Do tradesmen steal things?

[TheRebelle]

I recently had a new bathroom fitted so we had plumber, tiler & electrician here on separate days. I’d left my Apple Watch on a shelf in the hall and now I can’t find it anywhere, obviously I’m not going to ring anyone up and accuse them of stealing but what are the chances it’s been mislaid or someone’s pocketed it? I’ve turned the house upside down and can’t find it anywhere.

My guess is, you subconsciously moved it, put it somewhere out of site and thats where it still is.

Some are light fingered, absolutely. Probably no more than any other occupation but difference is they, like cleaners etc, have free access to your home.

I've also found those doing work in my home to be generally quite careless about security - leaving doors/ windows open even when not in the house. I had some work done a couple of years ago just after Christmas and a pile of (opened) Christmas presents were taken. I couldn't prove it was the workmen, but I later found they were in the habit of not locking the door when they went for a break/ to buy supplies, or locking it but leaving the key in the (open) keysafe....

I am far less trusting now and thankfully work from home so am there constantly!

Not in my experience. I did have a couple of cowboys lay some dodgy floorboards, but not one tradesman has ever stolen anything from me.

You could ask them to check their bags though, as someone else suggested, in case it fell in by accident.

In my experience, some tradesmen do steal.
We have experienced it twice.

I left my ipod touch on our dining table 8 years ago. I know it was there because I had put it there when I answered the door.

DS was young, he wasn't even walking yet but he was poorly that day so it was lots of cuddles on the sofa. I was pregnant at the time (obvious bump).

We had someone come fit a new radiator. When they left, the ipod was gone. I was gutted as it had pictures with my son on it and it had a couple of baby games on which he liked.

We never got it back and I hadn't even finished paying it off! It was one of our landlords friends but I didn't want to accuse him. We also turned the house upside down but nothing.

What I have heard of happening on more than one occasion is tradespeople leaving the front door wide open, as they’re in and out to their vans, and someone walking it off the street and stealing. That’s always my bigger concern. And they are terrible for doing that. I have indoor cats and had work done recently and, despite asking them not to, I had to go and close my front door numerous times. One time they went off to lunch leaving the door wide open.

If it was in the downstairs hallway could it have been visible through an open front door? Opportunist thief passing by if the tradesmen had left the door open to move tools/materials?