I Want My D**n Jewelry Back, Although I Doubt It's Gonna Happen...

[KillarneyRose]

Okay, I'll attempt to make this story as short as I can without leaving out any important information. It's kind of boring, but here it is:

Last week, a plumber came by my house and when he left two diamond rings left with him. Within 20 minutes of him leaving my house, I had filed a police report.

Later that day, I had a voicemail from the plumbing company's secretary asking me to call back. I assumed it had to do with the rings, but when I called she asked me if I could repeat the number of the Visa card I had used for the plumbing work because the plumber must have transposed some numbers as it wouldn't go through. "Well," I said, "I didn't use a credit card. I paid $380 in cash." The secretary sounded puzzled, thanked me, and we hung up.

Next morning, the owner of the company called me and he asked me again about the transaction and I told him the same thing, that I'd paid in cash, I had a copy of the receipt and there were no credit card numbers written on it. Apparently, this guy pocketed the cash and tried to tell the company I'd used a credit card.

The owner then went on to explain how, after leaving my house, the plumber called in and said he hurt his back and wouldn't be back to work that day. The owner hadn't been able to get in touch with the plumber after that initial phone call, and the plumber still had the company's truck, full of equipment.

I then asked the owner if he had been contacted by the police. He said he hadn't so I gave him the heads up about what had happened with my rings. He said he was sorry it had happened, it was so hard to get good help, the plumber had only been there three weeks, yada, yada, yada.

I asked the owner if he had insurance and he said he did.

Okay, now it's a week and a half later and I am unable to get in touch with the owner of the plumbing company. Should I keep trying? Should I just file a claim through my homeowner's policy? The rings are actually pretty valuable so it would most likely raise my premium.

One one hand, I feel sorry for the guy because it really isn't his fault that he had a thief working for him. But, on the other hand, he sent someone into my house that stole from me and so I think it is his responsibility to make it right.

Aaack! What do I do?