice one mate shane