Plumber does work and 2 watches vanish.

[Helpneededfast]

I work from home and the ensuite toilet sprung a leak, found an emergency pliumber who could do the job "as an emergecny" yesterday. Go this morning for my 1 of my 2 watches left on the bedside table and they are both gone. I have looked everywhere, moved the bedside table and nothing. The watches are rather unique and worth around £3K for the pair.

What are my options?

 

[WaveJumper]

Call the police and report it

 

[fisicx]

Report the theft to the police

 

[Fagin2021]

Report the theft to the police

Yes - report it because your insurance company will require that you've done so, but don't expect plod to recover your watches or take any action unless you have concrete evidence (not circumstantial) that the plumber took the watches.

Plumber: "It's a fair cop. Got me bang to rights. Society to blame."

I don't think so.

 

[Mark T Jones]

As above

Harsh reality, you have lost 2 watches.

Police will give you a crime number and close the file

Insurance will probably say you didn't take adequate precautions.

Where did you find this plumber? A 'quiet word' might help, but you are on sticky ground without evidence

 

[NickGrogan]

It seems highly unlikely that a plumber is going to steal cheapish watches from a very obvious location.

He/she is highly traceable as you've got their name and number and know what they look like.

What's the street value of the watch? If they wanted another £100, they could have just padded the bill and been done with it.

I suggest you look under the bed or in the drawer before accusing people.

 

[IanSuth]

if the watches are unique and have serial numbers then get them on here

Homepage

"Watch crime has gone from a niche problem to front-page news." The Watch Register launches its 10-year anniversary report by Adrian Hailwood on tackling

www.thewatchregister.com

I would be more worried if the plumber was willing to nick whilst you are there will he come back when you aren't (or his mates) so def tell the police and tell them they are now on that register (makes them harder to sell) as they may (if they can be ar$ed) want to chat to plumber and mention he can't fence them - only reason they would do that would be if he is a known tealeaf that they want an excuse to shakedown however

 

[Fagin2021]

I don't think everyone should assume that the plumber took the watches. There are other equally plausible explanations.

 

[AlanJ1]

What's the street value of the watch? If they wanted another £100, they could have just padded the bill and been done with it.

It literally says in the OP they are worth £3k each.

I suggest you look under the bed or in the drawer before accusing people.

Pretty sure anyone with common sense looks for them first before thinking theft and posting on a forum.

 

[NickGrogan]

It literally says in the OP they are worth £3k each.


Pretty sure anyone with common sense looks for them first before thinking theft and posting on a forum.

No, it literally says they're worth £3k for the pair.

For many people, "worth" means what they paid for them; resale value can be much less, especially if unique and without proof of purchase.

If someone stole them, they're unlikely to realise the full value; I doubt they were "stolen to order", which leads us to street value.

What will he get when he sells them down the pub? Not £3k or anywhere near £3k

 

[AlanJ1]

No, it literally says they're worth £3k for the pair.

For many people, "worth" means what they paid for them; resale value can be much less, especially if unique and without proof of purchase.

If someone stole them, they're unlikely to realise the full value; I doubt they were "stolen to order", which leads us to street value.

What will he get when he sells them down the pub? Not £3k or anywhere near £3k

I still don't get your point? They clearly aren't £100 watches.

If you also know the watch market right now, anything "decent" is actually holding it's value or gaining.

 

[NickGrogan]

I still don't get your point? They clearly aren't £100 watches.

If you also know the watch market right now, anything "decent" is actually holding it's value or gaining.

Can you name a "decent" watch for £1500 gaining value?

Heck, I'll accept one that holds its value, even though holding is losing when you allow for inflation.

 

[AlanJ1]

Can you name a "decent" watch for £1500 gaining value?

Heck, I'll accept one that holds its value, even though holding is losing when you allow for inflation.

Depends what you classify as "decent" my family have 150 years in jewellery I am not just talking out my ass for the sake of it.

Again back to the point of the OP, they weren't £100 watches as you "said" based on what's being told. Even if they have gone down in value and are worth £1500, what difference does this make?

 

[fisicx]

While discussions about valuation are very interesting, @Helpneededfast needs to call the police and get that crime number.

Or send boys with baseball bats round the plumber.

Or ask for likes on Facebook to ensue the safe return of the timepieces.

It’s also a little confusing that you didn’t notice the missing watches when you went to check the work done by the plumber or when you went to bed.

 

[NickGrogan]

So no, with 150 years of family experience, you can't name a watch that costs £1,500 that's rising in value. Fair enough, probably because "decent" watches don't start at £1,500.

If I bought a watch from your shop for £1500 and then went to another jewellery and tried to sell it to them with no proof of purchase, how much would I realistically get for it?

The OP knows the plumber's names, phone numbers, and what they look like and can track payments to them. The plumber is very, very findable. The OP could call them right now if they wanted to,

How likely is it that a very, very traceable person would steal a watch with such low resale value?

 

[AlanJ1]

So no, with 150 years of family experience, you can't name a watch that costs £1,500 that's rising in value. Fair enough, probably because "decent" watches don't start at £1,500.

f I bought a watch from your shop for £1500 and then went to another jewellery and tried to sell it to them with no proof of purchase, how much would I realistically get for it?

Who said he has no proof of purchase, again jumping to conclusions just like you didn't read the OP about value in your first post.

The OP knows the plumber's names, phone numbers, and what they look like and can track payments to them. The plumber is very, very findable. The OP could call them right now if they wanted to,

How likely is it that a very, very traceable person would steal a watch with such low resale value?

Very? People are desperate? The OP clearly has no proof so he calls the plumber, the plumber is just going to say no regardless.

I am out, have said my point not getting involved in tit for tat.

 

[NickGrogan]

While discussions about valuation are very interesting, @Helpneededfast needs to call the police and get that crime number.

Or send boys with baseball bats round the plumber.

Or ask for likes on Facebook to ensue the safe return of the timepieces.

It’s also a little confusing that you didn’t notice the missing watches when you went to check the work done by the plumber or when you went to bed.

Or, look in the drawer, find the watches, come back here, see all the posts, think it was a bad idea, and never post again.

One could also ask why the watches were out in the first place when they knew a plumber was coming and why they left the plumber unattended if they're that worried.

Could also be insurance fraud I suppose.

 

[NickGrogan]

Who said he has no proof of purchase, again jumping to conclusions just like you didn't read the OP about value in your first post.

If the plumber stole them, I would assume he has no proof of purchase, as they're stolen.

 

[Mark T Jones]

While discussions about valuation are very interesting, @Helpneededfast

Or send boys with baseball bats round the plumber.

Either done not said, or said not done, but never both together.

 

[Fagin2021]

Either done not said, or said not done, but never both together.

What - "not said, not done" ? You old softy, you.

 

[SBC Marketing]

I work from home and the ensuite toilet sprung a leak, found an emergency pliumber who could do the job "as an emergecny" yesterday. Go this morning for my 1 of my 2 watches left on the bedside table and they are both gone. I have looked everywhere, moved the bedside table and nothing. The watches are rather unique and worth around £3K for the pair.

What are my options?

Call the police and your insurance company.

 

[SBC Marketing]

Call the police and your insurance company.

 

[WaveJumper]

Will be interesting to hear where said "emergency" plumber was found

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

The watch market is not what it used to be with used values not doing so well
Not everybody knows what they are looking at when they see a watch The thief would probably have had a good understanding of watches.

 

[NickGrogan]

The watch market is not what it used to be with used values not doing so well
Not everybody knows what they are looking at when they see a watch The thief would probably have had a good understanding of watches.

The emergency plumber / watch connoisseur / casual thief is a rare breed.

 

[Fagin2021]

The emergency plumber / watch connoisseur / casual thief is a rare breed.

Bet he's one of those neurosurgeons who moonlight as plumbers to make ends meet.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Call the Plumber. Tell/ask him politely as if he's doing you a favour that you've recently lost 2 watches and the Police and Insurance company have asked for names and details of all persons who've accessed the house in the past few days. so you can make a claim.

 

[Paulzx]

I know this doesn't help now, but this is why I always lock all doors to rooms when having work done by tradesmen if I'm not there when it's being done, or not observing it.

Years ago when having some work done, I had damage caused to something that was not in the area they were even working in. They paid for that in that particular event but it led me to the conclusion that you're better off either being there with them so no opportunity arises for anyone to do anything, or you lock your doors, especially on bedrooms and any room with valuables in it. Then you take any uncertainty out of the equation if something goes missing.

 

[MikeJ]

Does everyone else have internal locks on their doors then?

 

[Paulzx]

Does everyone else have internal locks on their doors then?

I never used to, but upstairs bedrooms and the like tend to have valuables in them don't they? If you're not there when you're having work done, it's not a bad idea to be able to lock them.

I understand most people probably don't have locks on their rooms, but you can have handles with key locks out on obviously. I've never had a problem since doing that because no one has an opportunity to nick or break anything - or even be nosy.

 

[Ian J]

The emergency plumber / watch connoisseur / casual thief is a rare breed.

I took my wedding ring off as my finger had swollen a bit and left it on my desk. I didn't notice that it was missing for a couple of days and it's disappearance co-incided with an engineer from Virgin Media working in my office

 

[fantheflames]

Sad to hear you've experienced something like this! These things happen. They shouldn't, but they do. I had my van's contents stolen. Learn from your mistakes and do better next time. I've invested in security to minimise these things from happening but it's never a guarantee.

 

[Luolou]

My mum lost her purse in the house on Tuesday, containing £200 cash & her debit card. She is 91 and still very independent but getting slightly forgetful. We knew she had had it that morning as she'd put the cash in it.
The only thing out of the ordinary was that someone had been in to fit a water meter in her kitchen which is where she last remembered having it. After hours of searching she started questioning whether it could had been stolen by him. We said realisitcally a tradesman would surely not risk his job for an old lady's purse.
Thankfully we were proved right and the next day she found it tucked into the pocket of a cardigan she'd thrown in the washing basket the day before!

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

TRUST NO ONE: Probably worth a new thread in 'Time Out' section but over the years I've heard some mind boggling acts of dishonesty.
Nephew visits Auntie who makes him some dinner, has a lovely social catch up for an hour, gives him a tenner and as he lets himself out nicks the whole bunch of bananas in the kitchen! I've had relatives charge a days work when they've only dropped in on their way to another job to collect tools. A brickie who'd I'd got to know well enough to trust said he needed 6 more bags of cement to finish the job and nicked 5 to build a garden wall for his sister. The list goes on.