We recently had some work done on our patio, by a small local company.
The man who did the bulk of the job has been here three days, and for two of those he was working alone. I was in because I work from home, so I talked with him a bit and did the usual coffee provision etc, although most times he seemed to prefer to have his own beer.
When I was at my desk for work I could hear him (I keep the windows open) but not see him.
Now the last day that he was here he seemed grumpy, and at one point I heard him shouting and swearing quite loudly in my front garden, and I also hear things clanging as if they were being thrown. This happened twice more. I didn't look to see what was happening, but it made me feel a little uncomfortable.
So I was relieved when the work was done. When I tidied after he'd gone I found a bit of hard plastic that clearly had broken off smth which I kept it in case it was part of something I'd need to repair.
Today, almost a week later, I was going to do some gardening. I got out my spade and the handle was completely broken off. Sure enough, it matched the plastic bit, but that was only a tiny chunk of the handle. The rest of it is gone. Not that it could've been repaired anyway.
No one else uses my equipment, and it was a very sturdy spade, so I'm certain that this man broke my spade when throwing it in his rage , then hid the largest bit of the handle, and put the spade back in the shed without saying anything. Spade is useless now.
I'm quite miffed. I've never had a problem like this before when paying people to do jobs, but should I anticipate breakage of my tools? And should I tolerate loud swearing and grown men throwing tantrums in my front garden?