man asking to buy furniture

[Ratpack]

Has anyone had a man coming round their house asking to buy their furniture? It happened to my neighbour and I'm a bit concerned.

[LegalEagle-ish]

Why, how much did he offer?

[Ratpack]

The man knocked on my neighbours door (she is in her 80's), asked to come inside her house and look at her furniture to see whether it was something he'd like to buy. He went inside her house and then offered her money to buy some items - unsure how much. I think it sounds dodgy and was just curious if this had happened to anyone else. She is completely unconcerned and thinks the man was genuine. I think it's odd.

I work from home and nobody knocked on my door, which makes me worried that she may have been targeted by someone because of her age.

[fringe]

This is very dodgy and in fact identical to something that happened to my elderly neighbour a few years ago. A guy knocked on her door and she let him in and he said he would give her ?15 for her microwave. He stole her purse which was lying on a sideboard and fled. We heard her shouting in the street so went out to help her but he had scarpered. It sounds like this could be the same person so it should definitely be reported to the police.

[*Anna*]

I would be very cautious of this, I have heard similar stories before where they do this but are actually eyeing up what she had in order to come back and burgle, they check out entry routes / security etc - horrible to think the worse but...

Definately let the police know and make sure she has secure windows etc.

Nice to hear of good neighbourhood watch though!

[alice]

my mum had something like this happen - somebody wanted to come in and check the rear gutters....she invented a son who was just about to return home and he scarpered. She called the police anyway - who told her this was not a waste of their time but an attempted 'distraction burglary' not round here though

[Ladymuck]

Ratpack Wrote:

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> Has anyone had a man coming round their house

> asking to buy their furniture? It happened to my

> neighbour and I'm a bit concerned.

Thank you for letting us know. I know a few elderly/vulnerable/lonely people...so at least I can warn them of this.

[Sue]

This happened to the old grandmother of an ex of mine, but in that case then guy knocked at the door, looked at what she had in the house and bought a load of stuff from her at far far less than it was worth :-S

[Penguin68]

Of course 'going on the knocker' was a traditional method by slightly dodgy antique dealers of (quite genuinely) buying furniture and knick-knacks from eldery people - but of course offering them far less than the purchase was actually worth. It's somewhat fallen out of favour now as so many people watch daytime shows ('cash in your attic' etc.) and Antiques Roadshow - so are much more aware of the true value of what they own (actually, quite sadly, often over-valuing the item).

However, either which way, its not a good thing, and needs stamping on, either as a dealer con or as a prelude to burglary.

[aalisam]

Well thank god they caught that creep Delroy Grant.... I suggest that if ever you see any of those community officers, advise them on this trend a and tell them to keep an eye out for the elderly I assure they will as something like that happened to my mother, now they pop around and check in on her from time to time.

[siousxiesue]

Community wardens have stickers to place in doors and windows-something along the line of 'I don't open my door to people without an appointment' and there's one for just inside the door to remind an elderly or vulnerable person to keep the chain on when answering the door

[fuzzyboots]

A similar thing happened to my nana about 30 years ago and he stripped her rotten of some lovely (heirloom) pieces of furniture. My mother was up in arms about it, but my nana wouldn't hear a bad word of him. There are just some really sharp, nasty people around who are willing to exploit the vulnerable. Has DulwichHelpline got a view on this sort of thing, I wonder? Perhaps adding weight to the Community Wardens' stickers? I have no idea - they may do this sort of thing already, but perhaps if Helpline Users' Volunteers were to offer advice/guidance leaflets, they would be well and effectively received by the service users?

[thexwinglessxbird]

alice Wrote:

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> my mum had something like this happen - somebody

> wanted to come in and check the rear

> gutters....she invented a son who was just about

> to return home and he scarpered. She called the

> police anyway - who told her this was not a waste

> of their time but an attempted 'distraction

> burglary' not round here though

Good thinking! That's the best way to approach a situation like this, that or don't answer the door unless you know who it is. & definetly don't invite them in!

I think elderly relatives in the area should be made aware of this...