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Health & Fitness

Seniors, Check Out Every Salesman Or Contractor Before You Allow Them In Your Home (Part I)

Seniors, Check Out Every Salesman Or Contractor Before You Allow Them In Your Home (Part I)

Earlier this year, I wrote about “Operation False Comfort.” This was the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s arrest of salesmen who allegedly swindled over 152 local seniors of their savings. How could so many seniors trust a group of crooks?

AARP has conducted many studies showing how, and why, seniors are so easily duped. There are even blogs devoted to the topic of Elder Abuse.

But are seniors unfairly labeled as being incompetent? What about the CHOP researcher named Melissa Ketunuti who was murdered last week by an exterminator she hired. Actually, she hired another exterminator who subcontracted the work to the murderer. 

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I even have my own tale and you would think that of all people I would know better... It started after my wife and I purchased window coverings from a local major home retail store. The offer of “whole house installation for less than $200.” induced us to spend a few thousand dollars on new window coverings.  

I grew suspicious after meeting the installer assigned to our project. First he said that since he was only a subcontractor, he could not help us resolve a problem with one defective covering. Then he was out sick for several weeks, yet the installer did not send another employee to finish the job. 

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Due to the wisdom that goes along with age, I decided to check further. I called the retailer to find the name of the company  performing their installations, They gave me the name of a company in Bensalem. They also assured me that everyone in the company was insured and bonded and vetted. I checked the company  on the Attorney General’s Home Improvement Database, and they seemed okay. Still skeptical, I asked our investigator to look a little further. What happened next may surprise and frighten you, as much as it did me. I'll write about it in my next post.

Stay well until the next post. 

Bob Gasparro

Bob Gasparro is an Elder Practitioner (accountant and attorney). He can be reached at Robert.Gasparro@lifespanlegal.com or (484) 297-2050. Comments to this post, and ideas for future posts are welcome.

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