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I caught a pest control company trying to rip -off
my 87 year old neighbor. Fortunately, the consumer protection laws in Oregon allowed that they be penalized for the misapplication of pesticides.
Their scam was to oversell and make unrealistic claims.
Kevin
Inspired by Larry Haun, this passionate framer is teaching a new generation of builders.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
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A few years ago some guys leased a large steel warehouse building in a major city. They hit all the new housing developments and hauled drywall scraps away at a competive price (around here the dump fees for drywall are a little over $100.00 per ton). They packed the warehouse full of the stuff and skipped town. I don't think they were ever found.
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Steven,
That's one I really wish I had thought of!
b Pricing space in a town nearby,
Jack : )
*Of course they caught the master of the glue-on sprinklers after a nasty fire and upgraded the state laws. Happened several years ago. In Stockton, CA, they caught a hispanic guy shoveling the footings half full of dirt after the foundation forms inspection.
*With recycling becoming popular things start to dissapear thay you'd never believe possible to steal. My brother in law talks about food processing plants being broken into off-season and the copper or aluminum wires pulled out of the conduit. They think they pulled some out with their vehicle. Even cities are having trouble with wire being pulled out from street lighting conduit and manhole covers dissapearing.Don't even think about leaving tools on a job site!
*In the early '80's I worked for a company that fell victim to a plans deposit scam. A letter was sent out to contractors saying that a new fast food company from back east was coming to california offering high quality fast food. I think the name was "Gormet Chef" or something like that. Used a phony logo, address etc and made it seem official. This was durring a recession and work was slow. Played them like a violin.They required a large bid deposit of more money than my boss would admit. He received a big roll of plans with the "corporate" logo on them, and a date to meet the corporate representative for a program at a hotel near the San Francisco airport. As designer/estimator and chief technical type, I was supposed to go there.When I got there there was a postal inspector and several hundered bewildered contractors. The culprit hadn't even rented a room. They thought they knew the guy's name but were having trouble tracking him down. We were all out of luck. The guy had xeroxed plans for a Burger King or some such, and pasted a phony logo, made up a story, and played on people's hunger and greed and walked off with their "deposits". Probably didn't even pay the blueprinter.
*These bid deposits aren't placed in escrow? That's nuts!
*My favoritte is the window salesmaen using a light meter for photography as an energy loss sensor. Just put it in front a window and watch it go off the scale.Does any one else think the movie "tin Men" was really a traing film?
*You'll like this one. I was an expert witness on a construction project where the general contractor was suing the owner because she wanted him off her job. The owner had already paid more than the contract price for the remodel ( $220,000 ) and the contractor was demanding more money before he would do any more work. To make a long story short...all of the finish plumbing was set but when I crawled under the house I discovered the pipes only extended below the plate line and were never connected. The contractor must of needed his rough plumbing draw a little early .Owner beware ! If your contractor is doing drugs stronger than coffee, you might be in trouble.
*Hmmm... did you read the one here about the plumber who similarly left all the drains in the crawlspace of an apartment building unconnected to the main? No one noticed or complained until sewage starting overflowing out the foundation vents.Maybe these plumbers are claustrophobic.
*New casement windows were installed in our housenearly 3 years ago. Contract specified that argon-filled windows were to be installed. Afactory rep visited us recently for an unrelatedwindow problem, but said that our windows are NOT filled with argon gas. How did he know ? As thehome-owner, how can I tell ? Is there something inthe construction or appearance or the windows ?
*Re scams/windows, I've heard that all the argon will migrate out within ten years anyway? Nonsense?Re the original topic, our house was inspected for termites before transfer, state law. The exterminator found several termite & carpenter ant infestations and replaced the affected trim -- with untreated wood. Ingenious. The new wood was infested within a year. I threw it away and am now thinking: stucco. Just try to eat that, bugs.
*The Marvins I use have a sticker on the side of the sashes where they snap into the track. It includes all the info needed to duplicate the window again if you had to.-Rob
*Ed, certain companies ONLY offer Argon-filled in conjunction with Low-E coatings. Perhaps you have plain Insulated Glass (thermopane) instead. Two layers of clear glass with a 1/2 inch or so of air space in between. Know your manufacturer, and the model variations. Contact your lawyer (ugh, that hurt) and go after the contractor and/or supplieras the goods and materials received were not to contracted specifications.
*George, Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, the companywhich installed the windows is now out of business.Very sad, for all concerned. The company had been inbusiness for 40+ years. The son was given control ofthe business and promptly drove the company into theground, ruining his and his father's reputation. Wehad to wrangle with the finance company to get somecorrective work done and to get our French doorsinstalled.
*I received this e-mail from a friend of my brother:"I received a telephone call from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician who was conducting a test on our phone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign(#) and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the phone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, I would give the requesting party full access to our phone lines, which allows them to place long distance calls billed to our home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from the jails/prisons. I have verified this information with UCB Telecom, Pacific Bell, MCI, Bell Atlantic, GTE, and NYNEX. Please beware. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. The GTE Security Department requested I share this information with everyone I know. Please pass this on to everyone you know."
*This has all the telltale marks of a hoax. You received it from a friend of your brother's, but where did he get it? It is a quoted paragraph, but who is the original author? I bet if you try to find out, you won't be able to.Rich Beckman
*Hoax or not, corporations are taking it serious. Apparently Butterball Turkey sent out a corporate memo this week warning of such a thing.
*We got caller id and voice mail. Mystery or suppressed id callers get the voice mail. Otherwise telemarketers would drive us crazy, and we have trouble being rude to pests (who are not getting rich or enjoying annoying people, it's the company that is to blame ... my own mother (!) temped at one of these a long time ago ... be nice but firm ... or when they ask to speak to Mr. Smith, say what I say ... I'm sorry he's not here at the moment, may I take a message? The pests won't.).
*Yeah, but they call back later. At least they call us back, and back, and back...Rich Beckman
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What I do now is ask them their name and company name and act like I'm writing it down ("How do you spell that?"). Then I ask for their home phone number. When they ask why, I say "You have mine!" That usually ends the call.
I once had a caller who said she was doing a survey on leaky basements. I said "You mean you work for a waterproofing contractor?" She admitted this was true.
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Not all scams are by fly by nite operators.
We had to do an audit one time on a tender for a 3.4 million dollar library in a small city (45,000).
4 companies were allowed to pre-qualify.
1 was local.
Tender was divided into 2 parts.
The first part was for the main contract as specified and was to be handed in 48 hours prior to the official openning.
The second part was for additions and omissions to the contract, in the event that they would have to cancel certain works due to budget. This tender was to be handed in on the day of the tender openning.
The first item up for deletion on the 2nd tender document was the deletion of the flagpole on the outside of the building.
The main tenders were openned first and the 3 outside contractors were within peanuts of each other.
The local was off by 200,000 dollars.
Now remember the part about the tenders being brought in on day and stored with the city officials for 2 days prior to this day.
How much do you think the local contractor offered to delete from the main contract for the 2,000 dollar flagpost?
200,000 dollars.
Quess who got the contract?
Guess what was never deleted from the contract?
We investigated, found that someone in city hall had openned the envelopes and notified the local about the difference and then put the envelopes back.
We handed over the information to the local crown attorney's office and the case was dropped.
*Bearmon, when they call me I like to play a game. I turn it around and start to sound like I'm trying to sell them something. I start with all the questions and go right for the close. Takes 5-10 seconds. They get so flustered they usually hang up. Of course, I have to be in the mood for these shenannagins. Otherwise, I tell 'em no one's home and hang up.
*We get our share of telemarketers. The instant I know that they are telemarketers, I politely ask them, "can you hold one moment please?" Of course they say yes, and I push the hold button, the mute button, or just hang up!If everyone in america did exactly what I do, telemarketing would disappear in two days!Blue
*Good advice on getting rid of telemarketers. Here's mine. In your sultriest, come hither voice, ask the caller if they are wearing underwear. Then, tell them that your not. It doesn't matter if they are male or female, If you try and engage them in phone sex they hang up on you!Tommy
*Sounds like you've tried more than a few times! You know, there are 900 numbers you can call... ;)Now, how did this topic get here?
*His idea sounds pretty dangerous to me. Especially if they're male you're not completely sure they are a telemarketer from another state. Could get one into a pretty embarassing situation. Tommy, I hope you don't live in a small town!
*Try ...anti-telemarketers more telemarketersand anti-spamI was looking at cellphones today and wondered -- do telemarketers call those numbers too? Considering that incoming calls cost $$$.
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The smoke detector salesman inspired this thread. What scam have you run into?
I had an elderly couple very concerned about their home. It seems a neighbor had termites and got the house treated. The pest control guy goes around and gets the neighbors to buy termite treatment because the termites will leave the treated house and go to a neighbors. (That part is suspicious, but what do I know?)
They bought the treatment. When the guy was done he told them that the beams and joists in the crawl where sagging and that serious work was needed. They thanked him and sent him on his way.
It nagged at them for a few months and they asked me to check. Every board, joist, and beam down there is as straight as a laser. That pest guy was, no doubt, ready to whip out the name of a contractor (a relative?) who would charge big money to spend some time in the crawl doing nothing.
It just boggles my mind that people do this stuff.
Rich Beckman
*Rich I have a distant cousin who used to use a twist on that same scam .He bought a cheap magnetic sign proclaiming himself a pest control business.He would offer a free inspection usually to an elderly person .Then he would crawl under their house with a termite eaten chunk of wood in his shirt .After awhile he would emerge ,present the wood as evidence and quote a price for treatment which consisted of a pump up garden sprayer full of water . He is presently residing (where he belongs ) at the state pen on another but equally scumbag crime .
*Hi Rich and Chuck.This sort of thing will always be with us. Money is the root...Evil flourishes when good people do nothing.In my time, I have witnessed remnants of much. I have worked hard to correct such, wherever and whenever I can.Money is the easiest thing to gather, anyone can do it. I feel bad for all who must suffer because of these schnorers.
*I caught a pest control company trying to rip -offmy 87 year old neighbor. Fortunately, the consumer protection laws in Oregon allowed that they be penalized for the misapplication of pesticides.Their scam was to oversell and make unrealistic claims.Kevin
*Heard these two from the instructor of an owner-builder class in Berkeley, himself a contractor for years and independent home inspector.There was the fire sprinkler system put into a commercial space by gluing the sprinkler heads on the suspended ceiling. Saved all the nasty piping usually installed to provide the water.And the small subdivision with indentical footprints. They wired the steel for the first one, got it inspected, and then poured the concrete, AFTER moving the steel to the next house. Did it right down the block and only the last house got any steel in the foundation. -David
*I get this cold call, see, from a little sweetheart telling me her field rep is in the area and has time to spare.They're selling windows, and hey, I'm looking for windows, so I tell her, send 'em over. He calls to say he'll be late, but I see from my caller ID that he must be right down the block (I live in a small, rural town). He calls about 30 minutes later to say he will be right over. Funny thing, now he is way over in the next town.Finally, he arrives, but with his sidekick. Okay, I tell myself, this is good cop/bad cop. Turns out the guy making the calls was the bad cop.The jist of it all is, after spending 45 minutes telling me how crappy the existing windows--especially the casings--are (between the compliments to my wife) they tell me they can dump their surplus retro's for 1/2 price. I'm the lucky guy, they tell me. For 15 windows, they only want $19K...for snap ins! I tell them to beat it and get off my street.Come to find out they used me as a reference to a crosstown neighbor. They gave me a bogus salesman license and address.
*b The "I have some pavement left in the truck and we don't want to waste it. We'll give you a great deal if you'll help us out and let us put it on your driveway"....Scam!It works hook line and sinker....One of my clients fell for it right before my very eyes. The little job expanded to multiple truckloads....I could go on and on.He thought he got a good deal even after it hit the local newspaper the very next day...Warning!...Paid $3.00/foot...$1.00/foot is the norm here.
*Possible scam,what if Tommy B from the 12 side roof question is actually an accomplished master roof cutter and had finished said project 2 days before his post on Jan.28???????
*A new conspiracy theory! Oh Brave New World of anonymous posting!Rich Beckman
*David, a friend of mine from a local engineering firm had the fun task of approving progress payments for a local bank. They were suspicious of a few of the contractors. 1 week a month he would travel from site to site to approve the draws. After the first month he too was suspicious. So he started spray painting rebar, hollow metal doors, and steel lintels. Bought those stickers that fall apart if you try to remove them for windows and doors. First day he does this in month two he gets a call from the bank - contractor A cancelled the remainder of his draws for that month! Oddly enough it was several weeks before items on those cancelled draws actually started showing up!The bank previously had some bean counter approve them without ever stepping on site!Rich - Our old dog bit the guy that tried this move on us. That dog always was a good judge of character. He wouldn't give us pricing though.-Rob
*Keep 'em coming, I'm keeping a file.A local scam -- not exactly a contractor story but still good -- was these two guys who'd show up in a van and claim to be from the gas company on an emergency call regarding leaky meters or some such. While the homeowner is in the basement with Guy 1, Guy 2 is busy loading the van...