Pet camera filmed heating engineer

[Diana M]

I’m sorry you suffered this horrid invasion of your privacy and can understand how upset you now feel. I would too.

I use heating engineers a lot (to attend my rental properties) most companies make it a condition of the booking callout that (a) the engineer will not be left alone on the property, and (b) they will not attend if the person on the property is under 18 years old.

This causes minor problems since tenants are reluctant to take time off work to be at home for these essential repairs until I explain it’s for their own protection as well as the engineers who risk unfounded allegations against them (unlike your situation where you say you have video evidence).

Personnally I would never leave a tradesman in my home without my being there mostly because I like to make sure they’re doing the job properly.

You've made your complaint to the business and you’ve been told that the engineer won’t be placed in a situation where he could do that again. You’ve possibly prevented others from suffering a similar fate.

I’m not familiar with criminal law but the court decides what sentence should be given not the victim, although remorse and/or an apology is sometimes taken into consideration. In this case the business decided what they felt was the appropriate action to take, presumably knowing if this was the first or one of many complaints they had received about the engineer.

Have you paid the business for this boiler job, and are they a member of any trade body which has a complaints procedure?

Di

[ULA]

Yes breach of trust is what happened in your home I totally agree. However as I have stated the employer has already shared confidential information in regard to their actions against the employee that they should not have done. You may be the customer but you cannot dictate what action they take against their employees in relation to your complaint even with the video evidence.

Your best course of action is to inform them that you will not be using their services again and that if asked to recommend the company you certainly would not do so. If you are tied into some sort of repair/maintenance contract then if you want you can leverage what has happened to remove yourself from it without any penalties which otherwise could be due. Alternatively if there is a contract in place and you decide to keep it make sure this individual is banned from attending your home again to deal with any issue.

I have to agree with DES8 publicising the video would be a fraught path to follow.

[Petcam]

Thank you Di
I haven’t paid for the boiler repair and although the employer says the chap’s role has changed, I have a sneaky feeling he’ll be back inside customer properties soon.
I looked at the companies trade memberships but couldn’t get much info from that.
I think I’ll express disappointment that a more appropriate course of action wasn’t taken and draw a line under it now. Thanks for your help

[Petcam]

Thank you for your advice too Ula

[Captain Haddock]

Alarmed to hear of this but, then again, not surprised. What is alarming is that he knew the camera was there and disconnected it! How stupid can he be? And let me tell you something for a fact, Petcam: you won't find out if he nicked anything until you go looking for it! I've had experience of that and so had my parents, back in the day.

In my case, I had an acquaintance of an acquaintance lay a new kitchen floor for me. After a couple of days being in his company I guessed it would be ok to leave him finish off the tiling and grouting of the stone floor tiles. Next day, OH asks if I've been moving things around in the bedroom and the discovers her underwear drawer had been disturbed. Over the next few days, we noticed that food and drink (soft and alco with regard to the latter) had been used/removed from the house. And many months later, when I went looking for it, a family heirloom had disappeared and has never been relocated.

Lack of proof? Yes. But you, Petcam, have such and you must ask yourself why he had the nerve to re-enter the room and disconnect the camera. For what gain? I, personally, would not just 'draw a line under it'.

[Captain Haddock]

I'm curious: he must have initially noticed the camera for him to be seen crawling along the floor, no? Ergo, he knew it was there from the get-go. Have you asked his employer what this man's intentions were that led him to disconnect a surveillance camera in a customer's property when he was not in a position or advised to do so?

[Captain Haddock]

I wonder what he got up to for ten minutes when that camera was disconnected.