Theft?

I just need to get this off my chest.
I had brand new hardwood floors installed this year. They look amazing. There was a slight mistake on a trim that I called and asked them to correct it.
The installer (and a helper) came two days ago and fixed it and it looks perfect.

Back story - my daughter's birthday is on Christmas and since she was turning 13 this year, a family member bought her a bottle of Christian Dior perfume (she has a collection of perfumes on the back of her toilet) and she was so excited that she rec'd it.

After the installers left, I noticed that upstairs bathroom door was closed (we don't close it unless we are in there) and when I opened it, I noticed that one of them had used it to wash their hands (as there was glue/water all over the black vanity). I cleaned it quickly and went off to touch up the paint above the trim they corrected.

Later that evening, my daughter yells out, "Mom! Where is my Miss. Dior perfume?" I ran upstairs and sure enough, it is gone from its spot. (I had set up her new perfume the day before in the center of her perfume tray and now that spot is empty. No one has been to our house and we haven't gone out as we have colds). I asked her if she moved it - no. I looked around our rooms although I have to admit, I have OCD so nothing is ever out of place in my house - I could basically hold an open house at any time. Not saying I'm proud of that but I do have everything in its place so things never really get 'misplaced'. My daughter is actually very similar to me so we put two and two together. When I think back, I was in the hallway with them and my daughter was in my room with the door closed with our cats. She yelled out that I had a phone call, I excused myself and took the call in my room and got off within 5 minutes and went back to them and they were basically done what they had to do and were ready to go.

I was debating if I should call the company about this and decided that I would as it feels very upsetting that someone would take something from my home after I paid them quite a bit of money for the floors.

The "Manager" was defensive right away, he stated that they have never had this problem before and they do work in luxury homes (a bit of a dig at my modest home, I suppose) and that he would ask the installer but he knows they will say they didn't do it. He then made a comment (in a really mean voice) "Why would my flooring installers want to steal a bottle of woman's perfume from their customer's house?!?!"). I said you know what, I should probably be talking the owner and I don't appreciate your tone. This was my daughter's Christmas gift and it was a difficult decision for me to even call you. I hung up.

About half an hour later, I rec'd an email from the manager saying, "Sorry you were upset and we are are all hoping you find your perfume. However, our employees are not thieves. Hope you find the misplaced bottle, happy new year"

I didn't even respond. I just feel really upset about it.

Thanks for reading. :(

It was handled badly by the manager.. You could post in groups in your area asking if anyone has had things go missing when service people have come out.. as least it creates an awareness.. It is disturbing that they would use your washroom without asking.. it seems like an invasion of privacy..

OP, I am surprised at the stance that the Manager took. You paid good money for your floors, you would think that the manager would try and make it right. After all, would you now recommend this company to anyone? If you could, what kind of review would you give the company after this? I bet he never thought of any of this.

Have you checked google reviews to see if anyone else had any complaints?

Nice thing with google is owners can respond but cannot remove the comment which is usually better then a website the company monitors themselves.

I'm of the opinion that you 'OUT' them for the mishandling of your concern on social media -- much like you have expressed above.

Name the company in your post, however it is vitally important to word it that you don't publicly accuse nor insinuate them of the theft -- that could result in a legal suit for defamation as you have no proof nor evidence.

That might get the public attention and perhaps people volunteering their similar experiences with said company.

Regardless if their staff are or are not guilty, the company ought to be more willing to work with you if they feel their public perception and reputation is on the line.

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Originally Posted by bhlombardy

I'm of the opinion that you 'OUT' them for the mishandling of your concern on social media -- much like you have expressed above.

Name the company in your post, however it is vitally important to word it that you don't publicly accuse nor insinuate them of the theft -- that could result in a legal suit for defamation as you have no proof nor evidence.

That might get the public attention and perhaps people volunteering their similar experiences with said company.

Regardless if their staff are or are not guilty, the company ought to be more willing to work with you if they feel their public perception and reputation is on the line.

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Yes sadly without any proof or evidence, even if they are guilty you can't accuse them of something publicly on Social Media, even though most probably they did it.

They can & will easily sue you for defamation & lost business.

If I was in their place without any admission of guilt, I would maybe give $ 100 OFF as a good will gesture. So both parties are happy. These guys will never admit something like this, even if they are guilty due to liability & prosecution issues, so at the most without any admission of guilt they might do something off the record.

Honestly I would just let it go & forget about it. If the installer loses his job over this, you never know in retaliation what he can or might do, as he knows where you live.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I think the problem is beyond a bottle of perfume. You let people in your home, then they betray you. You just feel so violated.

Personally, I am a victim of a crime recently. Even the police say that it's hopeless without evident. I filed a report and that was it. This is the second time I filed a police report knowing it won't help. I feel so violated, can't trust people for the past 3 months. I was up googling unsolved crime stats last night. Even murder is "cleared" only 2/3 of the time. Clearance rate doesn't mean solved. Solved doesn't mean jail time. Basically, small crime don't get any attention.

More importantly, what do you want? You can't be un-robbed. So what's next for you?

If you just want the bottle back, you could offer immunity. Tell the manager that you don't want trouble, you just want it back. Maybe it was just "misplaced with the tools" it was the size of a measuring tape. Maybe it felt in the toolbox. Ask if anyone can "help find it" and leave it at the porch or something. No question asked.

If you want revenge. You can file a complaint at the business bureau. You can leave bad reviews. You can spend an hour filing police report, mess up local crime stat... but that will be the end of it. The thing about blue collar work is that, being accused of theft is the end of business. Even if they have found the thief, they will never tell you. They will continue to gaslight you. It will be months of back and forth...

Revenge feeds a cycle. Justice is about ending a cycle. Stay safe.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

That is exactly how I have been feeling - been feeling sick over it actually. I don't want to push anything further because they know where I live and the Manager put in his email - 'this is their living, they aren't going to risk that by stealing from a customer'.
Of course it is still missing because I really think one of them took it. We also found a white (the glue/water mix) finger print on one of the vanity drawers so I suppose they opened that as well but nothing is in the vanity other than teenage girl stuff. Elastics, hair stuff, etc...
I have been in Customer Service for many years so I would think the Manager should have said, although we have never had this happen before, I will contact the owner and have him get back to you. Then again, the owner didn't even respond. He simply had the Manager answer me via email. I had them do the downstairs floors last year and upstairs this year. $10,000 in total.
The reason I went with them is the great reviews they had although there was one in which a customer said they caught them in other areas of their house and when this was mentioned to the Manager he shrugged it off and said they need breaks too. So...hmmmm.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EvilTofu

I'm so sorry to hear that. I think the problem is beyond a bottle of perfume. You let people in your home, then they betray you. You just feel so violated.

Personally, I am a victim of a crime recently. Even the police say that it's hopeless without evident. I filed a report and that was it. This is the second time I filed a police report knowing it won't help. I feel so violated, can't trust people for the past 3 months. I was up googling unsolved crime stats last night. Even murder is "cleared" only 2/3 of the time. Clearance rate doesn't mean solved. Solved doesn't mean jail time. Basically, small crime don't get any attention.

More importantly, what do you want? You can't be un-robbed. So what's next for you?

If you just want the bottle back, you could offer immunity. Tell the manager that you don't want trouble, you just want it back. Maybe it was just "misplaced with the tools" it was the size of a measuring tape. Maybe it felt in the toolbox. Ask if anyone can "help find it" and leave it at the porch or something. No question asked.

If you want revenge. You can file a complaint at the business bureau. You can leave bad reviews. You can spend an hour filing police report, mess up local crime stat... but that will be the end of it. The thing about blue collar work is that, being accused of theft is the end of business. Even if they have found the thief, they will never tell you. They will continue to gaslight you. It will be months of back and forth...

Revenge feeds a cycle. Justice is about ending a cycle. Stay safe.

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Sorry you were a victim of crime and you are so right, it is the feeling of violation and basically, disrespect.
You are in my home, I am paying you and you have the nerve to do such a thing?
My family rallied together and replaced the bottle for my daughter since it was her Christmas gift and they felt terrible that it was taken from her just after Christmas.
I actually bawled after I got off the phone with the Manager because I felt like he was so cold about it. He didn't say I'm sorry this happened or anything, it was totally, WHY WOULD A FLOORING INSTALLER STEAL WOMEN'S PERFUME??
I didn't even mention the word stealing actually, I said it was missing...

I have to move on but I felt very upset by the whole thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by staceymic

Sorry you were a victim of crime and you are so right, it is the feeling of violation and basically, disrespect.
You are in my home, I am paying you and you have the nerve to do such a thing?
My family rallied together and replaced the bottle for my daughter since it was her Christmas gift and they felt terrible that it was taken from her just after Christmas.
I actually bawled after I got off the phone with the Manager because I felt like he was so cold about it. He didn't say I'm sorry this happened or anything, it was totally, WHY WOULD A FLOORING INSTALLER STEAL WOMEN'S PERFUME??
I didn't even mention the word stealing actually, I said it was missing...

I have to move on but I felt very upset by the whole thing.

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They were getting too defensive. I guess they think accepting the problem & solving the issue will mean admission of guilt, hence they are getting defensive.

They should have given the benefit of doubt to you, instead of having a " I don't care attitude "

Oh, so these installers work in 'luxury' homes do they??? Good for them. I hope they weren't uncomfortable in your home--and by golly I guess they weren't--because they felt comfortable enough to snag a child's belongings.

I heard the same story when I had to call my parents house cleaners. In my parents case, it was my grandmothers rings that had gone missing and they were gold, but small, tiny diamond old lady rings. It wasn't the fact that they were expensive, but they were not anyone else's to take--and the cleaners knew that they were not theirs--as did your floor installers.

I think in your case it is particularly gross to take something that so clearly belongs to a little kid and you have every right to feel violated. It also makes you feel badly that you have paid $10000 of your hard earned after tax money to people who turn out to be scumbags--which I understand.

Are you at all able to flip back the email that you were sent to the 'owner' and reply with a "Happy New Year, I am in receipt of your letter and find your response unsatisfactory--it would certainly make my family and I feel better about complementing your installers work to my family, friends, colleagues and social circle if we are able to come to an amicable resolution to this problem'?

Just a suggestion...

Don't spend too much time being angry--Juvaderm is expensive. :wink: