The couch will probably weigh lighter as compared to scooter, so that alone will signal the garbage man that what he is carrying, or throwing, is not a couch. Good thing that the insurance is there, otherwise it is really a hassle. This is the very reason why I do not park my bike just on the streets. Aside from the risk of theft, some nothing-to-do people might do something not so nice with it, like paint it with a color I do not like, or do vandalism on it. You can never really tell what they were thinking.