Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Fake window cleaner
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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I wonder if this was the same guy I saw looking suspicious in Eade the other week? I live at the far end and as I left the house I saw him hanging around that part of the road. I stared openly at him, and he looked really shifty and got in a car (white hatchback, iirc) though he didn't drive off. Kicking myself that I didn't get the number plate!
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Permalink Reply by Nick Hare on
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I'm sure I've just been scammed by the same f***er. And annoyingly I was completely determined to avoid it. He said he'd done my windows on Tuesday between 8-10am - I said I'd been in then, he said no-one had answered so he'd cleaned them anyway (I suddenly wasn't absolutely sure I HAD been in then). I asked him to show me something to prove he was a window-cleaner, and he said he had that in his van which was 'parked at the bottom of the road' but he would put something through my door in 15 mins. I then asked him to show me his van - he then said 'it's parked at the bottom of the road, and I've got lots more to collect, so I don't want to go all the way down there now' and waved. I squinted - there were some vans there, and at this point he started to look slightly hurt, saying things like 'look, I'm not going to go round pretending to be window-cleaner just to get £8 mate' etc. At this point - and this is how these b******s work - I felt like pursuing it any further would seem unduly distrusting of what could be an honest tradesman, so through gritted teeth I paid up.
The minute he'd gone, I slipped on my sandals and went out onto the street to see where he was, intending to take a photo or watch him as far as his 'van' - but of course in those 10 seconds the w****r had disappeared, probably down the Harringay Passage at a slow sprint.
Luckily I got a good butcher's at the rat-faced s**t. White, tall (about my height - 6'1"), reasonably muscly, well-groomed (a passing resemblance to David Beckham - especially the hair), with (I think) some black patterned tattoos visible poking over the collar of his T-shirt. He was wearing a white T-shirt and reddish-brown shorts. London accent. But well-mannered - i.e. like a genuine tradesman - and not at all threatening (to me at least - to an elderly person or lone female it could be a different story - he did stand in my doorway in a rather obstructive way).
I'd love to see this guy caught. Then tarred and feathered.
Advice to anyone else: check out EVERYTHING someone says. If they say (as he did) 'look, your windows are really clean' or 'my van is parked just there' or 'I've just been to see your neighbour two doors down' - just immediately ask to check - and then do! Don't feel like you're being distrusting or stupid. An honest tradesman will understand you need proof that they are who they say they are. I mean, I know all this and I still got scammed. A certain level of trust is required to make society work - you can't go round distrusting everyone - and that's what makes these people so insidious: they undermine that web of trust.
Is it worth my submitting a crime report?
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Also, kicking myself I didn't ask him to stand at the gate while I took a photo. You'd think the internet would make it dead easy to catch these people. But as long as idiots like me don't take advantage of it, we won't.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Can't understand why you would pay him if you hadn't asked him to clean your windows. Did he give you a receipt ?
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Well, we have a regular window cleaner - who I also don't entirely trust, but who does at least clean our windows! He sometimes does the front windows when we're not in, so this guy's story (and, actually, the £8 price - which is the same as the regular guy) actually checked out from that point of view.
Yeah, I can see why that would seem REALLY stupid otherwise!
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Permalink Reply by Chrisandsally on
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I think it would be worth telling the police as you have duch a clear description. It might save dome other people getting conned. Maybe it's time to buy a Karchner window cleaner!
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