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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Curbside Extortion, Part 2



Yesterday, I told you about the budding extortionist/entrepreneurs who left a note on our mailbox, informing us that our curbside address would be painted unless WE left a note on the curb telling them not to. Oh, and they'd come by demanding $15 afterward.

Here's yet another sneaky wrinkle: They left the note on Tuesday night, but we only discovered the note yesterday afternoon. Turns out the guys had already painted the address at that point.

So sure enough, a guy with a clipboard came by the house on Wednesday night, asking for his $15. I came outside and told him I wasn't interested, and that I had not asked for the address to be painted. He told me I should have left the note on the curb; I told him I wasn't given time to do so. He pointed out that the note said the curb would be painted within "1 to 5 days," and it just so happens that, in this case, it was in "1 day."

I told him I wasn't gonna pay him. He moved on. Now, of course, I'm wondering if these curb painter guys have retaliation in mind... or if they get a lot of irate homeowners refusing to pay. (I'm also waiting to see if, in a few days, someone comes along and paints over the curbside address.) What would you do?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Last week, around 9/7/2012, a non-profit organization painted street numbers on the curb of each house in the neighborhood.

Few days after, a femaile person claiming she's from the "Care For the Children" and was asking for a donation for service rendered. I told her that we did not ask for it to be painted and the note they left us instructed us to attach in our mailbox ONLY IF we want it painted.

Few days later, a different person, now a male, came by our neighborhood collecting donations again, but this time I didn't answer the door nor entertain the person. This person then left a note stating:

"Sorry we missed you. Your new address number is complete. IF you would like to send a donation for the service provided please do so at:" (a P.O. BOX address given located in Whittier, CA). In the bottom of the note, it says "However, there is NO obligation..."

I'm just speculating and being cautious about these "scams", as they are taking advantage by collecting money for services we didn't even request. Beware!