con men ? (saying they are on govenment emmission surveying team)

[Huggers]

men saying they are on govenment emmission surveying team currently ringing door bells in Nutbrook street(Bellenden area)yellow jackets and vague id citing ''head office''. I said 'so which department are you from in the government.' He said 'emmissions' I said 'environmental agency?' he said yes. I said 'I think you are a private ecompany' he said 'yes.' 'So you are not from the govenernment?'....They may not even be that. Anyway, sent them packing.

[pk]

Huggers Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> men saying they are on govenment emmission

> surveying team currently ringing door bells in

> Nutbrook street(Bellenden area)yellow jackets and

> vague id citing ''head office''. I said 'so which

> department are you from in the government.' He

> said 'emmissions' I said 'environmental agency?'

> he said yes. I said 'I think you are a private

> ecompany' he said 'yes.' 'So you are not from the

> govenernment?'....They may not even be that.

> Anyway, sent them packing.

so what was the con that they were trying on?

[Huggers]

well either to persuade old ladies that their houses needed unnecessary work to fit in with 'regulations' (''you should have received the information blah blah in the post'')or worse case scenario to gain entry into your house with one of them as a distraction person.

[sb]

.

[Huggers]

maybe they are just selling loft insulation...in which case they will look a lot less dodgy if they say so instead of talking about doing surveys and being sent by the government.

[DJKillaQueen]

If someone can find which company they are from exactly then a complaint can be lodged with the OFT.

[Annette Curtain]

Ask them if they mind having a photo taken with their i-d

Just for your own records of course ;-)

[pommie]

i would ask to see their id close up and then take details and ask them to wait whilst you confirm they are who they say they are. if they are the real deal then they will still be at your door when you go back

[Jamma]

Might they actually be from the government checking emissions and that?

Anyone got any evidence of them doing or trying anything?

[clux]

They knocked on my door and were very upfront about showing their ID and very polite when I said I wasn't interested as we already had loft insulation..... She explained that they were part of a government programme to offer grants to people who didn't have a certain thickness of loft insulation and that they would be in the area for the next few days.

Not sure if its a con or not, but she certainly wasn't remotely pushy or unpleasant so it was very simple to say no thankyou.

[cmck83]

There is a government drive on sorting out insulation, one of my workmates has just gotten his rental house done. The landlord was really pissed off for some reason, have no idea why since it was free...

[DulwichFox]

I have not yet been approached.

Sounds like a scam.

I think that you would not be approached in this way by any Government initiative.

People in any area would recieve letters from their Local Authority.

I would strongly advise people who are approached not to let these people into their homes.

Do not pay any money up front.

Do not sign anything.

Contact the local Authority.

May be James Barber can advise.

[Craftygirl]

I totally agree. The council would sent out letters first.

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have not yet been approached.

>

> Sounds like a scam.

>

> I think that you would not be approached in this

> way by any Government initiative.

> People in any area would recieve letters from

> their Local Authority.

>

> I would strongly advise people who are approached

> not to let these people into their homes.

> Do not pay any money up front.

> Do not sign anything.

>

> Contact the local Authority.

>

> May be James Barber can advise.

[KestonKid]

Further to previous posts on this subject, we have been cold-called twice this week by fluorescent-jacketed young men with an identical spiel. They began by saying that they were on the final stages of a survey of houses on the road and went on to speak of benefit entitlements to do with loft insulation. Both were wearing identity badges of some sort, although neither mentioned the name of their company or sponsor. I should have asked, but didn't.

Having once again explained that we had no need of his help, I told the second one that I doubted that he'd have any luck in our road as it had already been covered. However, he carried merrily on.

Although not it seems any sort of criminal enterprise, this outfit does look dodgy. The reluctance to spell out from the beginning what they were really after, plus the fluorescent jackets on a very sunny afternoon, - which were presumably meant to indicate some form of official or semi-offic1al role - should I suppose be in themselves a warning to the unwary. But they have a damned cheek, and the more often they are told this, it seems to me, the better.

[Peckhampam]

Very similar, if not identical sounding men, called at my door but they were saying they were seeing if I had government funding for something or other.

[KestonKid]

Having just had a chat with today's visitor, who I found still in the road, it seems that he is with Miller Pattison, who I now discover are a legitimate company advising those residents who are eligible of their right to government assistance with home improvements such as insulation.

So all is above board. I just wish they could just be a bit more upfront about it all when they appear!

[Peckhampam]

Yes-they certainly didn't do a very good job of telling me what they were there for!

[sallyann1234]

A young man talking about loft insulation just called at my door - Danby St. I said I already had 4" of loft insulation, he said the Govt. says we should now have 11" and I'd be entitled to funding.

Said his boss was up the road busy with a neighbour but would like to come back and look in my loft.

I told him I wasn't interested, he persevered for a while and then left.

[MDP]

Had one young very scruffy looking bloke doing Crawthew Grove around 6pm, same story, 50p spiral notepad, could barely remember his pitch properly, very pushy and one of the most shabby cons I've ever seen 0-10 for effort.

[DulwichFox]

These Guys are back. Come to my house yesterday. They came last week too.

Guy was very smart and said that this other guy could check my loft there and then.

Talking about Upgrading insulation to 11 inches.

Not sure what the scam is.

Told him I was not interested.

Be careful Folks.

[David Mc]

Read this...

And this, where Miller Pattinson gets a mention...

[east-of-the-Rye]

I had one of these companies calling in Nunhead, and yes they do try and creat the impression that they are somehow official. I did let them "survey" and the end result was a quote for adding the extra recommended insulation to my loft - i do have the old level of 4" or so, and the new recommended level is indeed 10 or 11". The quote was for me to pay ?148. I considered going ahead and then decided against, as it will cost me somewhat less to just buy the stuff locally and put it down. Will I get round to it though? Actually the main work is in tidying up the stuff that has accumulated up there - some moved in boxes from our old flat and not used in 14 years, and the ?148 certainly didn't include doing this....

[buggie]

Think I had a girl from this outfit on my doorstep yesterday, wearing a fluorescent jacket - something about upgrading our loft (but didn't say in what respect) tried to make it sound like we were missing out on funding to do it with and thought we'd had letters/phonecalls about it too. Managed to get rid of her as we're (hopefully) moving soon. Noticed a bloke going up the other side of the road as well so guess they were working together. (we're on Friern Road).