A possible pine straw scam has been taking place in Rankin County. A message has been circulated on Facebook:
A friend of my Mom's (who lives in Clover Valley Sbdv. off Baker Lane) was scammed out of $3,200.00 today by 4 men who knocked on her door and asked about putting pine straw in her yard.The agreed price was $10 per bale. They spread it out in the front yard and demanded $3,200 saying they put out 320 bales of straw. They demanded the money and one even came out of the truck with a gun! They were in a black pickup with a small trailer (which would not even hold 100 bales!) She called RCSO, but they couldn’t do anything, said there wasn't a written contract, and just suggested she pay them to get rid of them. She was intimidated and gave them a check. Please be careful people!*Rankin County Sheriff put a stop to these shenanigans Friday afternoon. Deputies arrested Jackie Wilson, Jr., Byron Stinson, Jarrold Edge, and Demetrius Biggs Friday for soliciting without a license. All three defendants are from Georgia. The police report states:
* Similar news stories have appeared around the country. WSPA (Greenville, SC) reported last week:
A growing number of Upstate homeowners have fallen victim to a bait and switch scheme that has left them out hundreds, even thousands.
Landscaping crews with a truck full of pine straw have reportedly shown up at homes in the area offering a discount.
But as Jennifer Smith in Greenville came to find out, after doing the work they claim the crew used three times the number of bails homeowners expect.
Smith knew how much her front yard flower beds take. In past years she had done the labor herself, laying out the 50 bails she said it takes to cover her beds with pine straw.
“I know what my yard takes and how it works. So, when they told me 175 bails at $4 a bail, that’s not right. He said, ‘Here’s all of our strings from the bails that we used.’ It’s a pile of string and I’m looking at it going well, and I kind of felt stuck because I didn’t witness it,” said Smith.
Down the road, one homeowner after another told similar stories of deception.
“They were in a nice looking, red pickup truck with a trailer filled with pine straw,” Catherine Myus said.
“They quoted us a great price so we thought, ‘Well lets just go ahead and do it,'” Rebecca Foss said.
“Knowing what we did before, I kind of knew how many bails they would do,” Brent Graeber said.
“We had estimated anywhere from 50-100 bails,” Myus said.
And the stories all had virtually the same ending.
“But then when it came time to find out the price, we were a little shocked. It was definitely twice as much, three times as much, as we thought it was going to be,” Foss said.
“I was expecting somewhere in the $600 range. And it about 3 times that,” Graeber said.
“And we continued to go back and forth with them — $1,600 for what should have been $3-400 at the most,” Myus said.
“I honestly didn’t want my wife to know,” Graeber said with a laugh.
Smith admits she was ashamed to tell anyone when she paid triple the cost two years ago. And then last week they showed up again.
“I’m looking at him and he turned around and looked again and I was like, not this time buddy,” Smith said.
These victims and countless others are sharing their stories on neighborhood apps like Nextdoor. One woman said she lost $5,000 dollars.
7 News tried to research a company name, but in each case the workers would ask homeowners to make the check out to their name, leaving the Better Business Bureau to question whether there was any legitimate company in the first place.”
“I would describe it as a scam. I mean you have individuals coming into a subdivision most likely they’ve already passed the do not solicit sign that’s in the subdivision, so that’s a red flag, and then they come in and try to give you a much higher price than you agreed to. So it’s, it’s a scam,” Vee Daniel, with the BBB, said.
I know what you’re thinking. Why did they pay?
Well, there’s one more red flag, and just like before, it appears in every story.
“I said just stop payment on the check. He said, oh no. I felt like these guys know where I live here, they know the other house I have. I don’t know what they would do. The way they reacted when I said anything to them really made me concerned what they would do,” Myus said.
“I didn’t fully trust who they were in the process,” Graeber said.
“It’s just a shame. You hate to see that people would take advantage of people,” Foss said.
“I guess I felt uncomfortable not paying that amount. There was no name on the side of the truck, there were no phone numbers, there was no business cards and they know where I live,” Smith said.
7 News spoke with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office to see if they’ve had any reports.
They said they don’t because these kinds of cases are civil, not criminal, matters. But they do advise Upstate homeowners to verify the legitimacy of any company you hire and get references before allowing anyone to work on your property.
29 comments:
Travelers?
Simple fix here. Don’t do business with people who knock on your door. There are numerous reputable yard companies in the county. Ask around for a reference. Most of these folks getting taken have a little larceny in their own hearts. Getting a super low “deal” is too tempting to resist.
Years ago there was a band of gypsies that lived in Nesbit, MS (just south of Memphis) who would pull a similar scam with barn/fence painting.
This is happening in other parts of Mississippi, too.
First, there’s no way I would agree to $10.00 a bale to a contractor or street vendor even if it was 110 degrees outside.
I know that my beds take exactly five bales from Sutherland’s, and those things are massive. Those are worth the price.
Next, if you know exactly how many bales are required purchase that amount and do the labor yourself.
Some of these homeowners are so gullible.
What is their bail?
So has RCSO inquired with the owners of the pine plantations off of Hwy 471 about a possible "sourcing" of their straw by these "gentelmen?"
Those are big tree farms, just coincidentally located next door to MellowMeade and Clover Valley (which used to be pines after pasture, too).
That's the usual M.O. this time of year.
"What is their bail?" Just keep the truck and trailer, if one, and call it even. Send pictures to every LE agency in the state. Think they're gonna show for court? I'll take that bet for $10/perp.
They were operating in Madison County earlier this year. Why did Madison County S.O. not do something about it. Did the high sheriff get complimentary pine straw dropped off?
I agree, it seems dumb to fall for this racket.
But it’s usually the elderly that get affected.
And I often think, how sad...they have no idea just how incredibly untrustworthy the human race has become and they likely think back to when they were young and doing honest work. They have no clue how rare that has become.
Hopefully they will become as jaded...err, realistic as the rest of us before another scammer shows up asking to rob them.
Pine Straw Hustle is a great band name.
These types love to hit older women. My grandmother had same thing happen over value of a car wash with some local hoodlum with an ankle bracelet. Too bad for him I live next door and was able to quickly come over. I heard he went in to hit several more after. Her good heart wants to give folks work- nice but makes her a target.
So, now, these creeps have the lady's CHECKING ACCOUNT INFORMATION?!!!
The home repair/maintenance arena is full of grifters, gypsies, travelers or whatever you want to call them. (Reminds me of a Cher song).
The asphalt people show up every spring wanting to repave our long, rural driveway, and they want cash in advance to "buy the asphalt" with the balance to be paid after work is completed. I tell them I do not pay in advance but if they will come back the next day and complete the job, then I will pay them in full in cash. I also take a photo of their truck and license plate. So far, so good, doing it that way. They actually do a decent job on our driveway.
Caveat emptor!
Likely preying on the same gullible population the Republicans do. Very sad.
So did the pine straw pimps call the sherrif into this, on themselves? The homeowner states she assumed she was getting the big bales @ $8.00/bale. That person obviously hasn't bought good straw in a long time, much less had it installed. Going rate for a small square bale(they are easier to work with) is $7.5-8/bale retail. Most lawn maintenance crews charge $15ish/bale for straw and labor. So many questions.
8:48 those pine plantations off 471 belong to the Swilley Family. I can guarantee they aren't baling pine straw from there. We would have them on camera by now.
12:13- Grow up snowflake.
This is the landscaper version of what happens every time you go to a doctor's office or hospital. You can "estimate" how much you think a visit or procedure will cost, but in the end your estimation will not amount to a hill of butter beans. I have never heard of anyone leaving the doctor's office saying, "Dang, that didn't cost as much as I thought it would."
Same scam last summer in Jackson for $5000 on one lady and $1700 on another. Criminals IMO.
@12:47, ok boomer
No sympathy for the homeowner in this case.
What an idiotic decision.
Hell, I have enough pine trees to give them as much free straw than they can ever use.
All they have to do is come over with a rake and a pick up truck.
Did I mention "free of charge" . . . ( just come get it . . . and it's all yours).
There are signs at Madison intersections TODAY advertising "Pine Straw Man - We Deliver".
This scam is hilarious.
Back in the late 70's. I worked for a new upscale Yard & Garden Center on Lakeland Drive.
I won't mention the name, as they are still going strong.
We would drive around Woodland Hills/Belhaven and basically steal curbside trash pine straw.
After taking said straw back down Lakeland Drive, it was "bailed up" and sold to goofy rich women from
Eastover.
These women paid waaaaay extra just for our logo on the straw.
Gawd . . . I learned more basic business principles out there than I ever learned in a classroom at Hinds, Mississippi State or Ole Miss.
(But guns were never involved)
In my neighborhood in Madison, the girl scouts solicit boxes of cookies, and teenagers ask to cut my lawn, and the lawn services also stop at my house. The pine straw men haven't been by in 2 years.
Are those crimes?
If you allow yourself to be taken advantage of, you will be. Tell the “hustlers” to f’ off. Guarantee, I got bigger guns than they do. See them in JP court.
A sucker is born everyday.
"I have never heard of anyone leaving the doctor's office saying, 'Dang, that didn't cost as much as I thought it would.'"
Let me tell you a story. Just last month, I went to a dentist (whom I had never been to before), and got x-rays and a broken tooth extraction. I paid in full, out-of-pocket.
Not only did I only have to wait about 10 minutes until my appointment, the whole bill was for $200. So I said "Dang, that didn't cost as much as I thought it would."
True story. And now you HAVE heard of it.
"After taking said straw back down Lakeland Drive, it was 'bailed up' and sold to goofy rich women from Eastover...
...I learned more basic business principles out there than I ever learned in a classroom at Hinds, Mississippi State or Ole Miss."
But apparently not spelling.
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