Woman gets $2000 bill for lawnmowing

An elderly Masterton woman was asked to pay $2000 for lawn mowing and weeding work after what police described as an "attempt to prey on the woman's vulnerability."
Masterton police Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr said three Porirua Samoan men aged, 48, 41 and 25 approached the South Road resident about mowing her lawns and doing some garden work.
The woman agreed and about an hour later after they had mowed the lawn and done some weeding they approached the woman and told her the work would cost $2000.
Mr Burr said the woman told the men she didn't have that sort of money and they responded saying she would have to find it somehow, perhaps through a loan, and that they would be back tomorrow to sort out the payment.
The woman contacted a family member about the incident who called the police and arranged for them to be there at the time the men returned the next day.
"The matter was sorted out before the woman paid anywhere near the amount asked and this calls for people to be aware of these sorts of things happening."
Mr Burr said the men were "attempting to prey on the woman's vulnerability".
People need to be aware of this group and other groups offering this sort of work and if anyone is approached a price should be negotiated before the work is started, he said.
"Although this group is not behaving in a professional manner, it doesn't appear they have gone far enough to commit a crime."
Wairarapa organisation for older persons (WOOPS) co-ordinator Diane Chapman said she hasn't heard of any scams against elderly people recently but there is a history of it happening throughout Wairarapa.
"It's been sporadic for years where people have work start and then get told how much it will cost further down the track.
Roofing work seems to be a popular scam."
Mrs Chapman said elderly people living in Wairarapa are targeted because it is known as an "older person community".
"The unfortunate thing is that these situations are immoral but they're not illegal."
"Telemarketing is another way people try to get to the elderly. They ring and try to sell things that would appeal to the older age group, it happens because of the demographics of the area," she said.
By 2015 one quarter of Wairarapa's population is predicted to be over 65-years-old.
"At the moment 17 per cent of the population is 65 or older compared with the national average which is around 13 per cent."
There are 360 members of WOOPS and around 80 to 120 people attend a monthly morning tea where local issues are discussed with the elderly, she said.
"We circulate 800 newsletters every three month to people informing them and word gets around through other organisations that our members belong to."
Greypower chairman George Groombridge said he heard of a similar situation happening to an elderly person, like the South Road woman, but not within the district.
"The best thing for older people to do if they are unsure or have any doubts whatsoever about a situation is to ring a neighbour or contact Greypower."
The possibility of being targeted is talked about amongst members and will continue to be talked about in future meetings, he said.
Mr Burr said any group approaching people about work at a substantial cost would only be breaking the law if they were to intimidate or threaten the person.
"If they insisted the person go to a cash machine or something, and they said no, then that would fall under kidnap."
In another incident in March this year an elderly Featherston woman was conned into handing over $2300 for some minor tree trimming.
The incident wasn't reported until the woman's niece went through her aunt's bank statements and noticed the money was missing.
The niece who chose to remain anonymous to protect her aunt said people living alone and "particularly the elderly need to realise how vulnerable they are."
"Since the incident I've limited my aunt so that she doesn't have a cheque book anymore, but people need to know that they should be vigilant and let their friends and neighbours know what's going on," she said.