This is probably going to be very long! This happened this afternoon and I’m quite shaken up and still trying to make sense of it all, so apologies if this appears jumbled.
Part of my job involves taking photos of houses before they go on the market. Today I was asked by my boss to go round to an address to do just that. I have recently resumed doing this part of my job, with PPE. Boss had spoken to the owner, who was expecting me. I went round, knocked on the door, which was opened by an older (ish) man. I introduced myself, the workplace I’m from, and why I’d come round. He appeared quite confused, and said he was expecting someone else from a different kind of company entirely. I could see into the house as we were standing in the porch, and I could see bare floorboards, a sleeping bag in the corner, and rubbish littered about. I was starting a feel a bit uneasy as his reaction was a combination of hostile and confused.
I apologised, said that perhaps there had been a mix up and that I would go back to the car (parked literally dead opposite the house) and call my boss to sort it out. At this point he said ‘no, no need for that’, reached behind me, and LOCKED the outer door, leaving me locked in the porch with him with the door to the house open behind him. I was quite scared to find myself locked in with him, and this obviously came across because he then said ‘it’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you.’
I called my boss, while the man paced up and down the living room. He was right there in the room, and had just locked me in, and was being hostile, so I didn’t feel that I could tell my boss that I didn’t feel comfortable. He spoke to my boss using my phone and eventually begrudgingly agreed that I could do what I came there to do. I whizzed round the downstairs as quickly as I could, taking the worst photos ever, thinking that compliance might put me in less danger and get me out quicker. He followed me round the house silently the whole time, and twice repeated that he wouldn’t hurt me.
I went to leave, praying that he’d unlock the door without a fuss, and he reminded me that I ‘forgot’ to take photos of upstairs. I told him that we already had some from the last time the property was sold, but he insisted and in my now very panicked state I thought it was better to avoid an argument. As we walked up the stairs with him right behind me, he suddenly said ‘I can see why you wouldn’t want to go up the stairs in a strange man’s house though.’ Upstairs I took a few more blurry photos, trying not to turn my back on him at all, he didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t doing it properly. Upstairs, there was no bathroom suite, just a toilet and a long white marble effect worktop in the bathroom which added to the general bizarreness. I rushed back downstairs and did a fake cheery, ‘ok cheerio then, all done here, boss will email you soon’, all the time my heart was thumping like crazy. Thankfully, he then unlocked the door for me, and then stood and watched me drive off up the road.
I drove back to work and recounted what happened, I was really quite shaken up by it. I wasn’t hurt but it could have worked out so differently. The man clearly knew I was uncomfortable and didn’t stop or apologise. My boss thought it was funny!!! He literally laughed and said ‘yeah I could tell on the phone that you were freaked out.’ That was all that was said about.
AIBU to think that I could have been in danger here and that my boss should have reacted differently, and had a proper contingency plan in place. Apologies that this is so long!