The Italy Forum
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

What would you do?

5 posters

Go down

What would you do? Empty What would you do?

Post by ghiro Thu May 08, 2014 6:37 pm

Yesterday I paid the girl who cleans for us at about 1:00pm.  There were 3 workmen doing some paving around the pool.  During the afternoon I decided to mow the grass, which takes (if I'm not too energetic!) some 2-3 hours (with quite frequent visits to the house for water etc).  Because I was quite near the house (no more than 75m away) I didn't lock up while I was mowing.

Our geometra is Daniele who we totally trust.  The 'capo' of the workmen is his cousin and the son of the 'capo' was also there.  They had both worked at the house before.  The 3rd man was new to us.

The 3rd man left while I was mowing.  I chatted to the 'capo' and his son before they also left and then returned to the house for the rest of the evening/night.  I then locked up and went to bed.

When I got up this morning I discovered that all my money (Italian and English) was missing!  Shocked   The only time it was unsupervised was when I was mowing.  We live at the end of a long drive (in full view of the garden and the pool) in a rural location and I find it very hard to believe (although not totally impossible) that a complete stranger came down the drive, stole the money and then left up the drive without any of the 4 of us noticing.  Also, although the money was stolen, the wallets and credit/debit cards were left.  And furthermore the keys to the hire car were next to a wallet and these (and the car!) also weren't taken.

I'm hesitant to get the police involved (although they could fingerprint the wallets) as being a non-resident one can never predict where these matters can lead.

So the question is this: What would you do?
ghiro
ghiro
Moderator

Location : Massa-Carrara
Posts : 840
Join date : 2013-05-24

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Flip Thu May 08, 2014 7:52 pm

First off Ghiro is '' don't trust anyone'', secondly I would weigh up who you think knew about money being in the house and then change your cleaner.....
Flip
Flip
Elder

Location : nr. Bagni Di Lucca. LU
Posts : 809
Join date : 2013-05-25

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Thu May 08, 2014 7:57 pm

Sorry to hear about your problem. I had a similar one in Australia years ago. After contacting the police, I found out that I was not the only victim in the area. A few days later, the police found out that it was a neighbour's son, who was a drug addict' and he was entering the houses through the back gardens that led on to a canal.He would only steal cash.
Regarding what to do, I do not think that being a non-resident is an issue. Perhaps, you could speak to the geometra and he may make some enquiries.

In any case, it is not a very pleasant situation. Next time keep wallets, purses, handbags out of sight. I am very careful nowadays. We always learn the hard way  Sad
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by ghiro Thu May 08, 2014 8:19 pm

Flip and Gala - thank you.

Flip.  I watched the cleaner leave.  Good thought though.  But no way it's her.

Gala.  Great advice as ever.  And indeed you 'learn the hard way'.  I've contacted the geometra but no reply yet.

Anyone else with a suggestion?
ghiro
ghiro
Moderator

Location : Massa-Carrara
Posts : 840
Join date : 2013-05-24

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by stevegwmonkseaton Thu May 08, 2014 8:31 pm

Really sorry to hear about this "G".. Perhaps pose the same question to them all and watch and listen to their reaction. Of course anyone can look guilty, but be totally innocent. However the guilty party will at least hopefully be a little worried about it all.

stevegwmonkseaton
Elder

Location : Abruzzo
Posts : 1927
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by ghiro Thu May 08, 2014 9:06 pm

Thank you for your sympathetic reply Steve.  The men doing the work around the pool announced that they'd finished this afternoon.  So I told them I wanted a photo of them all for our album (unfortunately I can't show it to you here).  I half expected one of them to be resistant to this suggestion - but they all smiled willingly.  Sad
ghiro
ghiro
Moderator

Location : Massa-Carrara
Posts : 840
Join date : 2013-05-24

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Thu May 08, 2014 10:10 pm

It may be an outsider as it happened to me. Sorry, Steve, but I do not agree with your advice. It may cause a useless confrontation and it is quite possible that they may be innocent. If they feel that they are under suspicion, their pride will be hurt. And Italians are very proud people.
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by stevegwmonkseaton Fri May 09, 2014 1:37 pm

Gala Placidia wrote:It may be an outsider as it happened to me. Sorry, Steve, but I do not agree with your advice. It may cause a useless confrontation and it is quite possible that they may be innocent. If they feel that they are under suspicion, their pride will be hurt. And Italians are very proud people.

Yes Gala, but it depends how tactful you are I guess!

stevegwmonkseaton
Elder

Location : Abruzzo
Posts : 1927
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Fri May 09, 2014 2:00 pm

Difficult to be tactful in a case like this. Most Italians will feel accused if the topic is raised in front of everyone and they were at the home at the time of the theft. Southern Europeans are hyper-sensitive. It would be better to discreetely raise the subject with the person in charge, in this case - and ghiro has done it - with the geometra.
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by stevegwmonkseaton Fri May 09, 2014 5:55 pm

Gala Placidia wrote:Difficult to be tactful in a case like this. Most Italians will feel accused if the topic is raised in front of everyone and they were at the home at the time of the theft. Southern Europeans are hyper-sensitive. It would be better to discreetely raise the subject with the person in charge, in this case - and ghiro has done it - with the geometra.

Well I'm sure you and I don't know Italians and never will. However, two things, It sounds likely one of them could well have been the culprit and that being the case it lets the others know they have someone like that working with them and to be careful. The culprit also knows it's out in the open and they have not simply got away with it. If it was none of them, then they have nothing to be concerned about apart from poor "G" who can't be feeling too good about it all!

stevegwmonkseaton
Elder

Location : Abruzzo
Posts : 1927
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Fri May 09, 2014 7:07 pm

Well, it is up to ghiro to decide what to do. We can only give our opinions. I know what I would do...
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by ghiro Fri May 09, 2014 7:26 pm

Spot on Steve!  I'm not.   Sad  Sad 

The geometra, the cleaner, her partner and I had a long discussion here this evening over some (rather good!) G&Ts I supplied.

Daniele (the geometra) has spoken to all the people around on Wednesday.  Needless to say each of them claim to know absolutely nothing about the missing money.  We looked at every angle.  The reality is that we don't know for certain who took the money.  We don't have CCTV footage (although we discussed pretending we did!).

Eventually we decided that the best way forward was to put it down to experience and move on.  But hopefully, if something similar happens to someone else in the future, the identity of the culprit will then become apparent.

I'm grateful to you all for your very helpful comments and of course, should there be any further developments, I'll let you know.
ghiro
ghiro
Moderator

Location : Massa-Carrara
Posts : 840
Join date : 2013-05-24

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by stevegwmonkseaton Fri May 09, 2014 7:35 pm

Thanks for letting us know "G" and I hope it becomes a distant memory very soon .

stevegwmonkseaton
Elder

Location : Abruzzo
Posts : 1927
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by ghiro Fri May 09, 2014 8:09 pm

Admin!  Where's the 'Like' button gone?!  Sad
ghiro
ghiro
Moderator

Location : Massa-Carrara
Posts : 840
Join date : 2013-05-24

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Fri May 09, 2014 8:34 pm

Oops! Just noticed it ( Anyway sort it out by the time I come back in a couple of days or so... Not that I care much about the button, but it does save some time...
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Gala Placidia Fri May 09, 2014 8:38 pm

By the way, ghiro, I think that you are doing the right thing. Put it down to experience. Either have a safe installed or find a good hiding place for your valuables and documents. Keep'small cash amounts in your wallet. I also learned the hard way....
Gala Placidia
Gala Placidia
Moderator

Posts : 1840
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by stevegwmonkseaton Sat May 10, 2014 7:36 am

ghiro wrote:Admin!  Where's the 'Like' button gone?!  Sad

It disappears from time to time and is replaced by the "+" and "-"  at the other side. I suspect it is when there is a software update there is some glitch  Very Happy  Very Happy

stevegwmonkseaton
Elder

Location : Abruzzo
Posts : 1927
Join date : 2013-05-20

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Carciofo Sat May 10, 2014 3:57 pm

Ghiro, I'm very sorry for your experience but for what it's worth I think I would talk to the police about it (possibly depending on how much has gone) and I would tell those that had been there that you are going to do it.  I think the possibility of it being a local who is raiding cash for drugs is entirely likely and you don't want to get a reputation for being a soft touch.  

I think the line I would take with Daniele would be "just wanted you to know what's happened and that I'm going to the police but I want you to know that I do not believe either you or your men are guilty of this."

Carciofo
Elder

Posts : 143
Join date : 2013-06-03

Back to top Go down

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Post by Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Back to top


 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum