Travelers offering driveway cleaning

Pinch Flat · 26-09-2017 02:50AM

punisher5112 wrote: »

I would be wary of letting anyone into do any work as they could take you to the cleaners.

That'd be handy. Maybe they could laundwr and iron my shirts as well? Clean driveway and clean shirts. Win win all around :pac:

Sam Quentin · 26-09-2017 02:58AM

I cannot for the life of me figure out,, who is... And who isn't taking the fúcking píss on these posts!? But it's fooookin hilarious lmao

blueser · 26-09-2017 06:20AM

Collie D wrote: »

Perhaps I'm a slob with very low standards but I have never looked at a driveway and thought "Jesus, that's filthy. Could do with a scrub"

Surely a slob wouldn't care if a drive was dirty?

suicide_circus · 26-09-2017 06:24AM

What cleaning are they doing that any citizen couldn't take care of with a power washer in ten minutes?

MintyMagnum · 26-09-2017 07:31AM

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I always feel sorry for the travellers who are doing these services and doing there best. We get the odd few around here offering tarmac, gutter cleaning, painting barn roofs,etc. Lots of people are afraid to trust them because of past experience. We get the odd community alert text saying to be careful when they are in the area.

They charged my elderly mother €1,000 for gutter repair recently. She never expected it to be that much, & didn't have cash, so wrote a cheque only to have them come back, twice, miffed because they couldn't cash it - she had crossed it, so only the person named on the cheque could. Clearly they had used a false name. So not only extortion but also harassment. And the gutters still leaked. Luckily for my folks myself & the Bruv happened to be near. The six footer encouraged the harasser out. Managed to get a photo of the car reg, which was parked out of sight up the road. Guards ran the plate & lo & behold registered in Newcastle West to a relation of a prime example of humanity who robbed a local pensioner in broad daylight of his & his wife's pensions after he collected it from the post office. Said man is 95 & is still caring for his 90yr old wife at home after a stroke 5yrs ago. This crowd are also believed to be behind a number of burglaries in the area. Easy targets, pensioners with cash.

These people are scum & not to be trusted. So much for their showy religiosity. They have no conscience.

seamus · 26-09-2017 11:37AM

At the end of the day most of these guys are just looking to make a quick buck. They're not looking for your return business, aside from a rare few they're not looking to case the house and come back to rob you. They want to get in there, do a quick job and walk away with cash in their pockets.

The problem is that for the most part they're not at all qualified to do what they're doing, they don't have the right equipment for the job, and they don't care about the quality of their work.

Cleaning your driveway with a pressure washer is grand if it's a bog standard driveway. If it's sealed, cobbled, brickwork, etc, etc, then they will still use a pressure washer and they will make a fncking mess of it.

Same as cleaning the roof tiles, - use a pressure washer, ruin the roof, take your cash, DGAF.

For grunt work that needs no qualifications - digging holes, removing shrubbery and small trees, chopping up wood, cleaning windows - great, let them fire away.

But for work that requires you to have the slightest clue what you are doing - such as laying a new driveway, repairing gutters, building walls, and so on - then you are a mug if you hire them. You may as well ask the teenagers down the road to do it. If you ask them whether they can do it, they'll say they can and give it a go. Once they have the money from you they don't care whether the end product is any good.

By all means, if you have a recommendation or the same guy(s) coming back every year then fire away. But a random knock on the door? Eh, no thanks.

26-09-2017 09:49PM

Back in 2007 a traveler power hosed the roof of the house I grew up in. Myself, my father and my brother nearly killed my mother for leaving such a person near the place for various reasons. He did such a good job that the results are still visible from Google earth images. The roof on the house is its original colour compared to the neighbours.

AmberGold · 26-09-2017 10:35PM

Thanks for all the replies, I have my own views on these guys.

With our estate having suffered many breakins in the last two years I do question their intentions, never mind the fact I’m getting hammered on tax, insurance, USC and everything else.

With the dark evenings coming in and Christmas on the way this type of activity seems to always kick off around late Sept, Oct.

Was just interested in hearing others views and I have to say a few posts here gave me a right laugh.

For the record I wouldn’t trust them to tell me the time.

BrianD3 · 26-09-2017 11:00PM

One factor in this is that many "proper" builders, tradesmen, landscapers etc. are useless idiots who won't turn up when they say they will and are also tax evading pricks who do shoddy work. This drives people towards the chancers who call to the door and offer to do work on the spot in a seemingly efficient manner.

IME this is particularly true for elderly people whose cognitive abilities may be in decline and who get anxious about not being able to get builders etc. to turn up. As a result, they welcome the travellers with open arms and then get royally screwed.

Once you welcome them once, they'll keep coming back and will push it as much as they can. Eg for hedge cutting - Year 1 they do a pretty good job in June. Year 2 they're back in March taking a tiny amount off the hedge. Then they're back two months later when there is some actual growth, Then again in September. Between that and driveway cleaning and gutters, someone with a modest house and garden could easily spend thousands per year on this sort of work

I'd agree with the comment that most of these travellers are not there to actually rob the place. Targetting the elderly by offering hedge cutting and driveway washing services for huge money is much more lucrative and less risky than burglary.

degsie · 26-09-2017 11:04PM

Just make sure to ask for a VAT receipt when the 'work' is done.

dd972 · 27-09-2017 01:05AM

There's Travellers in Ireland? I thought they were all in England, only place I've pretty much seen any.

punisher5112 · 28-09-2017 12:03AM

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Back in 2007 a traveler power hosed the roof of the house I grew up in. Myself, my father and my brother nearly killed my mother for leaving such a person near the place for various reasons. He did such a good job that the results are still visible from Google earth images. The roof on the house is its original colour compared to the neighbours.

So what you mean is your now tileless roof stands out more then anyone else's.

How much to get them back???

Are Am Eye · 28-09-2017 03:11AM

MintyMagnum wrote: »

They have no conscience.

Or Tax Clearance Cert.

crossmolinalad · 29-09-2017 12:30PM

Do it yourselves , I always do
Saves a lot of money

punisher5112 · 29-09-2017 12:35PM

crossmolinalad wrote: »

Do it yourselves , I always do
Saves a lot of money

Or get someone genuine.

Don't ever get a cold caller to do work.

BillyBobBS · 29-09-2017 12:44PM

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I always feel sorry for the travellers who are doing these services and doing there best. We get the odd few around here offering tarmac, gutter cleaning, painting barn roofs,etc. Lots of people are afraid to trust them because of past experience. We get the odd community alert text saying to be careful when they are in the area.

Ah will you ever stop. They aren't tax compliant (yes any of them) and they all claim welfare. If they want to "do their best" get a PAYE job and contribute towards society. There are honest tax paying businesses that go under because they do everything on the books and these ethnic group hero's undercut them and revenue has never seen a cent from them.

If they offer you a service at the door tell them you'll need a receipt and watch them run.

_Dara_ · 29-09-2017 01:09PM

Not worth the risk of taking them up on an offer in any way.

elperello · 29-09-2017 01:29PM

I've nothing against travelers as an ethnic minority.
If they don't bother me I won't bother them.

Please take note of this thread and only engage people who come recommended to do work around your property.
Anything else and you are playing with fire and risk getting burnt.

There is usually a local handyman in most areas who will want to be asked back, he is your man.

Conall Cernach · 29-09-2017 02:39PM

punisher5112 wrote: »

Or get someone genuine.

Don't ever get a cold caller to do work.

^^This

You wouldn't commit to buying a product if someone rang you up out of the blue and it should be the same with door to door stuff. I always think that genuine people will put a card or a leaflet through the door and if someone wants their service then they'll make the call themselves.

Dr Brown · 29-09-2017 02:53PM

These lads always claim to be "fully insured".

But they can never produce any evidence when you ask them for their insurance number.

...__... · 29-09-2017 03:37PM

There are so many honest hardworking tradesmen who have lost thousands of days work due to
this "minorities" handie work.

There's not a van they cant break into nor a stolen power tool they cant sell.

I remember chasing many out of the garden at night as they tried to rob the workshop swinging a saw at them hoping Id whip an arm off.

Dr Brown · 29-09-2017 03:50PM

With their new "ethnic minority" status they are basically untouchable were the law is concerned.

degsie · 29-09-2017 04:17PM

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BrianD3 · 29-09-2017 04:49PM

The individuals that I and my relatives have encountered in recent years have been quite polished - they have business cards, are polite and look the part with clean and neat work clothes. They don't have stereotypical traveller accents or greet you with "Howaya boss".

Dig a little deeper though and suspicions arise. As already said, Fully Insured on a flyer or business card means nothing. Googling phone numbers throws up some interesting results with multiple business names in different locations apparently using the same mobile number. Websites with SEAI and other official looking logos on them - again, means nothing and actually should make a person suspicious.

Addresses given as being in a particular business park or industrial estate but no unit number given. The business park exists but if you go looking for the premises will you find it, probably not as it doesn't exist.

freshpopcorn · 29-09-2017 06:24PM

One thing that always makes me very dodgy of anybody who is offering services/product at the door is a person wearing a pair of very shiny shoes!

Dr Brown · 29-09-2017 06:27PM

BrianD3 wrote: »

The individuals that I and my relatives have encountered in recent years have been quite polished - they have business cards, are polite and look the part with clean and neat work clothes. They don't have stereotypical traveller accents or greet you with "Howaya boss".

That happened to my parents awhile back a very well presented and well spoken frontman (for the travelers) knocked at the door he came across like he was some sort of civil servant or government official.

To cut a long story short my parents ended up getting "work" done in the garden but the lads who did the "work" were the stereotypical "Howaya boss" type people who you could spot a mile away.

This begs the question are the travelers paying well spoken respectable type people to front their businesses to give them an air of legitimacy ?

CeilingFly · 29-09-2017 06:35PM

Be wary if the give a strong bang on the door rather than a simple ring of the doorbell - it's their way of checking if the alarm is on.

Sue Pa Key Pa · 29-09-2017 06:37PM

No sympathy whatsoever for anybody who entertains these 'tradesmen'

Dr Brown · 29-09-2017 06:38PM

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

No sympathy whatsoever for anybody who entertains these 'tradesmen'

You have to feel sorry for elderly people who get taking in by them.

elperello · 29-09-2017 06:40PM

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

No sympathy whatsoever for anybody who entertains these 'tradesmen'

Don't forget that some people can be vulnerable.

Travelers offering driveway cleaning

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