It’s one thing offering a cuppa or biscuit to the person who’s fixing your leaky tap, or replacing a broken window.

It’s quite another if they help themselves.

A woman on Mumsnet has found herself in a tricky dilemma, after she posted that a tradesman she’d hired has been pinching her crisps.

‘We are currently renovating a property before moving in,’ the woman wrote.

‘We have all of our furniture there but are staying elsewhere.

‘When I went in to see the progress I noticed my multipack of crisps was empty and there were several empty packets of crisps strewn in different rooms.

‘Am I being unreasonable to raise this with the lead tradesman?’

Later in the thread, she clarified that the crisps (cheese and onion, for those wondering) were left on a chair next to some nappies, wipes and a baby bag. 

She added that her husband told her there was no point in raising it with the workman – but she wanted some advice.

Commenters were somewhat divided.

One took the strong stance that this was ‘theft’.

‘You left these crisps not out on a worktop or anything, but with a pile of your belongings,’ they wrote. ‘It may be petty but it is still theft!

‘Where do you draw the line people? OK to take crisps but not the wipes? Nappies?

‘I would wait until the end of the job and feed back to the boss, yes. He should know what his men are doing at people’s houses.’

Another commenter agreed that what the tradesman had done was ‘stealing’.

‘Of course raise it,’ they wrote. ‘They are stealing what is not theirs. 

‘I remember a plumber scoffing my grapes that I’d bought as a treat when I was first working and broke. I was appalled.’

However, others couldn’t understand the mum’s frustrations, and many see offering snacks and drinks to tradespeople as the standard.

‘You sound very uptight,’ said one person. ‘What do you want, two quid knocked off your bill?’

Another said they wouldn’t bother if the tradesman was doing a good job, as a few packets of crisps is a ‘small price to pay’. 

The majority of commenters said they often leave crisps for workmen on the job.

‘If I’ve got people working in the flat I leave tea, coffee, biscuits and yes, sometimes crisps, out for them to help themselves,’ one person said. 

‘So I’d work on the assumption they thought you’d left them for them.’

After some back and forths, the mum concluded that she probably was being a bit uptight.

‘Thank you all, I clearly need to work on my tradesman manners. I know what to leave out for them next time,’ she wrote. 

‘I need to chill out a bit.’

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