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BBB warns of Richmond scam: ‘they play on your guilt — don’t do it’

Posted at 7:01 PM, Nov 06, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-06 19:01:32-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- Michael Pierce was shocked when he pulled up to his Pinebrook Drive home Thursday, to a newly paved driveway.

That morning his spouse Ron was leaving home when some pavers asked if he wanted the driveway paved because they were working at the neighbor’s house next-door.

Ron referred them to Pierce.

When Pierce got home he found a newly paved driveway and a man who claimed Pierce he owed $3,500.

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“I'm calling the police,” Pierce said.

He said he was calm and was offered a deal.

“’I'll give you a deal I'll give it to you for 500,’” Pierce recalled.

“I said no, I'm calling the police.”

He said “I'll give it to you for $250.”

Pierce said two others were with the man who asked for money.

He said it was a man in a blue dump truck with the word Williams written across the front, and a young woman with long brown hair in a white SUV.

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A concerned neighbor feared they had been scammed. Because she said the paver lied about doing work at her home.

She didn’t want to show her face but said she snapped a picture of the blue dump truck with no front tag before the crew scrambled away.

“They put the asphalt roller in a bobcat on the back of the truck, they tied everything down and got in their vehicles and were out of here in two minutes

“I notified our neighborhood association around and I put it on Facebook and I posted a photo of the truck,” Pierce said.

Tom Gallagher, with the Better Business Bureau's said it's a classic scam and homeowners should beware.

“They will do the work and play on your guilt to get you to pay for it – don’t do it,” Gallagher said.

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