I don’t know anything about roofs. The construction man/repair man across the street working on our neighbors house said our roof had a loose kugi nail on a section of it and that it happens with the heat of the sun over time on the roof.
I told him thanks for the head ups. He said he could repair it quickly in exchange for lunch money. I thought he could do it right then and said sure thanks. Thinking it be done and tip the guys 2,000 yen for less than 10 minutes of work he said.
Turned into him needing a ladder and he needs a tool to do it and will be back tomorrow to do it.
I told my wife about it, and she says a lot of scammers do this, that it is sagi. There’s sometimes no problem and they looking to make easy money off people, old people and foreigners like myself.
He said he come over at 4:00PM tomorrow. Do I let him do it and tip him the 2,000 yen or just say we are gonna get a contractor to look at it and turn him down gently?
by kasumi04
24 comments
I’d tip him but not let him up there. If it’s a scam, then no knowing what other damage he might cause in an attempt to drum up more business for himself. I’d tip him the 2000 for coming out to avoid any issues. Pocket money, lesson learned.
上手い話には裏がある
No one legit is gonna fix your roof in this summer heat for 2000 yen.
Painters working on our neighbor’s walls said the same thing about our house, but graciously offered to do it for free. They quickly set up a ladder and were done in 5 minutes.
I’d say it is safer than the usual roof inspection scam because they are working across the street. Are you friendly with the neighbors? Maybe ask them how good the work is.
Sounds like textbook scam to me. https://www.kokusen.go.jp/news/data/n-20231011_1.html
Scam. They go up there and do some other damage that then needs repair.
It’s scammy, but it’s always been like that here. I renovate old houses and don’t go door to door, but it’s still a major selling tactic and in most cases, the work is needed. Most of my contractor friends don’t have a website and do everything through line. In my experience, the scam is the up selling that happens after the contract is signed. They know most people know nothing about construction and won’t speak up or create a problem, so they’ll just pay. If I was on a roof and saw a loose tile nextdoor, I’d fix it for free. If I were you, I wouldn’t tip with money. Give them a cold PET bottle of tea or something and ask for their info.
This is a textbook scam. You should ask your neighbors if they discovered a problem with the roof, and called him, or did this good Samaritan roofer first discover it, as they happen to be passing by? Either way is sus, but the latter is Super Sus.
Scam
This is a scam that is often on the news. Your wife is right. This was on NHK as recent as last week
Scam he will strangely find all sorts of things that you need to fix
Well known scam. They even sometimes go on your roof without permission to cause damage and then claim they can fix it.
Never engage wandering roof repair people. If you think your roof needs work, contact a reputable company.
Scam scam scam. He’s prolly not even fixing the neighbors roof. They usually walk around with ladders on their trucks.
He’s going to go on your roof and create a damage so he can a’fix‘ it. Are you this naive sir? I expected this from women or old folks. Some random man can tell you anything and you believe? Wow.
My old neighbor was charge 7man to replace a pipe cock. 70,000¥.
We had several construction guys offer to fix our roof. They had a point. The nails do come loose in the sun. But I would not trust them to do a proper job. Final we hired a roofing company and had it done right.
Your wife is smarter than you in this case
it’s a scam. he will go up there and damage the roof and then charge x10 the cost. I used to live in an old house and got these scammers ringing my bell all the time
better contact the police and let them catch the guy
I remember I had a guy come up to my door and tell me something similar, his team were working on my neighbors house.
Well anyways he tells something about my roof and I ask him how much, iirc he said something in the 8,000 range. I just offer him 3k take it or leave it. He accepted and I remember he had two other guys assisting him on my roof.
When he was done he would show me the before and after on his polaroid camera and let me keep the pictures lol.
Services were good so I gave them the 3k and juice for the three guys that worked on my roof.
You should give the police a heads up just in case. You’ll never know what could happen
Frequent scam. So frequent, even I was approached
Tell him that, you need to see what he is doing so you need to come with him to see. Offer him that you can even watch from the ladder.
I’ve been on many roofs and it’s very common to see loose nails. But I don’t think I can spot a loose nail from across the street. Did he use binoculars? It sounds very suspicious and I wouldn’t let him go up there.
It’s a scam. Been saying that for years.
I get them at least twice a year
Hey it’s me. I’m waiting for my friend to give me a ladder. The only problem is he lives up north and gas will cost around 2000 yen. I will stop by tomorrow to collect the money on the way to grab the ladder.
Common scam. Every trade here has a line they use. If you are here long enough you’ll see/hear it more.