Got some mixed feelings about this one.
The 86-year old man who lives in the Amesbury, Massachusetts house didn’t want to talk with us on camera — embarrassed, nervous after police say he paid an area contractor 48 hundred dollars to clear snow from his roof on Friday….Amesbury police say 47 year old Kevin Snow, Senior and his sons 23 year old Kevin Jr. and 20 year old George Snow approached the elderly man and offered to do the roof. Police say the man agreed to the 4,800 dollar price tag, the work was done and he paid the bill, but when his daughter found out about it, she called police saying he’d been scammed. Not addressing this specific case, but talking about people taking advantage of the elderly, Amesbury Crime Prevention Officer Thomas Hanshaw said, “It’s sad, it really is.”
The text above is transcribed from a video I can’t figgure out how to embed here.
Watch the video and you’ll see REALLY where I have my issues. The guy is a jerk and is running a scam, and it seems that’s his deal.
The Snows are known to authorities throughout the area– in fact — across the country for allegedly preying on elderly people, charging them exorbitant prices for snow removal, paving and consruction jobs. Officials in california called the family one of the most notorious traveling con artists they’d seen after the sons and a cousin from Ct pleaded no contest to charges of grand theft in 2009 for allegedly bilking at least a dozen people out of thousands of dollars for paving jobs.
Look there’s pretty obvious malice, and it seems they target elderly people who might not be thinking as clearly because people in their prime don’t want to play their games.
Still as much of an asshole as they are, it isn’t a crime to be an asshole, otherwise the jails would be full and my morning drive would be much more pleasant. They quoted a price for services, the services were rendered, and the agreed price was paid. Frankly If the old man had only paid them $500 for services rendered (a generous amount for the job at hand) the SNOWS would have a pretty decent court case for breech of contract.
Also I’m curious if there is some law I’m unaware of that makes it a crime to overcharge on a product even if all information is up-front. If So I might launch a class-action lawsuit against H&K for charging so much for their handguns when other producers offer a virtually identical product for about half the price…and I personally wouldn’t say quality is an issue.
OK back on a serious note, we don’t need to lock up our seniors, but if you’re caring for a Senior who is failing in health you need to look out for their well-being. If their reflexes and judgment is failing TAKE AWAY THEIR KEYS! You don’t need them killing themselves or other people in the frighteningly common news story of allegedly “confusing the gas with the brake”.
Let them know they shouldn’t be pressured into binding contracts, and they should likely sleep on a decision, and contact their caregiver, or a lawyer before proceeding. If they feel pressured to act immediately that’s probably as good a reason to NOT partake as any other out there.
The correct thing to do is publicize how this guy is scamming old people. A whole lot of people aren’t going to throw him work after that. I never would.
My parents have had a lot of work done on their property in the last few years. But they’ve taken to calling my brother or I just to get a second opinion on things like prices. They’ve had people try to scam them and caught it. Other times people have given them decent rates or even good deals.
Up here where lots of people heat with wood, the smart guys know how to measure a cord of wood, because most scum can get away with selling short cords.
Same idea. But selling a short-cord as a full-cord is an open scam and crime, selling something for an inflated price is brand-loyalty!
Actually, a lot of states have laws regarding jacking up prices during states of emergency and such. For example, charging $10 a bag for ice during the period following a hurricane. So with those types of laws, it could be possible to bring those scammers in.
But then what is a “State of Emergency” this has been a nasty winter, and roof collapses are a common place (Saw somebody’s shed all squished up yesterday) but the .Gov hasn’t gotten around to saying “Emergency” or sounding the klaxon.