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 homes in St. Thomas since last week.
The seniors claim it’s the work of a group of men who pretended to be from a well-known paving company and offered to repair their driveways, presenting an offer they couldn’t turn down.
“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, explaining that she agreed to get the work started but refused to pay until it was finished.
However, Church’s son paid them upfront. The workers were supposed to come back the next day for finishing touches, but they never returned and disappeared entirely. The women asked other neighbors if they had similar experiences and soon discovered they’d been scammed-and now they’re responsible for fixing the mess left on 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 responsible for fixing damages to their driveways resulting from an unfinished job. (Isha Bhargava/CBC)
This situation is also true for Melinda Tales. She lives just a few blocks away and lost $6,000 to what she believes is the same group, who promised much-needed repairs at a limited-time price.
“At first I said, ‘No, I’m not interested.’ However, my laneway was in bad shape and I thought maybe I’ll just get it done at a good price. He did say they were only in town briefly so they were offering deals while they could,” Tales shared.
“They came, didn’t talk much, laid the asphalt then left. No receipt or card,” said Tales about her unfinished driveway experience. “There’s supposed to be a five-year warranty but how does that work without a receipt?”
Tales and other homeowners have filed police reports since then. They’re sharing their stories as warnings because they think residents in nearby neighborhoods might also fall prey to this alleged scam.
This whole ordeal has been tough for Tales; she mentioned losing money she had saved up for a new vehicle she desperately needed.
“I honestly feel sick; $6,000 isn’t something I can just pull out easily. I work part-time so saving that money for a vehicle was really hard,” she explained. “People are struggling out there so taking advantage of others is absolutely disgusting.”
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True Owner of Paving Company Responds
In both cases, homeowners reported that two men with thick Scottish accents went door-to-door claiming affiliation with a company called True North Seal while collecting full payments or deposits. A wave of complaints prompted Macauley Goldsmith-the actual owner of the paving company-to inform residents that True North Seal has no involvement in these incidents and someone is impersonating them. “It’s me and another guy running this business; we rarely go door-to-door for sales-we mostly rely on people calling us,” Goldsmith stated regarding his company which has been operating for five years serving St. Thomas, Port Stanley, and London areas. “It’s frustrating because I’ve received many positive reviews online which could be impacted by this situation-especially in a small town where options are limited.” Goldsmith noted that door-to-door asphalt scams are becoming increasingly common nowadays; he advises homeowners to ask for websites or business cards as well as check vehicles for branding along with photos from previous jobs completed successfully-scammers may struggle when answering such questions which can be red flags. Meanwhile Marriott and Church are anxiously waiting to find out how much more they’ll need to spend fixing their driveways. “I don’t know what the bill will end up being because we have to hire another contractor again,” stated Marriott., “Now we’re looking at paying fully again for the whole driveway.”Source link
