We recently heard a story that concerned us, and we’ve verified that it’s an ongoing issue we wanted to share with you all. Please people, only bring your car to a licensed and reputable repair shop for auto body work. Now, let’s tell you the scenario we’re hearing about. A common story for how this scam unfolds, goes like this:
- You have a dent on your car that maybe you haven’t taken care of because you haven’t had time, didn’t have the money or didn’t want to hit up your insurance to take care of
- You’re driving around town and while at a grocery store or other parking lot a person or people approach you explaining they do mobile dent repair and are in your local area on another job. They’ve noticed your need and say they can “fit you in” on their schedule.
- This scenario can also happen at your home – same thing – they knock on your door with the same story.
- Bottom line, they’ll fix your car for cheaper than a shop can. You just pay them cash and they’ll take care of it today! It’ll only be $1000 or $1500 and they’ll have you like new. No claims to file, and we’ll take care of it!
- The victim pays them the money (they need supplies to start the job) and they will begin pounding out the dent, slathering it with cheep bondo and pretend to begin the work.
- Then the sad end occurs. They head to lunch or to get more supplies and promise they’ll be right back. But they already have the money for the job and then they are never seen again.
This sounds nuts, right? But sadly we’re hearing that each year in Boulder City, several of our local folks are falling for this scam! It is typically our elders who unfortunately trust people too easily. But they get burned and we want this to stop.
Charles Williams, the owner of B&J Auto Body first told us about this scam a few weeks ago at a presentation he gave at the Boulder Business Development Group. So we did some digging and called Deana Parson’s of Parson’s Auto Body and she verified the same information. Sadly, each of these repair shops reported that they each see 2 – 3 victims come into their shops each year. They tell a similar story. The work is bad and needs to be redone completely, and they often see the actual repair cost MORE money and time had they been able to start the job from the beginning.
They call these crews “gypsies” and say they periodically roll through town a few times a year, and they always seem to find some unsuspecting prey who fall for their scam.
Well, we’ve heard enough and want to stop this. We hope you do too. (Thank you for coming to our TED Talk) We hope putting the word out can help us all look out for each other. And remember – if something is too good to be true, it often is. Watch yourselves and your loved ones out there!
