My neighbor was scammed by driveway spraying scammers

 It happened yesterday. A truck cruised in our neighborhood and I saw
them stop by our neighbor's house (we have a concrete driveway, his is
asphalt) and they talked. Then I went to do something else, the next
thing I know is that my neighbor's asphalt driveway was sprayed with
some tar like substance. So I went to talk to see what happened.

He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then acted
all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating than they
expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work. I guess with
the implication that if he did not pay, they would drive off with his
driveway half sprayed looking really stupid. So, he said he paid extra
$50 and they finished the work.

So. I am aware that the general wisdom says do not give work to any
"drive by" people. But I would like to know, let's say that due to
poor judgment, it happened to me and these artists demand extra $50 to
finish. What would be a sensible thing to do in these lousy
circumstances?

i

 
"Ignoramus6369" wrote:  (clip) What would be a sensible thing to do in these
lousy circumstances?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ask to see their business license, and start dialing city hall on the cell
phone.  The problem is, the same brain that got your neighbor into that
situation is trying to get him out of it.  The best way to get out of
trouble is to stay out in the first place.

 Ignoramus6369 wrote:


At my age, my rules for a happy life are:


1. Never stand when you can sit.

2. Never pass up an opportunity to take a leak.

3. never trust a fart.

4. Never waste an erection.

and most importantly...

5. Never pay tradesmen in advance.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*1014 fathoms per fortnight.

 
And I think #5 is key here, unless he was gonna have sex with the
contractor too, then #4 would apply.


These driveby seal coat guys are well known for having a high
percentage of scammers.   I would never use one period, because even
if you pay them at the end, you don't know what they put down.   And
you can bet many of them use the cheapest crap that will look good
right after it goes on, but might not last a month.

 trader4@optonline.net wrote:

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.
:)

--
                                  Boycott KFC
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/10/nkfc110.xml