Ring stolen at work

[Gee]

Hi geeks,

I rent a room and nail desk in a hairdressers.

Today I had a client for a manicure, she took her ring off and placed it next to the static arm rest on my nail desk.

About 2 hours later she called to say she'd left her ring so was coming to pick it up, when I went to look for it it wasn't there. I looked everywhere, in the bin, everywhere.

There was a hair client in with her daughter, this client has been a regular at the salon for a long time. The daughter was getting her hair done and the mum was waiting with her.

After my manicure I had in a massage and when I came back downstairs the mum was at my nail desk looking at my polishes and holding them up for her daughter to see. After it became apparent that the ring had been stolen I suspected her.

My manicure client came in and was obviously devastated by what had happened. I carried on searching, the mum was helping me, she even asked me to search her bag as she didnt want to leave with anyone suspecting her. I felt very uncomfortable searching her bag but felt i had to for my manicure client. eventually we decided to called the local police. When my manicure client was giving her details to the police the mum said 'oh have you checked here' and started messing with a reception chair, then she said 'there's something there' and lo and behold, there was the ring.

So....what do you think? I've been so upset about what's happened, I was at a loss as to what to do.

Was it right for me to check her bag? Was I right to call the police? If the ring hadn't been found would i have been covered in some way, would it be up to me to replace the ring?

I feel so awful, it's not the first time an item has been stolen from work, we're looking tomorrow to see if this lady was in on that day too, If she was then what? What would you do? I feel like I have to lock away all my products!

Going to have a large glass of wine now!

Sarah x

 

[milliondollars]

Oh dear that's awful!! I would be interested to see if she does come back, she might be too embarrassed..
Is there any way the ring could have got onto the chair it was found on? X

 

[Gee]

I think she will come back, she's been going there for years.

There's no way it could have got there other than somebody picking it up and shoving it down the side of the chair. None of the hairdressers at work did, I didn't, my manicure client didn't, also the other clients that were in today weren't waiting in that area, just her.

I guess if she does come back we'll have to keep a good eye on her. It's a shame really, x

 

[milliondollars]

Its so hard to know what to do! I think if I saw her again I would say 'i have no idea how that ring ended up there, it's so strange etc etc' and then see how she reacts. It's such an awful situation x

 

[Sam81]

Maybe in future you could put rings/watches etc in a bowl on your station? That way if anything goes missing you know it couldn't possibly have been knocked off the table or anything like that, it'll make it much more obvious if something goes missing. It's such an awful situation, I really feel for you x

 

[femmefan]

I always ask clients to put their jewellery in their handbag to make sure the don't leave without them. That way you're being 'caring' & security conscious at the same time

 

[maverickben]

What a shocker! Sounded like a scam really until the police turned up...

 

[MissJulesBeauty]

I always ask clients to put their jewellery in their handbag to make sure the don't leave without them. That way you're being 'caring' & security conscious at the same time

Fab idea, I will do this too going forward. This is an awful situation. I think calling the police was the only thing that got your client here jewellery back.

I hope your mani customer returns and is not put off. Maybe you should send her a card or something as an apology with a possible incentive to return x

Enjoy your wine, think you deserve it!

 

[izzidoll]

I always ask clients to put their jewellery in their handbag to make sure the don't leave without them. That way you're being 'caring' & security conscious at the same time

Great way of preventing this situation happening again.

Well done for calling the Police, that was what sorted it all out.

oh and....cheeers !!

 

[BotoxBoy]

Firstly, well done for getting the police in. If you hadn't been clear minded and determined enough, she would have got away with stealing the ring.

Next time set her up with a cheap ring where she can see it somewhere and pop out the back for a minute and see if it goes walkies! even a bracelet so its not the same as the ring situation.

If it goes missing this time, then it's definitely been her and I would get the police back and arrest her!

Might sound drastic, but if she's been coming a long time but was still prepared to steal then she's taking the mickey and it won't be the first time she's done it!!!

 

[hippy chick]

just goes to show that you can never trust anyone really.

 

[Gee]

Well it's not the first time something has gone missing, at the beginning of June, coincidentally my manicure client was in on that day too, a friday which is the only day she can come in to me. a bottle of perfume went missing from the bathroom...I looked in the appointment book and this other lady was in on that day too!

I went to work on Saturday and the salon owner didn't mention anything about it. I overheard her telling one of the stylists that this ladys mum
Had phoned her at home because her daughter was upset that we thought it was her, but we absolutely didn't point the finger at anyone in the slightest. To me that says she has a guilty conscience. The stylist told me that the salon owner told her that there's no way she believes it was this woman that took it.

I'm annoyed that it wasn't mentioned or talked about at all, it was a serious incident and it's just being brushed under the carpet, and why? Because she's a long standing client and they don't want to lose her custom? Seems a bit fishy to me.

I will definitely be asking clients to put items of jewellery in their bags in future too. And I'll have to have a think about my products that are out for all to see...I now feel I have to hide everything away.

 

[St311ar]

What ended up happening?

 

[cabby]

I lkie the idea of telling the client to put their things in thier handbag mine are always leaving things lol xx

 

[unas escarlata]

It was totally the right thing to call the police.
1. it shows the client you are taking this seriously
2. it sends a clear message to the thief that this is unacceptable and they will not get away with it.

I would get a lockable display cabinet as it sounds as if there are times when clients are alone. A cheap sliding glass door bathroom cabinet with one of these locks http://www.amazon.co.uk/CHROME-SLIDING-GLASS-DOOR-CABINET/dp/B003M326MC or something a little bigger

Having a cabinet also means less dusting of product shelves!

Buy Single Glass Door Display Cabinet - Beech Effect at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Display units and glass cabinets.
Bradley 1 Door Glass Display Cabinet, Silver - Tesco.Direct
DETOLF Glass-door cabinet - beech effect - IKEA

:biggrin:

 

[Steph86]

Gosh. You did the right thing, but its not a nice situation to be in! Well done for handling it so well!

We have sunbeds and things r always left behind, one cust accused the owner's wife of steeling what ever she left (she didn't realise it was her business) which was quite lucky for all us that we weren't put under that stress! Then low and behold she came back a week later having found her 'lost item'

But we also have people pinching stock from in the sbed rooms, ok its nothing major but one woman does it everytime she is in the shop, and no one knows how to broach the subject so she just gets away with it! Xx

 

[jacqueline]

I provide a little fancy dish for my nail clients to put rings, watches, bangles etc. in, it is right beside them and when my techs are finished I always say when the client ise paying got your "rings and things".

For other treatments, it's not glamorous but I provide/offer a small zip bag where they can put things in and put in in their handbag.