Residents of Ashford, England have been warned of a nefarious scam being practiced in the area. A "bogus caller" claiming to be a tree surgeon will knock on a person's door. The caller tells the person they have a problem tree in their yard that needs some work. Borough tree officer Mark Symonds warns that, "Sadly, some have been taken in and had prize trees ruined by shoddy workmanship. No reputable local tree surgeon would call unannounced in the hope of finding work.”
The Kent News reports:
Mr Symonds warned people not to be taken in by doorstep callers claiming connections with the council, even if they showed a business card and appeared to have some knowledge of trees. And he said anyone could call themselves a tree surgeon - but he said a competent professional would have a certificate to show they had been trained. They would also often have other qualifications along with safety equipment to protect residents, property, and themselves.
Frankly, I had no clue there even was such a thing as a "Borough tree officer." And if someone had come to my door offering to work on my trees, I might have been totally taken in. Now I'll know better.
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The thing that I thought was ridiculous was the shire would hire a local tree lopper to make the assessments! (Not surprisingly his card would always be the most prevalent in the letter bozx...) There were a few that we actually appealed as the trees were nowhere near the power lines and we were sure he'd just been hoping to sucker us in to paying his exorbitant fees.
See...I'm not quite sure this is a hoax. Maybe the guy (or group of people) is just trying to drum up some business...and is just really bad at what he does. ??
Being in a more rural area (no deed restrictions) I often have people soliciting at the door that are offering services. Lawn people, driveway pavers (less than half the driveways in the neighborhood are paved), tree trimmers, siding installers...
I generally turn everyone away by telling them I'm renting. Easy enough. (Well, that or when I see them coming into the yard I take Jocelynn into the bathroom w/ my cell phone & wait to hear them leave.) What can I say? I'm paranoid.
But that's because it's Southern California.
The industry has no licencing or regulation, that means any fool with a chainsaw is knocking on doors and giving rip off advice.
Recently on 2 occasions A Current Affair did the stories.
Here's the Youtube video links
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=8SiVAt7IRqk
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=pJsyTX31S0Y
Not only bad advice, but prices that go up and expensive to begin with. It sickens those of us who studied for years and got Diploma's to be in the same market as the latest scumbag with a chainsaw.