These are the videos I enjoy the most, a watchdog-style format on your experiences in the big ol world

A decent tradesman does not have to knock on doors for work.

Oh gosh. Thank you for sharing your experience. When someone knocks on the door here for anything, I tell them, 'No thank you.' When they persist -- and they always do -- I follow up with 'We don't do business at the door.' And I almost always have to say it again. I would be ruder, but they know where I live.

He could probably tarmac your drive as well

The Irish accent would have been the red flag for me.

I always admired the roofs on the other side of the big pond, but never had to understand the maintenance required to keep them looking awesome. I just had a new asphalt roof installed on my house two years ago. 12 grand. But that's taking the old tiles off and installed new tiles. My experience was way different than yours. The crew was respectful to my house, my yard and cleaned up their mess so thoroughly, they went around my house twice with a metal detector picking up stray nails that might have fallen. So sorry that this was a bad experience for you. Will you or your neighbor need a new roof soon?

*Proceeds to explain a complete nightmare* "All in all it wasn't a great experience." - love British understatements xD

Jake...I had the exact same experience a few years back...Got two flat roofs replaced..First shower of rain it leaked...Nightmare.. Couldn't get them back..Most of these guys come from (well to do) travellers. Ended up fixing it myself.

I once had a guy come to my house saying he was an epileptic builder and had some spare cement and noticed the pointing at the front of my house needed doing. We negotiated and he agreed to do it for £10, it was a good few years ago! I was very sceptical obviously. 20 years later I occasionally drive past that house and the pointing is still good, wish he'd given me his number!

So sorry to hear about this Jake. I do hope that you reported them to Trading Standards, particularly as you have CCTV footage.

Not watched the video yet however never have tiled roofs cleaned almost alway causes damaged.

Well, if nothing else it’s a lesson. Thanks for sharing! I’ll certainly keep these things in mind when I’m a homeowner.

That was a “Mick” who did the bodge job.

Damn, I thought I was hard done by when McDonalds forgot to put my Apple Pie in my bag at the drive through. I usually check the bag before diving home but on this occasion I was in a rush. Your video kind of puts things in prospective. Sorry Doctor Jake.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Also thanks for talking about your mistakes so others can hopefully avoid them.

Sucks that it happened, but you told that story really well. Honestly, I thought you were rather polite when you spoke of the neighbour who'd had it done and saw you talking with them. I would've hoped they'd have been brave enough to have marched over and warned you off them.

them tiles are concrete

I always turn away anyone who comes to the door. My local FB group is better for getting recommendations.

I once had a guy come to my door to clear the gutters. £10 it was. He did a fine job. He just went door to door down the street doing everyone's

Uh Dr Jake, sorry to hear of the troubles you have been having.Hope your luck improves soon. Makes you wonder how many more people have be ripped off by these guys.

I just say the same thing to everyone who comes to the door , I tell them that I rent the property and don’t own it. I do own the house but it’s the best way of getting rid of them that I’ve found.

Many years ago, my elderly grandad was caught twice by Irish ground workers who badly put a layer of tarmac on his drive, and he also paid through the nose for a cheap aerial photo of his bungalow. It's worth setting up a No Cold Calling Zone in your street. We have one and we are rarely bothered by anyone now, and when we are, we know they're not legit.

had a similar issue a couple of years ago with driveway cleaning and sealing. They finished after less than a day and never sealed it, then had the audacity to turn up again a couple of weeks ago asking if I wanted it redone. Valuable lesson never to engage with door to door people.

My local pub has a sign that says no irish allowed unless on a lead at all times and we will check your pockets before you leave 😂

All I can say is, wow. It takes all types.

Jake there's one born every minute where do you live exactly, I was wondering whether you need your drive done Lol. Did they give you the 25-year guarantee or until they're out of site whatever comes first.

Yeah always turn away people from your door. There are so many "roof cons" it's laughable. Another one is they tell you a roof tile is missing and offer to go up and replace it for you. What they actually do is steal your roof tiles to use on someone else's roof! lol

God what a nightmare, sometimes these cheeky bastards catch you on the wrong day (the right day for them lol).

Sorry to hear you got caught☹️

To have it done properly, you would be looking at about £2500 I do this as a job!!

Sorry but travellers knocking on your door offering a service is one of the oldest scams in the book.

Ah Mate, cowboys did my neighbour’s pateo… 2 years later, it looked like 💩.

Jake you should definitely name and shame this cowboy

I didn't expect somebody like you to fall for it, don't be too hard on yourself but this perhaps might be a lesson, what did they appeal to in your mind that made you go ahead even though you were (rightly) sceptical?...the thought of a bargain? saving money? I'm not insinuating that you are tight but the 'English' mentality to save a few pennies combined with a persuasive attitude that exploits a traditional class based communication system that harks back to the Victorian era (once they've started, could you really tell them to stop?) They know all this, they aren't playing by the same rules of commerce as you, they are using your demeanour against you, you're even blaming yourself it seems. This is one instance when being middle class and sticking to old fashioned attitudes of commerce/behaviour won't do you any favours I'm afraid. There ARE lots of reputable tradespeople out there, not everyone wants to con you, and you don't have to behave as if the world is as The Daily Mail makes out, but learn from this, be assertive (with yourself?) don't allow people to force you into things in the moment...they are here now!....they might as well do it!....it's cheap because they can do it now!...(before you do your research)...you're too polite to say no after they have started!....they didn't rip you off, they allowed your attitude (of perhaps being too nice a person) to rip yourself off, don't assume everyone is out to get you but don't be a target either. This experience may save you a lot more than £650 in the future because you'll handle things differently, yeah?

was this mans horse tethered to a lampost?

The called travelling salesman for a reason.

There's no such thing as a roof cleaning. Or is that a thing in the UK? The only thing you should do is clean your gutters.

That sucks

What's the fact he's Irish/EU got to do with anything?

never get your roofed clean. its always a ripoff. they always damage the roof.