My neighbor was scammed by driveway spraying scammers

It depends on the jurisdiction. In some places, they might consider it grounds for fraud. In others, they would refer you to the proper civil channel to connect to. And then lots of time, these guys are just "casing" and return later to pick up loose items at houses where they know what kind of car is parked in the driveway when someone is home, whether or not you have a dog, etc. It really all depends on the local authorities, and you'd have a better chance in a small town where the police are less busy than in a big city.

HTH

Steve

Yeah, like local authorities don't have anything better to do than waste their time on this crap? They're gonna tell you it's a contract dispute, it's a civil matter, and take it to court if you like. Good luck there.

Around here we have several companies that put flyers on the doorknobs in advance, specifying the price and saying when they expect to come around and do the work. We use a service which was recommended to us by a satisfied customer (we even actually saw his driveway done before we placed our order) and which accepts a personal check. They just did our driveway for the third year the other day and it's great.

The fun we have is watching the changes from neighborhood to neighborhood. Most offers on our driveway are around $45. Similar-sized driveways in ritzier neighborhoods get quoted from $75 ro $175 by the same companies. :)

wrote

I guess you didn't read my post very well. I see that you even snipped it. I shall repost it. This time, if you don't read it all, JUST READ THE FIRST SENTENCE.

HTH, but I doubt it.

It depends on the jurisdiction. In some places, they might consider it grounds for fraud. In others, they would refer you to the proper civil channel to connect to. And then lots of time, these guys are just "casing" and return later to pick up loose items at houses where they know what kind of car is parked in the driveway when someone is home, whether or not you have a dog, etc. It really all depends on the local authorities, and you'd have a better chance in a small town where the police are less busy than in a big city.

Now go take a blood pressure pill and a nap.

Sheesh.

Steve

Maybe, but here I suspect they would locate them and determine if they had a city business license. If not they would be happy to make sure they paid the city a nice fine for not having a license. You might not get your money back, but they might not be able to keep the money.

Dan

Dan, do YOU think that you'd have a better chance of getting something done by the police in a small town or in a big city? trader and I seem to think differently on this. What do you think?

Steve

Geez. Ever heard of being friendly with your neighbours?

Chris

Your friend is lucky if what his driveway was sprayed with was not simply drained crankcase oil.

That's what the "Gypsy Travelers" usually use in their scams.

Tell your friend that he is now a "sucker of the first order"!!!!!! Hell, most of us learned about this scam well before we were old enough to have sex!

Harry C.

Speak for yourself. Most of us didn't wait until we were 60 to get laid.

I think they prefer to be called Roma.

Anti-Gypsy Defamation League

In the small towns I have lived in, yeah, the local law does roust drive-by scammers like this pretty hard, mainly because their preferred victims usually have gray hair. Young homeowners usually don't care how driveway looks, or are strong enough to go to Home Despot, and get a mop and couple

aem sends...

Block the driveway with your car.

These were my own thoughts.

Well, if you were foolish enough to take that deal, you would probably also be foolish enough to pay the additional $50. Your neighbor should have turned around and demanded his money back after quietly calling the cops.

My main question is, would cops be interested in these people or not.

It depends. Probably in smaller towns, yes. In a large urban community, its a definite maybe.

Call the cops. And get their licene number in case they leave.

I know that in our town they'd have some interest and maybe even make the local news to be on the lookout for scams. If not properly licensed, they'd at least run them out of town.

Iggy, it's hard to say. Police go to schools to learn what constitutes a crime and what does not. It protects them from false arrest lawsuits. When a crime has been committed, they WILL act. When it is the kind of issue that needs to be addressed by civil channels, they will usually steer you to someone you can make a complaint to.

The best thing to do in these situations is to call the police, tell them that you feel you are in a threatening situation, and let them come out and make a determination. That way, if they can do something, they do it right then. If not, they advise the reporting person, and move on. After all, the man was making demands for money your neighbor felt he did not owe. In this situation, telling the workmen that you don't know what to do, so you have called the police to come out, and you will do whatever they say. The workmen usually vaporize right after that. I had a painter leave so fast he left half his gear.

AS I SAID BEFORE, it really depends on where you live. Smaller towns have more time to deal with these situations, where in a bigger city, you might not even get anyone to respond. I don't know the size of your town, so you would be the best judge of that.

HTH

Steve