Youth Opportunities Project - genuine or scam?

[Paul Bird]

So once again, for about the fourth or fifth time in two years I've had
to say no to a pleading and apparently heartbroken young person with a
breadbasket full of cleaning products I don't need any of and can
probably buy cheaper in Mill Rd Broadway.

A quick Google produced this:-

http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/youth-opportunities-project-door-to-door-salesmen

I had a look at her i.d. card which looked ok for what it was but if
it's a genuine youth project they've been very badly advised, I thought
this sort of door to door selling went out of fashion after the 1960s.

If anybody has an insight as to whether this lot are genuinely down on
their luck and ill advised or a scam I'd be pleased to know for certain
because every time they call it causes a certain amount of grief in our
household.

PB

[Keith Willshaw]

Its either a scam or classic door to door sales technique depending on
your point of view. These gangs move from town to town. The real
scammers wave what appears to be an official permit but which when
examined is nothing of the sort. The smarter ones get a pedlars
cwrtificate which costs around £12 per annum, they are actually breaking
no law even if the stuff they sell is wildly overpriced.

A grpup came through here last september with certificates issued in
Rochdale as I recall. I declined the offer and I called the local fuzz.
The stuff they were selling was from poundland and given a hefty markup.
Typical was a pack of 3 dusters for £2 which they buy for for £1 a
dozen. This lot were clever enough not to actually commit an offence as
they did not claim to be fundraising for a charity but to support their
own families, were polite and non threatening and when stopped by a
local police patrol proved to have valid pedlars certiificates. I do
wonder if they would have beem quite so nice if a frail old lady had
appeared at the door. Old I may be but frail I am not.

KeithW

[DR de Lacey]

On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 15:35:55 +0100, Paul Bird wrote:

> So once again, for about the fourth or fifth time in two years I've had
> to say no to a pleading and apparently heartbroken young person with a
> breadbasket full of cleaning products I don't need any of and can
> probably buy cheaper in Mill Rd Broadway.

It's a scam. More details at https://www.safelocaltrades.com/consumers/
advice/nottingham-knockers

Apart from anything else, in order to trade at the doorstep they would
need a pedlar's licence, issued by their local police force. Cambs police
used to be very interested in reports of this activity -- but as no-one
has been round here for a couple of years I can't tell you if this is
still the case. Your local Neighbourhood Watch group could probably
advise.

Douglas de Lacey (Posting as a private individual)

[Richard Smith]

On 10/10/17 16:24, Keith Willshaw wrote:

> A grpup came through here last september with certificates issued in
> Rochdale as I recall. I declined the offer and I called the local fuzz.
> The stuff they were selling was from poundland and given a hefty markup.

On what grounds did you call the police? A pedlar's certificate issued
by one police force is valid throughout the country, isn't it?
Door-to-door selling is legal if you have a certificate, and there's
nothing illegal about charging a hefty mark-up, nor about selling
products bought from Poundland. You say they were polite and
non-threatening.

Richard

[Tim Ward]

On 10/10/2017 16:32, DR de Lacey wrote:
>
> Cambs police used to be very interested in reports of this activity

We had some people knock on the door, claim to be tree surgeons, did we
need any work doing?

Kate took them round the back. "How much to do so-and-so?" "£xxx, cash"

Which was about what Kate was expecting to pay, so she went and got the
cash (and didn't of course hand it over until the job was done to her
satisfaction, which it was).

A bit later on the police called round. "We've been getting reports from
your neighbours of people knocking on doors offering to do gardening for
cash, so we're warning people this might be a scam, have you seen them?"

"Yes, and they did this [take the police round the back and show them],
and it looks good to me, and we paid £xxx, which was about what we were
expecting to pay if and when we'd ever been arsed to call someone in."

"Oh, well, some of them *are* genuine, but you never know" said the
police and went back to the nick. Must have been a slow day for them to
turn out at all.

--
Tim Ward - 07801 703 600
www.brettward.co.uk

[Espen Koht]

On 10/10/2017 18:24, Tim Ward wrote:
> "Oh, well, some of them *are* genuine, but you never know" said the
> police and went back to the nick. Must have been a slow day for them to
> turn out at all.

Sound's like old fashioned policing ("an ounce of prevention....")

[Roland Perry]

In message <ZRy*aO...@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>, at 16:32:19 on Tue,
10 Oct 2017, DR de Lacey <de...@cam.ac.uk> remarked:

>It's a scam. More details at https://www.safelocaltrades.com/consumers/
>advice/nottingham-knockers

And when I was living in Nottingham(sic) ten years ago, not very well
executed, in the sense that you'd sometimes get several a week. Even
*if* a householder bought something off the first one, it's very
unlikely that they'd want multiple lots, so even as criminals they are
somewhat wasting their own time.
--
Roland Perry

[Keith Willshaw]

I didn't know what a legal pedlars pass looked like. Frankly anyone
could go to vistaprint and make their own and I would have been no
wiser. Additionally the local press had reported that illegal sellers
were working in the area. Given that many of my neighbours are elderly
pensioners it seemed a sensible thing to do when 2 young men were going
door to door.

[jimha...@mac1.net]

[jimha...@mac1.net]

On Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 3:35:57 PM UTC+1, Paul Bird wrote:

These people have been coming to our door for more than 10 years.I believe most of them are genuine but some do keep it up after they have done their time.Several, maybe all. have been in prison. I think the scam is the company that gets money from the government for rehabilitation.This performance is supposed to count as a job.Of course it is not.If it was genuine they would come round about twice a year.What they sell would be cheaper than the shop price,and each on would have their own territory.And they would say which company employed them .I did this job selling brushes door to door in the 1950s.It is the taxpayer and the sellers themslves who are being exploited I live in East London

[David Doyle]