Ripped off on doorstep
AN 85-year-old man from Southport was left shaken after being conned on his doorstep.
James Grierson, who is partially deaf, answered his door to a man who knocked and asked if he wanted some painting done on the outside of his home.
Mr Grierson said no after being asked to pay £200 for the decorating, but let the man do the work when he reduced the price to £150. However the poorly done work has left his home with paint on the windows and driveway.
Mr Grierson’s daughter, Diane Mellor, said: “My husband went round to check on my dad who is 85 and partially deaf. The neighbour came over and said they thought my dad had been ripped off.
“My dad only lives in a little bungalow and the wooden eaves on the roof had all the paint flaking off and the bare wood was showing. So I managed to speak to my dad and he said this man came up to his door and said ‘I’ve noticed your eaves need painting,
I’ll do it for you for £200.’
“So my dad said no, and he immediately dropped it to £150.
“My dad then said ‘yeah, go on, but I want it rubbing down, priming first and then painting black.’
“The bloke then waddled off and came back with paint. My dad sat in the back garden whilst the chap did the painting.
“He was only there for about an hour and a half. He went through to the back garden to let him know he’d finished it so my dad gave him the money.
“The man promptly got in the van and drove off very quick. It was only when my dad went to the front of the house to see where he had scraped a little bit of paint off and brushed it into all of the flower beds.
“He had painted over pretty much all of the paint that was flaking off, didn’t prime it, there was black paint splodges across the windows, the tin of paint had been spilt across the driveway.”
The mother-of-three has now had to buy a ring doorbell to ensure her dad isn’t conned in the same way again.
She said: “As a result I have bought him a ring doorbell which links up to my phone so I can see who comes up his driveway to the door and I’ll get to speak to them before he even open the door to anybody.”
Mr Grierson has been left “shaken” following the incident, with him trying to give someone some work.
Diane said: “It’s shook him up a little bit because when I was speaking to him he said ‘I thought I was doing someone a favour, helping somebody else out.’
“Back in his day, when he was younger, it was quite normal for people to knock on the door and offer to do some work. Times are different know. It has frightened him a little bit to be honest.”