Pricewatch: Tempted to hire cold callers to clear your gutters? Just say no

We are all for finding the best value for money on this page but as we have said on many, many occasions, if a deal seems too good to be true then it most likely is too good to be true and so it proved for Paul Quinn in Dublin.

He writes that on the “first sunny Saturday of the year a few weeks back”, a man called to his house offering to clean his gutters. The man standing on his doorstep was wearing a high-viz jacket and he is described as “well spoken”.

Paul was told that the man and his team were in the area and working on his neighbours’ properties. He adds that the neighbours in question were either “away or are in retirement homes.”

Despite knowing this, Paul proceeded.

“Foolishly, I took up the offer for €60. A few moments later a small white van appeared with the occupant introducing himself as the ‘roofer’,” his mail continues.

The “roofer” leaned his ladder against the side of the house and scaled it quickly. Before Paul knew what was happening the roofer was high above him although he seemed to be missing something. “He carried no tools,” writes Paul. “When I asked how the dirt was to be managed, I was told, ‘We’ll figure something out’.”

Rogue traders have been knocking on Irish doors for donkey’s years promising to do jobs on the cheap before making a pig’s ear of things and disappearing with no trace

Alarm bells started ringing at that point and they started ring even louder over the minutes that followed as “several clods of dirt were thrown to the ground and against the neighbours’ painted walls,” writes Paul.

That wasn’t the end of it.

“I knew I had one loose tile but by the time these guys were finished, the count was 11 with offers to remedy the situation,” he continues. “I demurred the offers claiming I had a roofer booked for next month. I even gave them a tip for their ‘good work’.”

He says that “as a pensioner, I felt intimidated when a third man showed up”, but the men went on their way. “I consider myself lucky at this stage.”

He probably was lucky – albeit €60 (not including the tip) lighter than he had been before the doorbell rang in the sense that the experience could have ended up costing him much more.

And, of course, it is not a new story. Rogue traders have been knocking on Irish doors for donkey’s years promising to do jobs on the cheap before making a pig’s ear of things and disappearing with no trace.

Sometimes things are even worse than that, and those responsible actually do the damage themselves and then promise to fix it or just take the money and run.

It’s best to never employ the services of anyone who calls to the front door offering to carry out repairs, and this is not just Pricewatch’s opinion. There is some detailed information about it on the Garda website.

“Some of these people carry out very little work and charge exorbitant amounts of money for their services,” the alert says. “In some cases this could be criminal behaviour [ranging from] criminal damage and deception to demanding money with menaces.

Ask for a sales brochure or other documentation that you can subsequently investigate and verify as credible. This should have a contact telephone number, known address and a VAT registered number

Broadly speaking there are four ways these crimes are committed. The first way is shoddy work or wildly excessive charges – despite the promise of a cheap deal. Sometimes no work is performed at all.

A second form of this crime can see different members of the same gang arriving at the door after the fact posing as Revenue officials and demanding money for work done. Their stories are outlandish but their presence can be intimidating and people often pay up on the basis that the criminals know where they live.

Then there are the deposit scams. That sees the criminals hoodwinking a victim into engaging them for work. “They will demand a deposit to purchase the materials to carry out the necessary repairs,” the Garda website states. “Having secured the deposit, they flee.”

And of course there are cases where criminals target a particular area and offer a real or genuine service to the victim before stealing from them.

The Garda advice for people who are cold-called by any tradesperson offering a service is to “tell the caller that you never employ tradespeople ‘cold calling’ to your door. Ask for a sales brochure or other documentation that you can subsequently investigate and verify as credible. This should have a contact telephone number, known address and a VAT registered number.”

People are also urged to be “particularly careful where sales documentation only displays mobile contact numbers or incomplete addresses”.

It is only at that point and “if you are satisfied that the company or individual is credible and you still think their employment is necessary” that you should “ask for an itemised written quotation for the services being offered and the names of persons and locations where they have previously worked successfully”.

And another Garda recommendation is “never engage a person who insists on cash payment for services offered [and] always use a method of payment that is traceable”.