By Carol Abaya
Personal stories often tell the best story. As a member of the Monmouth County Office on Aging Advisory Council, I am always looking out for happenings especially involving seniors and sandwich generationers.
My own recent experiences should serve as red alerts to everyone, regardless of age.
Dubious Contractors: My house needs to be power washed, so when I received a telephone call to schedule an appointment to get an estimate, I said OK. A young man came to the house with a clipboard. He walked around, making notes. When he finished, he showed me several other things that supposedly needed to be fixed.
We went inside and he showed me information about the company. The various certificates seemed impressive. Then he started to put together numbers. I asked him if he had a business card. No. He never had a business card even though he supposedly worked for this company for several years. He came in an SUV, which did not display a company name or license number. He had no identification or visible connection to the company he said he represented.
After writing various numbers, he told me the company only accepts jobs that are a minimum of $3,000. I only wanted the cost of power washing. I repeatedly asked for a business card or other identification. None were forthcoming. When he finished working his numbers, I asked him for a copy of what needed to be done and the cost. He refused to give me a copy, saying he could only leave me a copy if I signed a contract then and there.
I had become suspicious when he did not have a business card. And when he would not leave me a written estimate, my doubts skyrocketed. When I asked how much the power washing alone would cost he said $1,250. This is ridiculous as the average cost is $150 to $175 for any house in this part of New Jersey.
In checking out the information, I found that the company is not registered or licensed by the state. This is a must for any contractor doing business here. The address of the company is a strip mall.
There was only one real repair that needed to be done. Flashing along the roof line had been blown off during several high wind days. The cost to repair by my regular handyman was $100.
With spring around the corner, contractors are knocking on doors — telephone calls — to generate business.
So best advice:
• Get a business card at the very beginning.
• Make sure the business card has a state license number on it.
• Make sure you get a written estimate detailing the work to be done.
• Make sure the company has proper liability insurance.
• Do not give any money up front. Pay only when work is completed.
• If you do sign a contract, make sure there is a warranty
• Make sure there is a beginning date and an end date for the work to be done.
• Check with the local consumer affairs bureau, the one where the company supposedly is located and the state. This a must.
The second scam involves companies which supposedly will get the interest on your credit cards reduced to zero. I keep getting calls from a company called Card Members Services. These calls are robot calls, preprogrammed by a voice and not a human being. A Google search of the name — Card Members Services — went directly to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) site with the headline, in bold letters, “Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction Scams.”
Best advice:
• Hang up immediately
• Do not give out your credit card or Social Security numbers to anyone over the phone.
• Do not share personal financial information during an unsolicited sales pitch.
Another very active scam is called the “grandparent” call in which an individual receives a call from someone who claims to be a relative and who claims to be in some sort of trouble.
In one case the caller told the person who received that call that he was being held in the police department at Newark airport because he hit a car driven by a diplomat.
The caller said the diplomat wanted $3,000 for repairs and would not report the accident to the insurance company and that police would not charge the caller with causing an accident. FTC advice: Do not send any money via wire services and report such a call to the local police.
Carol Abaya of Marlboro is a member of the Monmouth County Office on Aging Advisory Council.
