Several times I have gotten random texts or emails of someone asking if I do pressure washing services and then immediately say they want a quote for all services. It’s never a phone call. Last couple times I tried to schedule an in person meeting and usually they disappear which goes with my gut feeling of it being some kind of scam.
Does anyone have more experience with this? How are they trying to benefit?
This most recent one I got the address and Google says the house is still for sale even though he says he just bought it. Again, waiting for a reply for an in person consultation just in case he’s just an odd type of customer but I doubt it.
Ok he just responded “I will not be able to meet with you during your estimated bid because I’m not feeling too well at the moment” followed by “Go ahead and inspect the job and get back to me with your bid.”
This is so obviously fake so what would y’all respond with? And again, what is their angle? I don’t get it.
Goal is to send you a cheque for more than your price. They realize their “mistake” then ask you to return the extra. Then the original cheque bounces.
1000 variations of this scam, but all of them involve them paying you more than you asked for up front.
Most common I’ve seen is it’s a “vacant home” and they are out of town for business/military/etc. They get you to book a high price job, and then tell you they are also having plumbing/landscaping/etc. done the same day, That contractor requires cash only, which of course they cn’t do since they are out of town. They offer to pay you extra to cover that cash payment for them (the “contractor” is of course the scammer). They hand you a check for your work, the cash, and whatever extra fee they offered and you go home happy. Check bounces and you’re out the labor and the cash you handed them.
What’s y’all’s best tactic to weed these people out without accidentally disrespecting a potential client? Or is my attempt at booking an in person meeting about as good as I can do? It’s such a waste of time dealing with these folks but I’ve only been in business 6 months and this has to be the 3rd or 4th.
9/10 are not even in your area…I’m in central VA and the closest one I ever saw was the far side of MD. I’ve had them in New Mexioc, South Dakota, Montana, & Maine…pretty easy to discern usually.
If all they say is “quote for all servcies”, then go into your usual spiel about what are there areas of concern or whatever.
I get about 1 every 2 weeks. You’ll learn. You’re doing fine, check it online like you did. Usually will be for sale or for rent. Sometimes they’ll even offer a high price for the service right off the bat. They’ll say something like they have a $900 budget for house and drive. when you pull it up it’d be a $400 job at best. When I’m suspicious I just tell them I need to meet someone there to go over work. They’ll give you some spiel about they’re just moving and want to have ready when they move in. No legit realtor probably going to list one that needs all of the stuff they want done w/o at least having house cleaned. Once you tell them you need to meet though they disappear.
Funny, about 3 months ago, I had a text on one needing blah, blah. Turns out it was a house I’d just cleaned about a week prior for the owners to put on market. It’d only been listed for a couple of days and these yahoos already trying to run scams.
One thing I’ve found that seems to be working well is that when they ask if you take cashiers check or credit cards, is that I tell them if they’re not living there I only take cash or Zelle. That nips them in the bud pretty quick.
Hahaha love that. Yeah I live where most of my clients do have outside area codes. Lots of transplants which works great for me because I’m a little new in town as well. BUT they do usually call first so … Maybe some ignoring is in order. Appreciate all of you!
You learn after a few of these what to look for. They are usually asking for everything to be cleaned, including the roof, and as already mentioned, the house is up for sale or rent. I throw a ridiculous price at them, 3-4x higher than normal. They take the offer immediately, then I insist on a face to face meeting, and only take cash, half up front, half upon completion. When they balk, I like to counter with, overpay one of your other contractors to pay me.
I had one of these last year. I waited an hour & responded “Nice place! Would you like the basketball court cleaned as well?”. He answered “No”. I told him I would only clean it if the basketball court was included. He responded “Okay, include the basketball court as well”. That’s when I informed him I only accept tacos as payment; crispy tacos with sour cream & guacamole on the side & if they are not fresh, the deal is off.
I genuinely get excited when I get one of these scam messages. It’s like a free pass to just completely mess with their minds. I’ve yet to come across a scammer that I’d feel confident betting money on them passing a fourth grade reading and writing test. They’re morons.
You can always tell when you get a new one. All kind of things wrong. I laughed at one the other day and told him ‘you must be new at this’. He said, what? I said ‘being a scam artist’. Haven’t heard back from him, lol.
One of these guys called me with a california area code and gave me an address to wash. I looked it up on zillow and saw it was for sale. Guy said he bought it. I called the listing agent and realized this guy was trying to scam me
