Poll on travelling gutter salesmen

Submitted by monkeyinheaven t3_11zsyo1 in newhampshire

I just had 2 young guys (in their 20s) walk up to the house with the usual line that they are working in the neighborhood, etc. They mentioned they were working on a street I didn't recognize and wanted to give a free estimate.

I politely told them I wasn't interested, but also noticed that there was no truck between here and the end of the cul de sac.

After they left they went to the other houses and then turned right onto the main street.

It's only the second time in the 23 years I've been in the neighborhood that's happened. The other time was driveway resurfacing, which is a known scam.

I guess it could be any of a few situations. Any thoughts?

​

View Poll

2

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Sirhc978 t1_jddznzj wrote

I kind of base it on what they are selling. I have gotten good deals this way on tree removal, because the crane is going to be in the neighborhood anyway, and they will have it for the whole day, so you essentially split the cost of it with your neighbors. I do not trust people selling solar this way, since a lot of solar companies are scams to begin with

10

RC-NH401 t1_jdgzj00 wrote

This works if they are next door with big equipment. Like a crane. Transport of it costs a lot of money. You may get a small bargain if they are in the neighborhood. With regular trucks and chipper s. Lots of liability with tree guys. They can’t give really good deals.

1

monkeyinheaven OP t1_jdemwfh wrote

Oops, just checked the neighborhood message board. Someone must have called the cops because they came by and spoke with them. They showed the police some paperwork and they left them alone.

Still leaning towards light scam, but it would be interesting if someone says they were actually doing work at their house.

5

OPINION_IS_UNPOPLAR t1_jdfkeme wrote

I think it is actually a new nationwide gutter company with local/regional franchises. Some trust fund kidiot I know was looking to buy a franchise but I don’t remember the name.

1

Mynewadventures t1_jdeh0jk wrote

Those are the American clan of the Irish Travellers. "Gypsies" if you will.

They'll scam a mother fucker in a heartbeat.

4

Icy-Neck-2422 t1_jde1z8v wrote

I bet you it's the gypsy asphalt crews doing their early spring scam. They typically head down to FL for the winter to run their grift, then come back up north with the warmer weather. They have two big Irish gypsy families that are based in Hudson and Derry.

This is from one of the families.

https://www.wmur.com/article/police-search-man-accused-running-paving-scam-central-florida-new-hampshire-21722/39126157

3

CDogNH t1_jdf6rgq wrote

Had one of them at my house for a quote a couple years ago. Got scary, guy pretty much threatened me.

2

rudyattitudedee t1_jdfjjnq wrote

What does gutter cleaning have to do with paving? Also those “gypsies” are usually a good deal if you know what to ask. Once you ask if they’re just seal coating or actually paving for their quote they’ll know you weren’t born yesterday. I’ve had them seal coat for a good price but there is a particular large family on salem that does this and they do a decent job at paving for the money.

2

smartest_kobold t1_jdegt26 wrote

That is a slur.

−5

warpedaeroplane t1_jdewyi9 wrote

While it is, the common replacement of “Romani peoples” doesn’t accurately capture people of the lifestyle from other ethnic groups. Vagrants is arguably a less offensive term, but I digress.

2

smartest_kobold t1_jdf6vtr wrote

Maybe grouping all these people under one slur is actually bad.

0

warpedaeroplane t1_jdf76us wrote

I don’t disagree at all, but there are people and there are words ascribed to them. Gypsy is an interesting one because, at least for myself and many others, it was usually used in a manner similar to Bedouin or nomad and was more of an indication of lifestyle than a “slur”. I’m an American, so I wasn’t aware of the more heavy racial/societal charge behind it particularly in Europe.

If I’m not mistaken, Irish traveling people do have a specific cultural name and heritage which unfortunately eludes me now. There’s a pretty mid episode of Star Trek TNG which has a …poorly represented version of one such group.

2

monkeyinheaven OP t1_jdem3y9 wrote

Just took the dog for a walk and ran into them again, so they went all the way to the end of the street and back (at least a couple dozen houses).

I mentioned that they are doing lot of walking and asked where the heck their truck was and they waived and said "a long way, somewhere over there".

For what it's worth, they were good looking, well kept and friendly. One white, one black.

I voted light scam, that's what it feels like to me. I'm guessing they'd do a crappy job of hanging shitty gutters and gouge us.

3

rudyattitudedee t1_jdfj59k wrote

There’s lots of traveling salesman who drum up easy work. Was it cleaning gutters or literally adding gutters onto the house? If it’s just spring gutter cleaning it’s likely innocuous and they’ll probably do a fine job. It’s not hard to clean gutters if you’re willing to get up there yourself.

2

monkeyinheaven OP t1_jdfxdo9 wrote

We don't have gutters, They were looking to sell us them.

1

rudyattitudedee t1_jdfyai8 wrote

That’s weird. I’ve never even heard of traveling gutter salesmen lol

1

cumsona t1_jde1op8 wrote

I remember that driveway resurfacing scam. one of my childhood neighbors got scammed out of a bunch of money for it

1

Jeepn87 t1_jde1w2s wrote

Probably a legitimate company that uses cheap labor to knock on doors for sales. Doubt theirs criminal intent, but you could always let the police know in case it’s someone’s m.o.

1

captainjackass28 t1_jdeu568 wrote

Probably a light scam if they had paperwork. Either that or they got roped into a scam themselves and are idiots.

1

Latakoo t1_jdff7gw wrote

It's a scam. They show up, get you to approve "cheap" work then in the process will do other work without permission or find "code issues" and all of a sudden a $200 job is now being billed as a $5,000-$20,000 job. They'll take the money and disappear, either having done a horrible fast job or not doing the work at all. The paperwork is likely all false names and addresses just enough to pass a light background check for when a neighbor does call the cops. This has been happening a boat load around New England this year.

1

RC-NH401 t1_jdgyzfw wrote

There was a newer exterminator company that did this a few years ago… made all the local boards with shady guys approaching houses. I saw one of the guys pictured doing the same thing in another town weeks later. I showed him his picture.

It’s a common practice just like “ pollsters “ who go door to door . They are all just selling something.

1

RC-NH401 t1_jdgz7gq wrote

The end of the day deals , usually you get a half a$$ job with a product that isn’t up to par, by the workers who want a little extra cash with stuff they will throw away at the end of the day.

I’ve only done a deal like this once - for seal coating and it was too cold and came out poorly.

1

monkeyinheaven OP t1_jdm2xlw wrote

Someone just posted a picture of them outside their 2 cars discussing their plan of attack. No truck, 2 sedans. I'm pretty sure it's a scam.

1

SweatySecretary6830 t1_jdebwec wrote

No trespassing and no soliciting signs didnt stop them. Security cameras, including doorbell with 24/7 surveillance recording signs has made them seek out other houses. Sad it has to come to that, but thats today's society

0