Venting-Contractors STOLE my favorite machete

[Moondrop]

Mods, if this is in the wrong place, I apologize and will understand if it needs to be moved.

I'm still hopping mad. There was a fire in my house last November--day before Thanksgiving. Insurance company paid for my 3-month stay in a motel--try that without going insane--and for contractors to come in and fix the damage. Stuff was boxed up and moved around; some was removed from the house to get it out of the way while the work was being done. The machete in question was in a box with a larger machete and a couple of beat up old axes and some other stuff that was too long to allow the box to be taped shut. When the work was done and the contractors left, I discovered that a number of things had gone missing, among them my 14" Tramontina machete. I won't go into detail because I want to keep this relatively knife-related.

I know there are machete fans on this board and I'm sure you all have your favorite one(s?). This one was mine. What makes me really mad is that the edge was convexed to my preferences, the handle sanded to suit my hand and I made the sheath myself--should have used white thread; oh, well. First sheath I made and probably last one 'cause it took quite a bit of time, planning and work to make this thing. The mark on the back just under the lower D ring is my initials carved into the leather. And, yes, the sheath was stolen along with the machete:

I can buy a new machete, and intend to today from the same folks I bought this one from. I can re-do the modifications I made to the machete. I can't replace the sheath. *spits in the general direction of an old man named Buddy and his entire crew who pretended to be trustworthy* :barf::barf::barf:

 

[fzla226]

It might not sound like much, but leaving a bad review on yelp or something of the like wouldn't hurt.

 

[adamg01]

It might not sound like much, but leaving a bad review on yelp or something of the like wouldn't hurt.

Absolutely this. I would let the man to know that you intend to leave a bad review on Anges List and anyother place that might cost them some business. They might even be willing to work with you if they realize how upset you are.

Thievery is everyone's worst fear when hiring contractors and this could be damaging if you get the word out enough. You might even get your machete back though it isn't likely. I hate thieves.

 

[22-rimfire]

As a contractor, you probably don't know for sure that they or one of their employee's stole the machete. Someone else could have entered the home and taken it along with potentially other belongings that might be missing.

Can you prove that the contractor stole the machete? If so, file a police report. Damaging the contractor's reputation without certainty is liable. Have you contacted the contractor?

 

[ev13wt]

You bad for leaving it visible. Don't whine here.

Call the contractor.

I understand that this totally sucks nonetheless.

 

[RedLynx]

Slightly off-topic question: Did you get back in the house after 3 months, around the end of Feb, and discover your stuff missing or finally just make it back in there now? Just curious. If now (or even if then I guess) that's a long time for other thieves to get in there if there weren't contractors around or someone around to deter them I guess.

 

[brownshoe]

In my city the firemen have a long history of nefarious deeds, including setting fires, selling drugs out of the fire station and theivery. How do you know it was not stolen by a fireman? In addition, even in the best of situations, it's hard to secure a house after a fire. What about the kids in the neighborhood? You better be real sure the contractor's responsible before you publicly call them out. Pay back can be a .... and it goes both ways.

 

[midnight flyer]

Absolutely this. I would let the man to know that you intend to leave a bad review on Anges List and anyother place that might cost them some business. They might even be willing to work with you if they realize how upset you are.

Thievery is everyone's worst fear when hiring contractors and this could be damaging if you get the word out enough. You might even get your machete back though it isn't likely. I hate thieves.

Adamg, I hope the next time someone runs over a cat near your house the neighborhood gadabout doesn't put a sign up in your yard proclaiming "kitten killer!" and beat the devil out of you on the homeowners association newspaper for being an animal killer without knowing you had anything to do with it or not.

Moondrop, sorry your stuff is gone. Having things stolen from me makes my blood boil. That being said, before you follow the above advice and try to butcher the contractor's reputation, are you sure it was him?

I am a contractor. Have been a self employed contractor for 30 years. We get blamed for everything under the sun. I have had homeowners blame my crew for stealing a diamond earring, only to find out later it was knocked under the bed off the nightstand one night when receiving a late call. I had a fella that thought we stole a couple of tools he had in his shop and blamed me AND called the police. He didn't know his son had come by and borrowed them without notice... imagine the look on his face when I told him (after he apologized) that I had called the police and told him that he had filed a fraudulent theft report.

Too many other instances to count that have had similar outcomes.

And Adam, all I can say to you is, you should make D@MN sure, with no doubt left, before you try to ruin a man's reputation, take his livelihood away by attempting to ruin his company, and take away the machine that feeds his family. D@MN sure. There is no excuse for hysterical behavior from a full grown man.

Again, the contractor or his crew may have had something to do with the missing machete, but might not have.

Slightly off-topic question: Did you get back in the house after 3 months, around the end of Feb, and discover your stuff missing or finally just make it back in there now? Just curious. If now (or even if then I guess) that's a long time for other thieves to get in there if there weren't contractors around or someone around to deter them I guess.

It is not the responsibility of the contractor to provide security for homeowner contents (except for additional damage caused by them) when working on a burned or flooded home. When I have repaired flooded homes, the thievery and vandalism that took place was from bored kids in the neighborhood that knew no one was living there, and as the house shaped up, they kiddos came in and stole what they wanted. Police found millions of little pint sized finger prints on everything. The homeowners, still in shock over their deductible, didn't want a temporary security system installed, nor did they secure things as advised by the police that told them to expect more vandalism.

Of course, the first thing that was assumed by the homeowner was that my guys came back at night and took what they wanted. If I had hired a team of circus midgets, the fingerprint sizes would have matched. But as it was, I didn't.

As a sidebar, I have had two instances where homeowners have attempted to steal from me (one time was a large compressor that wound up in the guys shop and I saw it when he opened it to get a garden tool out!) that I know of, and probably more than that have succeeded.

Again, it sucks that your machete was stolen, but before you point the finger and start screaming "thief" make sure you have the right guy. As RedLynx said, a lot can happen on a piece of property that has a hundred people working on it, inspecting it, cleaning it, in six months... even three months.

And then there are those opportunists that see a burnout and know exactly what they want to do to an unsecured property...

Robert

 

[RedLynx]

Certainly, Robert, it isn't the responsibility of a contractor to keep thieves out or make sure no other damages are incurred and I didn't mean to imply that. Simply that, I would think the mere presence of several men working on site would likely already deter anyone who was thinking of getting on the property, simply by virtue of having contractors around doing work.

 

[midnight flyer]

Certainly, Robert, it isn't the responsibility of a contractor to keep thieves out or make sure no other damages are incurred and I didn't mean to imply that.

I didn't take it that way from your post, but mentioned it as most people shed any personal responsibility they can immediately. I always advise folks (and 99% of the time their insurance will pay for it) to get an off site storage for valuables or near valuables. If the site can be secured, then subsequent events of theft or vandalism are filed under the homeowner's policy.

Simply that, I would think the mere presence of several men working on site would likely already deter anyone who was thinking of getting on the property, simply by virtue of having contractors around doing work.

One would think that...

While I have had most of my tools stolen at night from my trucks or an uninhabited home undergoing extensive remodeling, about 40% have been stolen in broad daylight during the day.

Home Depot is the worst, and I have had ladders, extension cords, painting equipment, nails, etc., (things you can' put in the cab) simply taken from the back of my truck when I am in the store for just a few minutes on an emergency run to get material for the guys. The police told me thieves have a scout follow a contractor in the store, staying in contact by cell phone to monitor his position until the deed is done. I have even had the lock punched out the driver's side to get into the cab while at HD. It is a "target rich environment".

Locally, they have caught several different groups of guys posing as contractors that cruise the neighborhoods "looking for work". They have phony signs or no signs on their trucks, but pose as yard guys with their trailers and trucks full of "workers". If your work truck is unlocked, or your tool boxes unlocked and you are working on a large house at the back, they can easily help themselves. They simply jump out, toss everything they can grab in seconds into their truck/trailer and they are gone. This doesn't apply just to me as the owner, but when I have my truck out on the job and my lead guy has a moment's lapse of thinking and doesn't lock up after every single tool he gets, disaster can be the result.

We contractors often fantasize about how to solve the thievery problem, and yes, it does involved very sharp knives cutting various things away from the thieves. OK, not all the guys think that "sharp" is the way to go...

Robert

 

[RedLynx]

I didn't take it that way from your post, but mentioned it as most people shed any personal responsibility they can immediately. I always advise folks (and 99% of the time their insurance will pay for it) to get an off site storage for valuables or near valuables. If the site can be secured, then subsequent events of theft or vandalism are filed under the homeowner's policy.

This seems a sensible solution, and off-site storage (particularly in comparison to the value of items) seems a relatively inexpensive option, even if it must be done for a few months. I know I would prefer to feel things I cared about, like my knives or pricier electronic items, were safe.

One would think that...

While I have had most of my tools stolen at night from my trucks or an uninhabited home undergoing extensive remodeling, about 40% have been stolen in broad daylight during the day.

Home Depot is the worst, and I have had ladders, extension cords, painting equipment, nails, etc., (things you can' put in the cab) simply taken from the back of my truck when I am in the store for just a few minutes on an emergency run to get material for the guys. The police told me thieves have a scout follow a contractor in the store, staying in contact by cell phone to monitor his position until the deed is done. I have even had the lock punched out the driver's side to get into the cab while at HD. It is a "target rich environment".

Locally, they have caught several different groups of guys posing as contractors that cruise the neighborhoods "looking for work". They have phony signs or no signs on their trucks, but pose as yard guys with their trailers and trucks full of "workers". If your work truck is unlocked, or your tool boxes unlocked and you are working on a large house at the back, they can easily help themselves. They simply jump out, toss everything they can grab in seconds into their truck/trailer and they are gone. This doesn't apply just to me as the owner, but when I have my truck out on the job and my lead guy has a moment's lapse of thinking and doesn't lock up after every single tool he gets, disaster can be the result.

We contractors often fantasize about how to solve the thievery problem, and yes, it does involved very sharp knives cutting various things away from the thieves. OK, not all the guys think that "sharp" is the way to go...

Robert

I have heard that it is much more common now for lead contractors to advise their workers to now take tools home, if possible, even from a long term job site, so that the risk of theft is minimized. Is that true? I know it didn't used to be as much of a problem.

Why is theft of your materials so popular? Free building supplies, or is their a good market to sell tools to make decent extra money on the side or something?

FWIW I appreciate persons such as yourself. Building something using your own hands and good tools is an amazing thing to me. I'm disabled but I like to use my hands, work with my knives/tools whenever possible. Most stuff Ican't do on my own which increases my respect for your profession.

 

[Moondrop]

Okay, just read through replies and will try to address as many of the questions as possible here.
I was out of the house for three months. It's just taken from then until now for me to form a rational thought to post what I did earlier today.
During those three months, the owner of the company and/or his brother, who was acting as supervisor of this crew, had the key. I'd come check the house several times a day, because I actually still had pets in the undamaged part of the house that I'd come and feed. Last trip over here each day was around 8 pm.
It wasn't until after they left that I noticed things had disappeared, including some gardening tools that I know they were using while they were working because I'd leave them in one spot so I had access to them and find them laying out in the backyard where they'd used them. I'd put them back where I needed them and find them moved again. I didn't make a big deal of it because they were just using them to remove shrubbery that was in their way. I never imagined the tools would leave with them. The machete was in a box in a room that they never told me they were going to work. The affected parts of the house had been discussed before the work started and this room was not among them. In that room were two guitars that also went missing. If I'd known they were going to be working in there, I'd have safeguarded my machetes, axes and guitars.
I did speak with the owner about this. He simultaneously (truly simultaneously) questioned why his guys would take my property and said I should have put it in the secured section of the house where my other personal property was. So at the same time that he was trying to deny it happened, he was blaming me for it having happened. Believe me, if I'd had any idea things were going to disappear, I'd have locked up everything, including the stuff I wanted to keep handy. But, I had no reason at the time to believe these guys had sticky fingers.

Overnight, the house was locked up, the only exceptions being the boarded up windows in the room where the fire started. Those windows never showed any signs of tampering, so I have no reason to believe anyone was ever in the house other than me, members of my family and the contractors. Unfortunately I couldn't be here every minute of the day to watch over my stuff and there was no power/heat/hot water during most of that time. We weren't allowed to move back in until after the work had been done and inspected.

Strangely enough, when they had supplies, ladders and their tool trailer sitting out on my front lawn overnight during that time, none of their stuff went missing. You do the math. *shrugs*

 

[midnight flyer]

This seems a sensible solution, and off-site storage (particularly in comparison to the value of items) seems a relatively inexpensive option, even if it must be done for a few months. I know I would prefer to feel things I cared about, like my knives or pricier electronic items, were safe.

I have heard that it is much more common now for lead contractors to advise their workers to now take tools home, if possible, even from a long term job site, so that the risk of theft is minimized. Is that true? I know it didn't used to be as much of a problem.

It is. For a few years, we got away with storing tools on jobs using this type of heavy duty rolling tool box:

http://www.knaack.com/jobsite_storage_equipment/view_products.php?p_id=2

Then we started going to the job and finding the entire tool box gone, not just the contents. With the advent of powerful cordless grinders, cutting through heavy duty security chains just takes a bit longer than an instant. With a blanket over the grinder while in use at a closed up house (all doors and windows closed) they thieves can take their time and often just cut off the link next to the lock so they can sell the security rated hardened chain as well.

Medium sized tools and up go home with somebody.

Why is theft of your materials so popular? Free building supplies, or is their a good market to sell tools to make decent extra money on the side or something?

Building supplies are rare stolen, unless there are a lot of them. All of us contractors know of ovens, refrigerators, entire kitchen cabinet sets, tubs, fixtures, etc., being stolen on the job. Those go to pawn shops, "brother in law" projects, but mostly to the flea markets and builder "second hand" stores. Usually only appliances have serial numbers, so anything else stolen if almost impossible to prove who it belongs to.

As far as hand tools go, no one steals the cheap stuff except kids. My old Makita professional drill cost me $329 bucks new! It still runs great and has driven more screws than I can count. But if stolen, someone could pawn it for about $40, and the pawn shop will sell it for $100. But in a grab, they could get my drill, a good saw, maybe batteries and a charger, even my tool bags. For having the stones to take them, they could get $150 at the first pawn shop with no problems.

I have personally, literally, had a nail gun, tools bags, a saw and a drill stolen from the front of a house I was working on when I stopped for lunch with the guys and ate in the back of the house. The garage was open, the whole house was open including all doors and windows (small house, too) and the tools were in the living room. The tools were taken and we were literally 25 feet away on the other side of the wall. Never heard a thing.

A couple of air conditioning men saw them walking out with our tools, but since they weren't familiar with me or mine personally, they just thought it was normal job site traffic and that "the carpenters were going home for the day".

Thieves are so brazen now that they will absolutely steal anything, anytime. And my personal experience is that unless the total theft is around $1000 or more, our local police don't even want to fill out paperwork to report the theft. As one officer told me, THEY will likely never find any of the tools, and if the theft happened more than an hour before the police arrived the tools were probably no longer in the city, or already pawned. Second, they say, it is pointless to fill out a police report claiming the theft as since smaller hand tools (depreciated value) won't meet the deductible, it is a zero sum game and a time waster for all. So the thieves have little to worry about if they can just get your stuff out of your immediate reach.

Since I always carry two knives, I make sure they are small enough to fit in my pocket or large enough to require a pocket clip for heavier work. Name brand knives get a real premium at the flea market or pawn shop, and I don't carry junk. Since knives are virtually untraceable, they make a great target so you have to protect them when you are working in a strange environment. I worked on a condo project years ago where we had all manner of small tools missing on a constant basis, including some of the boy's edged tools ( a couple of Buck 110s of memory serves correctly ). The problem was solved when someone checked the custodian's closet, and he had more of our stuff in his closet than we had in our trucks.

FWIW I appreciate persons such as yourself. Building something using your own hands and good tools is an amazing thing to me. I'm disabled but I like to use my hands, work with my knives/tools whenever possible. Most stuff Ican't do on my own which increases my respect for your profession.

When it all works it can be very satisfying. I started sweeping floors and learned from there. I take for granted what I do unless I have a really happy client that loves their new kitchen, bath or siding. I don't take the time to step back much anymore as I have done it for so long I don't think much about.

But I appreciate the compliment! Few folks ever have any idea how much of a commitment it is to go from being "pretty good" to being a reliable professional that can turn out good work on a constant basis. I am lucky in that respect, and that is with 30 years of doing this kind of work for myself, I have advertised twice; once in the yellow pages for a year, and once in a neighborhood homeowner's periodical. Neither worked, so I just make sure my clients are as happy a I can make them so I can get that word of mouth referral. ALL of my work is referral only.

Robert

 

[RedLynx]

Interesting stuff Robert. I won't quote anything to keep the post a bit shorter but I appreciate you sharing so much. I guess if you are in the "thieving business" and get a good few guys around you, you can make a pretty decent bundle simply pawning off the tools alone... easier and, for a thief, safer than breaking in somewhere to steal priceless art. I had no idea the problem was so prevalent. If I were in your shoes with your experiences I'd feel too paranoid to leave any of my stuff alone even just on my lunch break. Sheesh.

My father has been self-employed as well, since before I was born. Small-time printing outfit, wherein he's the owner and sole employee (for occasional bigger jobs the kids helped out when we got old enough, or he brought in kids of his friends who needed some money, etc). He spent a small stint when I was younger working for a printing company but later decided it wasn't for him and when he went back on his own, he just asked all of his old clients to come back with him. Most if not all agreed, from what I remember. I don't know how he initially built up the client base but for a one man operation providing for a wife and 4 kids, he did pretty good. Ran out of his basement when it was big enough, or a shop across the driveway if we lived in a place that didn't have a large basement (moved a few times around the state when I was growing up).

In recent years he's also obtained licensing to drive a semi-trailer big rig, because as you can imagine it is tough in the world of print today, and much more so as a small operation not equipped to do as much as the big ones. He makes most of his money from driving a hog feed truck now, but for 30+ years it was just him and the printing presses. That business is still going though... a couple years back he invested in a 4-color printer to be able to expand the options he could offer to customers, and that has helped. Although, commercial printing equipment, even something relatively simple such as a 4-color machine, is just ridiculously expensive... I'm hoping the business lasts out long enough to see a return on that investment for him.

 

[The Government]

More people in this world deserve to be without hands.