My 82 year old dad was just scammed in a solar power scam yesterday. If you have elderly parents, alert them or keep an eye on them. I am so ticked off, they constantly come after him because of his age and his inability to become suspicious, he trusts everyone.
They cold called him yesterday and he invited the “salesman” to come immediately over who did, and told him the solar panels will cost nothing and it will drive his electric costs down 90%. So he gives the guy his social security number to “check his credit” Why if the panels cost nothing? And then he signed this contract. So now I’m up early trying to figure out this mess. I assume I have to call my lawyer see what protections he has.
You need to jump on it, many states have a 72 hour period to void contracts.Time period may vary with state.
As long as no money changed hands, there is no problem.
Your Dad is not competent to sign a contract.
End of story, most likely.
It would cost money for the panel guy to file a lawsuit.
He is in business to make money - NOT to pay lawyer and court fees.
After my dad died, a guy showed up and said mom needed a new chimney....$7000. My sister was ready to sign for her.
When I found out, I called the local utility company and they came out and said her chimney was just fine. Lotta scammers go after old people.
The salesman has your Dad's SS number, his signature, his home address, his phone number, and possibly other identifiers.
Start watching your Dad's credit report for new credit cards, loans, mortgage on the house, everything.
There are elderly abuse laws in every State. Call Adult Protection in your county and start there.
It could be worse, much worse.........
He could be an 82 year old widow, a living breathing, constant target
Most states have a 72 hour cancellation clause for this very reason
L
Re: “My 82-year old dad scammed”. All of my clients have at least one disability, a developmental disability. Many of them have multiple disabilities. One day, I stopped by to check on one, we’ll call him Michael. As I come into his home, Michael announces he has a great new smartphone, tablet, and super-fast internet service. Michael is on a fixed income, and cannot afford 10% of what all this must cost. As you might imagine, Michael received a call from a major telephone company marketer. With Michael’s permission, I contacted the marketer and attempted to explain the impossibility of collecting on all of what he ‘sold’ to Michael. The marketer appeared to be about 22 years old or so, and was looking forward to the larrrge commission for all this stuff. I tried and tried to calmly get through to this guy that the likelihood of payment was slim and none, and even more importantly, was wrong, as Michael does not have much money. What money he does receive each month barely covers his basic needs. The marketer just would not acquiesce, so I brought up the ADA Americans with Disabilities Act. I described the really negative publicity that would result should he insist upon trying to collect from a disabled person. The marketer’s supervisor joined the discussion, quickly realized that the marketer was in way over his head. She stated that the sale and 2-year contract would be canceled.
I’m a couple years older than your dad & I can smell these scams coming, but I guess someone out there must fall for them. We even have solar arrays in the small town areas & I haven’t been able to find out what they are producing or what they cost. I guess those who have already been snookered don’t want their name in the “letters to the editor” column. This is not to say that solar energy might not have a place in small limited instances.