THANK YOU! Working in luxury for the last 10+ years, I can honestly say some of the biggest thieves are your own friends / colleagues who look the part (a certain complexion, head to toe wasp or casual ralph lauren-esque basics).
Do You Hide Your Chanel Bags (or Other Luxury Goods) from Regular/Hourly House Keeper?
- Thread starter KittyCattt
- Start date
Potentially anyone can steal. That’s why I put a lock on my wardrobe long before I hired housekeeping.
Most people discuss housekeeping as a potential threat, because they don’t really face any other situations when someone who is not their relative can be unsupervised for hours in their house. I’d be equally cautious with both a housekeeper or a friend of my friend.
It has nothing to do with 'class'. Anyone can be a thief but not very many people are allowed to roam around the house, often when the owner is not even home. It's a reasonable concern about anyone who has unfettered access, regardless of class.
Agreed, I commented that while we were robbed to a first class felony degree, I never once thought it was our beloved maid.
I can't think of anyone that we regularly employ that would do it.
It could be ANYONE; a friend, a kid's friend, interior designer, someone that saw my car/jewelry and followed me home, etc. . .
I'd suggest strongly everyone document significant purchases and insure them. Insurance saved us.
I can't think of anyone that we regularly employ that would do it.
It could be ANYONE; a friend, a kid's friend, interior designer, someone that saw my car/jewelry and followed me home, etc. . .
I'd suggest strongly everyone document significant purchases and insure them. Insurance saved us.
I don't have a housekeeper but I have a pet sitter who'd stop by every now and then to take care of my cat while I'm traveling. I have two walk-in closets that have locks on the doors so I store my bags and valuable items there. My fine jewelry is in the safe inside the locked closet so doubled security. Other than that, I also have several cameras set up inside and outside of the house, that I can configure them to send me real time alerts and start record when there's some activities within the vicinity when I'm not in the house so I feel pretty safe when I'm having people over. 
Im so horrified by some of these stories like that of @TraceySH; as well as the valid concerns of @Kuschelnudde, that I wanted to add some points. I live in the US and my help is trusted in my closet (which is open plan and unlocked) and elsewhere. They keep me organized (fold laundry and handle my mail, packages, dry cleaning, food) and do more than simply clean. I also know and trust the building staff that delivers the packages to the door and handles maintenance in the apt. When an independent contract worker came to replace windows, in my absence, as per the normal procedure of most tenants, I asked a building staff member to supervise.
I have much more cause to be concerned with respect to certain members of my own family (who have been around when things have unexpectedly gone missing or who have put unauthorized charges on the credit cards of other members), or when we have parties with people I have just met and do not really know. I would not feel comfortable with storing Items in dustbags (bc then I would forget to use them); or locking cupboards; or installing cameras, but I am glad that these things help others. I do feel that insurance and alarm systems are a sensible precaution.
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It's never a bad ides to protect your babies from possible theft, especially if you can help it. I keep my collection in my closet but if I have any external people coming into the house for any reason at all, my babies go into the safe. It's just better safe than sorry, even if insurance covers theft some items can never be replaced.
I don’t have a cleaner, but if I did I would keep them. My late mother caught her 4 year housekeeper steeling. Things kept disappearing through the years, jewelry and cash, which my mom just thought she misplaced even though my mom had given her many things and also to her grand daughter. But, eventually my mom walked in on her stealing from her purse. My sister also lost her Chanel WOC when she had cleaners over. You shouldn’t tempt people by leaving things around.
I don't have my bags in a safe or locked cabinet, and I don't hide them from house cleaners. My house cleaners are not supervised (I tend to go where they are not so we don't get in each other's way). They fold my laundry but don't organize them into my closet, so there's no reason for them to open my closets, but if they did I really wouldn't know unless I walked in on them by accident or if they changed the position of something inside. My closet doors are nontransparent, so they can't see what's inside unless they open it, but I'm pretty sure they've seen my bags lying around at one time or another, never had anything go missing.
My mother also used to leave bags on counters, and her closet has see-through doors, so her house cleaners could definitely see her bags, she has never had bags or jewelry pieces go missing, though there was a time when the house cleaner brought on a male cousin or some other relative, and my mother noticed $200 cash missing from her wallet, which was in her purse, out on the counter. She's not a lady to misplace money, so after that she told her house cleaner that it would be preferable if she didn't bring new people to her house. Other than that one time we haven't had issues.
I think it would be way to tiresome to hide valuables every time the house cleaners came. Vet people thoroughly with interviews and references before allowing them into your private space, if you deem them to be trustworthy, then trust them unless they do something to prove you wrong.
I will say that this is harder to do in China, but I think that's more due to high turn over. Most of the house cleaners my family had in China had to be watched pretty much the whole time they are there, mostly to make sure they don't damage things during cleaning, also to make sure they don't steal.
My mother also used to leave bags on counters, and her closet has see-through doors, so her house cleaners could definitely see her bags, she has never had bags or jewelry pieces go missing, though there was a time when the house cleaner brought on a male cousin or some other relative, and my mother noticed $200 cash missing from her wallet, which was in her purse, out on the counter. She's not a lady to misplace money, so after that she told her house cleaner that it would be preferable if she didn't bring new people to her house. Other than that one time we haven't had issues.
I think it would be way to tiresome to hide valuables every time the house cleaners came. Vet people thoroughly with interviews and references before allowing them into your private space, if you deem them to be trustworthy, then trust them unless they do something to prove you wrong.
I will say that this is harder to do in China, but I think that's more due to high turn over. Most of the house cleaners my family had in China had to be watched pretty much the whole time they are there, mostly to make sure they don't damage things during cleaning, also to make sure they don't steal.
I trust and appreciate my housekeepers and have worked with them for several years, but I would never leave my prized belongings out in the open for anyone except DH. Not friends nor family. And no one goes into my closet. No one needs to see my stuff and cast judgment lol.
I do have a cleaner. I adore and trust her, her daughters, and she gets a lot of my items (clothing, etc). I do keep my bags etc in the closet which can be locked, but I close the door when she's around, not to keep her from "seeing or stealing" but I don't want to display my niceties in front of her in showy way (and my stuff is all displayed), ie I don't want to flaunt. There is another reason: For insurance purposes, my items are stored in a lockable space (it keeps my premium down). This includes my jewelry. Third, our security camera monitor is in that same room, and I don't need anyone who comes into my house, contractor or otherwise, to see what I'm monitoring in my own home (although there are cameras "visible"). Finally, we also have firearms. So, for safety and security of everyone, my things are almost always locked when we are not home, and the door is closed to others when we are.
Well said. I have a very similar set up, not that I don't trust whomever gets invited over my house, but I see it as doing my own due diligence and minimizing risk. There's a reason why the phrase 'trust but verify' exist. Also I keep my closets locked most of the time anyway even when I'm at home, since I have pets and I don't want my fur babies to sneak in and leave their fur all over my bags and clothes.
Bolded, because this cannot be overstated!Well said. I have a very similar set up, not that I don't trust whomever gets invited over my house, but I see it as doing my own due diligence and minimizing risk. There's a reason why the phrase 'trust but verify' exist. Also I keep my closets locked most of the time anyway even when I'm at home, since I have pets and I don't want my fur babies to sneak in and leave their fur all over my bags and clothes.
I trust our cleaner, she has been with us for years and if I would not trust her I would not let her in my house. Same with babysitters or even construction workers.
I rather not own any luxury bags than having to worry about this. Only thing I store in an vault are watches with diamonds or anything Like that. But more because the insurrance wont cover them fully.
I rather not own any luxury bags than having to worry about this. Only thing I store in an vault are watches with diamonds or anything Like that. But more because the insurrance wont cover them fully.