Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
£15 broken wall repair scam
YESTERDAY an elderly friend recounted a brush with a "builder" scam.
An unexpected knock on his door came with an offer to repair his (broken) low wall by the footpath.
It could be done on the following day for £15 (fifteen pounds) … plus breakfast.
Suspicions were aroused.
The next morning a short course of bricks began to be laid without further discussion.
However, with the help of another and a little play-acting, the attempted scam was thwarted.
Later, I saw the low wall with the knocked-down bricks and the bodged repair. What struck me was the horizontal strips of a wood, a few inches above the low brick wall.
The wood slats were intact and the scene was consistent with the "builder" having knocked over top of the low wall.
£15 to repair?
Tags for Forum Posts: Scam
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh
-
We had a caller at our Ladder house yesterday offering to clean our front path. When told that we weren't interested right then but would take a card or phone number for the future he decilned to supply either. It definitely didn't feel right.
-
Permalink Reply by Kevin Nairn
-
If ANYBODY knocks at your door for work, they are either a desperate trades person - so useless - or trying to con you out of money. No builder / tradesperson worth their salt knock on peoples houses for work! just say: "Thankyou, but no thank you."
-
-
Bit heavy for a forum chat, but maybe this could also be the desperation that late stage capitalism is pushing people to?
the inclusion of a request for breakfast in the “offer” feels interesting.
it all feels a bit mad, but if you’re financially desperate, then maybe also your faculties are scrambled..
im not saying I would entertain such offers. I probably would not. But there may also be human stories behind these interactions that are possibly more complex than - a bad person tried to scam me.
also not judging anyone, just sharing a perspective.Paul
-
-
A while back I had a knock on the door and it was a man and a woman who looked very rough and shabby and possibly alcoholics and they offered to cut my front hedge. They had a pair or rusty old shears. They wanted £25 to do it . When I said no they went down to £20 and then £10. I felt they were obviously desperate for money and were at at least trying to earn something rather than beg. I said they could cut the hedge but that I had to go out. I told them that I was going to trust them and gave them my shears and £20 . I asked them to hide the shears in the garden when they had finished. I stressed that I was trusting that they would do the job and leave the shears. I wanted to believe that they would.
I wasn't sure what to expect as they could have just left with the money and the shears and not cut the hedge but when I got home they had done a reasonable job on the hedge and the shears were well hidden in the garden.
© 2025 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
