I know everyone's heard about this - it dates back years. But, since Bernie Madoff seems to be taking up a solo spot in the "History of Scams" area, I figured I'd post it under "Other".
I was thumbing through a paper out of Poughkeepsie or Rochester or someplace like that last week. Someone left it at my pub - I guess he'd just flown in, 'cuz I know we don't get that many out of town papers here. And I was real surprised to read that this old driveway paving scam is still going on. I think I first heard of it in the 80s, and you'd think that the world had cottoned to it by now.
The essentials: A guy pulls up in his pickup truck which has a tar tank/tankette attached to it. "We're just finishing up at Mrs. Elmer's around the corner and my dumb brother ordered too much asphalt. We figure if we can get rid of it today, it'd be worth it to us, and we could come do your driveway, which by the way really needs resurfacing as you know, after we're done, oh about four o'clock. For three hundred bucks...." (That price is about $2000 below market.)
It's based on the basic premises of the classic flim flam man:
a) Play to the greed of the mark.
b) If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The "pavers", of course, come back and put a half-inch of some sealer on there and paint it shiny black. Looks great, you give them their $300, and hope it doesn't rain because when it does, the paint and filler wash off, and you're back to your crappy old cracked driveway and three hundred bucks poorer.
I was curious and googled the topic this morning, and found a new wrinkle.
The bait and switch. They prey on the elderly, do a legitimate job, but when it comes time to collect, tney demand thousands of dollars more than their offer, and essentially strong-arm the home-owner.
Anyhow - just an old classic that it might help someone to be aware of.
ETA: Weird VB behaviour. My post seems to have "under under other" in the opening paragraph. But I go to edit it, there's only one "under".
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