Wright County Sheriff Joe Hagerty warns residents of Wright County to be on the lookout for crews offering cheap asphalt paving around the area, who are back again this summer.
During the past several years, Hagerty said, rural homeowners have experienced unsolicited sales of an asphalt product for application to gravel surfaces on their property. Many of these salesmen are from southern states and claim they are working in the area and have extra material left over. They supply a business card with an 800 number and a business name. They do not provide a written estimate.
Once the homeowner agrees to have the work done, a crew soon appears with dump trucks and a paver. During the application, the same salesperson or a member of the crew approaches the homeowner for additional work. The original price continues to rise and soon the homeowner is asked to pay for more than was originally agreed upon. Often, the product is a subpar product and not what many people consider commonly used for an asphalt surface.
In a conversation with North Wright County Today recently, Hagerty said he’s never seen local operators run this sort of scam.
“It’s usually some fly-by-night kind of thing,” he said. “They show up and then you never see them again.”
Homeowners who experience such an encounter are asked to contact the Wright County Sheriff’s Office immediately at 763-682-1162 or 911.