Ontario woman loses $3K in door-to-door landscaping scam

Now that warmer temperatures have arrived you may have contractors in your neighbourhood. Some may be looking to make a quick buck without completing the work.

Now that warmer temperatures have arrived, you may have contractors in your neighbourhood offering to do paving, landscaping, or roofing jobs.

But be careful dealing with companies going door-to-door, as some may be looking to make a quick buck without completing the work.

“They said they were working at my neighbour’s doing work and that they could help make my stonework look like new again,” said Heidi Aprile of Pickering, Ont.

It was in mid-April when a knock came at her door, and a man said he could pull up her interlocking stonework, pressure-wash her driveway, and seal it to make it look like new again.

Aprile signed a contract, and the next day they came back and started pulling up her paving stones but told her they needed $3,000.

Once she gave them that, they were gone after working for only a couple of hours, and they never came back again.

“The last time I heard from them was when I gave them the money,” Aprile told CTV News.

She said it was her late husband who did the original stonework, and she feels she was caught at a weak moment, wanting it to look its best.

“I will never, ever do anything like that again, paying anyone like that ahead of time, especially if they are going door to door,” said Aprile.

Aprile signed the contract with Compact Masonry and Roofing. CTV News called the company and emailed the company’s website several times, but did not receive a response.

When CTV News attended the address listed in their contract and brochure, 525 Milner Avenue in Toronto, there was no sign of the business.

What to look out for

Joe Salemi, Executive Director of Landscape Ontario, a non-profit trade association representing those in the landscape industry, said spring is the time of year when many contractors will be out knocking on doors.

He says that while reputable contractors may want to leave a brochure, they would not aggressively seek business or ask for money in advance of doing a job.

“If anyone is showing up at your door saying they can pull up your pavers and make them look really nice and put them back down and they need cash on the spot, those aren’t professional landscape companies; those are con artists,” said Salemi.

Salemi recommends using Landscape Ontario’s website to research contractors in your area who have been vetted to make sure they are reliable and do quality work, and he recommends getting two to three quotes on a job before moving forward.

“We can confirm that the company has Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) coverage as well as liability coverage and we can see how much training they have been through,” said Salemi.

Aprile will now have to pay someone else to repair the damage done to her landscaping and front yard. This time, she said, she will go with a contractor with a good reputation who was recommended by a friend.

“I found somebody who is going to come later today to give me an estimate and see what he can do for me, and he is going to fix it all up,” said Aprile.

A contract should be detailed, listing the scope of the work, the materials being used, and a timeline for completion.

You can pay in installments as work progresses, but you may want to hold back the final payment until the job is done to your satisfaction.