16/12 There are a lot of people who are sceptical and don't believe me, that's ok. But there are a few here who think I'm trolling. I am not a troll and I've never trolled in my life. I would much rather read a book than troll or whatever you want to cal it. Also I'm not trying to scam RACV: I don't think anything of the items were covered by them. I do not make things up and lie to derive pleasure or gain attention (or anything else) from it. This is my limited experience with tradies and I posted it because I wanted to know if anyone else has had bad experiences with tradies (it was a suprise to me that a fair few have and have shared their stories below which I sppreciate). Obviously I'm not saying ALL tradies are bad, only the ones I've interacted with and has unfortunately left a bad taste in my mouth regarding tradies.
The idea that I need to even add this to an already long post is a bit ridiculous.
UPDATE 2: Called the police and spoke to a woman. Gave her as much information as I could and she said she'd look into it. (Quick edit I amended the part where it said I was watching him like a hawk, I wasn't. That was an auto-correct issue on my phone. I only watch him for 2 minutes)
UPDATE: 15/12, 8.07 am. I called RACV and the police about 30 minutes ago.
RACV home assist requires recorded video surveillance. Honestly, the lady I spoke (RACV) to on the phone gave me the impression that even if you see them yourself stealing things from your house, they won't believe you. She really hammered home about having recorded video of the tradie stealing things. She wasn't sympathetic at all and obviously didnt believe me. Now I wonder how many people put there have had things stolen by tradies, especially ones from RACV home assist. Perfect excuse to steal: given permission to enter home, it's an emergency so the home owner (me) is panicky and worrying about there being more damage, they can eyeball everything and make mental notes. First opportunity they get when they're not being watch is to poke around and steal things.
I called the police, 7 rings, no one answered. Will call again now.
Original post below (very long post and a lot is me being infuriated and ranting)
Hoping this is the right section to post in. A plumber stole from me, what do i do besides contact the police?
Anyone have experience with dishonest Tradies? Or had items stolen from them? I have. I'm BEYOND annoyed and angry right now.
Long post but here are my experiences, both happened recently.
Stolen Christmas and birthday gifts: So I had I had an emergency yesterday and called RACV home assist for help. Cut to the chase, a plumber came and went to fix it (flooding and was just an entire mess). I had bought secret birthday gifts and Christmas presents (not bragging but need to outline how expensive everything was): iPhone x, $2500 custom built laptop, rare not available for purchase anymore collectibles. And some heirloom jewelry (great grandparents adding rings in a box). These were hidden away in a cupboard in the same room the leak/emergency was. Jewellery was special and I moved it with the other presents.
I wasn't watching the plumber like a hawk because I was cleaning up the water and damage as best as I could. He stole all those gifts when I wasn't looking (not in the same room). I didn't even notice. They were in a cupboard a few meters away from the emergency/problem area.
Ripped off: This was last week, I needed a sparky (half the house had to no power) asap. I was recommended one from somebody from church (total stranger).They would come and quote on the day, seemed like a good idea. Long story cut short because this is so ridiculous I couldn't make this up;
- Late more than TWO HOURS. Two hours and 20 minutes late, didn't call to inform me. I couldn't contact him because I didn't have his number. He never apologized for being late. I had to cancel (and re-schedule) my apeciailist docotor's appointment which I made 12 months prior.
- Here for <15 minutes.
- Changed one light switch and one outlet. Wouldn't even give me a quote for another light, as in 'ehats the worst case scenario and most expensive I'd have to pay? Rough estimate'. Wouldn't answer.
- Another red flag. Wouldn't give me a receipt. I had to wait til Sunday (church) to get a receipt from his employer(?)
- Guess how much all that was; one light switch (one button) and a wall outlet for less than 15 minutes of work)? $465. Seriously. That's one whole week's worth of pay for me (hospitality)
Report him to
godthe police.You'll still have a mobile number or other contact details right? Your mate at church probably knows him better too.
iPhone will have an imei and laptop would have a serial number. Rare jewellery will probably have a unique look too so they should be identifiable if the police pay him a visit or search his house.
But whether you can convince the police to search his house or not may be a little more difficult.