Well I would be careful if I were you. A few years back we were in the process of moving into a new house. I was at our old house packing up things from one of the rooms and moving them down into the garage for easier access when the moving truck came. That way everything would be ready to go in the garage and everything that was inside the house would be packed up and moved out.

 

Because of the regular trips back and forth, I had the garage door wide open (which just happened to be housing my dirt bike). I hear the doorbell ring and go downstairs to see who was at the door. There were two men, both in their mid-30's, that looked like they had been mowing yards. They asked if I would like for them to mow/weed-eat the hill behind our house (it was getting tall because we were moving and hadn't bothered to mow). I told them no thanks, and they said thanks anyways and appeared to leave. I went back upstairs to continue packing.

 

About 5 minutes later I just happen to look out the window and see one of the guys in a black truck driving very slowly down the driveway. I watched suspiciously and then I saw the other guy.....

 

He had put my dirt bike into neutral and was rolling it down the hill and met him at the bottom and started to load it into the back of the truck.

 

I immediately grabbed a phone to call the police and ran outside but they were already driving off. I called the police and told them what they were driving, what they looked like, etc. This town wasn't big, so it shouldn't have been hard to spot them, but the police said "we'll try to find them, and we'll be sending someone to the house to file a police report."

 

So I waited for 30 minutes until the cops showed up. They filed a report and I gave descriptions of both of the men and the truck they were driving.

 

About a week later I got a call from the police saying that I needed to come down to the station. When I got there they asked me to identify the bike, which I did. They had scratched off the serial numbers and taken off most of the stickers I had on it, but I managed to clean off some dirt and found a sticker I had put there.

 

I got the dirt bike back after verifying that it was mine but I don't know what happened to the two guys.

 

The police said that they were eating at KFC earlier that day and two guys that fit the description (and their truck fit my description) came in to order something. He said they followed the men back to a house and pulled them over and started questioning them about the bike. They said that "someone" had given them the bike but that they didn't know it was stolen :sssh:

 

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the guys....

 

:scared:That is horrible. Thanks for the warning, PH and I will be watching out for something like this.

:scared:That is horrible. Thanks for the warning, PH and I will be watching out for something like this.

 

Yeah, it's just something to keep in mind when someone comes to your door asking for something.

 

In my experience, they were scouting the place out to see what was around that could be easily stolen or to see if anyone was home.

I once had a kid selling restaurant cards outside Wal Mart for $20.00. The card was legitimate, but I know our school sold them for $10.00. I called him on it and he walked away.

 

I also was approached by a desperate woman at a gas station. She just left a sick relative at Children's Hospital and left her purse there. She didnt have enough gas to get home. I did give her $5.00 for gas, but still feel like a fool for doing that.

This is a common scam used around shopping outlets and restaurants located near interstate highways. There's many different versions...sometimes their car has broken down and they don't have enough money to fix it to get back to Chattanooga. Sometimes they're out of gasoline. Or they have had their money stolen, or lost their wallet. Sometimes it's the sick relative about to die routine and they need money to get to the hospital. Sometimes they even ask for your mailing address to mail you the money back.:lol:

I have fallen for a few of these, but I don't give anymore.

We seem to be getting more and more knocks on the door for stupid stuff. "Can I clean your yard?" "Can I wash your car?" "Can I clean your gutters?" "Can I cut your tree?" "Can I blacktop your driveway?" "Can I mow your yard?" "Can I rake you leaves?" The list goes on and on. The sad thing about it is the stuff that they list does not need to be done, or, I just did it. I will point that out to them and I just get a really stupid look! It makes me sick.

Google up some info about a scam group known as "The Travellers". You appear to have met a few of them. Especially the one about working on your driveway. Many times it's roof repair, or painting a building. And they are professionals at their scam techniques. They have been around a long, long time.

Same thing happend to my brother when he lived in Dallas. He was going in to a Quiznos and I guy asked him for some money for food. He explained to him that he was going in for a sub and would get a foot long and give him half of it. The guy argued with my brother because he wanted the money not the food. I have not given money to anything or anyone unless I know it is legit since then (well, not until Sunday night).

 

Sort of on the same line. A few years ago, a trooper friend of mine saw an older man and woman sitting at the bottom of an offramp on I-75. The man was sitting in a wheelchair holding up a sign that read "need money to get home". Needless to say he had seen the same couple the day before and the woman was sitting in the wheelchair.The trooper asked them where they lived and the man kinda hummed around and said Knoxville, Tn. and that they needed a few dollars for bus fare. The trooper then told them to stay put and he would help them out. He then goes to the local Greyhound terminal and proceeds to purchase 2 one way tickets to Knoxville for the couple. He goes back and picks them up in his cruiser and heads to the terminal, all the while they are saying they are in no hurry to get to Knoxville. The trooper then waits until the bus arrives and departs from the terminal with the cople and their wheelchair. He said they were fussing with each other as they drove off and the looks on their faces were priceless.

Sort of on the same line. A few years ago, a trooper friend of mine saw an older man and woman sitting at the bottom of an offramp on I-75. The man was sitting in a wheelchair holding up a sign that read "need money to get home". Needless to say he had seen the same couple the day before and the woman was sitting in the wheelchair.The trooper asked them where they lived and the man kinda hummed around and said Knoxville, Tn. and that they needed a few dollars for bus fare. The trooper then told them to stay put and he would help them out. He then goes to the local Greyhound terminal and proceeds to purchase 2 one way tickets to Knoxville for the couple. He goes back and picks them up in his cruiser and heads to the terminal, all the while they are saying they are in no hurry to get to Knoxville. The trooper then waits until the bus arrives and departs from the terminal with the cople and their wheelchair. He said they were fussing with each other as they drove off and the looks on their faces were priceless.

It really is sickening what some people will do.

As for the magazine thing, I had a couple of guys come to my door. they also had a "points" story, and I did buy a subscription by check.

 

The more I thought about it, the more I got upset about it. The receipt did have an address to ask for a refund (cancel the transaction).

 

I applied, and fortunately received a check for that amount. And no futher complications. So hopefully you will have the same fortune as I did.

Hint #2 should have been the white, unmarked 15 passenger van honking for this guy to hurry up.

 

This makes me laugh cause I can just see it happening and knowing your demeanor and picturing this kid, is just cracking me up:lol:

Some guy showed up at my apartment here in Lexington off of Tates Creek the other day trying to sell me magazines. He had these raggity looking cards with magazines and points for each magazine on them. He looked about half drunk or high. I kept my door about half open and was awful leary. My buddy was up so I motioned with my hand behind my back to go get my .357 by making the gun sign. This guy kept saying "Ask me how I get my points" and he'd get more points. He was asking me about my interest and I kept saying crazy off the wall stuff like guns, knives, and random stuff to freak him out. It was kinda funny but it's untellin what these people are upto.

Some guy showed up at my apartment here in Lexington off of Tates Creek the other day trying to sell me magazines. He had these raggity looking cards with magazines and points for each magazine on them. He looked about half drunk or high. I kept my door about half open and was awful leary. My buddy was up so I motioned with my hand behind my back to go get my .357 by making the gun sign. This guy kept saying "Ask me how I get my points" and he'd get more points. He was asking me about my interest and I kept saying crazy off the wall stuff like guns, knives, and random stuff to freak him out. It was kinda funny but it's untellin what these people are upto.

 

I'm about 99% certain this was the same scam I dealt with. He was associated with the Herald Leader in some form or fashion. The kid that came to my house looked, talked, and acted the same as you describe. I was a little freaked out when he started talking all crazy and was about ready to lay the smack down on him at the drop of a hat.

I had two men, college age knock at my door the other day as well. They said I was selected for a Free Carpet Cleaning. I had just bought this house and installd bamboo hardwood throughout and told them I didn't have carpet. They then kept on saying we clean hardwood too. However, I was onto their game by then when I saw they were carrying around a .5 cent notebook that had been chewed up by a dog and had mutilated pages. I told them it takes special products to clean bamboo wood and it is true and told them to get on their way. They then said if I let them in to clean they just had to have 15 more clients in able to go to England on a sponsored trip.

 

The best part is that they walked off, they didn't even have a car. Where was their equipment, etc. It is untelling what they would've donw if I had let them in. Just a bunch of THUGS.

 

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon, a guy knocked on my door and when I answered, he thrust a bottle of purple, scented Dawn into my hand and said, "Wait here, I'll be right back." Before I could stop him, he had a carpet cleaner out of his van and was lugging it up my driveway. I told him I wasn't interested and that I didn't have any carpet anway. He told me the same thing about it being able to clean wood floors. I repeated that I wasn't interested, and he said his boss paid him every time he demonstrated the machine, and would I be kind enough to help him out? I said, "Thanks, but no thanks."

 

Then, he asked me to give him the bottle of soap back! I was getting ready to offer it back to him anyway, but geez...

 

I decided then and there that I will no longer be wasting even a moment of my time with any unsolicited door-to-door people. I'm going to either not answer the door, or politely but firmly tell them to get lost.:irked:

Edited September 22, 200818 yr by shamrock fan
typo

In this day and age, we should not have door to door salespeople.

Get this... amazing turn of events.

 

Last Thursday I get home and low and behold there is an envelope in the mailbox from this company. I open it up and sure enough there is a check for $48 in my name.

 

1) I somehow managed to make $8 off this entire deal. I ended up scamming the scammers.

2) The turnaround was amazing for getting my refund... just a little over a week. If I ever got it back, I assumed it would be months from now.

3) I am having trouble sleeping at night now knowing my children's books will not be delivered and I cost unmarked 15 passenger van guy with the tattoos a chance to work for the BBC.