galwayrush wrote: » Got visited twice today by some obviously travellers in a UK reg van, apparently they were doing ' a road job for the council' nearby and would have some left over, available at a great cost. they went house to house, must have been getting desperate as the evening went on because apparently, they were due in Cork the following morning on another important ' contract' They were in the Lackagh / Turloughmore area today.
amiable wrote: » And what was the 'scam'?
dilallio wrote: » Google "tarmacadam scam" and you will find out.http://www.traderscams.co.uk/new-scams-tradesmen-tricks.htmlhttp://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/08/warnings-of-rogue-tarmac-and-h.html Elderly people are very vulnerable to these scams
amiable wrote: » I know full well what one is but it doesn't give the details in th OP of what was . There's no evidence that this was an actual scam. They may have been just trying to earn a few quid
the keen edge wrote: » Not a scam?. So your saying that traveller's in a UK registered van, a van that by law has to be declared and re registered, as an Irish vehicle, after 1 day of being in this country. And who are unable to estimate the required amount of tarmac to complete their initial contract, are now getting work from Galway County council?.
newmug wrote: » Eh, this one ^^^^^^^. Your tone, the inverted commas around the word scam, and the questionmark, all point to a scenario in which you dont believe that this is a scam:rolleyes:
amiable wrote: » Show me the quote where i said its not a scam
the keen edge wrote: » Show me where I said you said it was a scam?. The question mark, is there to try and ascertain your view on the subject, which is unclear. Come on, we're not in front of the judge here! What is your view on the OP? I would be very doubtful everything would be above board with these guy's. Would you let them tarmac your driveway if they called to your door?
amiable wrote: » The question mark was there cos i asked a question. The inverted commas were quotation marks cos the OP called it a 'scam'. Again show me the quote where i state it wasn't a 'scam'?
R P McMurphy wrote: » The scenario outlined is a very well known old scam. If they did do the job you could well be left with a membrame of tar
amiable wrote: » I'm very familiar with this scam as you said yourself its very well known. IMHO there was very little evidence of an actual scam in the OP. That doesn't mean one wouldn't take place and that doesn't mean the OP wouldn't be able to back it up when he/she gets a chance to reply to the question i asked the OP
newmug wrote: » Very little evidence? Well there's two major pieces of evidence that kinda clinches it for me anyway. Lets see:Supposed council contractors calling door-to-door looking for money Not just leaving excess tar in the council yard, like real council contractors would Maybe I'm just too cynical for this crazy old world, but those two facts alone would ring my alarm bells, even if I'd never heard of a scam like this before.
amiable wrote: » I have no view whatsoever on the OP. The question mark was there to ask a question. I asked the OP a valid question
the keen edge wrote: » You haven't answered my question. Again, Travellers call to your door asking if you would like your driveway tarmaced. They claim to be working on a what is essentially a government contract despite the following glaring peculiarities: They are working from an out of state registered vehicle. Although to acquire government work, they would have to have a reasonable knowledge of taking measurements, Despite this they have over estimated the size of there initial contract by surprise surprise, the size of your driveway. They will be over 200Km away from your house tomorrow. Would you give them the job?
UngratefulWhelp wrote: » Sweet Jesus save us from the bending-over-backwards to be politically correct. No doubt if they called to amiable's door, he'd accept their kind offer to show how non-prejudiced he/she is.
bastados wrote: » With these guys going round its wise to give them a very quick brush off at the door as they can very easily become bothersome if they think there is any chance of getting any money off you.
They were Irish. Had the fortune to be in when a young Irish whipper snapper tried to convince the wife that we needed a new driveway. He couldn't have been older than 12 and he was trying to sell us a tarmaced drive way for 15,000 SEK The wife couldn't really understand what he was saying as he had quite a strong accent. I had to step in and say that we wasn't interested. As soon as he realised I was British he gave up and that was that. A couple of days later our local paper had an article about them though they seemed to be more concerned that they were not paying Swedish tax as oppose to ripping people off and stealing gravel.
One Irish road paver has been arrested while another is wanted by police in southern Sweden after the pair ordered a schoolboy to fill their truck with stolen gravel. The two men drove straight past security barriers and across a field to get to a gravel yard outside Skurup in the far south of Sweden on Wednesday. They then phoned a nearby school and asked for help to dislodge a digger that had become stuck. A teacher at the school sent a pupil over to the yard to help the pavers. But when the pupil got to the site he quickly realised that there was no digger. Instead the two men threatened him and ordered him to start loading gravel into their UK-registered truck, local newspaper Ystads Allehanda reports. "It was incredibly cheeky. It's surprising how inventive thieves can be," Ingrid Larsson from the Brösarps Grus gravel yard told the newspaper. Once the truck was loaded, the men hopped in and drove away from the pit. But in an ironic twist of fate, the wheels of the vehicle got stuck in the waterlogged field and the men were unable to proceed. By then the school had suspected that all was not well and notified Ingrid Larsson, who in turn called the police. By the time the police arrived, the men had disappeared. But the pavers appear to have been lying in wait and returned to the scene after the police had the truck towed out of the field. With the police busy gathering information, the two men climbed aboard the rescued vehicle and made good their escape.
amiable wrote: » What happens Tarmacadam when you bring it back to said yard? Maybe they stick it in the microwave the next morning to use again? Still no evidence there that the OP was to be scammed. Think before you post.
tinofapples wrote: » There's lots of foreign registered vehicles doing work for county councils up and done the country. O'Kane or Kane's spring to mind as do some E (Rather than IRL) plated Toyota Hilux's that were about Galway round the time the motorway was under construction !!
biko wrote: » It's a scam. They even go to Sweden.
the_syco wrote: » From a someone I know who did work in Sweden: most of the travellers in Sweden are Irish, and they bring over their Irish regged cars.
newmug wrote: » Bloody hell, there's kna travellers in Sweeden?:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
