Wellington woman warns of arborist scam after grandmother told to pay $800 for hack job by 'cowboys'

A Wellington woman is warning residents to keep an eye out for "intimidating" con artists running a tree-cutting scam after two men posing as arborists charged her grandmother $800 for a hack job.

In a post to the Vic Deals Facebook page, she urged fellow residents to tell their grandparents to "shut the door and make a complaint to police" should someone come to their house offering to trim their trees.

The woman says these men had knocked on her Nana's door in Tawa earlier this week, telling her they were arborists who'd just had a job cancelled on their street and noticed her trees needed a chop.

"They basically just chopped the top off everything, charged her $800 for this 'service' and even drove her to the atm so she could pay them immediately in cash," she wrote.

"She is very frail and partially blind and now left feeling really embarrassed. It's not the first time I've heard of these cowboys, they are not qualified or insured. They intimidate and take advantage of people."

The woman said any reputable arborist wouldn't need to door-knock for business.

"Really anyone who is offering their services upfront for cash is dodgy if you ask me... they [should] send a formal quote and give the client time to think about it and ask any questions. What these guys are doing is such a scam and disgraceful to the industry."

Wellington Police told Newshub it didn't appear as though the scam had been reported to them, but encouraged anyone in a similar situation to get in contact. 

"Anyone who believes they are a victim of crime, in person or online, should report the matter to their local police," a spokesperson said.

While police didn't know about the scam, several other commenters said they had been targeted by people attempting a similar racket.

"They tried bullying my mum into it several times, luckily I'm an arborist so she told them to bugger off," one commenter said. "For sure they sound quite persistent, even intimidating for older folk. Not a good look on the industry with these cowboys out there."

Another said they knew of a similar scam operating in Karori for a few years, while others said they'd witnessed one in Newlands, Newtown and Broadmeadows.