A pensioner has lost £25,000 to a roofing gang who pressurised her into having work done. Now, the pensioner has to pay an additional £15,000 to put the work right.
The 75-year-old, who asked that we don't show her face, wants her story in the hope that other people won't be taken in by doorstep criminals.
00:00Initially they came in to £1,300 worth of work and then that jumped because of this issue over what he said was rotten tiles which I don't think they were and then it jumped to £16,000 and then it jumped again when he told me the rafters were all rotten and would need to be replaced it jumped up to £25,000 and I'm thinking I had a
00:30did he suddenly get to that and they were very close you know I mean I wouldn't be I would be right up close talking in my face and very loud very pressurising kept saying we're not pressurising you are we're not putting you under pressure are you but we need to sign this now all in one sentence and I don't know what happened why I should have said just no just get away and then a friend of mine came and he had a look in the roof and he said he said my wife said you have been fleeced haven't you
00:59and then you get that kind of sick feeling inside
01:03doesn't help does it
01:04she was absolutely right you know it did alert me to the fact that actually I had been well and truly
01:11okay so if you look at the ridge tiles those tiles are the wrong gauge and as you come down the tiles are smaller there than they are at the other end so it's kind of going diagonally
01:27the tiles at the end have not been cut properly into the gutter and there's lots of lifted tiles as well so the wind will get up there and just blow them off
01:36we always suggest that you go on the buy with confidence website because that is our trusted trader scheme they're audited professionals that we know do a decent day's work and we keep an eye on them and they're happy to work with us so that we know that customers in Cornwall are treated fairly
01:51so cold calling is just is just bad news basically if someone knocks on your door it means they're underemployed you know a good trader in Cornwall is pretty hard to come by these days unless you have to wait for them basically so anyone knocking on your door is probably too good to be true you need to avoid them
02:09and go with really good recommendations from friends do your research beforehand get those three quotes take a bit of time just to make those decisions don't be pushed into a corner by someone who says he has to work imminently or that the house is going to collapse or you know your roof is going to fall in or whatever absolute rubbish
02:28if you've got traders at your address and they're pressuring you into into working they haven't given you any paperwork what you need to do is you need to get to a phone call 999 and the police will come and we will we will find out who they are and what they're doing and whether they're legitimate or not
