Everyone is responding like he did get scammed, but I'm not so sure.

I'm sure. He wasn't scammed. He was stupid.

Steve

On Apr 21, 5:45*am, Abe wrote:
It happened yesterday. A truck cruised in our neighborhood and I saw
them stop by our neighbor's house (we have a concrete driveway, his is
asphalt) and they talked. Then I went to do something else, the next
thing I know is that my neighbor's asphalt driveway was sprayed with
some tar like substance. So I went to talk to see what happened.

He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then acted
all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating than they
expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work. I guess with
the implication that if he did not pay, they would drive off with his
driveway half sprayed looking really stupid. So, he said he paid extra
$50 and they finished the work.

Everyone is responding like he did get scammed, but I'm not so sure.
Was the work done illegally? Almost surely, I'm not arguing that. But
to be scammed, he must have not gotten his money's worth.

Did they do a good job and use a good product on the driveway? Did the
driveway have alot of cracks and other imperfections before they
started? Are they well filled now? $50 extra is not really that much
if there WAS in fact alot of existing damage. Just because they didn't
price it right at first and had to ask for more doesn't mean your
neighbor was scammed, it just means they didn't price the job
correctly.

That is a weird way to view the problem. Someone bids a job, refuses
to finish unless paid more is not a scam? What color is the sky in
your world?

A bid is a bid and reputable companies live up to them. Now had the
owner added to or changed something later, then he would up for
additional charges.

Harry K

Harry K wrote:
....
A bid is a bid and ...

not a contract nor binding unless turned into one (verbal or no) which
states it is (binding, that is). (Not that this particular racket isn't
an out-and-out scam, the principle is more general.)

These fly-by-night outfits are rampant everywhere each spring. There's
a good chance the "product" applied was nothing more than used motor oil
or similar besides...

--

Abe wrote:
It happened yesterday. A truck cruised in our neighborhood and I
saw them stop by our neighbor's house (we have a concrete
driveway, his is asphalt) and they talked. Then I went to do
something else, the next thing I know is that my neighbor's
asphalt driveway was sprayed with some tar like substance. So I
went to talk to see what happened.

He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then
acted all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating
than they expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work.
I guess with the implication that if he did not pay, they would
drive off with his driveway half sprayed looking really stupid.
So, he said he paid extra $50 and they finished the work.
Everyone is responding like he did get scammed, but I'm not so sure.
Was the work done illegally? Almost surely, I'm not arguing that. But
to be scammed, he must have not gotten his money's worth.

Did they do a good job and use a good product on the driveway? Did the
driveway have alot of cracks and other imperfections before they
started? Are they well filled now? $50 extra is not really that much
if there WAS in fact alot of existing damage. Just because they didn't
price it right at first and had to ask for more doesn't mean your
neighbor was scammed,

Corse it does.

it just means they didn't price the job correctly.

Then they get to wear their footshot and do the job for the agreed price.

In rec.crafts.metalworking George Grapman wrote:
Three simple solutions:

Ask for their contractors license and immediately verify it. A
legitimate firm will be glad to oblige.

While you are asking for than information write down the license plate
on the truck.

Pay by credit card.

be sure to give your credit card info to scammers.

Cydrome Leader wrote:
In rec.crafts.metalworking George Grapman wrote:
Three simple solutions:

Ask for their contractors license and immediately verify it. A
legitimate firm will be glad to oblige.

While you are asking for than information write down the license plate
on the truck.

Pay by credit card.

be sure to give your credit card info to scammers.
If you give them your credit card you have recourse to (a) dispute
the charges and (b) disallow anything than ran up on your card. Give
them cash and there is nothing you can do.

George Grapman wrote:

Cydrome Leader wrote:

In rec.crafts.metalworking George Grapman wrote:

Three simple solutions:

Ask for their contractors license and immediately verify it. A
legitimate firm will be glad to oblige.

While you are asking for than information write down the license
plate on the truck.

Pay by credit card.


be sure to give your credit card info to scammers.

If you give them your credit card you have recourse to (a) dispute the
charges and (b) disallow anything than ran up on your card. Give them
cash and there is nothing you can do.

Besides which, most travelling scammers won't be equipped to handle
credit card transactions.

Jim

Jim Chandler wrote:
George Grapman wrote:

Cydrome Leader wrote:

In rec.crafts.metalworking George Grapman wrote:

Three simple solutions:

Ask for their contractors license and immediately verify it. A
legitimate firm will be glad to oblige.

While you are asking for than information write down the license
plate on the truck.

Pay by credit card.


be sure to give your credit card info to scammers.

If you give them your credit card you have recourse to (a) dispute
the charges and (b) disallow anything than ran up on your card. Give
them cash and there is nothing you can do.

Besides which, most travelling scammers won't be equipped to handle
credit card transactions.

Jim

Actually some itinerant scammers have developed ways to accept
credit cards. They have learned that having the Visa and Mastercard
logos give them credibility.

clipped



Would you think that the police would have any interest?



In my town soliciting door to door requires a permit or notificiation to the police
station. If your neighbor reported them for going door to door, the police would
check if they have met the requirements. If not, our police would be more than
happy to stop by and have have a chat.

If an actual scam or fraud is reported, they will start the criminal process. They
are also happy to do a full commercial vehicle inspection as well, never know what
those can turn up.




It is surprising that with all of the publicity in Florida about home
repair scams so many people still fall for them.
I would never deal with a contractor either from advertisement or,
especially, cold call. Waterproofing and windows.
The phone rings every day. )

George Grapman wrote:
Jim Chandler wrote:

George Grapman wrote:

Cydrome Leader wrote:

In rec.crafts.metalworking George Grapman
wrote:

Three simple solutions:

Ask for their contractors license and immediately verify it. A
legitimate firm will be glad to oblige.

While you are asking for than information write down the license
plate on the truck.

Pay by credit card.



be sure to give your credit card info to scammers.


If you give them your credit card you have recourse to (a) dispute
the charges and (b) disallow anything than ran up on your card. Give
them cash and there is nothing you can do.


Besides which, most travelling scammers won't be equipped to handle
credit card transactions.

Jim


Actually some itinerant scammers have developed ways to accept credit
cards. They have learned that having the Visa and Mastercard logos give
them credibility.


Damn! Is
NOTHING sacred? :-) Had I thought for a moment I would have realized
that with the wireless stuff that's available now for things like gun
shows, ets. it wouldn't be too hard to have it.

Jim

Marissa Payton wrote:
On Sat, 12 May 2007 20:29:58 GMT, Mike Dobony wrote:
snip

You replying to a post from May of 2007?

Marsha/Ohio

...
A bid is a bid and ...

it's worth the paper it's written on.

"Abe" wrote in message
He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then acted
all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating than they
expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work. I guess with
the implication that if he did not pay, they would drive off with his
driveway half sprayed looking really stupid. So, he said he paid
extra
$50 and they finished the work.

Everyone is responding like he did get scammed, but I'm not so sure.

He was scammed. This trick has been around for years. Quote a low price,
start the job, then demand more money. No different than buying a gallon of
mild at the grocery store and on the way out being asked to pay more. If
you are that naive, please don't make any big decisions on your own.

Norminn wrote in message ...

It is surprising that with all of the publicity in Florida about home
repair scams so many people still fall for them.
I would never deal with a contractor either from advertisement or,
especially, cold call. Waterproofing and windows.
The phone rings every day. )

They had the same thing going on here in CA with the driveways a
couple of months ago, a lot of older people got taken in by the
scammers doing lousy jobs, demanding more money etc. I'm glad to say I
wasn't one of them. I will say that the front man for the operation
was a personable young man telling me that he will be doing all kinds
of work in my neighborhood, repairing driveways, patios, blah blah
blah. I ran him off with my cranky old woman voice. LOL I saw in the
paper the other day that he was finally arrested in Indiana. :-)

Cheri

In article , wrote:

Marissa Payton wrote:
On Sat, 12 May 2007 20:29:58 GMT, Mike Dobony
wrote:
snip

You replying to a post from May of 2007?

Thanks. I had a sense of deja-vu that I couldn't shake and now I know why.
i thought this had come up before.

--
charles

In article , "Cheri"
gserviceatinreachdotcom wrote:

Norminn wrote in message ...

It is surprising that with all of the publicity in Florida about home
repair scams so many people still fall for them.
I would never deal with a contractor either from advertisement or,
especially, cold call. Waterproofing and windows.
The phone rings every day. )

They had the same thing going on here in CA with the driveways a
couple of months ago, a lot of older people got taken in by the
scammers doing lousy jobs, demanding more money etc. I'm glad to say I
wasn't one of them. I will say that the front man for the operation
was a personable young man telling me that he will be doing all kinds
of work in my neighborhood, repairing driveways, patios, blah blah
blah. I ran him off with my cranky old woman voice. LOL I saw in the
paper the other day that he was finally arrested in Indiana. :-)


How do you know it was the same man?

--
charles