Instead of putting in a new pool, Eric Creech needs an old one torn out, but he says the contractor he paid $4,000 last August hasn’t resurfaced to do the job.
“He told me in person that he was looking for someone to give his team jobs, but later on, I found out that he was really looking to kind of rob Peter to pay Paul,” Eric told me. “Like, get a job to pay for the last job for the subcontractor, but then he ended up spending the money anyway.”
Eric, realising that a do-it-yourself pool tear out would be out of his league, posted a request for bids on social media. Justin Carter responded.
Carter is listed as the owner of Overall Concrete and Caulking, a D+ rated business, by the Better Business Bureau.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad deal, but certainly I would really dig in and research that company,” Jim Hegarty, with the Better Business Bureau, said. “We’d be happy to walk you through the process and suggest to you what we believe is the right process to go through.”
After receiving excuses instead of work, Eric drew up a notarized refund contract, which was signed by the contractor.
“He said he was going to pay me back, and he paid me $100 then blocked me again, so I’m pretty sure he’s not paying me back,” Eric explained.
So, Eric still has a threat in his backyard that needs to be addressed. Without that $4,000, he can’t afford to hire someone else to come in and remove all the debris and clear the land, so he must make his backyard off-limits for safety reasons.
However, the backyard remains a liability hazard, and Eric claims he has already depleted his savings account for a pool tear-out and landscaping project that a contractor did not complete.
“I feel like I’m one of those people when I see this on TV I say, ‘I would have fallen for that,’ but it’s definitely one of those points that I didn’t see coming.”
The Better Business Bureau attempted to contact Justin Carter several times but was unsuccessful. First Alert 6 also texted him and left voice messages, but received no response.
Eric says he attempted to file a report with Omaha Police, but because the contractor refunded a small amount, it was classified as a civil matter rather than a criminal one.
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