Achi news desk-
A senior citizen in downtown Toronto says he wants to warn the public about an alleged door-to-door roofing scam.
Stuart extended his story last week to Global News. For his and his friends’ safety, Global News does not publish last names or the street where they live.
Two weeks ago, the eldest was having a quiet day at home when there was a knock on the door.
“These two men, Michael and Tom, were at the door,” he said.
“They said they were working across the street and had seen some problems on my roof, and ‘Can we go up and have a look?'”
Stuart, who has hearing, memory and mobility problems, says he let the men into his house and they immediately went onto his roof.
“I heard a bunch of banging upstairs. … It was heavy, heavy duty beating.”
Stuart said the roofers originally gave him a quote of about $4,700 to fix his roof, but upon returning the next day, told him there was much more damage than originally thought. He said they even used what he and his neighbors believe in hindsight was a stuffed raccoon to convince him they had found it dead under his roof.
Stuart (centre) says he was duped by an alleged fake roofing crew who turned up at his town center home. His friends Carol (left) and Kathy have come to his aid to help him manage the ordeal.
Mark Carcasole / Global News
“They basically took me to the basement … and they were saying, ‘Well, there’s all this damage, we have to redo it.’ So the contract I had signed at that time was void and so it’s going to be about a $150,000 repair, which is a nonsense price.”
They eventually dropped their price to $80,000 then $75,000 according to Stuart, which he accepted. However, he could not take that amount of money from the bank.
Stuart says once it became clear that there was no easy money to be taken from him, the roofers stopped coming around.
He says he soon learned that they had left his roof with a huge hole, exposing the space underneath to the rafters. Stuart says they even left behind the sledgehammer they used to make the hole, and the ladder they used to reach his roof.
Making matters worse, heavy rain moved through the area the next day.
Stuart’s good friend Carol and her neighbor Kathy provided Global News with an audio recording of their last phone call with the roofers, where they claimed they would be over to put a tarp over the hole, but Stuart’s friends say they weren’t have they ever shown.
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Kathy was able to hire another team of roofers to install a cover at the last minute during the storm.
“They worked in the dark, in the driving rain, to lay a good tarp so that the hole was efficiently protected,” he told Global News.
However, much damage had already been done.
Carol showed Global News several areas where water had seeped through and into Stuart’s home, pouring out of a light fixture above his bed.
“It was just a constant flow,” he recalled.
Water also leaked through a seam in the drywall ceiling above his living room. Most of his home is now covered with clear plastic drop sheets in case any remaining water leaks.
Even though the roofers didn’t get any money from him, he will still incur heavy costs to pay for the damage left behind.
Stuart says he believes he fell because of a scam and tells Global News he feels “like a moron.”
The flyer and bill left at Stuart’s house contain logos and contact information for a company called Greater Toronto Roofing & Construction. It is one of several roofing companies in the city with the term “Greater Toronto” in its name. Carol believes it was used deliberately as a way to blend in with legitimate businesses with similar names.
Greater Toronto Roofing & Construction’s website says it has “45 Years of Experience. Budget Friendly Solutions,” encouraging potential customers to contact the company for a free estimate.
Global News called three different phone numbers associated with the company on Friday afternoon. Two of them led to voicemail boxes. Messages were left but no one called back. The third number does not connect at all.
The address given in the company’s materials leads to a property for sale in an industrial area near Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue West. Now empty, it used to be a dry cleaner. There is no sign of any roofing work there or in any of the nearby properties.
Stuart, Carol and Kathy filed a report with the Toronto police. A police spokesperson told Global News that the investigation is “currently open and under active investigation.”
Bruised, Stuart takes no pleasure in telling his story publicly, but hopes it can serve as a warning to others.
“It was well thought out. … They took advantage of me.”
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
