N8 Garden Scam ‘Acorn’

I just wanted to raise awareness of a gardening scam operating in N8 targeting elderly and vulnerable people.

A man from a garden company called ‘Acorn’ knocked at my relatives house and told them that their tree was diseased. They continued to pile on pressure in multiple visits to carry out the work, including visits by different men, each working to put pressure on my relative to remove a small tree. They suggested they do ‘loads of work’ for people on the street.

Eventually my relative agreed to the work which was carried out poorly. The scammers said they would be using ‘very expensive chemicals’ to kill the tree’s roots, which they put additional pressure on my relative to pay for, even though they did not want chemicals to be used.

I tried to find the company online but can find nothing about a firm called ‘Acorn’ operating in N8, but I did find a lot of information from trading standards about doorstep scams for gardening.

My relative is independent and of sound mind and is embarrassed that they fell for the scam, but of course it can easily happen to when so much pressure is put on more vulnerable people.

Here’s some helpful advice issued by Bromley council: https://www.bromley.gov.uk/news/article/721/trading-standards-alert...