Posted on 05/11/2011 5:03:52 AM PDT by marktwain
POCONO, P.A – An elderly Pennsylvania man pointed an antique gun at shady workmen out of his home after they tried to charge him $11,700 to fix his roof, the Pocono Record reported Monday.
Walter Peppel, of Middle Smithfield Township, 112 miles north of Philadelphia, said he felt like he was being trapped in a scam when three men came to his house and told him his roof needed to be fixed.
They came into his home and looked into the roof, telling him it had a "water bubble" that needed fixing -- even though it had been fully replaced in 1995.
Peppel, 86, said one of the men climbed into the roof cavity, and he claimed, dropped water on his head to convince him the work needed to be done.
"I looked up and saw water dripping from the ceiling, where there was never any water dripping before," Peppel said. "That's when I started to suspect I was being set up. I don't know how they did it or what they used, but they somehow got water to drip where there was never any water before," he added.
Peppel became angry when the men refused his requests for them to leave so he fetched his antique Winchester 94-32 rifle that had belonged to his father and pointed it at them.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
ping
The house had been renovated only a couple of years before so I knew better....and reported all of them to the BBB.
Spring time is gypsy time!
The Travelers are out!
A couple of years ago, one of these scam artists pulled up into my drive way and tried to sell me "unused asphalt" for $175. He got quite belligerent with me when I told him that I wasn't interested, at which point I told him to leave and never come back.
These are the Irish Travelers. If you’ve never heard of them, you should! They operate as a scam clan bilking and cheating people. Their specialty is barn painting (whitewash gone in the first rain storm, and roofing scams. The women get in on the act too! For years they have been sending children into Kohl’s to steal clothing out to the parking lot where the mother then returns it for cash. Some of these scam whores make thousands a day. The IT’s also arrange marriages as early as pre-teen. The suggestion of child molestation has been raised. They are bad people! Avoid! They prey on the elderly!
home
A Winchester model 94 is not an antique rifle. From the headline, I thought he may have used a flintlock rifle. He would only get one of them with a flintlock, but they would not know which one.
The BBB itself is a scam.
The rifle was new when he bought it.
I agree. I filed a big complaint. All they did was add it to their list. NOTHING happens to these “bad” companies.
My most accurate iron sight rifle is my lever action Marlin 336 in .357magnum.
Its kinda funny when lever actions are called antique, I guess society is kinda warped when its expected that everyone owns nothing less than an AR rifle fully loaded with everything including pump action Stinger missiles.
Good for him!
The scammers need to be in jail.
One note:
I’m sure 1995 seems like yesterday to him, but that was 16 years ago.
“There are many scam artists around”
Yes, there are and they seem to target older people. I have wondered why and think this: many of our senior citizens grew up/were adults during times that people were more honest. A handshake meant something. Someone’s “word” meant something. They are perfect targets, unfortunately.
“The gun was new when he bought it”
Now that is just plain mean! I’m 86 and if a gun is even from WW One, I couldn’t have bought it. I’m not old enough!
Can’t you just give him credit for remembering where the gun was? And walking outside? That’s something in itself.
Well he's 86 and it belonged to his father. I think that would be an OLD rifle but not sure about the "antique" label.
But he didn't buy it. It belonged to his father.
I have witnessed in older relatives a weird combination of paranoia and gullibility.
One aunt was sure someone was stealing her clothing and at the same time fell for one of these - you have won a lottery, send us cash - scams.
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