Dirty rotten scoundrels AKA fraudsters and conmen

Last weekend I had a horrible, stressful, sleep stealing experience.

Before that during my few work free days, I actually stopped to enjoy the fruits of my labours of hours of painting and decorating over the last two months.  I love and am pleased with the results of my efforts, apart from a revolting pink wall which will have to be repainted.  

But anyway, I am immensely grateful for this home as well as the chance that last week gave to happily while away hours sat in my conservatory staring out at the great blue (and at times grey) yonder whilst the birds very generously provided an accompaniment of their finest, vocal repertoire.

It took the whole of Monday just to adjust down to first gear.

By Tuesday I was ready to return to the beloved fields by my previous property, where I ambled freely for hours. 

In the absence of time by the sea, the vastness of the green, open spaces proved an excellent substitute.

By Wednesday, I was ready and eager to run by the river, lakes and fields.  I was gifted by the great expanse of green fields stretching out in every direction, draped in an atmospheric mist.  It was stunning and I wished I had my camera.

I quit my usual weekly commitments such as on line pilates to enjoy a total break from routine.

It was bliss.

During this time, I had a knock on the door from a firm who had been working a few doors down.  I know, I know, door to door salesmen!

Did I want a no obligation free quote for any work, they asked.

In my relaxed holiday mode, I replied in the affirmative.  It had been niggling away at me since buying this property that I needed to get some work done.  I was apprehensive about the cost but thought the opportunity had come to me to get my research started with a quote.  Not wishing to do so during my holiday I booked it in for after my return to work.

On the Saturday the sales agent called, I had been immersed in the last of my painting right up to the moment he arrived.  I was in no way prepared for what was about to happen.

Said sales person came in to my home to go through the company information.  As he was extremely cold from doing his previous appointment outside (something I should have done), I immediately switched the heating on high and provided hot coffee.

Twenty five minutes and a fair bit of waffle later and I began to feel a little irked that I was no closer to getting my quote and my precious Saturday afternoon was disappearing fast.

But, as a female, of English culture and a Christian, I am of course as primed as the next person that one must be polite, courteous and hospitable to the person in your home, right?  Even if one wants to say, ‘let’s cut to the chase here because I want to get on with my day’, one doesn’t.  Or at least this one didn’t, to my detriment.

Somewhere within the two and half hours that this person was in my home, their sales technique was so powerful that I actually lost my capacity to think straight or to hold on to the fact that I had booked for a quote alone as a start point for my research for this work.

How wonderful hindsight would be if only it arrived a little earlier.

In the moment, having been reeled in and pressured, I succumbed to fear tactics that the cost of work would increase by £2K if I didn’t sign immediately. I signed.  No explanation of the cooling off, no honest, transparent discussion around terms, just a sign here, here and here.

Of course I now see clear as day that any firm that hike their prices by £2K because you want time to think is not a firm to do business with.

But as I say, I got reeled in.

This seeming spell that had been cast upon me was broken the instant the sales man was out of my house.

I felt sick.

I knew that I had been well and truly duped.

Research via Checkertrade confirmed my worst fears.

A second quote by a reputable company, conducted in 10 minutes outside my property, quoted me £5K under the previous firms’ first offer.  They also shared that they had heard from many others of similar experiences of the sales tactics of this firm.  

So much for the generous part of me that wished to think I had encountered one bad apple in an otherwise decent company.

After speaking and praying with close friends, I emailed this company that night to cancel.  I would have left a message on their cancellation line only there was no facility to do so.

In fairness, the person I spoke with Monday morning offered a full refund no questions asked. Perhaps this was a common occurrence for them.  Or they realised it would become a case for Trading Standards and the Ombudsman if not.  I don’t know.

The director then emailed requesting me to email my bank details for the refund. 

I had two conversations with that director that day.  He duly returned my money but asked nothing of my experience, my concern, my complaint, my subsequent impression of his company or what he intended to do to address such unscrupulous sales tactics.  My sense was that I would be wasting my breath, to volunteer it.   

After receiving my money back, I emailed my thanks along with my concerns re the above.  By 11am the following morning, with no response, I wrote a Google review to warn others.

Suddenly I had three missed calls from said director whose follow up email revealed that he now he wanted very much to discuss the matter.

After replying with the facts of the situation and offering to speak when I had finished work, he no longer wanted to speak.

The negation and dismissal of my experience merely served to confirm this as a firm without integrity who operate in unscrupulous ways from the top, down.

What a horrible taste this left in the mouth. 

I was stunned and disturbed that I had been so royally conned by someone willing to rob me of an overpayment of £5K and all done whilst in the sanctuary of my own home.   It would seem that my hospitality and possibly female gender (I was asked if I was single in the phone call to confirm the appointment – are men asked this?), were taken as fair game for extreme exploitation.

I can only assume those same English, female and Christian values are the very ones that allow such a firm to continue to conduct itself in such a manner.  Most people, male or female, are too English to complain to the firm in question, preferring instead to tell others about their experience hence the reputation this firm has behind the scenes.

By directly raising this with said firm, they had, but failed to take, an opportunity to resolve the situation with sincerity.  

What did make me chuckle was that whilst there were only 1 possibly 2 Google reviews for this firm in the previous year, before mine, suddenly 3 glowing reviews appeared.  One of which from someone with a profile picture of Pinocchio as if this is an image associated with honesty!

Anyway, the more people I talk to about this, the more I discover that we have all have a story of being conned at some point.

How very sad that such people are out there operating in all kinds of ways.

There is currently a scam via text claiming to be the HMRC requesting your personal details or threatening police action!

Fraudsters and conmen (and women) are all around and not just out there but also finding a way to get in here, being in the home.  They may appear via phone, text, email or a knock at the door but they are particularly rampant at the moment.

Whilst it would be sad to look upon all with suspicion, when there are still so many honest, decent people who act with integrity, we must all, keep our wits about us when it comes to anything financial.

What a sad state of affairs.

Such behaviours do evoke both my pity and my prayers for those experiences that reduce people to conducting themselves in such a manner.  

At times, I feel utterly resentful that those who hurt me the most end up getting so many of my prayers!  I can only hope this works both ways in incidents where I hurt others!

For now, I will have to practice leaving this in the hands of the Almighty, whilst seeking His help to stop picking at it like a scab over a wound!