Scammers door to door again

[Fidgetsmum]

Only posting this as I hate the idea that the elderly fall for this rubbish.

Bellenden Road - A guy knocks on the door with a clipboard and a fluorescent jacket saying he's from Groundclose Ltd (or Ground something) and that they're calling on all owners of old property asking if I'm the home owner. I immediately said I couldn't talk as I was in the middle of lunch with two children and he was very very pushy. He was one step away from putting his foot in the door and was still talking at me when I shut the door in the end as he wouldn't get the hint.

If you've got any vulnerable/elderly people on your street, it'd be good to warn them.

[Mrs TP]

I used to feel really guilty about being rude, which I would end up being as I would get flustered trying to get rid of cold callers til my hubbie pointed out it's them being rude knocking on our door uninvited and demanding to take up our time.

[lebara]

Get a spy hole then you dont have to answer if you dont want to.

[Drxyster]

Get a door phone,speak to them without going to the front door, one of the most useful items we have had fitted.

[jim_the_chin]

Never answer the door after 8pm, if it's a friend you'll know they're coming round, otherwise it's someone trying to get money off you. Nobody randomly knocks after 8pm that you want to speak to.

Doesn't cover all eventualities but knocks out quite a few unwanted callers.

[Earl Aelfheah]

I don't understand why unsolicted door to door sales aren't simply outlawed. Does anyone at all appreciate this type of 'service'?

[KidKruger]

Day or night I say who is it and if it's no-one I know or need to speak with I don't open door.

Makes them spill the beans quicker and you don't have to look 'em in the eye or commit at all.

Elderly should try identifying before they open door.

[caro ed]

We just had someone knocking on the door an hour ago from Macro Energy, saying they were helping people claim their grants for loft insulation.. Given we actually do need to insulate the loft we thought we'd see what he had to say. Greek guy, well dressed, name badge etc

I asked him on the doorstep how he was paid (hate to admit it, but years ago while at uni I did door-to-door for a few months for Powergen before it completely destroyed any sense of self-worth I had..) and he said by the company, regardless of how many homes he visits etc. So we let him in, he measured the loft (not very convincing it has to be said.. seemed a bit lost) and then he started to tell us what the insulation guys were going to do for us. Told us he was a chartered surveyor, but I doubt it.

At this point we reiterated that we weren't committing to anything there and then, he said "oh don't worry, I'm not selling you anything guys, i'm just giving you info" so we chatted some more. Long story short, he tried to get us to sign something and when we said no way he got rather agitated and said the usual of "but if you don't sign now you won't get the benefits" etc..

Needless to say we let him go on his way without a signature. We've just googled Macro Energy and also the government grant thing.. There is a website for Macro Energy but it's a US company, and as for the government grant - probably all fine.. but we suspect they're just a loft insulating company using the government grant thing as an excuse to sell their wares.

[i*Rate]

Hi caro ed and all,

I had the 'loft insulation' company call at around 4.30 on Monday and, as I was in the middle of cooking, I was'nt very polite this time. It was a young, smartly dressed man with clipboard and company badge; he was a bit persistant but a bit of aggression soon put him off.

Cheers.

[DulwichFox]

They have been to me on many occasions...

They are always well dressed Suited and Booted...

It's a scam

(True that grants are available to insulate your loft..) But....

The scam is that they will tell you about the Grant Scheme..

Tell you that most of the people they have seen in your street have already taken advantage of the scheme..

Dispite most houses in your street are probably already insulated..

Then say they have one of there suveyors inspecting another house in your street and could see to you next.

If you then say no.. they get very persistant...

Just ask them why theyare so keen to help you...

The next stage is to persued you to sign up ... Their builders will do the job. ??? (does it need doing)

They will Quote you an Inflated price.

But tell you not to worry because you will be able to claim it All back..

You Won't..

You need to contact your Local Authority before any work starts..

Fox.

[Mrs Nicklin]

Thanks for this, Fox. I got them at 6pm last night whilst feeding my baby. He wanted to come in there and then and didn;t quite understand why I wouldn't want some strange man in my house while I was a lone with a baby at night. He was polite though and I did wonder if it was genuine or not. I guess it's always NOT.

[rlane]

It's not only the elderly who can be taken in by this. Everyone should be careful.

There are two companies doing the rounds at the moment, Macrow Energy and SiG Energy Management, both are cold calling and Southwark Council have told me they are nothing to do with them.

I usually won't have anything to do with door to door salespeople, but when these people called I thought they were making follow up calls as part of the Southwark Council RE:NEW energy scheme. It seems to me that both companies are homing in on East Dulwich because of this scheme, as neither callers denied being part of it when I mentioned it. In fact they implied that they were visiting houses as neighbours had complained no one had been to see them!

I actually arranged a date for an installation (at the knock-down price of ?199)with one company, and only twigged that something was up when the other company phoned me to arrange installation with them. I then phoned Southwark Council who told me that neither company are linked to their RE:NEW scheme and they are cold calling.

Southwark Council told me that whilst the RE:NEW scheme has now finished they may still be able to provide insulation FOC as one of their energy advisers visited us a while back.

Needless to say I cancelled the installation straight away! So, I'm left feeling a bit of a mug for being taken in. I've had three different people look in my loft and two different companies after the business - neither of which are going to get it!

[ktbg]

SIG have just paid me a visit. They're very convincing and say it's your last chance, it has to be today, and so on, all they want to do is take a look at the loft, it will take 30 seconds. I asked for more information but they didn't have anything to give me. They implied they were working on behalf of the energy companies but had nothing official to show for it. I was persuaded to say OK to a later appointment, then thought better of it and when they came back I told them to go away. I know I wouldn't have ended up being scammed but it worries me how easily I might have let someone into my home, just to have a look.

Yikes.

Kate

[samcal]

Many individuals who are selling things door-to-door are perfectly honest and have a tough job. However, not all are, and some wish to do more than just to get you hopelessly addicted to infernally delicious cookies. A number of door-to-door frauds are being documented nationwide, so the amount of them active in many areas might be increasing.