DOOR-TO-DOOR SWINDLERS

1. Home Repairs

The favorite sales pitch of door-to-door home repair swindlers is some variation of the following theme: The salesperson has been doing some work in the neighborhood and has enough material left to do a job at a very favorable price. These swindlers specialize in roof repair or roof coating, driveway coating, house painting, tree trimming, and lawn fertilizer application. They typically use inferior materials, and their workmanship is almost always very poor. In many cases, they pressure their victims to pay in advance, and once they have the money, they often disappear without completing the job. They will promise anything to make a sale: unconditional long-term guarantees, full refund if not satisfied, and use of your home as a model with payments to you for referral business. These promises are of course worthless, because door-to-door swindlers can never be found once you have paid them and they have moved on. The door-to-door swindler uses a very hard sell--you can only take advantage of the lower price if you allow them to do the work right away. In many cases, the swindlers increase the cost of the work outrageously once they have finished the job, claiming that they had to use more materials than they originally estimated. If a victim objects to the higher charges, the swindlers become abusive and intimidate the victim into paying.

2. Pest Control

The door-to-door pest control swindler typically offers prospective victims a free, no obligation inspection for wood-destroying insects. As can be expected, they usually find termites in a hard to reach area under the house. They often show their prospective victim a handful of termites or insect larvae, brought into the house in the swindler's pocket. They then use high pressure to sell an unneeded termite extermination treatment. They often tell victims that if treatment is not provided immediately, their house will be irreparably damaged, and they often offer the treatment at a price far below the standard charges. Victims of these swindlers end up paying several hundred dollars for poorly applied and usually unneeded pest control treatment.

3. Phony Charities

Door-to-door charity swindlers have an almost unlimited list of phony charities from which to work. Favorite schemes include solicitation of donations to sponsor activities for disadvantaged youths, to purchase Bibles for the poor, to finance programs for the aged or infirm, or to promote missionary work in foreign lands. Charity swindlers typically will accept only cash donations; they frequently use high pressure tactics; and they are extremely reluctant to answer questions about the organization they allegedly represent.

4. Magazine Subscriptions

In Pinellas County, the biggest problem with door-to-door sellers of magazine subscriptions is the hard sell used to induce elderly citizens to buy magazines that they don't really want. In many cases, the salespersons use intimidation and veiled threats to frighten elderly victims into buying large numbers of subscriptions. Often the victims later find that they could have bought the magazines for far less money through other subscription programs or even at a local newsstand. Dishonest door-to-door sellers use a variety of deceptive sales pitches, such as, they are working their way through school; they are in a management trainee program; they are in a contest and need only a few more sales to win; or they are working to support some charitable organization.

DO'S AND DON'TS FOR DOOR-TO-DOOR