Yvette, 74, was pruning her roses when a young man appeared at her gate in a fluorescent vest. He smiled warmly and pointed to a loose tile on her roof.
“I’m working nearby and noticed a loose tile on your roof that could leak when the rains come,” he said. She agreed to his offer to fix the loose tile for $150, and he went up on the roof to get started. By day’s end, he claimed he had done far more repair work to the roof, and demanded that she pay $750.
“I had to replace extra flashing and reinforce the ridge tiles,” he insisted. Yvette hadn’t asked for that. Still, he pressured her to pay immediately, saying the work was already done. She reluctantly wrote him a check for the full amount.
The next day, her son checked the work—nothing extra had been done…