By an edhat reader
I have twice had guys in trucks with the same story “I was doing a job at your neighbors and have some extra asphalt, let me do your driveway” come to my door this month. I am not saying they are all scammers but it is a common scam. read up on it and protect yourself.
Send them my way! I cant seem to get any of the local companies to respond to their bids or even a request for a quote – Challenge never called back! Ramsey was almost 2x as much and the other guys, well they dont seem to answer their phone. Where’s The Rake when you need him! ; ) Or was he sent off to jail along with his bosses???
FYI, that’s not a scam. Sounds like they bid some work, she said yes, and they did the work. Not doing your due diligence is on her. Poor work is not the same as a scam. Shame on her for ripping them off.
I once called a few local companies to inquire if they could do a small job on the way back to the office. They all said that the asphalt was usually too cool by the end of the work day and needed to be reheated to be used.
I think it’s a scam. A quick search found:
https://bradleyasphalt.com/7-warning-signs-asphalt-paving-scams/
among others. I was also approached (twice) by asphalt scammers several weeks ago. I had a hard time getting rid of them.
I have found that taking a picture of the scammer and their car w/ license plate is a good deterrent. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my phone with me when I answered the door that time.
My elderly aunt had this some years back. The guy had extra asphalt so she said to go ahead. She had a circular driveway, plus it was a split level house so the drive went down below. It came to $5,000. It was dark when they finished but the next morning she saw what a shoddy job they did. Lo and behold, the bank called and said a guy was wanting to cash her $5,000 check, did she approve. No! Although it was a shoddy job, it looked better than when they started and she got it free.
The guys improved the driveway, although it was “shoddy” looking, and your aunt stiffed them? Did they sue? Kind of awful to rip someone off completely like that.
What kind of legitimate business doesn’t contact the homeowner when the check bounces? I agree with Flicka, it was a scam and the scammers got what they deserved.
My aunt was in her upper 80s when it happened to her. If it was legit the man would have come to get another check, or some kind of payment. Ordinarily my uncle would have taken charge when they came with their offer but he was almost 90 and too sick to get involved. I’m sure my aunt would have paid them something if they had returned for payment after the $5,000 check was denied payment. their bad, not hers.
No FLICKA… writing a check then going back and refusing to honour it is dishonest. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Your aunt basically stiffed the guy. May karma be kinder to her than she was.
The bank must have thought the guy was shady or they wouldn’t have called to verify if my aunt wanted them to cash it. Why didn’t the guy contact my aunt to at least get some kind of payment? I can’t think of any ligament business who wouldn’t have wanted due payment. Can you?