Pressure Washing Rip Off

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

This is a story that was on the "Buyer Beware" segment on the local news tonight in Greenville, SC. Now along with lowballers we have scam artist ripping the elderly and unsuspecting off to make us all look bad.

I thought I would share this to see what everyone thinks.

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Buyer Beware: Home Pressure-Washing Ripoff

POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT October 2, 2006

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Blanche Littleton's house was due for a cleaning. It had been a couple of years since her last pressure-washing.

"It was dirty. My vinyl siding was dirty. I had had it cleaned about two of three years ago. This friend of mine only charged me $100 to clean it," Littleton told WYFF News 4's Tim Waller.

So when a man knocked on Littleton's door last week and offered to pressure-wash her house, she figured it would cost around the same amount. There was no reason to suspect otherwise

"He said labor would be $60, and the cleaning fluid would be $29 a gallon," Littleton said.

Littleton agreed to let the man clean her house, but when the job was finished, the 80-year old woman got a nasty surprise.

Another man who showed up at her door said the crew had used 23 gallons of vinyl-siding cleaner. The bill, he said, was more than $600.

"I told him I wasn't going to pay that kind of money," Littleton said. "Then he said, well, I'll turn you over to the collection bureau. I said, you go right ahead. I'm not paying you that kind of money."

Littleton said the man agreed to give her a senior discount for a total of $471. Feeling frightened by the large man in her kitchen, Littleton said she wrote him a check.

"He kind of pushed me into it, kind of scared me a little bit," Littleton said.

To make matters worse, Littleton said a bottle of pain pills on her kitchen counter had been emptied while she went to the bathroom to get the man a bandage for his cut hand. She also had doubts about the vinyl-siding cleaner they used that cost $29 per gallon.

"My whole house reeked of bleach for two days. I believe he used bleach," Littleton said.

Littleton said she doesn't know why she agreed to let a stranger in her home. She urges others her age not to open the door if a person comes to their house offering to do a job.

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[Kory 14]

That Sucks!

[DustinC 64]

That sux that happened to her but I feel in the publics eyes its all the more reason to hire a reputable pw company instead of the lowballer knocking on doors.How much does jomax cost a gallon?lol

[Nigel 14]

I hate that when sobs take advantage of old folks !

[HotShot 34]

dang, that's some expensive bleach!! I get it for 3.49 a gallon at the local pool supply, where is this guy shopping?

In all seriousness though, if something like this happend to my grandma or mom....there would be hell to pay for that contractor. I would be after his butt.....

[One Tough Pressure 580]

In all seriousness though, if something like this happend to my grandma or mom....there would be hell to pay for that contractor. I would be after his butt.....

You have to find them first. I am sure they did not leave a card. In fact, I bet they do not even have any cards to leave.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

FWIW: I believe that the contractor was in violation of the consumer protection act by not giving a cap on the cost expectancy for the job. There is a requirement that it be in writing and clearly indicating what the process will be for. A start and end date is mandatory if it is to hold up in court.

We take the time to list in the specifications that we are cleaning the siding and stating what type it is upon inspection, what we will be removing (mildew and algae) and the total cost of the job. We give a 90 day window for start and completion times. Getting the customer to sign off on it is very important. The exception is if they give you a CC by phone, then you may insert the wording "phone order" into the signature line along with the CC information. If the customer is home at the time of service, get their signature as well. Otherwise, mail them the receipt with the CC info on it so that it does not fall into the wrong hands by a person coming to their door.

While this contractor is not a low-baller, he has proven to be a rip-off artist No one likes to be popped with a bill that far out of expectation and even if his crew did use that much which is not out of the realm of possibility, the cost is absolutely astronomical especially if they used mostly bleach. $10/gal is not unreasonable but $23!!! Also, the woman was a little sparse in her part to ask the question of how much they anticipate using in order to gauge the cost before accepting the services.

This type of contractor is the one that gives us all a bad reputation and it is in what we do that sets a higher standard for contract negotiations with the client that helps the public at large still have confidence in using us.

Rod!~

[PressurePros 248]

There was another thread on a different board about a contractor with a super-rig that was making a fortune going around knocking on doors and doing housewashes. I thought those that bought into his story were incredibly naieve (sp) This is exactly the type of gypsy contracting that makes door to door sales next to impossible. These clowns should be suspended crucifix style and the homeowners handed a 4000 psi, 0 nozzle loaded wand to extract a little justice.

[TNT Pressure Washing 14]

If people hear about this (and they will) thats going to be hard for us to sell jobs by going door to door. I can only speak for myself but I got started pwing deliverying pizzas. I became interested in pwing and while on deliveries I would ask if anyone washed their homes. If they said no I would leave them a card. I know this may sound dumb but I got jobs off of it and then referrals (sp) from those jobs. If I go to someones house to offer my services I at least have a company shirt on and cards and pens ready. ANTHONY-Me and you are in the same boat. I would use every source I could find to find this creep.

[Mike Williamson 198]

If people hear about this (and they will) thats going to be hard for us to sell jobs by going door to door. I can only speak for myself but I got started pwing deliverying pizzas. I became interested in pwing and while on deliveries I would ask if anyone washed their homes. If they said no I would leave them a card. I know this may sound dumb but I got jobs off of it and then referrals (sp) from those jobs. If I go to someones house to offer my services I at least have a company shirt on and cards and pens ready. ANTHONY-Me and you are in the same boat. I would use every source I could find to find this creep.

Wouldn't be impossible to find...she wrote him a check. It was either made out to a person, or to a company. That's a start.

[Thad 135]

There was another thread on a different board about a contractor with a super-rig that was making a fortune going around knocking on doors and doing housewashes. I thought those that bought into his story were incredibly naieve (sp) This is exactly the type of gypsy contracting that makes door to door sales next to impossible. These clowns should be suspended crucifix style and the homeowners handed a 4000 psi, 0 nozzle loaded wand to extract a little justice.

I remember that conversation- can't remember where it was.

It's believable, Ken.

I get a ton of business by standing at a busy intersection with a "Will Wash For Cash" sign. I'm booked through November of 2008 and I charge a minimum of $1000 for a housewash.

I mean, it's not like you're gonna fly here and check it out so I can swear to anything. Right?

;)

[PLD 14]

FWIW: I believe that the contractor was in violation of the consumer protection act by not giving a cap on the cost expectancy for the job. There is a requirement that it be in writing and clearly indicating what the process will be for. A start and end date is mandatory if it is to hold up in court.

That may be the case in Md, but not here in Ga.

[newlook 265]

I started with the door-to-door approach in my neighborhood that I lived in for 9 years. Everybody knew me so the trust part was a little bit more easier vs. going into a neighborhood that had no clue as to who I was.

[Mike Williamson 198]

That may be the case in Md, but not here in Ga.

If I'm not mistaken, the Consumer Protection Act is a Federal thing...applies everywhere.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

That may be the case in Md, but not here in Ga.

The consumer protection act is federal and applies to the entire U.S.

Rod!~

[James A. Lewis 14]

Here is a great opportunity to turn bad news into great news while offering a solution to this kind of situation.Len, it would be terrific if you contacted Tim Waller at channel 4 that ran that story and offer a solution as to what to look for when you are looking for a professional to wash your home.I think your business would soar to the highest level.And he would more than likely welcome the opportunity. Jim

[Rfitz 14]

That older woman should have checked his references first, anyway, we charge approx. $295 -$395 for your average 2000 -3000 sq ft house and by no means do we get all the bids but we do alot of house washing at those prices, as most wood restortaion contractors here do not offer that service,

we also give the price over the phone based on the size of the home they tell us it is, and if they are not telling us the truth, we will adjust the price accordingly, and most are ok with that..

[Paul B. 523]

Unfortunately there are scam artists in all areas of contracting.

As for references: Which three of my cousins phone numbers do you want?

References are not always the best way to go. Does any contractor give out names of references where the job didn't go well?

Many customers find such sites as Angie's List reassuring as they get to read other consumer's input on a specific contractor.

Shopping thru the Yellow Pages is also a help (most low ballers do not commit to long term advertising) - although this does not speak for the work quality.

Shopping thru the community paper is also a good start as you can check with the paper as to how long the contractor has been advertising.

As I said, it's only a start.

The news is filled of customer related items - I'm tired of it! We hear too many similar stories - don't these people ever learn? What about the flip side of the coin? What about the contractors: why aren't any stories in the news about bad customers?

One of my associates has actually called the local TV news trouble shooter and has asked why they don't show bad customer stories. They thought it was a good idea but said they didn't decide what stories run on TV.

My contractor friends and I are looking to start our own site:

"Raul's List - The Contractor's Source for Good Customers."

On Raul's list we will be soliciting contractors for input on customers.

- Which customer shops for lowest bid vs. quality work.

- Which customer does not pay on time.

- Which customer wants to tell the contractor how to do their job.

- Which customer only wants a partial job (one side of their homes washed, contractor clean deck - customer stain deck, etc.).

- Which customer likes to negotiate (haggle) for lowest price.

- Which customer has their own P/W and only wants a price on cleaning the 2nd story (since they can clean the lower level on their own).

- Which customer has tried to blame their or bad contractor's mistakes on you (wood damage from high pressure washing, paint spills on driveway, etc..)

- Which customer changes their mind on paint or stain color a dozen times and expects the contractor to hold the original price (after ordering special colors that can't be returned; after staining half the deck; etc.)

- Which customer does not clean up after their dogs and leaves traps for the contractor.

- Which customer lets their kids or animals run and play in the area the contractor needs to work in.

- Which customer requires them to be home while contractor does the work.

- ...The list goes on and on.

In addition:

- All customers will be required to provide a minimum of two recent contractor references (be it painter, plumber or handy man) - contractor relatives will not be acceptable references (or maybe they will - still debating this item).

- All customers will be required to provide credit references.

- All customers will be required to list all pre-existing conditions on the area to be worked on (damaged screen windows, holes in siding, melted siding, paint chipping, etc.) Failure to list any item will result in a $25 per item surcharge.

- All customers will be required to provide written statements from adjacent neighbors on their perspective of customer interaction with previous contractors. (Neighbor's will be encouraged to list any bad mouthing of contractor(s) by customer.)

This is still in the early stages of development but we have many contractors that are already pre-paying for membership, are providing input or are providing moral support. May we count on yours?

[Palmetto Home and Deck 167]

Paul,

Sign me up. I have a customer's name I can put beside every item you have on your list.