Jim Bethinger returned to his Garfield home after shopping this past fall and found a one-page "Attention Homeowners" flier stuck in his front door.

It said it was from Mike-Bill-Tom, who identified themselves as "Senior Carpenters."

On one side, in oversized bold type, it had the classic come-on:

"We are working on your street for one of your neighbors. If there is anything we can help you with or quote you on, please feel free to call. Free estimates. Senior citizens discounts. Save this flyer [sic]. You never know when you'll need us."

On the other side, again in large type, it read:

"We will do any small or large job that you need done at less than the price of the large remodeling companies charge [sic]. We have 35 years experience plus ... 100 percent insured -- 2-year guarantee on our work."

It then listed a number of exterior and interior jobs the three said they could do and ended with:

"Expert craftsmanship at affordable prices! 100 percent customer satisfaction."

Mr. Bethinger, a retired truck driver on a fixed income whose wife died in 1995, prided himself on doing all of his home maintenance when he was younger.

But, at age 88, he no longer feels comfortable doing things such as climbing out on a two-story roof with two 5-gallon buckets of aluminum coating to seal it from leaks. The 400-square-foot flat back roof needed another coating and an 18-foot-long box gutter on the right side of the house needed to be replaced.

So, without checking the history of Mike-Bill-Tom, which has an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau, he called them.

When Bill Lacek arrived Nov. 3, Mr. Bethinger showed him the back roof and the deteriorated box gutter. He said Mr. Lacek then talked him into putting new shingles on the left side of his main roof.

"He gave me a big spiel," he said. "I took his word for it. I'm gullible, I guess."

Mr. Lacek said the total job would cost $6,500 and that he needed $4,500 "to buy materials." Mr. Bethinger said he didn't know a down payment that large -- almost 70 percent of the project instead of 10 percent -- should have been a red-flag warning for him to reconsider the entire transaction.

He does now.

"I trusted him," he said.

They then went to a bank in Lawrenceville, where Mr. Bethinger used a debit card to withdraw $4,500.

A few days later, Mr. Lacek dropped off a man in his 20s to seal the flat roof. He had only one bucket of aluminum coating, not two, and he had no ladders. He climbed out an attic window to do the work. The coating is spread so thin in places that the older coating shows through.

A week or so later, 23 bundles of shingles were delivered to Mr. Bethinger's back yard.

Since then, nothing.

Just after Christmas, I got a letter from Richard Swartz, executive director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. He asked whether I could help resolve Mr. Bethinger's problem with Senior Carpenters.

Also in the envelope was a copy of a letter Mr. Swartz sent to Mr. Lacek's address in Castle Shannon, a copy of the one-page contract Mr. Bethinger had signed with Senior Carpenters and a copy of the complaint Mr. Bethinger filed with the state attorney general's office.

In his no-nonsense letter to Mr. Lacek on Dec. 3, Mr. Swartz said he was concerned about the failure of Senior Carpenters to proceed with the work it had agreed to do and its failure to respond to Mr. Bethinger's calls. He told Mr. Lacek that a call he made to the company in mid-November was returned to Mr. Bethinger by someone who apologized for the delay and said that "immediate steps" would be taken to complete the work.

The work remains undone.

Mr. Swartz reminded Mr. Lacek that Attorney General Tom Corbett has the authority to bring civil and criminal charges against those engaging in theft of services.

Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for Mr. Corbett, said theft of services constitutes a felony of the third degree when it involves more than $2,000. If convicted, a perpetrator faces a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a maximum fine of $15,000.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said Mr. Bethinger and other senior citizens who believe they've been taken advantage of can contact the district attorney's Elder Abuse Unit at 412-388-5300.

"We also encourage seniors to contact a family member, neighbor, senior citizen center before they sign anything," he said. "Stop a scam before it starts."

Mr. Bethinger said he wants Senior Carpenters to return $4,000, keep $500 for the roof work and remove the shingles from his back yard.

I relayed that information to Mr. Lacek -- we've exchanged voice mails -- and I'm waiting for his response.

I'll keep you posted.