AIBU to deduct stolen money from payment?

[cocoloco117]

Name changed and tin hat on for this. We recently had someone working in our house, after which I noticed a large sum of money had gone missing. It was a pile of notes that was left under an ornament on a bookshelf in the room in which they were working. Now I don’t need any lectures on the follies of leaving large sums of money lying around the house, stupidly I forgot to move it before they came. But whilst it is a stupid thing to do, does that mean I deserve to be robbed?

No one else has been in the house in the time between when the cash was last definitely seen and when it disappeared, apart from me DH DCs and none of us took/moved it. I haven’t raised this with the company, yet, as it will be an extraordinary awkward conversation. And what would the response be? The worker’s undoubtedly going to deny it so it comes down to my word against theirs.

I was about to let it go and chalk it up to bad experience. But since the day of the work/theft, there’s been a few other issues so we haven't paid the invoice yet. In that time I have spent stewing over it, searching the place upside down and thinking about who else could have been in the house or what else could have happened. Post-stew I am now certain that the only explanation can be that it was taken by the worker. Would it be unreasonable to unilaterally deduct the amount stolen from the invoice and tell them to recover the rest from their light-fingered employee?

I’m almost set on this course of action now, but I’m after a sanity check via the unique brand of constructive criticism only available on MN. So: AIBU to proverbially cancel the cheque?

Thanks in advance but I don’t need any elaborate hypotheticals asking whether the cat/dog/baby might have eaten/buried/hidden it. They haven’t. And tell me that I’m wrong if you like but I am convinced the only reasonable explanation is that it’s been stolen.

I mean you cant prove that they took it so yes you abu

Chalk this one up to experience id say. Lesson learnt!

If you haven't reported the theft to the police and the company immediately I don't think you should.

You would be massively unreasonable. It's not the companies fault. Pay them and then call the police.

I think you need to report it to the police if that’s what you intend to do.

You should have raised it at the time and contact the police rather than leaving it

You may well be right, but you can’t prove it.

But you’d have to prove it or they will just accuse you of making it up to get out of paying. If you are going down that route you ought to call the police about it. If you get the police involved then it strengthens your case but you’ll also be opening yourself up for them to make a claim through small claims.

YANBU though.

how recently is 'recently'?

Unless you have proof I don’t think you’ll have a leg to stand on

You're being completely unreasonable.

You owe the company the full amount of the money you agreed to pay for work done.

The missing money is something you need to raise with the police and the company. It doesn't mean you can just refuse to pay.

This. You don't get to be judge and jury.

unreasonable not to pay the bill as this is completely unrelated to the theft

If you want to try to get the company to reimburse you, then you have to start by filing a police report.

You should have reported the theft, even if it was a case of "your word against theirs"; if they get similar reports from other jobs then things might look a bit different.

I don't think you can really withhold money from the company for something their employee did and that you haven't even mentioned until now. But you could make sure that they are aware that there may be an issue.

And tell me that I’m wrong if you like but I am convinced the only reasonable explanation is that it’s been stolen.

That's irrelevant. You can't prove it. You can't deduct money from payment because you think it's been stolen. You don't know for sure and cannot prove it regardless.

How old are your DC?

Just report it to the police. It looks suspicious if you are throwing accusations but not prepared to report it formally.

you pay the bill in full

if you think it was the employee then you report the matter to the police. However be prepared for them to insist on formally interviewing you, your husband and your kids, all of whom could take the money as well

To add to what everyone else has said if the first time you bring this up to the company is when you are deducting it from the payment, and you have no intention of taking it further, then it just looks like you are trying to get out of paying the full amount.

It's two different issues, the theft is one thing and then you being unhappy with the work is another. You deal with each issue separately. Report the theft to company and police and negotiate reducing your bill for whatever they haven't done properly.

Has the person been convicted? If not. Of course you can't, and you know this.

You've not mentioned a word to them.

You've searched the house high and low, why if you're so certain it was them?

YABU.

Why did you continue to let them in your house? Really odd

Report to company in the first instance and police if they fail to act on it. Perhaps refrain from paying invoice at all until you've done this. But you have to admit, from the company's point of view, you'll look like you're just trying to get away with not paying full amount, you should have told them immediately. Depending on the amount (ie a particularly big pile of cash?) They may decide to take you to small claims court.