Rogue traders cheat couple out of £1,000
10:14am Saturday 2nd March 2013 in News
TRADING standards have issued a warning after a couple were conned out of £1,000 by doorstep conmen offering to repair their driveway.
Trading Standards has now urged people to be wary of conmen.
The couple, from Greenland Road, Farnworth, who have asked not to be named, were quoted £2,400 for the work on their drive.
Staff from the company provided business cards and literature which convinced the couple they were genuine.
They paid half of the money up front and the men started the work at the end of January.
But they did not return after the first day, leaving the driveway “a mess”.
And the couple have not seen them since or been able to contact them.
The victim said: “I want to warn people not to take on people offering services at the doorstep. These people seemed convincing but now we have lost a lot of money.
“They left the driveway in a total mess and after they had got the money they disappeared.
“We phoned the numbers and they said they had never heard of the people doing the work, yet when we rang those numbers previously they knew them.”
A spokesman for Trading Standards added: “Rogue traders go door-to-door selling their services but have no intention of doing a proper job and aim to get as much of your money as possible then disappear without trace.
“A trader knocking on your door could be anyone. They could give you a false address and could use telephone numbers that are untraceable.
“If they take your money and never return to do the job, then there could be little you can do.
“Even if the caller seems genuine, your doorstep is not the place to make decisions about purchases.
“You can always ask the caller to leave some information and you can call them back if you are still interested after doing checks on the business and shopping around.”
The Bolton News called the numbers given to the couple, but the man who answered the phone said it was a wrong number.
Comments(3)
boltonnut
says...
1:57pm Sat 2 Mar 13
questionairre
says...
2:10pm Sun 3 Mar 13
I am aware that they are sometimes convincing and wear hi vis jackets and speak with a gaelic twang.
Smile, say no thanks and shut the door.
Better still don't even answer the door to them in the first place.
Oh and also, have a guess where the rubble ends up,
yep in a secluded country area or a back street somewhere.
chris25 says...
1:56pm Sat 2 Mar 13