A WIDDOWER who suffers from cancer has been left reeling by cowboy builders who scammed him out of £2,800.
And Charles Hilliard, 82, who lives in Ruffs Furze, Oakely, believes that it is pensioners that have been targeted by the unscrupulous firm.
He said: “I actually feel like I have done my neighbours a favour because I was able to tell them not to get any work done.
“We are all over 80 and we have all been approached so they are obviously looking us out.
“I have a daughter in her 50s who lives a few doors away, her guttering needs doing and they never bothered her.”
On September 30, men claiming to be from a company called J and B Building Services, attended Mr Hilliard’s property and told him that work needed to doing on his roof, but police claim that name of the company could be a front because there are many reputable companies registered under that name in the area.
Mr Hilliard, who is currently being treated for cancer and is disabled after a tumour was removed from his leg, said: “I was out in the garden and they pulled up in a multi-coloured transit van and one of the men called out of the window did I know that my chimney needed work.
“He got out of the van and came up to me and claimed that he would do it for a reasonable price.
“I was thinking straight because of all the worry regarding my health, he said he could clear all the guttering, downpipes and facias for £120 and I agreed.”
But when work began on the property the next day the gang claimed that more work needed to be done and the estimated price began to escalate.
Mr Hilliard said: “They helped me to climb up onto the roof and showed me a piece of it and said it was all loose.
“Then one of the pieces that I think they had loosened fell down and smashed on the patio.
“They’d opened up all the roof, if I said I didn’t want it doing they would have just left it or wouldn’t have put it back properly. They told me it was going to cost £4,200.”
Further alarm bells started to ring for Mr Hilliard when the workmen claimed that they could no accept a payment by cheque for £2,800 as the first instalment for the works.
He said: “He said that is how builders work, they wanted the full amount in cash but the bank would only let me draw out £2,800 which I gave to them.
“I had to go to hospital in the morning of the next day but before they arrived I got up on the step ladder to check the work and they hadn’t even touched the gutterings.
“I sat down and worked out the costings and I felt like such a fool, I had been paying them about £200 an hour.”
Mr Hilliard immediately rang the Office Of Fair Trading and the police who are investigating the incident.
A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said: “We are investigating this, even though they had J and B on the side of the van it is a common name used by reputable builders and it is highly unlikely that this is their name.”
And Charles Hilliard, 82, who lives in Ruffs Furze, Oakely, believes that it is pensioners that have been targeted by the unscrupulous firm.
He said: “I actually feel like I have done my neighbours a favour because I was able to tell them not to get any work done.
“We are all over 80 and we have all been approached so they are obviously looking us out.
“I have a daughter in her 50s who lives a few doors away, her guttering needs doing and they never bothered her.”
On September 30, men claiming to be from a company called J and B Building Services, attended Mr Hilliard’s property and told him that work needed to doing on his roof, but police claim that name of the company could be a front because there are many reputable companies registered under that name in the area.
Mr Hilliard, who is currently being treated for cancer and is disabled after a tumour was removed from his leg, said: “I was out in the garden and they pulled up in a multi-coloured transit van and one of the men called out of the window did I know that my chimney needed work.
“He got out of the van and came up to me and claimed that he would do it for a reasonable price.
“I was thinking straight because of all the worry regarding my health, he said he could clear all the guttering, downpipes and facias for £120 and I agreed.”
But when work began on the property the next day the gang claimed that more work needed to be done and the estimated price began to escalate.
Mr Hilliard said: “They helped me to climb up onto the roof and showed me a piece of it and said it was all loose.
“Then one of the pieces that I think they had loosened fell down and smashed on the patio.
“They’d opened up all the roof, if I said I didn’t want it doing they would have just left it or wouldn’t have put it back properly. They told me it was going to cost £4,200.”
Further alarm bells started to ring for Mr Hilliard when the workmen claimed that they could no accept a payment by cheque for £2,800 as the first instalment for the works.
He said: “He said that is how builders work, they wanted the full amount in cash but the bank would only let me draw out £2,800 which I gave to them.
“I had to go to hospital in the morning of the next day but before they arrived I got up on the step ladder to check the work and they hadn’t even touched the gutterings.
“I sat down and worked out the costings and I felt like such a fool, I had been paying them about £200 an hour.”
Mr Hilliard immediately rang the Office Of Fair Trading and the police who are investigating the incident.
A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said: “We are investigating this, even though they had J and B on the side of the van it is a common name used by reputable builders and it is highly unlikely that this is their name.”
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