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Hosts Mikki Paradis and Jessica Abreu discuss Bay Area reports of groups posing as contractors who target homeowners—especially elderly people—by showing up unsolicited, claiming urgent dangers like failing roofs or unsafe chimneys, and using fear to force quick decisions. They describe how scams often start with small quotes that rapidly escalate into tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, including one reported $450,000 loss, and note these groups may operate across counties and states under frequently changing business names. The episode highlights red flags such as high-pressure urgency, shifting company identities, and sudden cost increases, and offers protections: never sign the same day, get multiple opinions/inspections, verify licenses and business registration via the Secretary of State, check addresses and phone numbers, and research local permit/inspection requirements. They invite viewers to submit stories at chicksinconstruction.com and share where to follow the podcast on social media.
00:00 Contractor Scam Cold Open
00:28 Meet the Hosts
02:04 Spicy Comments and Rage Bait
04:25 Inspection Rework Rule
08:23 Blocking Trolls and Staying Busy
10:41 Rental Setup Chaos
13:48 Special Trash Trim Haul
17:49 Send Us Your Stories
19:44 Traveling Contractor Scams
20:51 Door Knock Panic Pitch
23:57 Bay Area Scam Details
26:09 Scammers Look the Part
26:37 Fear Based Pitch
27:48 Pressure Sales Red Flags
30:22 Elderly Targeted Scam
32:26 Costs Spiral Fast
34:32 Rotating Company Names
37:13 Door to Door Reality
39:03 Verify People Not Brands
42:50 Organized Scam Networks
45:18 Common Red Flags List
50:16 Protect Yourself Checklist
53:30 Wrap Up And Share
Creators and Guests
Host
Jessica Abreu
As a social media expert, Jessica has a knack for identifying what makes each business unique and translating that into powerful, engaging content that resonates with clients and customers. From crafting tailored strategies and managing accounts to recording on-site content and boosting engagement, Jessica and her team handle it all so their clients can focus on what they do best.
Host
Mikki Paradis
President & CEO at PDI Drywall Inc. Mikki founded her first construction company, PDI Drywall Inc, in 2005 while she was still a student at NC State. After growing PDI into a multimillion dollar company, she has become an accomplished entrepreneur, speaker, and advocate for innovation in business and leadership. With a passion for empowering others, she has built a reputation as a forward-thinking professional dedicated to driving growth and fostering meaningful connections. Known for her dynamic energy and ability to inspire, Mikki is deeply committed to creating positive change in her industry and beyond. Whether through her entrepreneurial ventures or speaking engagements, she consistently challenges the status quo and encourages others to reach their full potential.
What is Chicks in Construction?
You plan your renovation with excitement, trust your contractor, and hope for the best...until things start going sideways. That’s when most homeowners realize they didn’t know what they didn’t know.
From permits that were never pulled to “contractors” who ghost after demo day, the construction world can feel like a maze of hidden costs and shady shortcuts. Too many homeowners end up confused, overwhelmed, and out of a lot of money.
The Chicks in Construction Podcast is here to change that. Hosted by Mikki Paradis, a licensed general contractor with 20+ years of experience, and Jess Abreu, a homeowner turned construction content creator, this show breaks down real renovation horror stories and teaches you how to protect your time, money, and home.
After building a multimillion-dollar drywall business and helping countless homeowners recover from construction nightmares, Mikki is on a mission to make sure you go into your next project informed, not blindsided. And Jess brings the perspective of someone who’s been in your shoes and now knows exactly what questions to ask.
Submit Your Construction Horror Story: https://chicksinconstruction.com/
49 Chicks in Construction
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Mikki: [00:00:00] So according to police and news reports across the Bay Area, groups of men pos- posing as contractors were targeting homeowners, especially elderly homeowners, which I'm like- Mm
listen, childrens and elderly, you're going straight to hell. You're going, no stops. Do not collect whatever in the Monopoly game. You're just gonna go- $2 ... straight to hell. hello, and welcome back to another episode of Chicks in Construction. I'm your host, Mickie Paradise, and this is my illustrious co-host.
Jessica: Hi, I'm Jessica Abram.
Mikki: And listen, this is the podcast where we try to break down some, some construction shenanigans.
Jessica: All the shenanigans.
Mikki: And, and we try to educate you, the viewer, who is either a homeowner or a future homeowner, or honestly just likes the drama, 'cause it's a little bit... There's a little bit of that. And the purpose of us sharing these stories is [00:01:00] so in the event that you are ever experiencing home renovation- Mm-hmm
and somebody's acting a fool, if you will, you'll know, oh, wait, this isn't normal behavior because I saw it on the Chicks in Construction podcast. And for that, you're welcome. Listen, we're not recording on our normal day, and I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not at 100%, okay? It's gonna be rough. I'm trying- It's gonna be
Jessica: rough.
Mikki: I'm trying real hard to keep my eyes open. Just like, full... It's, it's a Saturday, and Jess and I have literally never once recorded on a Saturday, and now we know why. It's true. I was driving like, "Oh, my God. What am I doing?" Um, 'cause I don't have kids, and I realize I live, live a very spoiled life. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Um, on the Saturdays, I may, I may get out of bed later. I may not get out of bed at all. I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not gonna lie to you. I like, I like to stay in the bed for as long as I [00:02:00] can. So not today, y'all. Not today. Not today. I feel like we should start doing- Like a, um, like an episode, like a mini update on every episode of like what's happening in the comments section.
Because listen, they be getting lit. They're
Jessica: spicy.
Mikki: So I stopped looking at the comments, 'cause it was... I just... Listen, it's important to be realistic about like your ability to like participate in humanity sometimes. Mm. And, um, m- the comments are never directed at Jess. 'Cause like, like who's, who could get mad at that face?
Look at that face. Nobody. I
Jessica: mean, they
Mikki: have phones. So but this face is, apparently is verbally punchable. And what's funny is I'm sharing this with you all because these people that are commenting on our, on our socials, they don't watch the [00:03:00] podcast, so they're never, they'll never know that we talk about them on the podcast.
Jessica: No, they just watch the reels.
Mikki: They watch the reels. Yeah. And I feel like, I feel like the algorithm enjoys a rage bait moment. I feel like the al- algorithm knows, the all-knowing algorithm knows if a shit contractor is shady, and they're like, "Oh, let's show them this one." Yeah. "This is really gonna get their goose."
And listen, we be getting gooses just all over town. Oh. We, we be, we be making the, the fellas real mad. I think it's a p- in part the fact that we exist is, is a real mm problem for some of these guys. Yeah, just the
Jessica: fact
Mikki: you're a woman. And they're ever on the earth. If you're
Jessica: a woman in construction and you have an opinion, that- Yeah
does not serve
Mikki: them. That they don't like. Yeah. And that how dare I- No ... not only exist, rude, um, but then have opinions. Who do I think [00:04:00] I am? And all this. Because they don't watch the show-
Jessica: Yeah ...
Mikki: they d- they, they have no idea like what I do, and it's, the assumption is I don't actually do construction. Mm. And, um, here's my thing.
If any of these people were ever to watch our show, this show in particular-
Jessica: Like the full
Mikki: episode ... the full episode, my challenge to you is this. Share with us, 'cause, 'cause th- this always the most triggering thing we have ever said, which we say a lot, is that homeowners don't pay for rework when, when a contractor fails an inspection.
Mm. I have been in construction for 21 plus years. I have never Asked a contractor or a client or whoever to pay me if our work caused them to fail an inspection in order to fix it. I've never done it. [00:05:00] I've never known any trades that do.
Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: Because I only know reputable tradespeople.
Jessica: Yeah.
Mikki: Um, I don't, I don't mess around with the Joe Blows of the world, the Billy Butchers, if you will, of the world.
The Chucks and the Trucks. We don't, we don't play- Mm-hmm ... with a Chucky and a Trucky. We're not here for that. Chucky and a Trucky? A Chucky and a Trucky. Okay. I'm not down with it, you know what I mean? I, I don't even know a dude named Chuck, so I don't play. So when... Like, yeah, I- I've never experienced a reason why it would be a homeowner's responsibility to pay for you failing an inspection.
Can't think of a good one. Nope. Now, I can think of a whole lot of bad ones. Mm-hmm. 'Cause you double-dipping. 'Cause I know full well you're not turning around to your plumber and, and expecting him to do that work for money. You as the general contractor are like, "You failed that inspection. I'm not paying you to fix it."
But then you turn around and you charge the homeowner. [00:06:00] Yes. So you're double-dipping. You're di- you're dipping it in both ends. And listen, do what you want with whatever you're doing with your sticks, but I'm just saying, I'm probably gonna call it out on the podcast. And if it makes you real, real mad that somebody is here saying, "Hey, homeowner, if somebody does their job in- incorrectly, it's not your responsibility to pay for it," if that makes you mad Um, hold
Jessica: on.
Buckle up. We're gonna say some other stuff that's gonna make you real mad.
Mikki: Yeah. It's not gonna go well for you here. And so we're aware that these people in the comment section don't watch the podcast, but man, do they make our, the algorithm serve us up to- Yeah ... literally everyone. Like, there were several times in the last week that Jess was like, "Wow, you should probably not go to any of our social media channels right now because we're trending, but not in a good way."[00:07:00]
I was like, "Noted." Yeah. I hadn't planned on it, but I specifically will
Jessica: not now. The amount of times in the past two weeks that I've had to explain that you have been in business- ... for 20-plus years. I'm like, I'm just gonna put that in my- Wait, put that in your bio? ... in my notes, in my notes
Mikki: and copy
Jessica: and paste- You can copy and paste.
instead of having to type it over and over again.
Mikki: Poor Jess. And
Jessica: that's fine. I think, too, it's because you're blonde and you're
Mikki: pretty. Oh, 100%. Mm-hmm. They
Jessica: can't, they can't handle it.
Mikki: How dare I? How dare I? I'm just supposed to look and p- here and be pretty. Like, when, when I first went into business, I worked with, you know, with this guy that, that I'm, I'm quoting him here, "Honey, do you know what women are here for?"
And I was like- Mm ... "Oh, God." That's not gonna be good. I bet you he's gonna tell me, "Making pies and babies. Making pies and babies." [00:08:00] And I was like-
Jessica: I don't know how to cook ...
Mikki: Lord have the mercy. Like, I was like, "Sir, I will make you a pie with arsenic in it. Let me just commit to, let me just admit my crimes right now.
If I'm making you a pie, I'm poisoning you."
Jessica: Um, you should make a pie like they did on The Help.
Mikki: Oh, yeah. Make a pee pee pie. pee. So yeah- Mm ... I feel like update of the week is the comment section is spicy, so spicy I don't know how spicy it is 'cause I don't look. Um, which I think honestly brings me more joy to think that they think that I'm over here just crying my eyes out about these nasty comments, and I'm like, "Honey, I didn't."
And I'm not gonna lie, it's not ... 'cause I'm like, um- At a level. I'm not here. I'm not, like, an elevated... I'm not like, "Namaste, I don't read the comments section." I'm just real [00:09:00] busy. Like, I'm not a person- Kind of combating ... reading your comments and responding to them. Just unlike you, I have a life, and it's pretty robust, and I don't have time for the comments section.
But, um, listen, I appreciate the fact that-
Jessica: Awesome ...
Mikki: all these men do have a little extra time, and it might be because h- hopefully we're affecting their revenue stream. I mean, listen, my hope is all of your, your people are subscribers, your potential clients, and they know, "Oh, no, Billy Bob, we don't pay for re-work 'cause we watch the Chicks in Construction."
I hope I affect your money. So just know I'm not- Yeah ... losing any sleep over it 'cause I literally didn't read about it. But Jess did let me know that you guys...
Jessica: Yeah, I responded to a few of them, and then I was like, "Oh, this is exhausting." You're like, "YouTube dudes are the
Mikki: worst." I don't have
Jessica: patience [00:10:00] for...
And then, like, part of me is just like, "You're an idiot." Yeah. You don't respond to an idiot-
Mikki: No ...
Jessica: because that's-
Mikki: It never goes well.
Jessica: No. So I just read them, and I'm like, "Ha."
Mikki: You're like, "Me." She used to send me screenshots, and then she stopped doing that because it would make me so pissed off. I'd pull to the side of the road and be like, "Okay, okay, okay."
And then I'd, I'd just... It was getting nowhere real fast. But I will say they clearly didn't get too bad 'cause Jess will block you. She, she will. She... There's a level, there's a point-
Jessica: Where I'm just like, "I'm done" ... where
Mikki: she's like, "Okay, you're done.
Jessica: You're just
Mikki: blocked." So there's that. There's that. Um, also, for the record, Jess has a short-term rental property over at the beach in North Carolina, which she set up with absolutely no complaints.
I... She told me stories about it, but they was just like... It was like, "Oh, it was easy breezy." Um- Yeah,
Jessica: we got [00:11:00] it done in, like- I'm, I'm less than a...
Mikki: I clearly am the weaker of these two. Okay, I have been setting this short-term rental, me and Hector and I bought a short-term rental. We've been setting it up for two weeks, and I am on the cusp of death.
Like, there's not enough hours in the day, there, everything hurts and I'm dying, and I'm just like, "
Jessica: Wow." Well, I mean, also to be fair, I didn't do any of the painting.
Mikki: Mm.
Jessica: I did not try to make an accent wall.
Mikki: Yeah, yeah, we
Jessica: had-
Mikki: We've been doing that.
Jessica: We, I did not do that. I hired someone to come paint it-
Mikki: Yeah
Jessica: and re, and refinish the floors-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Jessica: and put in new carpet.
Mikki: Okay.
Jessica: So I didn't do those things myself. I just made it look homey.
Mikki: Well, listen, Hector and I can't do anything halfway. I feel like you guys, the audience, just knows it's [00:12:00] 100%, you as the audience are probably cueing into that. Yeah. Like, if I'm doing anything, it's at 150 to 2000%, somewhere in that range.
Jessica: It's like they're planning on living there.
Mikki: You think what we did is bad. Hector wanted to add- Like trim to every window. And I said, "Baby, we don't live here." He wanted to change the pedestal sink in the, in the powder room. And I was like, "No, it's a sink. Nobody cares." So like, the things we did was a dialed down version of what Hector wanted to do, and I had to tell him so many times like, "We are not living here.
No, we're not doing that." But we did do like some trim, like a de- trim detail on an accent wall in the master. Freaking peel and stick wallpaper. My God today. Why is it... It's the devil's work. It's the devil's work. And I got two different kinds from like two different brands, and one [00:13:00] is like a normal amount of stick.
It's like if you put it in the wrong place, you can peel it off, rearrange it, and you're like good to go. The other one, gripping for its life, like it is holding onto that wall as if it is Jack on the freaking door in the Titanic. He's like, "No, I wanna live. Rose, just let me on the door." No, this thing's not going anywhere.
So I had to rearrange it, end up pulling parts of the drywall. I was like, good thing I know somebody who can fix that.
Jessica: Hector. I'm
Mikki: like, "Jesus." It got to the point where Hector came in the bathroom, he's like, "Baby, I'm gonna need you to just go to s- have a snack." I was screaming. It was not a, not my best moment.
So yes, like we... And so, so I don't think I sent you like the latest addition to Hector's. So we built a little wall 'cause we put in an electric fireplace.
Jessica: Yes, I saw that.
Mikki: As we kinda did like a little [00:14:00] bump out so we could like make the electric p- fireplace flush. And then Hector got all this trim from one of the jobs we're on, and the amount of construction waste is insane to me, and how it is cheaper for companies just to throw unused materials out than it is to like send them back to the warehouse is beyond me.
So there was probably I don't know, 1,500 to $2,000 worth of just, like, leftover material.
Jessica: Wow.
Mikki: And they were like, "Do you want it?" And Hector's like The special trash collection. My best trash
Jessica: dude. He just left it in a little wagon.
Mikki: He's like, "Let me go
Jessica: get my trailer," and I kid you not,
Mikki: he's like a little kid in a candy store.
100%. So he's walking around, and this is a really high-end job. Like, the apartments that we, we built, they're, like, very luxury, like very, like, bougie. Mm-hmm. And I don't know who did the ordering for this daggone job, but the amount of materials they have left over is literal [00:15:00] nonsense. Mm. So he
Jessica: goes and gets his trailer.
Don't
Mikki: know if they have a kickback. And he loads it up, and I'm telling you, all kinds of trim, like cedar boards. W- he's... So then he's, like, feeling himself. Like, he's just, he's just going through. He's, like, shopping, like a kid in a candy store. He's just, like, living his best Christmas day life. He's like, "Oh, the shower caddy.
I'm gonna take that. Go, baby." What's the shower caddy for? Oh, it goes in the units. Is it a leftover one? Oh, I don't know. Like, he just is, like, almost, like, high. He's like, "Woo." He goes to put the shower thing in the, in the trailer, and I goes, "You need to ask about that." That's
Jessica: not on the list of approved- No
items you can take for your special trash service.
Mikki: He was just feeling it. He's like, "Woo." And so now the special trash shed has a new addition of copious amounts of trim boards. And I'm [00:16:00] just like, "Baby, why?"
Jessica: We've had
Mikki: so many ask
Jessica: them.
Mikki: But to be fair, he created this really cool herringbone pattern 'cause we're gonna do shiplap, and, you know, everybody does shiplap, whatever.
He c- I, he took so much time 'cause, you know, we only had, like, after work. Mm-hmm. Just a couple hours, so it took him-
Jessica: Days ...
Mikki: days. But, like, I'm telling you, like, these really meticulous cuts and just, and it looks so good. And he painted it black, and it looks so good, and I'm just like, "Wow, you are a magician, sir."
Jessica: Mm.
Mikki: Like, special trash magician. So I'm not com- it sounds like I'm complaining. It does. I hear me. Um, but- I do have my slight complaints about the special trash. However, and don't ever tell Hector I said this,
Jessica: Sometimes it works out.
Mikki: I'm pretty grateful that that trim was free. 'Cause it probably would've been several hundred [00:17:00] dollars worth of- Yeah ... materials. 'Cause it was all these tiny little baby cuts, so there was, like, a higher amount of waste. And, um, yeah, so n- nobody tell Hector, but the special trash does sometimes work out.
Jessica: Yeah.
So now i- is your rental, like, almost ready?
Mikki: It is. So we have your friend that does real estate photos coming on Friday.
Jessica: Oh, nice.
Mikki: So we've got a week to... We gotta get it done. And honestly, I had to give myself, like, a deadline 'cause, like, Hector kept adding stuff, and I was like, "Okay, we gotta stop. We gotta s-" But yeah, he added really nice crown molding.
And in his mind, like, he's doing this so, like, if we ever wanna sell it- Right ... we have unique features that our neighbors don't. You
Jessica: could also add it then.
Mikki: There's that. Listen, Jess. Sometimes you just gotta go along with it. There
Jessica: we are. There we
Mikki: are. Here we are. So we have, um, we do have w- listen, so much of what we do is r- because you all share your stories with us.
Mm-hmm. So if you go to [00:18:00] chixandconstruction.com and you scroll down a little bit, there's a form where you can just kinda tell us, tell us the tea. Mm-hmm. We like it hot. We like it piping hot. Sometimes we like a little dry. We like a little spice. We're here for the tea. So you can go to chixandconstruction.com You can share your story and we will read it.
Yeah, we will. We will sing your song to the community about what had happened. So if you feel like you were wronged by a general contractor or a tradesperson or you had a really crappy experience, we want to vent it to the world for you. And then when I say to the world, do I mean the world? No, I mean the 32,000 subscribers that we have, which is pretty phenomenal if you ask me.
It's amazing.
Jessica: It's amazing. We
Mikki: gonna own up, y'all. But, and also to whoever YouTube decides to rage bait with our content. And TikTok. And TikTok and Instagram, all the things.
Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: But it helps so much. On TikTok they
Jessica: really, they really- Oh, they getting [00:19:00] hot? They get... That's where they get really spicy. I was like, ooh, hello there.
So
Mikki: listen, I, I specifically don't even have a TikTok, so I couldn't go check those comments if I wanted to. But listen, at the end of the day it helps the algo. Yep. So go ahead.
Jessica: That's what we're here for.
Mikki: Get spicy up in there. But so we, that is the k- kind of the premise of the show is we want to help you help other people to not have the same experience that you had.
And literally everybody that writes in, the reason why they're sharing the story is if somebody can learn from their mistakes and somebody can learn from the things that they kinda learned the hard way, they are happy to share that because learning the hard way is overrated. Is
Jessica: overrated.
Mikki: Okay. We're getting so good at that.
We're getting
Jessica: so good.
Mikki: We're getting so good. Watch out, we're coming. So this is not a story that anybody wrote in. From time to time we have to do some fillers and so we c- create, we have a curated list of ridiculous stories of shady contractors [00:20:00] And this is one of those. Um, and this is kind of about a, a traveling, and we've heard this before, um, stories about, like, traveling contractor scams.
Mm. And, like, people who kinda go from state to state in some cases country to country- Yeah ... scamming people and claiming- Like knock on your door. Yeah, knock on your door. So we're gonna get into it now. This, this does give me tone instructions, and it says, "In a slow and serious tone." 'Cause guys, the, I feel like the scripts have helped.
I feel like- It helps. Yeah ... I feel like it helps k- help us land the plane a little bit better. So-
Jessica: At least one of us.
Mikki: Jess, not me. Jess has to sometimes be like, "Mickey, land it."
Jessica: I'm in.
Mikki: In my slow and serious tone, imagine someone knocks on your door, dun, dun, dun. And they tell you [00:21:00] they were just working on your neighbor's house, and while they were up there, they noticed something dangerous.
Your roof is failing. Your chimney is unsafe. Maybe there are animals getting inside. Maybe the structure is rotting. And then you say, the thing designed to m- and then they say the thing designed to make you panic. "This needs to be fixed immediately." Now, imagine that person isn't a contractor at all.
Jessica: Shocking.
Mikki: Shock- I can't even believe that a licensed contractor doesn't go door to door offering their services to people who did not ask you to come onto their property. Right. And I'm not... No, I'm gonna say I've never had somebody knock on my door and try to sell me something legitimately. It's always, like, except for Girl Scouts.
But they don't even go door to door anymore.
Jessica: They're not allowed to.
Mikki: Oh, they're not?
Jessica: No.
Mikki: Oh, that make, actually tracks. In the world that we're living [00:22:00] in- Mm-hmm ... it tracks. Don't send your kids to people's doors, 'cause people are freaking weird.
Jessica: Yeah.
Mikki: Nobody needs that kind of
Jessica: drama. Well, I always have to go to their doors twice: once to get their cookie order-
Mikki: Yeah, and then once
Jessica: to deliver them
and
Mikki: once to deliver them. Yeah. And now the Girl Scouts are like, "Listen, you guys know what we're cooking. You want it? We'll be outside of the Walmart Thursday, Friday, and Saturday." And if you don't want it- And if you don't want it- And if you don't want it, we're gonna make you feel bad about your life choices.
So other than allowing Girl Scouts that have actually never come to my door, I've never had anybody come to my door to try to sell me something legit. Like, I just, it just hasn't happened. I've had people put, like, flyers in my mailbox that says, "Hey, we're replacing your neighbor's windows." But first of all, windows take a long time to make, so it's not like you're like, "Oh, we just so happen to have some of your size."
Like, that's not how that works. That's what happened in this case. So, um, th- th- this needs to be fixed [00:23:00] immediately, and they're not actually a contractor, and it's part of a giant scam ring, um, traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood looking for homeowners to exploit because according to investigators in California, that's exactly what happened in this case, and some of the homeowners lost hundreds of thousands of dollars So we're gonna get into the scam.
Technically- Dun, dun, dun ... yeah, dun, dun, dun. We need one of those, like, those things that makes the dun-dun sound. Have you seen them? No. It's like this little, it looks like the thing you hit with a gavel.
Jessica: Yeah.
Mikki: And it, it comes with a little baby gavel, and you hit it, and it g- it plays the, like, Law & Order, like dun-dun.
Dun-dun. We need that. Maybe
Jessica: that and the little mini violin.
Mikki: Yes.
Jessica: The- So many,
Mikki: so many props- ... to make just the most delightful sounds. Oh, God. Sorry, guys. Oh, lord. It's Saturday. What do you want from me? So according to police and [00:24:00] news reports across the Bay Area, groups of men pos- posing as contractors were targeting homeowners, especially elderly homeowners, which I'm like- Mm
listen, childrens and elderly, you're going straight to hell. You're going, no stops. Do not collect whatever in the Monopoly game. You're just gonna go- $2 ... straight to hell. I just, there's just nothing- Miss
Jessica: Others coming out.
Mikki: I'm j- listen, straight to hell. I'm saying it. I, I just, I can't. I mean, l- well, to be fair, if it's like a Mr.
Burns type of old person, which you probably don't know who that is. I don't know who that is. He's on The Simpsons. He's a grouchy, grouchy, old, rich guy. Fine. Do what you want with the Mr. Burns'. But leave the, like, sweet, old cookie-making ones alone. Because- They wanna
Jessica: make a pie?
Mikki: Yes. I don't care what kind of pie they're making, a shit pie, a regular pie.
I don't care. All right ... I'll get back to the script now. Mm-hmm. [00:25:00] Um, their approach was almost always the same. They would show up unsolicited, usually in a truck, probably with the name Truck. Usually wearing work clothes, and they'd say, "We're already doing work nearby."
Jessica: Which sounds so trustworthy.
Mikki: Which I'm just like, "Of course you are.
Please, knock on my door in your knockoff Carhartt." That's a thing, too. Carhartt, which is a construction, blue collar, working person clothing brand-
Jessica: Mm-hmm ...
Mikki: has been corrupted by the youths, and now it's like you see these, like, straight up yuppies wearing Carhartt. And, like, if you actually own Carhartt gear for work, and you see these people- This is-
wearing- This is just
Jessica: rude ...
Mikki: it is rude. It's disrespectful. I'm just like, "No." No. "Don't. Take those boots off right now." But listen, I get... I, in some ways I'm grateful that you think that our work gear looks [00:26:00] cool. I will say, pick up a hammer and actually learn how to swing it, and you might feel cool. Just saying.
Just saying that. Sorry. Off the script again. Oh, God. Here we go. So- It, it did immediately sound it, it, to the people who were affected by the scam, the fact that they kind of were, were looking the part helped sell the scam. Mm. So because it didn't feel random to them, um, they felt like they were local, that they were familiar, and they were legitimate, and then they started inspecting the house.
Um, the next part is what kinda makes this so manipulative, and we've talked about this a lot. They used fear. Mm-hmm. And they claimed things like, "Your roof is collapsing, your chimney's unsafe, there's water damage, animals are getting in, and your structure could fail." And that, the goal, um, wasn't to educate, it was to cause panic.
Which we have heard this in a lot of different stories, especially the, the ones that are really aimed at, like, [00:27:00] y- the elderly or aimed at people who, who clearly don't know enough about construction or they- Mm-hmm ... they kinda see as an easy target. Whereas they come in, and they just try to create this panic and this fear.
And T- so far, listen, we've only been doing this for just under two years, we haven't gotten any stories of the time my house collapsed on itself. We haven't gotten that story yet. No.
Jessica: I- if, if you have it, chicsinconstruction.com, please
Mikki: share it. Send it in. We'd love to hear how your house collapsed on itself.
Um, but thus far, we have yet to hear that story of how just one day your house just fell in on itself. So they're using this urgency and this, um-
Jessica: Fear ...
Mikki: fear as a way to get you to make these decisions, and this is a tactic that some of the trusted contractors that we've worked with share a lot about, about how, you know, when somebody uses these high-pressure [00:28:00] sales tactics or they're using these fear pressure t- sales tactics, that is a huge red flag and a, and a great opportunity for you to say, "Oh, wait a second."
Jessica: Mm-hmm. "
Mikki: I don't make decisions in panic mode. I don't make decisions out of fear. So thank you for sharing this with me. Please move on." But unfortunately, that is not what happened in this sit- situation.
Jessica: No. So most contractors that are good, high-quality ones, the ones that I've been talking to and stuff, they will always leave their potential clients with a proposal and tell them, "You sleep on it."
Yeah. "You think about it. You go ask somebody else." Get numerous-
Mikki: Yeah,
Jessica: quotes ... numerous quotes- Yeah ... so that you feel comfortable doing it. But when anybody, whenever somebody is really making you panic, that is going to make you, and they're gonna try to make you make that decision real fast so that you don't have time to think it through.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: Anytime you don't have time to think it through, that's when you know you're making the wrong decision.
Mikki: Yeah, yeah. When you haven't had [00:29:00] time to just be like, "Listen, let me do all the research. Let me talk to other people." Mm-hmm. If somebody's not... Somebody's saying, "Listen, you can do that, but your house might fall in on itself," thank you, sir.
See yourself out. Mm-hmm. You know, it's just, especially when they came to you. You did not seek them out. You did not ask them for their opinion, and they're telling you, "Oh, my gosh, your, you know, there's this, that, and the other, and it's catastrophic, and this could be really, really bad." It might be and it might not be.
But what we do know is you probably got a- at least 24 hours before your house just falls in on itself. 'Cause again, we haven't got that story yet. Now, we've gotten stories where people's houses were condemned. We've gotten stories where people's inspectors were like, "Yeah, it's not the greatest." Mm-hmm.
But yet none of them had failed by the time they, they got it corrected and they were writing in and sharing their story with us. So sadly, this is something we see too often, [00:30:00] and we can't stress this enough. If you are feeling like, "Oh, God, I have to make a decision right now," the decision was just made for you.
You're not gonna make a decision right now. You're gonna press pause- Mm-hmm ... and seek somebody else out. Um, because when somebody is scared that their home is unsafe, it kind of forces them to make really kind of questionable decisions. So one of the most heartbreaking cases involved was an 89-year-old homeowner.
She was told she had serious roof damage and an animal, um, intrusion issue. Yeah. The contractors convinced her extensive repairs were urgently needed, and over time they drained enormous amounts of money from her.
Jessica: Oh, that's devastating. I mean, I feel like older homeowners are so much more likely to trust somebody- Yeah
coming to their door.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: Um, because they grew up in a time where people weren't so awful as they are
Mikki: today. Yeah, like this scam wasn't [00:31:00] really, wasn't the point. N- nine times out of 10, people were just trying to help out a neighbor, and now it's like-
Jessica: Yeah ...
Mikki: how can I scam your entire retirement out of your, out of you over- Mm-hmm
over the next two weeks, which is
Jessica: terrible.
Mikki: And the scammers know that. They know, um, that, that these are easy, or in their opinion, they're easy targets. Mm-hmm. And police say elder- elderly homeowners in this case were specifically targeted because they're often at the home, at home during the day.
Mm-hmm. Many of them live alone, and they're less likely to climb on the roof or challenge technical claims, which I saw a lot of when I did that panel for, um, on like how to choose the correct contractors for, despite the fact that the woman told me that she was not a senior. Right. It was supposed to be for senior citizens.
Um, and they were very frustrated, and some of them had had a lot of different kinda wild experiences. Um- [00:32:00] So I think they really are starting to feel that they are, are maybe potentially targets. Mm-hmm. And so they were just like, "How do I avoid this? How do I d- avoid this?" And so we were giving them a lot of tips, but it was funny, the more we kind of gave them the tips, I was like, "This really seems like a lot.
Like, these are a lot of steps." And I can imagine that would be really overwhelming for, for especially- Yeah ... elderly homeowners, and I think that's why they kind of are that easy target. Um, and that's where the scam gets really dangerous. The first, um, number is never a real number. Um, they start small, and we saw this on the other case- Yeah
where they were doing this. It's the same thing, like a scam that was going state to state. Um, it would start off like a little baby number, and then they'd go from like 9,000 to 90,000, and this was kind of the same thing. So they would start like, "Oh, we're gonna do- we're gonna just take, take off this one section of roof," and next thing it was, "Oh, okay, well, we found more damage," and, "Oh, there's structural rot," and then, "This is worse than we thought."
And before [00:33:00] the homeowner realizes what's happening, they've paid tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. One homeowner reportedly lost $450,000.
Jessica: That is so much money. Like, a- and just to keep paying, too. Right. Yeah. And I know that once they get wrapped into it, they're like, "Oh, okay." It's
Mikki: hard to know, like, where- Yeah
the cutoff point is. Mm-hmm. And I think that, that is probably the most reoccurring... Well, it's hard to pick, it's honestly the most reoccurring theme- They are all reoccurring ... because these are all reoccurring themes. Mm-hmm. But that is one thing we see a lot, is people think, "Oh, well, they've already started, so if I, if I stop them now, or if I push back now, they're not, you know, they're not gonna wanna finish."
And you're right. If somebody's trying to scam you, and you push back, they're not gonna, they're not gonna finish. It's not even a matter of they're not gonna wanna finish. The second they realize that you're not the one or the [00:34:00] two, okay, they're not here for it. They're like, "Oh, we're gonna go find some dum-dum that's not gonna push, that's not gonna push back, that's not gonna ask questions."
And I don't like that dum-dum, that's kind of mean. They're gonna find somebody who doesn't watch our podcast. And they're just, they're gonna take advantage of them because they don't know what they don't know. And so that, I would, I would, I would guess to say that these scammers probably think they're, the, the people that they're scamming are dumb, and they're taking advantage of what they don't know, and we see that all the time.
So-
Jessica: Yep. And I believe that these weren't even real companies- No ... that was doing it.
Mikki: So not in the way that homeowners thought. Investigators say that these groups operated under constantly changing names, like Statewide Roofing and Reliance Paving, and other rotating business names, which we have talked about several times, is when somebody kind of reaches out to you and they want to do work for you, and you look them up.
W- the [00:35:00] one of the places that you can check is your, your state's Secretary of State's department. Every state in the United States has one. So you can go, and, and I'm sure every state is a little bit different as far as like what records that you can look up. But I know in North Carolina, you can go onto the Secretary of State, you can check the business name.
If you don't, if nothing pulls up for the business name, that means that in your state they are not registered. You can also check their personal name, so that individual, if they're saying, "Hey, I own this company," then you should be able to pull up and see, see their name and see the company they say that they own.
Now, if you pull up somebody's name and they have several different company names, kind of under the same genre, but they're all a little bit different, that's actually a huge red flag. That doesn't mean they're a big company. It means that they've had to change their company name several times, probably because they had outstanding debts, or probably because they had really bad reviews.
Or either way, it's a red [00:36:00] flag. It's sus. You want to investigate it more. They shouldn't have multiple names under, under their, their personal name. Like, they shouldn't have owned almost the same company, but in like, oh, one letter was different or one word was different. That's suspicious. So it's, um, and this is a huge red flag that homeowners need to understand.
This isn't normal branding. This is reputation resetting, which is a really good way to put that. So it's kind of a teachable moment. Um, what happens is a company gets bad reviews. They, the complaints pile up. Like, I have seen some of the most interesting Yelp reviews. Like, when you go, went to this one dude's Yelp page, every single story was exactly the same.
They came to the door. We didn't ask them to come. They said that there was something failing. We, we, they said it would be a, a very small amount of money. They didn't finish. And the re- reviews [00:37:00] were all the same. So when this happens, they change the name and they start over. Um- And that does make it really hard for homeowners to track them.
Um, so- I
Jessica: just think, like, if somebo- like, I... People aren't supposed to come to the doors in my neighborhood. Yeah. They're just not. Yeah. There's signs everywhere that says, like, "Don't." I need to start putting one on my actual door that says that one, because yours isn't. You know we have that, I know what you're saying.
M- my time is $20 a minute.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: Um, I need, I need a cash advance before you, before you even start talking to me. But I don't give a single one of those people the time of day. Yeah. I open the door. I say, "Why are you at my house?" They tell me what company they're with. Yeah. And I'm just like, "Okay, congratulations.
This neighborhood, you're not supposed to be in. Nobody is going to be kind to you or open their door for you." At all. Like, you should probably leave.
Mikki: Yeah. '
Jessica: Cause I'm not here for it.
Mikki: Yeah. No, and, and like, [00:38:00] listen, I get- And I
Jessica: know they're doing a job.
Mikki: And I get that. Like, respectfully, I guess we, we all out here hustling.
I get it. Mm-hmm. But the door-to-door salesman shtick isn't just, it's not it. Like, it's, it's not it anymore. It's, it's so... I don't know. Like, for me, I'm just, I get so creeped out when somebody comes to my door. Mm-hmm. If you're not delivering my Amazon package, okay, I, please don't come up my driveway.
Jessica: I will not answer the door if Ryan's at home.
Mikki: I, I'm, like, I don't answer the door- It's crazy ... because I'm insane. And also Optimus Prime is there, and even though, you know, we know Optimus Prime is a big marshmallow, but he's 215 pound English Mastiff. I know. So if you don't watch our podcast, you don't know that he's a, he's a mushroom. But- He can
Jessica: back away from you.
Yeah.
Mikki: I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no." But he sounds like a straight-up bear that lives in my house, so I'll, I'll open the door and be like, "Do you wanna get eaten today?" But it's never, like, I never feel good about it. Yeah. So it's one of, like, listen, I get it. You have a job to do. I would say [00:39:00] find another way, and then, than to go to people's doors.
And one of the things that we want everybody to be aware of is- When somebody comes you, like, and, and presents to you like, "Hey, this is my company's name. This is what we do," I don't want you just to search their company. I want you to search the person. Mm-hmm. I want you to search their license number. I want you to check out their phone number and their address.
Um, one of the things that I saw somebody doing was they would put their company's address into Google Maps- Mm-hmm ... and look and see, is this an actual address, or is this a shopping plaza that there's no, like, there's nothing real,
Jessica: like- Just a land ...
Mikki: or there, well, there was one where the guy's address was a UPS store.
And so, like, I'm not saying that that is a complete deal breaker. My bus- my, my office is in my basement, so there, it, it could be like it pulls up somebody's house. You ask questions. Like, "Hey, I pulled up your address and it, [00:40:00] it looks like your, um, your, the address you gave me was a UPS store. Why is that?
Um, you know, what's an address where if I needed to get ahold of you and I couldn't, where I could actually find you?" And they, they might have their reasons, but you also have your reasons. You, if you need to serve this person with a legal document, you, it can't go to a UPS store. So you have your reasons as to why you want a real address, too.
Mm-hmm. And so I think it's fair to kind of ask those questions. Um, the other one was looking up the phone number. So there was a story where th- this person had been scamming so many people that their phone number was flagged as a scam. Like, you know how like when you get a call- Oh, potential
Jessica: spam ...
Mikki: and it says potential spam?
Mm-hmm. Um, so that was a really interesting one. I didn't even think about checking somebody's phone number. Yeah. But they could have potentially... See, 'cause we have, in our experience, most people will end up just changing their number. So I didn't even think about like, oh, you should, you should have the people check their number, but that was a really good one because it, it led [00:41:00] to some kind of forum where all these people had put in stories that- Mm-hmm
and I was like, "Oh, I didn't even think to check phone numbers."
Jessica: Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: That, the urgency part is, really bothers me.
Mikki: Yeah, see, the sales created pressure.
Jessica: Yeah. And then the homeowners feel trapped. Like, when you think that, like, everything is doom and gloom and stuff, and they're like, "You gotta do that.
You gotta do that," like, that makes you feel-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Jessica: feel trapped.
Mikki: And that seems intentional. Um- Mm-hmm ... real contractors educate, scammers pressure. Um, legitimate contractors will say, "Get another option," like Jess said previously, and scammers say, "You need to decide right now." And I cannot stress that enough.
Like, obviously I don't, you know, I'm not a framer, so I've never been in a situation where I'm like, "You need to make this decision right now." But I don't think I've met anybody that's like, "You need to make this decision right now." Like, even my nephew who owns an HVAC [00:42:00] company, you know, they're like, "Hey, listen, your- your- your motor's probably gonna go at some point.
Take some time to think about it. This is the cost to fix it." And he'll always say, like, "It could break tomorrow, it could break in a year. We have no idea." But that- that's a kind of contractor that's like, okay, you can trust that. If they're giving you options, they're saying, "Listen, take some time with it.
You, you know, it might go out in the time that you're making a decision, but it's okay when, if it goes out, just call us." That's something that you can trust. When somebody's, like, making you feel like you have a gun to your head, like you have to make that decision right now- ... or your house is gonna explode, this isn't Lethal Weapon, okay?
All right? Just buildings aren't just gonna explode. Everybody calm down.
Jessica: It's like when you go to the doctor too. Like, you always want a second opinion. Like, same thing.
Mikki: Yes. Same
Jessica: thing.
Mikki: 100%. So eventually, police departments across California began noticing patterns. Same tactics, same scripts- Mm ... [00:43:00] same types of victims.
Authorities wanted homeowners warned homeowners about these scams, that they were becoming increasingly organized and mobile. An investigator- Mm ... S- investigators believed some groups were operating across multiple counties and states.
Jessica: It's terrible.
Mikki: I know.
Jessica: And I know, like, I know I think, like, "I'm never gonna fall for this," and you listening right now-
Mikki: Mm-hmm
Jessica: or watching, you might think that, like, you're never going to fall for that. But honestly, like, they are trained and use certain kinds of psychology. Yeah,
Mikki: yeah.
Jessica: And that's, that's how it happens, and they know their targets. Like, they're going to hit on all of your weaknesses.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: And that's something to look out
Mikki: for.
And they use fear and urgency. Mm-hmm. And, like, their authority, and they try, they say things that confuse you, and that you're, y- it kinda puts you in this s- situation of, like, fight or flight, where you're like, "Oh my gosh, I have to decide right now." And again, [00:44:00] we can't stress this enough. They're, they're betting on that you're gonna be emotional and that you're gonna make decisions from that, from that place.
Mm-hmm. And so what we are saying is whenever you feel yourself panicking, oh my God, I have to make a decision right now, that helps you make the decision to just press the full-blown stop button. Mm-hmm. Like, we're absolutely not playing this game of- Nope ... My house could explode. It could collapse.
Mm-hmm. You know, also pigs could fly. Also, you know, I could- I
Jessica: mean, like, I thought the sky was falling ...
Mikki: that's right. I could win the lottery. A lot of couldas could happen. I'm just say- and let me tell you, the second I win the lottery, I'm buying one of those buses and I'm just gonna transport dogs around.
We have one in our neighborhood. We have a d- we have a little dog bus that comes to pick up one of the dogs in our neighborhood. We have a doggy day care. And it is, every time I drive by it, I'm like, second I win the lottery, this, this will be my life. And that was a genuine side note. Yeah,
Jessica: I really thought you were gonna go [00:45:00] collect seashells everywhere.
Mikki: That's fair. I mean, it probably will be both. It'll be a little bit of dog hustling and a little bit of seashell hoarding, um. 'Cause honestly, I talk a lot of crap about Hector's special trash. You should see the amount of seashells I have in my house. I display them lovely, but, um, they're overflowing. It's a lot.
It's a lot. So let's talk about some of the red flags. Um, and this is the same as last time. It is unsolicited contractors. So if someone shows up unexpectedly saying they noticed damages, it is a full stop moment. I think Jess said this perfectly the last time we had a story like this. You know, she, she said, "If somebody came to my house, I would say, 'Thank you so much for letting me know.
Have a great day.'" And she'd call somebody else because-
Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: I, someone
Jessica: who actually does that- Yeah ... we know-
Mikki: Yeah ... that
Jessica: it works.
Mikki: Yeah. And it's like, it's one of those things where it's like, maybe they are right. Maybe there is a problem. But unfortunately, in, in the construction environment that [00:46:00] so many shady contractors have created, it is a full-blown stop.
Thank you for letting me know. Have a great day. See yourself out.
Jessica: Out.
Mikki: Yeah, because that is one of the biggest contractor scam indicators that there are, somebody just showing up unsolicited at your house.
Jessica: Yeah. And telling you something's wrong.
Mikki: Yeah.
Jessica: And they use that urgency.
Mikki: Yes.
Jessica: That's, things happen, having to happen immediately, that is- Yeah
a red flag. It is. 'Cause nothing has to happen immediately.
Mikki: And real contractors explain options. Real contractors say, "Hey, listen, this could be a major issue. This could fail. Here are the things that you should look into doing right now. You should definitely reach out to this person, this person, this person."
Mm-hmm. Like, a structural engineer, somebody to help you understand, just to feel like, "Hey, this isn't just coming from me."
Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: That, I've never met a contractor that wasn't, that was legitimate, that wasn't like, "No, I have a team of people- Right ... that will explain this to you, or I'll give you numbers. You don't, they don't even have to be my people.
I'm happy to [00:47:00] help you find people to make you feel comfortable comfortable about the repairs that we're suggesting." But almost never is somebody that's knocking on your door gonna also give you those options. So the third red flag is constantly changing company names, which I feel like we've already discussed this perhaps ad nauseam.
Yes. But please check into that. Somebody having multiple company names that are just slightly different. Mm-hmm. Or like, there was one where they would add and sons. So it was like something, something and sons, something, something and sons. So they had multiple companies where they would have the one name and then they would add and sons, and they did that about four different times.
So I don't know what that looks like to you when you're looking at it, but we want you to know that that is a red flag.
Jessica: Yeah. We split them up. Yeah. And, um, escalating cost mid-project, like something should not go from $5,000 to $50,000 overnight. No. No, that's not- Like all of a sudden they shouldn't be [00:48:00] that much
Mikki: different.
Yeah, unless your house did in fact implode. It should,
Jessica: I mean-
Mikki: That jump is a, is a bit extreme.
Jessica: Very.
Mikki: It is a bit extreme. And, and-
Jessica: And that's a manipulation tactic- Yeah ... that they use.
Mikki: And that was, and I think they play off that, oh, well, they're already here mentality. So like every single homeowner horror story- Mm-hmm I don't wanna say that ended badly.
They all ended badly. It, some of them finished, some of them didn't. But one of the biggest things to prevent people from really having that conflict conversation- Mm-hmm ... was, "Well, they were here, and I didn't want them to pack up and leave." And the thing is- Pack
Jessica: them
Mikki: up and leave ... pack them up and leave.
They're going to pack up and leave. Like, when you have that moment where you're like, "Something feels off"-
Jessica: Mm ...
Mikki: do it now or do it later, but it's gonna happen one way or the other. All of these stories kind of end the same. [00:49:00] It kept, the cocks, costs kept mounting. They kept coming back for more money. They kept coming back for more money.
Finally, I said, "This is enough." I started asking questions. I found out they weren't licensed. I found out they weren't legitimate. I called them out on it, and they walked, and then I had to bring in another contractor that came in. It cost me X amount of dollars more to fix their shoddy work. So honestly, failing fast is the way to go if, if you- It's gonna save you some money
it, it's gonna save you some money. Just letting, realizing, "Okay, this is, this isn't what I was expecting. Mm-hmm. This isn't going the way that I want. I'm not having successful communication with the contractor for them to understand that, no, Johnny, I'm not paying for you to reinstall the shower pan that you installed incorrectly in the first...
I'm not paying for that twice." That is the first moment where if you don't pay for it, they might walk. They really might, and that's the best thing that could happen to you, and you just have to go out, take what you learned from that, [00:50:00] find a contractor that's licensed- Mm-hmm ... somebody that has a reputation as a reputable contractor, and move on.
But yeah, like I, I get it. But in, at the end of the day- It's gon- it's gonna hurt less now than it will later. So how do you protect yourself? Um, if someone approaches your house unsolicited never sign anything the same day. Definitely get another opinion. Get an inspection, hire, reach out to somebody who does the work that they say is the problem, have them come and look at it.
You never take that first initial bid. Um, and I do think that roofers do this more than, um, other trades. Like if there's a hailstorm, this is something Bailey from Cadmus Construction, who was on the show a while ago, um, who's a roofer, was saying that when a storm hits, these chucks in trucks will drive around and they'll say, "Oh, you [00:51:00] have hail damage on your roof," and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And people are like, "Oh, I didn't even know that." Listen, if somebody comes and tells you you have hail damage on your roof, call a roofer and get a second opinion. And a- any time they're trying to get you to sign in that moment, it's never a thing. Um, so never sign the same day, get another inspection, verify licensing independently, um, search for court records, and never trust that, trust that pressure tactic.
The other thing that I would add to that is search the requirements for the work that they're trying to do in your area. So one of the things that I've been doing is going to, using AI to say, "Hey, I'm in this county, in this state, I wanna do this work on my house. Do I need inspections? Do I need-- Like, what do I need to know about hiring a contractor?"
Mm-hmm. You would be shooketh at the, um, like, the quality of the information that I have gotten back that has been [00:52:00] so unbelievably helpful. So I cannot recommend enough that you guys going out there and kind of using the resources that are out there.
Jessica: Yeah, absolutely. So this story is scary because it starts with something so simple, just a knock at the door.
Mikki: Yeah, and that's the lesson. So th- that's the most dangerous scam. Don't always-- They don't always look dangerous. Sometimes they look like someone just trying to help. And unfortunately, I just think we wanna trust each other. Yeah. We wanna trust that the person coming to your door is, is helping you and is doing the right thing.
And the thing about it is, they might be giving you good information, or they absolutely might be trying to scam the bejesus out of you. Mm-hmm. So the move is, "Hey, thank you so much for the information. I'm gonna listen, I'm not gonna lie. I will lie. I'll lie and be like, "Yeah, I, my brother's a..." To be perfectly honest, though, as big as Hector's family is, we're all in construction, [00:53:00] I probably do have a brother that does literally X, Y, and Z.
But if I were you and you felt that high pressure and you felt like, I would just be like, "Oh, yeah, my brother's a roofer. I'll call him. Thank you so much." Like, see yourself out. Mm-hmm. It's one of those ways, like, how can I get you off my front porch? "Oh, my, my father's a roofer." Pick a family member.
Jessica: Pick somebody.
And
Mikki: just be like- Your
Jessica: neighbor ... "
Mikki: Yeah, I'll, I'll reach out. I'll, I'll let them know. I, I never pay full price for roofing, but thank you so much." One of those things. And this is the point of the podcast, is these stories happen over and over and over again. Mm-hmm. And the more you guys share your stories with us, the more we can share your stories with everybody who watches, so that less people get taken advantage of.
So many people that do write in say, "I wish I had known your podcast existed," or, "I wish your podcast did exist when this happened." Mm-hmm. "Because I had no idea that this wasn't normal. I had no idea that this was a really classic [00:54:00] scam. I had no idea that I needed to check for licenses and that I could, that I could check if somebody had judgments against them, or that I could check if somebody's company was registered with my secretary of state."
I get it. These are things that people don't even think about. No
Jessica: idea.
Mikki: And I feel like we've learned, since we started talking about this- Mm-hmm ... we've learned of all the ways. Like, we just, we learned on this story, like checking somebody's phone number, seeing if anything weird pops up with that. Yeah. So it's a process, y'all.
But if you have had a very unfortunate story that you wanna share with everybody, we want your story. So if you would go to chicksinconstruction.com, scroll down a little bit, you can find a little form where you can share your story. Jess will keep you anonymous, even if you tell us your full name, because she's not about that life.
No. So you're good. You're protected. Don't worry. And we appreciate you for sharing. Yeah. So Jess, where can they find us on the socials?
Jessica: Yeah. On Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, it's @ChicksInConstructionPodcast. On TikTok, it's @ChicksInConstruction. [00:55:00]
Mikki: So like and subscribe, guys. We appreciate you. The channel is growing.
We want it to keep growing so that more and more people can hear these stories and avoid the scams, because learning the hard way is, in fact, overrated. Overrated. And we'll see you guys next time. Bye. Bye. Nailed it.