Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 17, 1990 TAG: 9003172199
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Traveling peddlers and contractors go south in the fall, said James Williams, assistant commissioner of revenue for Roanoke, and return north as the weather warms.
Williams' office licenses legitimate peddlers. He and two inspectors also investigate complaints about bogus operators.
Still, catching a rip-off artist is rare, Williams said, because embarrassed victims often fail to report them. But "I guarantee that nobody in this office is going to laugh at you if you get ripped off," he said.
Williams described a recent case where an itinerant contractor bilked an 80-year-old woman of $300. He told the woman he had just finished a big job nearby and offered to pave her driveway with leftover asphalt. The work was so shoddy the man "should have paid her," Williams said.
The woman's son called authorities. Williams and police officers caught up with the man and made him return the woman's money.
In another case, a Roanoke man told police he was conned Tuesday into paying $400 for stereo speakers that a local audio store later said were worth no more than $95.
Two men in a van accosted the man on the street. They told him that after making a delivery to a local store, they had leftover speakers valued at $1,700. They said they were willing to take $400. They even went with him to the bank to get the cash.
Williams said there are "honest, hard-working . . . old-timers" who are licensed to peddle produce and other goods door to door. But consumers who are suspicious about peddlers or contractors should call his office (981-2524) to see if they are licensed.
by CNB