Sketchy Behavior at House

[Anonymous]

We get lots of "our crew is working in your neighborhood this week and we can give you a deal on....roof/driveway/trees/windows/etc."
Usually never see who tucks it in door.

This week driving home we saw 2 guys in yellow safety vests with clipboards knocking on houses a block away. When we scurried into house I said they would show up. Yep. Dunno what they wanted. We didn't answer door, they didn't leave anything.

In summer usually we get pretty old looking "teens" with "ID Badges" claiming to be selling magazines/candy or fundraising for some youth group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m honestly surprised how … unaware? Sheltered? Naive? Some people are even in urban/inner ring suburban areas. They are looking for work. They are probably not licensed, bonded, and insured contractors with a good track record. This sounds 110% like “Travellers.” The people who come up and promise to redo your entire driveway or fix all the dents in your bumper or put on a new roof and then skip town with your deposit. It’s an old scam and people still fall for it.

Agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were looking for work. If one house was fancy and well kept, they couldn’t find an easy think to offer to fix.

Tree guys do this on my street a lot. “Hey we are removing trees for your neighbor next week and that oak there looks dead, want a quote?”

Ok, I can see that but let me add more color. I saw them pull up because I was on a long-ish call, so I saw the entire thing transpire. There are six houses on this portion of the block though and they didn't knock at any other house. They drove away after knocking on the other neighbor's house. Most of the houses are of similar quality/age as ours and the next door house is the anomaly.

I hope you're right though about them just looking for work.

OP. I forgot to add. The other neighbor doesn't have bricks in her yard.

They want to sell a service,
Siding
Roofing
Driveway
Solar Panels
Landscaping
Etc…
Nothing unusual.

[Anonymous]

Normally I'd tell you to mind your own business.

But a beard? And one was ROTUND? Oh gosh, OP. You've got a problem. You should form a neighborhood watch right now.

[Anonymous]

If they were actually casing your house, wouldn’t they have come back and attempted a break in?

[Anonymous]

I don’t care the “not answer the door” method. I prefer to open a window (not accessible from the ground floor) and yell out, “Can I help you?” And quickly send them on their way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they were actually casing your house, wouldn’t they have come back and attempted a break in?

Not necessarily. That's why you survey first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were looking for work. If one house was fancy and well kept, they couldn’t find an easy think to offer to fix.

Tree guys do this on my street a lot. “Hey we are removing trees for your neighbor next week and that oak there looks dead, want a quote?”

Ok, I can see that but let me add more color. I saw them pull up because I was on a long-ish call, so I saw the entire thing transpire. There are six houses on this portion of the block though and they didn't knock at any other house. They drove away after knocking on the other neighbor's house. Most of the houses are of similar quality/age as ours and the next door house is the anomaly.

I hope you're right though about them just looking for work.

Why were you standing across the street from your house on a long call? I could see sitting on my neighbor's porch, across from my house, but not standing in their driveway on the phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were looking for work. If one house was fancy and well kept, they couldn’t find an easy think to offer to fix.

Tree guys do this on my street a lot. “Hey we are removing trees for your neighbor next week and that oak there looks dead, want a quote?”

Ok, I can see that but let me add more color. I saw them pull up because I was on a long-ish call, so I saw the entire thing transpire. There are six houses on this portion of the block though and they didn't knock at any other house. They drove away after knocking on the other neighbor's house. Most of the houses are of similar quality/age as ours and the next door house is the anomaly.

I hope you're right though about them just looking for work.

Why were you standing across the street from your house on a long call? I could see sitting on my neighbor's porch, across from my house, but not standing in their driveway on the phone.

I was on a walk and the call started then. There's a public park area across the street from my house. Call kept going a bit longer than I anticipated and I also like to pace and get my step count up during calls, so I just stayed out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m honestly surprised how … unaware? Sheltered? Naive? Some people are even in urban/inner ring suburban areas. They are looking for work. They are probably not licensed, bonded, and insured contractors with a good track record. This sounds 110% like “Travellers.” The people who come up and promise to redo your entire driveway or fix all the dents in your bumper or put on a new roof and then skip town with your deposit. It’s an old scam and people still fall for it.

This. And these people are not safe. I live in flyover country and we had an old lady get murdered by a middle age man and his middle aged girlfriend who knocked on her door offering to do lawn work. Their goal was to rob the old lady. They tied her up and she had a heart attack during their burglary session.

They were ex-cons who were living in a motel in our town.