Cleaner stealing things..?

pimento

It's funny because I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I know who have had cleaners and they always seem to have problems with them. Last one was a the cleaner calling her relatives in Tristan da Cunha that resulted in a huge phone bill.

I'm sure there are thousands of honest cleaners.

pimento

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Pimento: you are giving every appearance of not being a terribly nice person. I daresay this was due to the very unfortunate way you chose to express yourself. Perhaps you would care to modify your posts to remove any doubt.

No, I'll let them stand. I clarified down thread.

fluffnutter

pimento wrote: »

It's funny because I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I know who have had cleaners and they always seem to have problems with them. Last one was a the cleaner calling her relatives in Tristan da Cunha that resulted in a huge phone bill.

I'm sure there are thousands of honest cleaners.

I suspect it's merely a case of negative reporting. You just don't get to hear much about things when they work out well. I must say that my house was an awful lot cleaner when I did have one, so it's not all bad. Just found myself a little short on possessions

Catti

I have had cleaners in the past and never had any problem with any of them! I work full time and can't keep my house clean at all!!

It only takes one bad person to spoil it for others - I too think OP should simply ask the cleaner if she has noticed the missing items and see how she behaves.

Nicki

I had the same cleaner for 10 years, who started when my husband and I were a very hardworking couple with no kids, and only finished when we moved house to a different area. During that time, she became like a second mother, even to the extent of coming out to our house at 2 am when I went into labour with my second child to look after the baby we already had, when both of our people on stand by failed to hear the phone in the middle of the night to come and hold the fort.

Since we moved, we've had a succession of agency cleaners, some harder working than others, some more pleasant, some with better english. None of them have ever stolen from us, broken anything without owning up, or caused us more problems than (once) putting our rubbish out for us on the wrong day of the week and incurring us a £200 spot fine

And the plus side of this, is that I've had help for 20+ years to keep on top of my housework and ironing and enjoy leisure time with my family. So, I'll go on the other side of that tally you are keeping about cleaners being more trouble than they are worth.

barbiedoll

Of course there are lots of honest cleaners! My mum was a cleaner for years, she got her jobs through personal recommendation and she cleaned in some lovely houses. She wouldn't have dreamed of stealing so much as a biscuit from any of her employers. I left my keys and phone at work, just a couple of weeks ago. One of the cleaners moved them, she left them at reception so that they would be safe. Our clinic uses agency cleaners and we hardly ever have the same ones twice so it would have been easy for her to steal my phone but she didn't.

But of course, there are plenty of dishonest people out there and sometimes, temptation is too much. OP, you need to do something quickly, she may well move on if she has been stealing from you, all she has to do is go to another agency, at the moment, her references are clear. I like the idea of enlisting her "help" to find the vouchers/jewellery but it will let her know that you realise that the stuff is missing/lost/mislaid. Personally, if you are absolutely sure that no-one else has had access to your belongings and you know that your husband wouldn't have taken anything without you knowing (I don't want to say it but gambling habit, drugs etc etc?) then perhaps it's time to call the police. It's high-value stuff and they will investigate, and as another poster said, you will need a crime reference number for any insurance claim.

Do make sure that you search thoroughly though, even in a flat, it's very easy to misplace stuff. Can't think where else you would have put a baking tray though, pregnancy hormones or not!

beth.stephenson2009

Lets be honest here, without concrete evidence- what are the police ACTUALLY going to do???

I doubt your house/contents insurance will dole out money without evidence of a crime either

For all they know, you could of thrown them in a dustbin and trying to pull a fast one to get money- not that I am suggesting you do that, but its the reality?

I would casually ask if she has seen X Y and Z when cleaning and look at what her reaction is.

You can tell her you going to the police and see if the mysteriously turn up but the chances are if she has taken them she has pawned off the jewellery and spent the vouchers.

Desperado99

Speaking as an honest cleaner

First of all, you need to have a proper look (just so you know, you are not going mad) and then I would contact the police and let them deal with it......... this isn't just little stuff going missing, it's big, high value stuff. She is an employee, not a friend. If you mention it to her, or in front of her, it gives her a chance to offload stuff.

I'm forever finding stuff at work (I clean a local community centre/church) ipods , phones, jewellry, money, and I always call my boss immediately. Mainly because I don't want the finger pointed at me when someone loses stuff (and I'm nice and honest).

Nicki

beth.stephenson2009 wrote: »

Lets be honest here, without concrete evidence- what are the police ACTUALLY going to do???

High value items have gone missing from a residential property. What do you THINK the police's role in that would be :cool:

If OP was pitching up at the local station to say that a £25 Itunes card had been taken, then yes there is a strong possibility that with no evidence it was the cleaner, that the police would take a report and do nothing. What we are talking about here though is distinctive high value jewellery, and a significant amount of potentially traceable vouchers, combined with a very limited number of people with access to the property. Oh and a police force whose job is to INVESTIGATE reported crimes, and this one would not take a long time to investigate and would have a high likelihood of apprehending the culprit, so good for their statistics for minimal effort.

blossomhill_2

OP, you don't have to decide who has stolen them, all you need to do is report to the police and they will decide who the likely suspects are, based on when items last seen and who has had access since then, and they will investigate or advise you that there is insufficient evidence