Caution and patience are needed when it comes to hiring people to do work around your home. Photo / NZME
Caution and patience are needed when it comes to hiring people to do work around your home. Photo / NZME
OPINION
Watching Fair Go this week I was amazed at how many people had been ripped off after they were targeted on social media.
People looking for people to do work around their home, some small jobs and some worth thousands.
It brought home to me how trusting westill are — even when it comes to social media.
It's sometimes hard not to be when you are looking for someone to do some work, especially these days when it is so hard to get anyone. And therein lies the problem.
Even if we are not trusting, most of us, including myself, are not patient.
If we want something done we want it done now. So therefore after ringing around all the people that you have used before or ones that have been recommended to you by people in the know, you turn to social media.
I have seen hundreds of people asking for recommendations and while probably 99 per cent of the answers are genuine there are bound to be those that recommend themselves.
There are a lot of clever people out there that don't give a hoot about your feelings, your home or your bank balance. They are out for one person only and that's themselves.
They can make themselves look and sound like a genius on social media and it's so hard to tell the good from the not so good.
Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.
At the moment there's also a car registration scam being emailed around. I know a couple of people who have had it emailed to them.
Luckily they weren't sucked in by it. The email directs people to a link to renew their registration online, which takes you to a fake website that asks for your bank details.
As you read this no doubt there will be someone out there thinking of a new way to cheat you out of your hard earned money.
The thing with people who don't deliver what they promise is that sometimes they can make such a mess of what they do, that it ends up costing you more money to clean it up before you can start again.
It must be heartbreaking. Especially if you have tried your best to do background checks before handing over your money.
So what's the answer. Well I'm afraid there are always going to be people out there who rip others off, the only thing we can do is check, check and double check.
I always think that if the person you are after is booked up for the next six months they are probably going to be worth the wait.
It's a bit like going into an empty restaurant while the ones across the road are full.
You have to decide just how hungry you are and if you are prepared to be disappointed, otherwise it might just be better to go across the road, put your name down for a table and take a walk for half an hour until there's a table available.
Patience is the key.
Lastly, it's meant to rain today and I really hope it does.
On Monday Hawke's Bay had the three warmest temperatures in the country. That's great for us townies but we don't have to watch our paddocks turn to dust, and worry about how we are going to feed our stock during winter.
The region's farmers have had some tough years and it looks as if this is going to be another one. Bring on the rain.
* Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today
