Preying on the elderly

mysons

I was wonder if anyone around the D15 area with an elderly parent is been preyed on by so called builders.
My mother in law is been harassed by an arsehole builder that is constantly calling to here door even tho she has repeatedly told him no that she does not want any work done.
It's got to the stage where she is afraid to answer the door as she thinks it's him.

BostonB

Thats a bit odd hes targeting her specifically. Could you give the community Garda a call and have a chat with them.

ongarboy

I agree that she should make the community gardai aware of him as he is causing a nuisance. If she has made it clear to him that she has no interest in his services, then he should have got the point on his first visit. I would find door to door pitching of services by a builder odd in the first place (no matter how desperate they are for business during these tough times). Surely they should just post flyers through the letter box advertising their services and that would be it. Anyone knocking on doors like that screams of "cowboy" at the least and potentially more serious as they are invading a person's privacy. Yes, call the gardai on this one.

blondie7

Contact Blanch community Gardai, there fantastic dealing with this thing. If your mum is living on her own they are obliged to visit her regularly and make sure she is ok. They even fill out passport forms and all for the elderly which is great i think.

mysons

Thanks guys for the advice.

She got some work done a while back by a guy she has know for a long time.As he was going about his job outside the house he told my mother in law that he noticed a loose tile on her roof and he had a friend that would be able to fix it.

Anyway this guy fixed the tile got payed for the job and then told her that the roof needed more work done that even I have never heard of(will not give details here).

She told him she would let him know if she wanted it done then she told him NO but he keeps calling to her door.

There is more to this but I can't give to many details but to say that it quite shocked and upset my mother in law when she found out that her trust had been betrayed.

BostonB

That a very different story.

Could you not have a word with him, and if that doesn't make him go away, then get the community Garda to have a word with him.

ongarboy

Yes, this is quite a different story as it is not some random guy then.

As your mother in law already has had work done by this person, I'm sure she has his name and contact details. I suggest you or your spouse ring this guy and tell him in no uncertain terms that your mother in law no longer wishes to avail of any future services by him or any of his mates and to stop calling at her door/phone, Also, highlight it to him that he is causing stress by already ignoring previous requests that she was not interested.

Ask him does he clearly understand what you have requested and that you will be taking this further if he continues to conduct this harrassment. You may not want to actually mention the guards on this occasion unless you get the sense he is not taking your request seriously.

amdublin

Could you be there next time he calls? (Like he probably calls in the evenings does he?)