Unfortunately, the Denver area is not only home to bad traffic; it’s also home to bumper repair scammers, known in the industry as “dent gypsies”. These scammers approach people with dinged-up cars in parking lots and offer to do repairs on the spot while you’re inside shopping. Unsurprisingly, these repairs are almost never of good quality. Instead, these scammers take your cash and disappear without performing any repairs. Or, even worse, they’ll adhere a blue or white wax to your car that only damages the area further. Each day, these scam programs become harder and harder to identify as they learn how to better replicate an authentic mobile dent repair company. If you want to stay safe and make sure you don’t throw away money, follow these tips for identifying and avoiding bumper repair scams. 

THEY APPROACH YOU IN PARKING LOTS

Those who perform bumper repair scams often loiter in parking lots searching for people with vehicle damage. If someone approaches you in a public place and offers to perform repairs on the spot, it’s likely a bumper repair scam. Here at FR Bumper Solutions, we try to earn our customers with integrity; we rely on traditional marketing and word of mouth, allowing our customers to approach us when they’re ready. We would also never pressure to have your repairs done on the spot. Instead, we offer to schedule an appointment for your earliest convenience. If you’re unsure if a mobile repair service is legitimate, ask to schedule the repair for a future time and request a business card. Scammers are unlikely to agree to later appointments, instead preferring to do repairs right away so you have no time to verify their business’s existence and legitimacy. If the repairman does agree to a later date, take this time to thoroughly verify their identity and read through testimonials online. 

THEY ONLY ACCEPT CASH

One of the biggest red flags you should be aware of is if they only accept cash. Any reputable mobile bumper repair service will accept other forms of payment such as credit or debit cards. We’ll also always provide you with a receipt of the transaction for your records. Bumper repair scams, however, only operate in cash so that they can take the money and disappear with no paper trail. They don’t want to risk getting caught by leaving a record of the illegal transaction, so they likely will refuse to accept any other form of payment, even electronic transfer.