Tree-trim costs woman $2300

Pleas for neighbours and friends to watch over the elderly have come after a Featherston woman was conned into handing over $2300 for some minor tree trimming.
The niece of the woman has spoken out in an attempt to warn other people but has chosen to remain anonymous to protect the identity of her aunty.
"I look after my aunt's finances and went over to Featherston to pay some of her bills.
"Once I discovered the cheque account was in overdraft I asked my aunt why she had written a cheque for $1800."
After questioning her aunt she discovered "that $500 had also been withdrawn from an ATM machine", she said.
"My aunt explained that a man had come round on March 26 and asked her if he could do some tree work in the garden and quoted her $1500 for the work."
Since the incident she has discovered "the work he did was only worth $400 as there is an arborist in the family but in my aunt's state she had forgotten and told the man he could do the work", she said.
Initially she delayed reporting the incident to the police "but I eventually wrote a letter a few weeks later after another incident, telling them about the situation so they were aware of what was going on".
The next-door neighbour "rung me three weeks after my aunt's incident and said he had arborists at his house", she said.
"It was the same person that had come to my aunty and I explained to him that she didn't need their services and that they weren't to ever come back.
"When I asked about the money he said it was just a quote."
Other than going to the civil courts "there isn't much else I can do to get the money back", she said.
"The police gave me the guy's name and address but there is no point in me going and confronting them because they would just deny it and there's no way of proving that they got my aunt to take out the money. They seem to approach elderly and vulnerable people."
People living alone and "particularly the elderly need to realise how vulnerable they are", she said.
"Since the incident I've limited my aunt so that she doesn't have a chequebook anymore, but people need to know that they should be vigilant and let their friends and neighbours know what's going on."