Rip-off call center in Regensburg closed: Craftsman fraud on a large scale
Created: 06/29/2022, 11:46 am
By: Thomas Eldersch
A Regensburg call center ripped off numerous customers with overpriced craftsman bills.
Now those responsible are on trial.
Regensburg – In an emergency you need craftsmen who can help you quickly and easily.
But time and time again, people come across scammers, like Inge Herkenrath from near Koblenz.
Her emergency service cost her over 2000 euros.
She fell for a scam and ended up with a Regensburg company that ripped off customers on a large scale.
Now that had consequences.
Regensburg call center operates craftsman fraud throughout Germany
The 65-year-old Herkenrath told
BR
about her case.
She was left without power and desperately needed help.
So she looked for an emergency electrician service on the internet.
It landed on one of the numerous pages of the Regensburg company "Der Handwerker Engel" (DHE).
However, she thought she ended up with a company in Koblenz.
The first indication that could have made you suspicious was the 0800 area code.
DHE's call center got her an electrician.
But not from Koblenz, but from Essen, about 150 kilometers away.
The job has been done.
Frau Herkenrath had electricity again.
Some fuses had to be replaced.
However, the calculation for the relatively easy use was quite a challenge.
She should pay over 2000 euros immediately.
The pensioner felt overwhelmed and paid.
“There is a detective living in our neighborhood that I should have called.
But I was just so glad the power was back.
Somehow then, I think, the logical mind somehow stops.
That was definitely the case for me," she tells
BR.
Consumer advocates have reported numerous cases of fraud
Ms. Herkenrath is not the only customer who has been ripped off.
Matthias Bauer from the consumer advice center in Baden-Württemberg knows that.
He worked with the company for about five years.
"What I've been seeing for years, and I've been following the company since maybe 2017 or so now: actually a trail of devastation it's leaving in its wake.
Poor performance, duping, cheating consumers with really ridiculously expensive prices that are demanded," he says in an interview with
BR.
Apparently, fitters have even threatened customers.
He estimates that there must be seven to eight such call centers with their fraudulent scams in Germany.
They all go mostly on the Internet to catch customers.
He says about the company from Regensburg that it is a "very big fish".
Investigations against Regensburg call centers were started
But now the rip-off is over.
The public prosecutor's office and the Kripo Regensburg have started investigations.
The managing director of the DHE and his employees have been in custody for several weeks.
Among other things, it is about 200 cases of fraud.
The public prosecutor accuses the company of pretending to be a local company and charging excessive prices.
"The result was that the prices were consistently excessive, sometimes up to five times the reasonable price," said the spokesman for the Regensburg public prosecutor's office.
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The
BR
has researched that the company was systematically manipulated and cheated.
Employees reported having to claim to be local.
Also that they were not allowed to talk about costs on the phone.
"The main thing is that you had the order in your pocket." Another employee told
BR
that the DHE had opened craftsmen's websites in almost every place.
In the end, however, all callers ended up at the call center in Regensburg.
(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)
Tips to defend yourself against the artisan scam
But there are useful tips on how to protect yourself from such rip-offs.
As already described, 0800 numbers should make you suspicious.
The Regensburg Electrical Guild also advises looking for a local craftsman to contact before an emergency occurs.
Consumer advocate Bauer also advises, if you have already landed at a call center, simply cancel the order.
And if the craftsman was already in the apartment, always ask for a proper invoice with invoice number, address and tax number.
This could be checked again later.
Pressure should be responded to by calling the police.
"I can also say: all the cases that I know of in which the police came to the scene turned out relatively well for the consumer," Bauer told
BR.
Successfully sued the Regensburg call center
Mrs. Herkenrath fought back and was right.
The District Court of Regensburg sentenced the DHE to reimburse the overpaid money plus interest.
She advises everyone who felt the same as her: "You can't put up with that, something like that." Things could get tight for the DHE managing director and his employees.
Prosecutors plan to file charges in the summer.
(phone)
