A large pile of asphalt concrete, surrounded by pylons, has been sitting in front of the damaged driveways of neighbors Pat Church and Barb Marriott outside their St. Thomas homes since last week.
The seniors say it’s the work of a group of men who claimed to be from a well-known paving company and offered to repair their driveways for a price they couldn’t resist.
“A person came and approached us, he said he’ll have it all done in one day and it’ll be $5,000 cash. He said we’ll be very happy,” Marriott remembered, noting she agreed to get the job started but refused to pay until it was finished.
However, Church’s son paid them upfront. The workers were supposed to return the next day for final touches, but they never came back and vanished without a trace. The women then asked other neighbors if they had similar experiences and soon realized they’d been scammed – now facing the cost of fixing their driveways.
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A large pile of asphalt concrete surrounded by pylons has been sitting in front of Marriott and Church’s houses. The neighbors are now on the hook to fix damages to their driveways resulting from an unfinished job. (Isha Bhargava/CBC)
This also applies to Melinda Tales. She lives just a few blocks away and lost $6,000 to what she believes is the same group, who told her they’d do necessary repairs as part of a limited-time offer.
“At first I said, ‘No, I’m not interested.’ But my laneway was really bad, so I thought maybe I’d just get it done at a good price. They explained that they were only in town briefly and offering deals while they could,” Tales explained.
“They came, didn’t communicate much, laid down the asphalt, then left. No receipt or card,” said Tales about her own unfinished driveway experience. “There’s supposed to be a five-year warranty but I don’t see how that works without any receipt.”
Tales and other homeowners have filed police reports since then. They’re sharing their stories as warnings because they believe others in different neighborhoods might also fall victim to this scam.
This situation has been tough for Tales; she mentioned losing money she’d saved for a new vehicle that she desperately needs.
“I honestly feel sick; $6,000 isn’t just pocket change for me. I work part-time so saving up that money for a car was really difficult,” she said. “People are struggling out there; taking advantage like this is truly disgusting.”
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Real Owner of Paving Company Responds
In both cases mentioned above, homeowners reported that two men with thick Scottish accents went door-to-door in their neighborhoods claiming to work for True North Seal and collected either full payments or deposits. A series of complaints led True North Seal’s actual owner Macauley Goldsmith to inform locals that his company isn’t involved in these incidents – someone is pretending to be them. “It’s me and another guy who handle everything here; we rarely go door-to-door looking for sales – people usually call us instead,” Goldsmith shared about his business that’s been running for five years serving St. Thomas, Port Stanley, and London areas. “It’s frustrating because I’ve got many good reviews on Google; obviously it could hurt my business especially since it’s a small town with few competitors.” He added that door-to-door paving scams are becoming more frequent lately. His advice? Homeowners should ask for websites or business cards and check if vehicles are branded along with photos from past jobs they’ve done – scammers might struggle answering those questions promptly which can be telling signs. Meanwhile Marriott and Church wait anxiously hoping they’ll find out how much more they’ll need to spend fixing their driveways. “I don’t know what the bill is gonna be because we need another [contractor], so now we’re paying again for the entire driveway,” expressed Marriott.Source link
