BERNESLAI Homes told a frightened mum of two to call police about a ‘suspicious’ doorstep caller claiming to be from the housing provider - but the next day told her it had all been a mistake and the visitor was genuine.
Amy Brooksbank says she was left frightened and anxious, but later furious by the mix-up.
She had been at home with her eight-year-old son and five-month-old daughter when the man knocked on her door saying he was from Berneslai Homes and wanted to check her loft and cavity wall insulation.
She had received no warning he was to visit, and said she was immediately suspicious, but becuse he had Bernelai Homes ID she let him in.
“As soon as he came through the door I could smell alcohol, so from that moment I was very suspicious,” said Amy, 25, of Rotherham Road, Cundy Cross.
“I was scared, it was quie frightening. I suffer with anxiety anyway, so it put me immediately on edge.
“The guy didn’t even know my name, a lot of things seen suspicious about it.
“I followed him around my home. He was very chatty and in my face, he couldn’t keep still.
“He was taking photos, one of the photos had me and my two kids in it, my son was by my side and I was holding my baby.
“He was here about 20 minutes in total. When he’d gone, I rang Berneslai Homes and told them what happened.
“The lady I spoke to said I would have had a letter if someone was visiting, and a phone call. She said he would have been in a works van. He wasn’t, he was in a normal black car.
“She said there was nothing on their system. She even checked with other departments to see whether he was genuine or not, she said he wasn’t.
“I was advised to call police on 101.
“After waiting in for the police to turn up, I then got a message on Facebook from Bernslai Homes saying they have got it wrong, he was genuine.
“I’ve been in sheer panic, as I have two young kids and suffer with anxiety as it is, and all Berneslai Homes can do is apologise and say it won’t happen again. I was told every council tenant would receive a letter before any work is due to be carried out I got told they are always in a work van and wear Berneslai Homes uniform, he didn’t.
“It’s caused me a lot of distress.
“They said they’re going to put things in place now so that it doesn’t happen again - send letters out in advance, but yet they told me they always do this anyway. Clearly not.”
A Berneslai Homes spokesman said: “When the tenant contacted us our initial checks did lead us to believe that this was a bogus caller and so we rightly advised the customer to follow this up with the police.
“However, these checks were not thorough enough and we later confirmed the caller was one of our subcontractors completing energy efficiency inspections in her home.
“We take customer service and customer safety seriously and acknowledge on this occasion we had not pre-notified tenants to expect visits. We have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again and have apologised to the tenant concerned. We encourage customers to contact us on 787878 if they have concerns about the identity of a visitor.”
