Door-to-door straw scam returns to Metter, police say

METTER, Ga. (WTOC) - The Metter Police Department is warning locals of a straw scam they say is once again appearing in the area.

In a social media post earlier today, October 22, 2025, the Metter Police Department writes, “We want to warn our citizens of an issue that we’ve run across in the past and we are seeing this again this fall.”

“Beware of people offering to put large amounts of straw out around your home,” it continues. “Many times, it’s small door to door salesman from out of town that pull this scam.”

The police says that most of these scammers do not have a business license.

An example of how this scam works is sort of like this.

They will claim to put out 500 bales of straw in your yard.

To you, it may seem like they mean a rectangle shaped bale.

But these bales are around 1/3rd or 1/4th the size of a normal bale of straw.

But, the cost for these much smaller bales are about the same as the normal sized bales.

The most commonly used phrase is “We charge by the strings”.

Meaning they are counting these smaller 1/3rd - 1/4th bales as a “String”.

This brings the cost to customers high. While the amount of straw that is actually put out to be low.

This has lead to multiple conflicts and civil disputes between those door to door salesman that perpetrate this straw scam and their customers.

Metter Police Department

“There are many reputable businesses in and around Metter that you can get good service from,” the police department says. “Just beware of these type [of] scams.”