Authorities Warn Of Solicitors Offering Service Door-To-Door In Edmond

People in one east Edmond neighborhood are concerned after a man is discovered going door to door, offering to pave their driveways. He was even handing out a business card with a bogus number.

Tuesday, July 2nd 2013, 7:18 pm

By: News 9


There is a warning about solicitors knocking on your door, trying to sell you a service without a permit.

People in one east Edmond neighborhood are concerned after a man is discovered going door to door, offering to pave their driveways. He was even handing out a business card with a bogus number.

This is what neighbor Brian Bates recorded when he was approached by this door to door salesman:

"You realize you are in the city of Edmond and that requires you to have a license?" Bates is heard saying. " Do you have that?"

"No I didn't," said the man in the truck.

"The city of Edmond requires that," reiterates Bates.

"We all have video cameras on us that are perfect for documenting these encounters," said Bates, who wants to warn his elderly neighbors about what salesman are required to carry permits. "I had it rolling, I asked him a few questions not knowing what I'd encounter. Don't be afraid to ask for the pertinent information!"

Bates says the man who approached him was in an unmarked truck, was not wearing a uniform and had a paper tag from out of state. We discovered he had paved at least one man's driveway here, and approached a neighbor across the street.

"He told me he could reseal our driveway with this new product," recalls Joan Green, who lives across the street from Bates. "That he would seal all the cracks with some special rubber, and that it would last 5 or 6 years and that it would cost about 4500 dollars."

So we decided to make a call to the number on the card the man gave her. Turns out it was a bogus number, one that rang to a medical clinic in Wisconsin.

"I don't know the reputation of the person who came to my door," said Bates. "What I do know is that they were not willing to follow the law. I do know they we retrying to be as anonymous as possible and they were showing up during a time of day when usually the only people home are going to be the elderly who are more susceptible to these sorts of scams.

Turns out, that man is with a legitimate business that does do asphalt work around the state. And actually has good references from some of his clients.

We tracked down a real phone number and talked to both him and the owner. They tell News 9 these were old cards and they did not know they needed a license to go door to door and are now in the process of getting one. The owner says they will stop going door to door until they do.

We checked with both Edmond and Oklahoma City police who tell us you do need a permit to sell door to door in their city limits. The only ones exempt from this are religious, educational, philanthropic and charitable non-profit organizations.

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