Suspicious about a builder

Rolyata · 2005-07-26T00:17:30+00:00

A builder was today touting door to door, I'm not remotely interestedin using him, but am suspicious about him and wonder if anybody hereknows anything about him.He trades under the name of M&S Harrison, he is Steve and his father isMark, he has a quote form giving an 0800 phone number and a mobilenumber. The trading "address" in Bristol is very strange. There is nopostcode, nor street. Merely an industrial unit number and a referenceto 7 Beach, Bristol. There is also an equally vague address in Durham.When challenged about the lack of a postcode, he said that it's notneeded as everybody there knows where it is.I produced a Bristol A-Z and asked him to show me where he was based,but he said he wasn't very good with maps and declined. He explainedthat it was near the new Severn crossing. I assume that he claims he'slocated at Severn Beach, but I can't imagine that a local would confusenumeric 7 with the river Severn.Google reports no other company operating from any industrial unit witha similar address and it shows no match for the two phone numbers.He was touting for work in a very small town in Wiltshire, about 30miles from Bristol, explaining that there is no work in Bristol.Clearly, everything he says is totally unconvincing and points to himbeing dodgy.Does anybody have any knowledge of this man ?A pensioner along the road is quite taken with him and I'm concernedthat she might be taken for a ride.

Jul 26, 2005 25 Replies

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Dave Liquorice 20 years ago

Aye, the local constabulary are likely to act rather faster than trading standards, after all if he hasn't traded TS can't touch him.

The Police on the other hand can look up the vehicle reg, see if it matches the vehicle description, keep an eye out and ask lots of questions when the find him, especially with the amount of information you have got.

A good questioning from the Police may just put him off "working" the area. He might just be a dodgy builder but distraction robbery or casing a place to return later are distinct possibilties.

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daddyfreddy 20 years ago

The fly by night builders/block pavers who've come round this way run the same kind of scam using dodgy addresses and telephone numbers. They have amber flashing lights on their cars, like motorway maintenance vehicles, and wear those flourescent safety jackets to look professional.

Plenty of people get suckered in. An old couple across the road used them for a block paved drive and when it came down to the work starting, 6 guys turned up including two kids who looked about 10/11 years old. They built the side walls with block paving and left all sorts of shallows where water sits - a job well done!

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PC Paul 20 years ago

Not relevant to pikey builders, but I saw a car recently in a disabled bay with a big sticker on the windscreen (facing inwards..)

"Being stupid is not a disability"

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Mathew J. Newton 20 years ago

You are joking, right?!

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Chris Hodges 20 years ago

No, he's missing 3 words: "with a key"

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Mathew J. Newton 20 years ago

Ah okay..

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