door to door conman

[Zebedee Tring]

Many years ago my mother-in-law received a visit from a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses who said that they would give her the chance to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. My m-i-l asked them 'How many people are there in the Kingdom of Heaven?' and they replied '500,000'. She then asked them 'How many Jehovah's witnesses are there?' and when they replied 'Three million', she responded with 'Well, there won't be any room for me then'. They were unable to answer this somewhat significant point and left.

[PurleyMan]

Just to update you guys (this is my first post),

I had a door-to-door call asking me if I wanted a free assessment of my roof. As we'd had some problems with it I said yes.

Had a salesman here for 2 1/2 hours (he has just left).

The company name is Top Roof - which is a trading name for Weatherex Ltd.

He took pictures of the roof and said that we would need to replace it now - or we could use this protection spray and a repair of cracked tiles etc and it would have a 15 year guarantee.

He said he was usually the installations manager and that he had a crew which had no work to do in the next couple of weeks and if I went for it today he would do it at cost (so that he didn't have to pay his crew for doing nothing).

The 'today' price is not unreasonable for the size of the roof (?6.7k). I'm going to get a couple of roofing firms round to see if we do really have urgent problems that need addressing and will keep you informed of what happens.

I live in Purley.

[DJKillaQueen]

Never sign anything from a cold calling door-to-door saleman without getting other quotes. Q: did he go up and actually fully inpsect your roof? From both inside and out? If not then that should tell you something. Sounds to me that what he is selling is two options, irregardless of what work the roof might actaully need....but I could be wrong.

[peterstorm1985]

PurleyMan Wrote:

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

>

> The company name is Top Roof - which is a trading

> name for Weatherex Ltd.

>

Weatherex was mentioned in the third post on this page and it didn't look positive. It would seem a good idea to contact Trading standards and your local council. Spraying a damaged roof sounds like papering over the cracks. If you are swayed by the '15 year guarantee' check out who is providing the guarantee. If it's the company that is doing the work I think we can all work out what it's worth.

[alice]

protection spray is complete rubbish - does not work - the figure you give is very close to a new roof price [ unless youve got an enormous house]

[PurleyMan]

The roof is approx 150 sq metres (admittedly from this guys measurements, so could be a bit off).

The inspection was done by taking photos from ground level from outside and he did take a few of from inside the loft as well (which showed no signs of any rot).

The 'sell' was that the roof was in dire straits and in order to prevent an entirely new roof being needed very soon I should buy this package which would replace any damaged tiles, repoint where needed and this 'gore-tex' style spray all over it.

I was slightly suspicious, so I checked the company out and found this forum - which didn't fill me with a huge amount of confidence!

As I said, I'm going to get a couple of assessments from proper roofing firms to see if he was just talking bs re: the state of the roof. It did look a bit dodgy from the photos - but I'm not an expert by any means. Will post again to let you know what some other companies say - and if they say the roof is basically OK I'd advise to steer clear of Top Roof as well as the others already mentioned here.

Thanks for the advice.

[tsr2]

This is uncanny - no sooner do I get msgs telling me that this thread has come alive agin, but Apex were at my door ten minutes ago!

Told them to go away.

This is Bristol.

[DJKillaQueen]

There is no way PurleyMan that guy did a proper survey of your roof. If your roof were in dire straights it would be leaking like a sieve, it might be bowing, and there would be many things wrong with it that you couldn't but fail to notice. The fact he stayed there for 2.5 hours as well!

Most companies will come and look for free and send you a written quote (in fact always ask for a written quote) - and never ever pay anything up front. Get a contract first and only agree to terms (including payment) if they suit you.

Probably the truth is that you need a few new tiles and a bit of repointing, the cost of which will be a fraction of 6K. As for thr spray.....think about it logically? Is he trying to tell you that your uncracked (and therefore nothing wrong with them) tiles are no longer waterproof lol? What utter rubbish.

Do a search on here and see if anyone has recommended any roofers that you could get to come and have a look.

[agathoise]

See what Jell Howell (VERY reliable and well respected building guru who seems to enjoy de-bunking cowboy builder myths) has to say about spray-on roof coatings (scroll down to "The roofing job that gives bodging a bad name") http://www.askjeff.co.uk/roofing.html

Avoid!!

[AdrianW]

Hi, I'm new here. I live in Croydon and found this thread when looking for information on Top Roof/Weatherex. I had a similar experience to PurleyMan. Being aware that my roof needs some attention, and perhaps swayed by the person doing the initial call being unusually low-key and polite, I accepted a visit from one of their sales people last Tuesday. I must say he gave a quite impressive presentation without any overt 'hard sell' pressure, and his photos of my roof did illustrate some problems that need to be addressed. There was the inevitable: "I've got a crew available soon that I want to keep working and if you sign now, I'll do it for cost price." I was skeptical as I've heard that sort of thing before, but the price quoted (which was about ?4,600 and included painting all the wood beneath the roof) didn't seem vast in view of the work involved, so I signed, although I emphasised that if my research brought to light any causes for concern, I would cancel the contract. Threads including this one certainly did cause concern, so my registered letter of cancellation was sent on Saturday and should have reached them on Monday. Surprisingly, I had a call on Monday evening from someone lined up to do the work, asking if they could start the next day! He hadn't heard about the cancellation. It was also surprising as I'd been told that some sort of surveyor would arrange to come before the work started, so this would have worried me further if I hadn't cancelled. I thought my cancellation my cause a concerted attempt to encourage me to reconsider, but this hasn't happened so far. However, they did process my deposit payment, so I won't relax until this has been returned.

Even having read the contributions here and on a comparable thread on a Swindon board, some things still seem unclear about Top Roof and Weatherex. Presumably the Top Roof is a name that has only been used for a short period? And is Weatherex still offering Anduraguard wall coatings under this name? I also suppose there's a link with Apex Direct Promotions, especially as Apex use the same Sunley House address used by Weatherex, despite having offices elsewhere. Could it be that Apex recruit local people to do the initial door to door work for Top Roof/Weatherex?

Finally, another odd thing is that I have been unable to find ANY comment anywhere good or bad about the quality of their work! The door to door person let slip the address of two adjacent houses not far from me with Top Roof coating (although the salesman said he shouldn't have done so, due to data protection issues), so I might ask one of them. Maybe the quality of their work isn't too bad, as they seem to avoid 'making waves' in big way, despite their dubious sales methods.

[Thomas Micklewright]

Today my girlfriend was visited by a lady in her late 20s, italian accent, smartly dressed, with no identification but claimed to be from Talk Talk. She was claiming broadband was now 'free' and we shouldn't have to pay for it.

She made unusual comments such as 'you look nice' and also asked if she could come up to the flat to 'have a look'.

Last seen on Oakhurst Grove at 4pm on 27/10/10.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Tom

[Narnia]

Not yet.........I'm waiting!

[podgygooner]

Me too: Adrian W and Purleyman - we need to some work done on the roof (missing tiles + re-pointing). Someone from Top Roof cold-called at the door the other day so my missus arranged for one of their surveyors to come round earlier today. To be fair he seemed very knowledgable and took photos of the roof which, when back inside, he zoomed in on his ipad. He gave a detailed presentation on the benefits of their 'Andura' roofing solution. The state of the roof was very worrying, at least thats how he put it, and to be fair we do need work done on the roof.

He said the company had been in business for 23 years and he's in charge of 53 Top Roof teams who are in constant demand. He gave us a quote of ?X (available for a month), but then came out with this story that a young couple had been refused the finance and so there was a gap in the work schedule for one of his teams, so if we were ready to sign up today it would only cost us ?2/3 X.

Although I had always intended to get a few different quotes for the work, if he hadnt mentioned the young couple story and his teams' schedule gap I would have probably gone for the ?2/3 X price there and then - but I told him that we needed about an hour to consider our finances. He said he was going off to price another job so we'd better be quick in case they took up the schedule gap price. I asked him for his mobile but he said he couldnt remember it (which, for a chap in the building game, I found a bit odd also), but he said he would phone back in half an hour.

In that half hour I googled and saw the comments on this site. I also did a Webcheck on the Companies House website and found that Top Roof was only incorporated in 2008 (although at the same Bicester address there was firm incorporated in 1990 then called PRIZESOURCE LIMITED but now called ANDURA AIC LIMITED) - these points along with the schedule gap and lack of contact details caused me to, rightly or wrongly, smell a rat so when I phoned back I said we'd decided not to go forward.

Unfair without evidence of their standard of work to regard these chaps as rogue traders - but not for me either.

[podgygooner]

CroydonGuardian_Top-Roof

[AdrianW]

The post from podgygooner reminds me that I never said what happened with regard to the Top Roof contract I cancelled. Soon after I told a workman not to come because I'd cancelled, my registered letter was returned undelivered, which was worrying as payment had been processed and the period in which I could cancel had by then passed. I got advice from an appropriate body who basically said don't worry because it was clear I'd sent it in time, and I should write again, explaining the situation. It then appeared to genuinely be bad luck that the first letter was returned as Top Roof then sent me a polite letter and refunded my payment. I was expecting an attempt to encourage me to change my mind, so I was pleasantly surprised that this didn't happen.

To be fair, I have no evidence that they are rogue traders and I never found any complaints online about their work. I looked at two houses with their roof coating and they looked OK. However, their marketing and company history seems dubious and I expect they recommend their treatment irrespective of whether a roof actually needs it. The salesman that visited me was professional and there was no hard-sell pressure, but you can be 100% certain that everyone is told that they are being offered a very special deal that will only apply if they sign more or less on the spot!

[Spooner]

We had the fake window cleaner asking for ?10 up front in December. He was so believable as a person, it was just the asking for money a month before the job that had alarm bells ringing. We also get daily calls from charities which may be legitimate but is even more annoying and intrusive than the charity people with the clipboards trying to grab you when you walk down the street. At the risk of upsetting genuine callers and neighbours, we shall be stopping answering the door.

[Google]

its posible tho if you didnt open the door, he would of put that can full infront of the door, cause if that can hasnt moved, that may indicate no one in as the owner would move it. ive seen that on tv before. and i think its against the law to walk up a street with alchol now, unless its in a bag.

this may seem out of context, just replying to karter

[Betterat50m]

A couple have just cancelled

You can have it at this price if you have the work done this month

Cant remember the telephone number

The above are some of the oldest and well used lies to scam people.

[tinkywinky]

I previously worked for the Top Roof company (also known as: WEATHEREX LIMITED WALLCOTE LIMITED ANDURAGUARD LIMITED PEARL XPS LIMITED etc).

Cold callers for this company and many others like it get paid depending on how many numbers they take (and recieve bonuses for deals that the salesmen make after they ring you up and arrange a "free quote") so this is why they are always pushy for a number.

The reason for cold callers taking house phone numbers only is to keep the company's office outgoing call bills down as a call to a mobile costs conciderably more.

Cold callers for most companies wont let you keep the flyer if you dont give a number as they only get a certain number of them printed off for each week and would prefer to leave the flyer with one of their "victims".

Roof coating in generall is a con, all coating products will make you roof look nice for a year or two then it will grow lichen and moss like any other roof, even though there is a 15 year "guarentee" it does not cover what the roof looks like. You are far better off buying new tiles. Id recomend slate tiles for a couple of reasons firstly they are very long lasting and will outlast biscuit and concrete tiles and secondly these con companys will not touch them as the coating will not stick to them.

A few tips:

-ALWAYS ask for ID, anybody who isnt wearing company ID i would inform the police immediatly about.

-If they ask "are you a house owner or a tennant" reply tennant even if you arn't, they will then walk away as cold callers are not allowed to sign up non house owners.

-Invest in a sign if you are living in a heavily circulated area. Id recomend one that says "no cold callers, i will ask for ID and if not provided i will phone the police" or along those lines, dont buy one saying "no door to door sales" as technically they are not selling anything (the salesman who comes later does that).

Companies like this operate all over the country and select different areas to target each day/week. Old peoples bungalows are heavily targeted for obvious and rather shamefull reasons, 1930's semi's are also popular amongst these companies.

Be careful these cold callers are given a script to memorise by the company which can be extremely convincing and very good at catching you unawares for your number, if you are too kind-a-person to deny them a number give them a bogus number but with your area code and similar digits (but not the same) to your own.

[AdrianW]

tinkywinky - it's very interesting to have your insight. When I did some research into Top Roof (after placing but then cancelling an order), I found verious concerns about their selling methods but none regarding their work. Even if you would generally recommend alternative types of roof renovation, do you think Top Roof at least do the job they offer with a reasonable level of professionalism, and at least leave the average roof in a better state than it's in before the work is done?

I was pleasantly surprised that after I cancelled the work, my cheque was soon returned with a polite letter and no steps were taken to urge me to reconsider. Do you think this would generally happen? It may have been the I 'wore out' the sales people who came round; they must have spent at least 3 hours at my home before I decided to place the order, and that was down to me rather than them!

[tinkywinky]

Hey Adrian,

Yes i would say that Top Roof will leave your house looking nicer and cleaner but for the money your paying and the protection/long term investment that your paying for really isn't worth it. Personally i wouldn't touch Top Roof with a badge pole, i'd shop around for quotes from local roofing firms as these also tend to be free of charge and the quailty of the job would be superior.

This might interest you and anyone else looking for quotes/tradesmen:

http://www.ratedpeople.com/

People who have used tradesmen in your area before rate them on their quality/prices etc.

After seeing how the Top Roof company works inside out i must say i am rather surprised at your hassle free cancelation :D