Holts Summit contractor scams multiple people out of thousands of dollars

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Better Business Bureau is advising consumers to use caution if doing business with a contractor from Holts Summit, Bath Transformations LLC.

Michelle Gleba, regional director of the Better Business Bureau serving Mid-Missouri, says there are many reasons for the advisory being issued against the company. "The pattern of complaints that we received consumers told us that the company failed to start or finish projects, they didn't provide refunds, they failed to contact customers and they provided overall poor customer service."

Dan Bridges, a resident of Sedalia, said he and his wife recently moved to the area and began working with Bath Transformations LLC to get some remodeling done to their master bathroom.

"We did a little bit of research, looked at Google, looked at Facebook and things like that and the reviews looked fairly promising. We went ahead and asked the gentleman to come out and give us a bid on the work we wanted done," Bridges said.

Bridges said Chuck Kramer with Bath Transformations came to their home and gave them an estimate in which they gave him a deposit check for $9,000 for supplies.

"We got a tentative start date. Every time we would contact him when that start date approached, he would always say, 'Well, you know, it's going to be another two weeks or it's going to be another month and it was always due to you know, the supply or COVID or he couldn't get the help or anything like that," Bridges said.

Bridges said this process of pushing back the deadline went on from November to February and at that point, he requested a refund. "And ever since that day that we requested the money we haven't heard from them."

Gleba said BBB has received a total of eight complaints from consumers.

"When we start noticing a pattern, you know, they're saying basically the same types of things and we're not seeing that those complaints are being resolved," Gleba said.

Gleba added that the BBB reached out to Bath Transformation LLC to find out how they were going to resolve those complaints and the attempts to reach them failed.

Gleba gave some additional advice on how to avoid any scams of this nature moving forward.

"Make sure that you do your research so if you're not particularly familiar with the company, go online, visit our website, and check out their business profile," Gleba said.

Bridges did say that he wanted to keep records of conversations with Kramer but he seemed to avoid doing so.

"We wanted to communicate via like email or text message so I would have some record. After the initial email requesting the money, he immediately called me and said that he was on his way right at that moment to pick up the supplies you know, go figure right," Bridges said.

Gleba said the BBB also encourages people to pay by credit card when possible."Before paying, make sure that you have a signed contract. It's very detailed and specific that outlines exactly the type of work that will be done and what will be done and what will happen."

Bath Transformations LLC has an “F” rating, the lowest on BBB’s scale, the business also has received several negative customer reviews.