Very scary experience for me.
I am widow living alone.
I had a small gas leak in the flex hose of my kitchen stove. They said they had a gas fitter that could fix it. I also have a gas dryer and I suggested that since a gas fitter was coming, maybe he could also clean the lint from my gas dryer.
Two guys, a father and his son, showed up in an unmarked pickup truck 1/2 hour late. They wanted to start on the dryer downstairs. The son, wearing flip-flops started taking the dryer apart. I asked if he had a license to do that and he said it was okay. Meanwhile the father had wondered off through the rec room and into the den. He was remarking on what a good appliance I had in there. Then he looked out into my garden and commented on that.
After he went back into the rec room and sat himself down on the couch, I hurried back to the laundry room to see what the son was doing. He had pulled out the carpet cleaner and I asked him why. He thought it was a vacuum cleaner. I put the carpet cleaner back and pulled out my vacuum cleaner for him.
Meanwhile, the father had wondered off to the kitchen upstairs. I went up and found he had pulled out the stove to look at it. He then sat down and suggested that the problem might be with the stove and maybe I would like to buy a good second hand stove from him. Of course I said no. I felt he was trying to keep me from seeing what was going on with the dryer.
I went back downstairs, leaving the father in the kitchen, and the son said he had replaced a part that would need replacing soon anyway since he had the dryer apart. I never saw it. He said he had cleaned out the lint and I pointed out 1 section that had lint and he said he had moved his screwdriver around in there and it was okay. He also said the vents were okay and didn't need cleaning.
As they got ready to leave, they said the gas fitter couldn't make it today after all.
When they gave me the bill, I was too afraid to dispute it. I noticed later that they had taken my cheque straight to my bank to cash it.
I phoned them later and they just got me off the phone as soon as possible.
