Yahoo Finance Rogue tradie scam leaves family $20,000 out of pocket: 'Cowboy industry'
Dominic and Barbara May had a knock at their door and were told they needed their gutters fixed.
An Aussie family is warning others after door-knocking tradies told them they urgently needed repairs for termite damage. Mother and son Barbara and Dominic May were approached by men back in April, who initially offered them gutter cleaning services for their Sydney home in Winston Hills.
But Dominic told 7News the men kept upselling until they convinced the family they needed to replace the roof. Half the roof was ripped off during the work and one of the tradies even put his foot through the ceiling.
“You feel stupid for falling for these kinds of things,” Dominic said. “It really messes you up for a long time."
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The damage from the dodgy job was calculated to be roughly $20,000.
Thankfully for them, licenced roof restorer Beau South leapt into action and replaced their roof tiles for free.
But he revealed he's had to do this for more than a dozen households in the area recently, with many of the victims being elderly people.
Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
South said the May's roof had zero evidence of termite damage and warned of the "cowboy industry" of door-knocking tradespeople.
Brian Seidler, Master Builders NSW executive director, told 7News there's a simple question you can ask to avoid getting stung.
“If they say they have just come from a home in the area, ask for the recommendation. The Office of Fair Trading makes it quite easy to search for licence numbers,” he revealed.
“The majority of builders and tradespeople are good. It is unfortunate that some of them make it bad for a lot of us in the industry.”
How to spot a dodgy tradie
It's clear this issue isn't confined to Sydney, as there was a case of tradies being accused of ripping off people in Queensland and the Victorian government even issued a PSA on what to be on the lookout for.
Consumer Affairs Victoria said tradies can attract customers with flyers that have industry standard logos, Australian Business Numbers (ABN), genuine-looking websites, signage on light poles or traffic lights, or by door-knocking with 'today only' specials.
It said to be wary of certain aspects if you spot any of these:
flyers that look legitimate but offer services at reduced prices
people who knock on your door, or approach you while you are in the garden and offer to:
paint the house
work on your garden or cut trees
resurface driveways
fix your roof
anyone who:
offers cheap deals using words like 'for today only'
asks for cash upfront
offers to drive you to the bank to get money to pay for the job
pressures you to accept their offer
says they can do the job now as another nearby has just cancelled
Aussies have been told to shop around and get a few quotes before agreeing to any work done.
They've also been warned to ask for contact details of previous clients, don't sign any agreement until you're ready and do the necessary checks on a tradesperson's full name, registration and license details.
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