Consumers’ Best Protections are Education, Documentation
In April, a New Jersey handyman was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for collecting more than $11,000 for home repairs and renovations he never completed.
This bit of news might not be very interesting to anyone other than the man’s victims. That’s because home improvement scams are quite common in every U.S. state. As soon as spring flowers emerge and the lawn turns a lush shade of green, the Better Business Bureau and state Attorney General offices see a spike in complaints from consumers, who feel they were cheated by a relative stranger in the security of their own home.
The Better Business Bureau (www.bbbonline.org) and the National Consumer Law Center (www.consumerlaw.org) list home improvement fraud among the biggest consumer complaints. An estimated 300,000 reports are registered in the U.S. annually. The elderly, in moderate and low-income neighborhoods, are prime targets. Actually, unscrupulous handymen are under-reported, because many homeowners are too embarrassed to admit that they got taken.
Hidden Camera Reveals Cut Corners
An ABC-News affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah recently peeked in on a sales visit between a homeowner and an air duct cleaning service. The pitch was recorded with a hidden camera. The salesman was invited in, based on an advertised special of $99.95. The potential customer soon learned the special price was based on a tiny HVAC system in a tiny home. Calculated for a larger system, the price jumped to $400. After adding a sanitizing spray, dust mite treatment, UV light to purify the air, and other extras, the final price was more than 10 times the advertised price.
Nevertheless, the homeowner authorized the work and the service call was recorded by surveillance camera. Almost immediately, the hidden camera “saw” the crew cutting corners. The equipment had poor suction and looked like a glorified Shop-Vac. Workers didn’t use an industry-standard “snake” to agitate dirt in the ducts. The homeowner was charged several hundred dollars for a sanitizing spray, while a chemically-identical product sells at retail for about $10.
People are understandably concerned about the safety of their homes, but they don’t plan on being cheated by the businesses hired to help them.
Gwen Biasi, a spokesperson with the National Association of Remodeling Industry said the “special price” hook is often available “today only,” so the homeowner feels pressure to make a decision.
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Tags: Camera, hidden camera, monitor, safety, security, Surveillance
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