Toys taken from home daycare thanks to fake Kijiji ad
A daycare provider in Bells Corners wonders what kind of person would place a phoney Kijiji ad encouraging people to come take the toys from her front yard.
That's precisely what happened on Sunday.
Heaven Stewart was returning from a weekend away when her daughter called to alert her to an ad offering free toys from her address. By the time she returned to her home a half hour later, nearly all of the items had been taken.
"I don't understand how you can be that hurtful. On innocent children. On us. On anybody really. It's not right."
Stewart, who's been running the home daycare for five years, and has lived in the neighbourhood for seven, has her suspicions about who might have placed the ad. A bylaw officer once investigated a complaint about the front yard full of toys but told her they weren't an eyesore and no action was taken.
"The kids aren't running on the streets. They aren't going on anybody else's yard. They're structured. They're confined. They're taken care of. Just leave us alone.
"We aren't doing anything to anybody. The kids are gone by five. They aren't here all hours of the night making noise. They not out here before nine (in the morning) there's no reason for it," says Stewart.
Stewart posted an ad of her own on Kijiji, asking for people to return the items: "Someone posted an ad today with a pic of my house and all my daycare toys on it for free. The ad has been reported to the police because the ad was false.
"If you did pick up any of the toys from my yard we do not hold you responsible we would just like our toys back for the daycare kids. Thank you."
So far, says Stewart, a few smaller items have been returned but none of the larger, more valuable toys. Also, her trampoline was damaged in the free-for-all and it had to be thrown away.
Anger gives way to gratitude
On the bright side, says Stewart, neighbours are stopping by with words of support, gift certificates and offers to replace the toys. She hasn't even had time to get through all the emails.
"For the most part, all positive. Definitely outweighs the bad. I'm upset but the anger part is gone."
One passerby, stopped to tell Stewart her own daughter was sad to see the toys gone from the front yard and that she'd return Thursday with a load of donated outdoor toys.
Stewart isn't sure if she'll file an insurance claim, with the losses and damages estimated between $3000 and $5000.
Kijiji Canada's community relations manager, Shawn McIntyre, shared this statement with CBC Ottawa.
"This is callous, malicious abuse of our online buy and sell community, and our hearts go out to Ms. Stewart. We have been in touch with her, and we're pleased to see that she is getting tremendous support from friends and neighbours in Ottawa."
"Kijiji has a zero-tolerance policy for any misrepresentation by users. (Users) who post malicious, bogus ads are permanently banned, and that has been done in this case.
"We understand the police have also been contacted and we stand ready to assist them in any way that might be helpful."
Ottawa police spokesman Chuck Benoit confirms they're investigating but had no further comment.
While Stewart thinks police have bigger priorities, she does have a message for the person responsible.
"We'll make it through. We'll get more toys. And they'll be back here."
