Any Twitter experts in?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Fat Controller, Dec 17, 2015.

  1. Fat Controller

    Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 5, 2012
    Messages:
    29,807
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Public Transport
    Location:
    At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
    Ratings:
    +57,246
    I have a Twitter account, but have never really used it (suppose I am becoming a bit of a dinosaur :biggrin:) - anyway, I am wondering if it might be a useful 'tool' to help deal with a bit of a problem that has arisen.

    My lovely mum, a pensioner, and hundreds of miles away from where I am has been well and truly fleeced, and as you will imagine I am less than happy.

    A few weeks ago, she was talking to a friend about getting a 'magic eye' installed so she could watch her Sky+ recordings when she was tucked up in bed, and be able to control the box downstairs. Her friend happened to be having some work done by a local man/company (and I use the term 'company' very loosely), having a flat screen TV put up on a wall, and the cables hidden. Whilst he was there, my mum's friend passed on my mum's number to him and told him that she was wanting some work done.

    He called shortly after, went round to have a look and said that he would do the job there and then. He and his mate got cracking, and at one stage one of them was hanging out of the bedroom window (at the time my mum had no idea why), and then in about half an hour they were all done. Noticing that her Sky HD remote control was a bit knackered, he offered to get her a new one for fifteen quid - - all in, £100. A whole load of money for a pensioner.

    Now, before I go any further, it is only fair to point out that my chosen 'trade' before buses and coaches was TV, Video, Hi-Fi, aerials and satellites; although I have been out of the trade for the thick end of 20 years, the fundamentals are still the same, so there is going to be very little wool pulled over my eyes.

    Everything seemed fine, however the morning after, my mum got up and had no pictures on the TV upstairs, and no signals on Sky HD or even FreeSat on the TV downstairs. She called the guy who did the work the prior day, and he said that he would have to come back on the Monday with his van and ladders - not ideal, but fair enough. He never appeared.

    Numerous phone calls since have gone unanswered (messages left on answering machine), and the promised Sky remote has not materialised either. In the end, my mum had to resort to getting another company out to try and get something going, which to their credit they have managed to get at least some pictures. They were appalled at the state of the 'work' and said that they would have to come back at some point and make a proper repair - this is going to happen in January once Christmas etc is all over. These guys were proper professionals, with the relevant signal meters, ladders and other required tools, even down to ensuring that they wore carpet protectors over their shoes in the house. Sadly, there was another £60 call out from them, so my mum is now £160 out of pocket with more cost to follow. If I were in a better financial position, I would try and help her, but I am stuffed at the moment which makes it feel all the worse.

    I am livid, as I know full well that I could have done the work needed for next to nothing had I been there.

    Oh, and the handy work:

    lnb.jpeg

    Note the gaffa-taped bodge just under the LNB; pound to a penny that it is either shorted out, leaking or both. If I had done something like that even as an apprentice, I would have been hung, drawn and quartered.

    I shall refrain from naming the company just yet, but I do have access to some key information

    - landline telephone number
    - mobile telephone number (although both never seem to be answered)
    - email address
    - Twitter name
    - website address

    Interestingly enough, although the area he comes from is noted on his website is shown, there is no postal or business address given; there is no VAT number shown, and given that he took £100 cash from a pensioner, I would like to bet that there is next to nil in the way of proper book-keeping going on.

    Since all this happened, my mum has found out that this fellow has a bit of a reputation for this sort of behaviour - one story is that he ripped an OAP couple off to the tune of £270 to connect their bedroom TV to an existing loft aerial; nothing short of robbery.

    So, I am intent on outing this blighter on Twitter for a start, but believe it or not I have never actually Tweeted anything, so any pointers how to hit as many people as possible to show him up would be great please.

    Also, would this guys actions be classed as theft or fraud? Scottish law applies here by the way, but I am wondering if the police might be interested in him?

    Or, do you think a local newspaper might be interested in picking up the story?

    Any and all suggestions greatly received.
     
  2. Jiffy

    Jiffy The Match is on Fire

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2011
    Messages:
    12,632
    Occupation:
    Pyro
    Location:
    Retired Next To The Bonfire in UK
    Ratings:
    +38,735
    watch dog/rouge traders
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Fat Controller

      Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

      Joined:
      May 5, 2012
      Messages:
      29,807
      Gender:
      Male
      Occupation:
      Public Transport
      Location:
      At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
      Ratings:
      +57,246
      Could be worth a shot - thanks @Jiffy :blue thumb:

      Do you think they would be interested in a relatively small case (purely as I don't have names etc for any others who have been similarly scammed, merely here-say)
       
      • Like Like x 1
      • Dips

        Dips Total Gardener

        Joined:
        May 10, 2014
        Messages:
        2,277
        Ratings:
        +3,631
        No idea but on twitter use hashtags that are relevant to get it to a wider audience. Without hashtags people wont really see it unless they are following you

        You can @ the companys twitter profile but im pretty sure they might be able to block you if they want.

        You can also pin the most relevant post to the top of your twitter feed so that people that look at your profile see that first

        It may be worth searching for twitter profiles that deal with fraud or dodgy workmen etc and then @ing them in posts etc

        Thats the basic stuff i guess
         
        • Like Like x 1
        • Fat Controller

          Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

          Joined:
          May 5, 2012
          Messages:
          29,807
          Gender:
          Male
          Occupation:
          Public Transport
          Location:
          At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
          Ratings:
          +57,246
          Superb, thank you @Dips - I have found a fraud action website, ran by the police, that gives advice etc and lets you chat with staff for advice during office hours so I will give that a shot early next week. It seems clear from the website that he has committed 'bogus tradesman' fraud - so maybe a wee visit from plod will focus his mind a bit :yes:
           
          • Friendly Friendly x 1
          • Dips

            Dips Total Gardener

            Joined:
            May 10, 2014
            Messages:
            2,277
            Ratings:
            +3,631
            Ah so glad you found some helpful stuff. I hope you will be able to get some justice done and the money back
             
            • Like Like x 1
            • Fat Controller

              Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

              Joined:
              May 5, 2012
              Messages:
              29,807
              Gender:
              Male
              Occupation:
              Public Transport
              Location:
              At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
              Ratings:
              +57,246
              At the least, I would like to stop him doing it to someone else, or at least dent his reputation/income sufficiently enough to make him consider a different path in life.....
               
            • clueless1

              clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

              Joined:
              Jan 8, 2008
              Messages:
              17,778
              Gender:
              Male
              Location:
              Here
              Ratings:
              +19,601
              The signal at the point where the taped botch job is, is very weak and very sensitive to 'noise'. That's why high equality cable is used.

              Now here's the thing. Coaxial cable is not as straight forward as normal electrical cable. It's not as simple as simply establishing a solid electrical circuit. It is finely balanced in terms of impedance and also in terms of the effects of external signals. Simply ripping it open, botching another wire in, and taping it up is never going to work. Anyone with even the most basic understanding of RF signals would know this, and would not do anything like in the picture.

              But @fat controller knows that, that's his point I think.

              But FC, back to the question. I'd be very wary of outing anyone on Twitter. It seems to me that every time I hear of Twitter being mentioned, it is usually not long before I hear terms like 'libel' or 'legal action'.

              Does your mam have a receipt or invoice or other proof of payment for the 'work'? If so I'd be telling the man that he'll either be refunding the money in full by choice within a week, or you'll be letting the small claims court decide. Let him also know, just in case he didn't know already, that one of the options made available to you through the small claims procedure is that of enforcement. If you win the case, you can ask the court to arrange for bailiffs to go round if he still doesn't pay.

              I personally wouldn't let it get that far. I'd make the legal threats, calmly, but would probably stop short of asking for enforcement. But he doesn't need to know that.
               
            • Anthony Rogers

              Anthony Rogers Guest

              Ratings:
              +0
              What about outing him to your local tv news show. We have Midlands Today on the BBC and they are always interested in stories like this.
               
            • shiney

              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

              Joined:
              Jul 3, 2006
              Messages:
              67,298
              Gender:
              Male
              Occupation:
              Retired - Last Century!!!
              Location:
              Herts/Essex border. Zone 8b
              Ratings:
              +134,212
              Send the boys round!
               
              • Agree Agree x 1
              • Jiffy

                Jiffy The Match is on Fire

                Joined:
                Aug 25, 2011
                Messages:
                12,632
                Occupation:
                Pyro
                Location:
                Retired Next To The Bonfire in UK
                Ratings:
                +38,735
                But it could be part of a bigger picture, one thing can lead to another, if you don't ask you don't know
                 
                • Agree Agree x 2
                • Fat Controller

                  Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

                  Joined:
                  May 5, 2012
                  Messages:
                  29,807
                  Gender:
                  Male
                  Occupation:
                  Public Transport
                  Location:
                  At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
                  Ratings:
                  +57,246
                  @clueless1 - I have tweeted him, but no response (not surprised), but no more than that so far. Inland revenue have been tipped off, and I am going to take it to Action Fraud and see what they can do. The only other thing I can do is to try and get a few days overtime in and send my mum a few bob to help

                  No receipt, cash in hand, so it is likely to be hard to take much further by way of small claims etc.

                  I must admit, when I was younger, I would have been likely to find him and 'persuade' him to above a refund... Must be getting sensible in my old age

                  Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
                   
                • clueless1

                  clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

                  Joined:
                  Jan 8, 2008
                  Messages:
                  17,778
                  Gender:
                  Male
                  Location:
                  Here
                  Ratings:
                  +19,601
                  @fat controller, " when I was younger" :) I believe you are approximately the same age as me. That being the case, you still are young.

                  But I hear what you're saying. As we become slightly less young, we realise that 'persuading' those thatcross us is often not the best course of action.
                   
                  • Agree Agree x 1
                  • Fat Controller

                    Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

                    Joined:
                    May 5, 2012
                    Messages:
                    29,807
                    Gender:
                    Male
                    Occupation:
                    Public Transport
                    Location:
                    At me 'puter, GCHQ Ashford Office, Middlesex
                    Ratings:
                    +57,246
                    Aye, you are bang on the money @clueless1 - I was a proper hot headed so and so until I hit my mid to late twenties; I was one of those sort, if I was shouting the odds and giving you a verbal bashing, you would be OK. If I was quiet, really quiet - get out of my way.

                    At the end of the day, this is £100 we are talking about - well, that and some extra to repair the damage he has done, so it is not exactly the end of the world. It makes my blood boil though, and not just because it is my mum. I spent a good number of years in that trade, and on many occasions went that extra mile for pensioners or those in need; Christmas week, and Christmas Eve in particular was pretty mental every year - I would be bouncing all around the countryside sorting aerials, TV's, video recorders etc, as well as doing the Santa run at the same time; even Christmas Day wasn't sacred, and I had a few calls for people with problems - admittedly, I would simply put a loan set in and scarper back home, but they had something at least. Not once did I ever charge for a call out on Christmas Day - never. And at any time of year, if I was doing work for a pensioner or someone in need, the job was invariably discounted -- and oddly enough, I was never short of work, and never had to advertise.

                    It just isn't the done thing to rip anyone off, let alone those who are less fortunate.
                     
                    • Like Like x 2
                    • Agree Agree x 1
                    • Jiffy

                      Jiffy The Match is on Fire

                      Joined:
                      Aug 25, 2011
                      Messages:
                      12,632
                      Occupation:
                      Pyro
                      Location:
                      Retired Next To The Bonfire in UK
                      Ratings:
                      +38,735
                      Things need to be reported, there to many people that don't report things which make things worst, but the worst of all you report it and nowt gets done, so is it worth reporting in the first place?

                      We need to change this, so get things reported IMHO

                      Well done FC for reporting them :dbgrtmb::dbgrtmb:
                       
                      • Like Like x 2
                        Last edited: Dec 20, 2015
                      Loading...

                      Share This Page

                      1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
                        By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
                        Dismiss Notice