Parents being scammed - advice urgently needed!

I know of a case where the victim was scammed out of over £100k through this kind of roofing con. They found more and more “problems” and needed more and more money. You have got away lightly.

Yes that's what they do.

Make the problem worse

What were they doing for £2400?
The chances are nothing. They would have gone up on the roof, caused damage and billed the op's parents for another few grand. Fucking bastards.
The scaffolding will have cost them nothing if they own it. So even paying for that was a rip off but just as well to have them gone.

My late FIL lived in my partners house and signed a contract for new windows, didnt tell my OH. Luckily my OH was there when they came to make arrangements. Told them my FIL had no right to sign anything and they should have checked house ownership first! They weren't happy

Make sure you put a "No Cold Callers" sign on the front door!!!

What were they doing for £2400? That's quite cheap if they were replacing an entire roof!

If the roof needed doing I would have done some research into the credibility and made it clear that payment would only be made upon completion where YOU or a professional would inspect their work. Did they give you a copy of the other paperwork?

Also £300 for scaffolding seems cheap. That's often one of the most expensive parts of roofing jobs although depends if they own the scaffolding themselves. It's quite common to leave it up at one job until it can be taken down and moved straight to the next job.

Glad you got sorted @Neighneigh ! So glad the bank workers were also there to advise them not to do it. Goes to show how important the physical locations still are, they try to push everything online but people still need support.

Our elderly neighbour was scammed out of thousands - the police took it very seriously, went round and gave everyone in the street a crime reference number and told us to ring 999 if we ever saw them going near his house again. At one point the guys had physically taken him to the bank and made him draw out 7 grand in cash for them. No idea why the bank let him do that, but that was what the police and his son told us. Hope you manage to put a stop to it.

Sorry but I think you and your DH should be there when they come and tell them to take scaffolding down and that the police are aware. Then check what needs done and get a few reliable quotes from firms with positive reviews.

Reputable tradespeople do not go around knocking on the doors of elderly people persuading them to have their roof done.

This is as dodgy as fuck.

Do you really think a good roofer will be knocking doors looking for work?

I'm not a FB fan but community groups are often great in such situations. I'd ask on the local group.

The roof desperately needs doing? A bit quick to suggest calling trading standards, they might do a great job.

It may be they're using your parents house to store the scaffolding, and trying to charge them for the privilege by claiming to do the roof work.

100% a scam, the exact same happened to my 80yo neighbour, apart from the scammers had already taken her to the bank for their "deposit". The scaffold was up before the ink was dry. When I realised what was going on, I called the police and they came and spoke to the neighbour and took it all very seriously. Police will advise what to do.

You need to be there when they come back to start the work and know your rights about telling them that they need to get the scaffold down and leave. Do NOT pay a penny.

Contact trading standards - they were brilliant when we had a similar issue and they contacted the builder to threaten with legal action. The way the roofer approached your parents is illegal and against standards.

@Neighneigh Do you/your parents have home insurance that includes a legal helpline?
If so, they might be open tomorrow, and could give you advice.

I like the PPs advice about calling the scaffolding company, that’s also worth a try.

On the document is there a proper address like a phone number I don't mean a mobile number I mean a real landline number, and an actual address?

This so-called contract was made under duress from a cold caller and is absolutely worthless in law.

these people are scammers and if your parents reneged on the contract they are not going to take your parents to court, so you can forget about being scared of breaking this so-called contract.

Thank goodness they have not paid any money over . this is the only good thing about this terrible story.

Contact them and tell them to come and take the scaffolding down. They are not doing any work before any work is done on a roof or anything, your parents need to get three quotes from three reputable builders who they have contacted themselves via checker trade or such like where they can read the reviews. Even better get a personal recommendation by word of mouth.

Absolutely nobody gets work done because somebody comes knocking on the door touting for work. As the electrician above has said, no tradesmen who is bonafide goes knocking door to door trying to get work. This whole thing stinks like a rotting fish. Do not let your parents give these people a single penny.

A good tradesman will have finance with his bank for outgoings he incurs at the start of a job which will be recouped when the customer pays his invoice at the end of the job.

I'm an electrician, this is certainly dodgy - no reputable tradesperson knocks doors for work, maybe a leaflet drop when you first start, then you end up booked by recommendation or your advertising - those of us who are busy just don't have time to knock doors, and its a rough way to tout for work.

£2500 won't do very much roofing at todays prices, so you can be sure they will muck about up there for a few hours and probably make any issues worse.

I'd be up there with a scaffold key and have all their (no doubt stolen) scaffolding neatly stacked and tell them to foxtrot Oscar.

In seriousness, if they put the scaffolding up, look at the tubes, most scaffolding firms have their name and contact number roll embossed all along the side of each tube in 12pt type, if its got a number, give them a call, they have probably been looking for it!!

Very scamworthy. Any good firm simply does not door knock for work. These have door knocked, probably pressure sold then got the scaffolding up all within a couple of days. Objectively though they've signed something and agreed to the work but you could argue under duress as they were canvassed? Id also be tempted to tell them to fuck right off.

Search the directors on companies house and see if there are other companies they have been directors of, that maybe a further red flag.

what happened with the second document they signed?

have they set out clearly the work they are going to do? The fact they have put scaffolding up is good, but they may just faff about with a couple of tiles. What work is actually needed? Can’t you get a builder friend to take a look or call the company and ask them to walk you through what they are planning. If the roof needs repair then it maybe legitimate but it doesn’t seem like a significant amount of money to sort it unless the issue is very specific.

Everything does NOT add up. OP’s mum has signed something and not been left a copy of what it was - she signed two things and has only been given a copy of one. That alone is fishy.

Hang on, let’s just back up a little. What is the actual tangible evidence that this company is not legitimate? They agreed to do the work and they showed up to do the work. Ok, they only set up in June but new businesses set up all the time. This will also explain why they have a gap in their schedule. And you parents genuinely need the roof doing. So far, everything adds up.
Was there anything in the contract that looked suspicious? Or is it just that you are, perhaps legitimately, worried about your parents’ ability to fully make an informed decision? This, in itself, does not mean they have been scammed.