Update: More Customers Say They Were Ripped Off By Local Roofer

A Corinth couple says they hired a roofer and paid him thousands of dollars, but he never showed up to start the job.

Neal and Melissa Scott strive to keep their home in tip-top shape. But when it came to their roof, they put off examining it for quite some time. 

Their insurance company told them a new roof would help lower their premiums, so they were totally on board.

Neal Scott found an old business card from a man who stopped by their house after a storm and he gave him a call.

"Anytime that I texted him, he was quick to reply back," he said. "If I called him, he would answer. Everything was looking great."

Scott said Chase Hansen, the owner of Lone Peak Roofing, even walked them through the insurance process. The couple received a check from their insurance.

They said Hansen told them he'd need $3,500 up front to get materials.

"(He said) the materials would show up here the day before, the workers the next day and then they would do the job," Scott explained.

But on the day they were supposed to start, the owner told them there was a problem.

"He said that he didn’t have the money to pay the workers and they weren’t going to do the work until he paid them," Scott said.

They said the owner told them that he was waiting on a check from another job and would use that money for their job.

"The following week, I hadn’t heard from him. So, I texted him like, what’s the deal?" he said.

The couple said this lasted for months. They said the roofer even offered them a restaurant gift card to hold them over.

When they couldn’t get results, the couple called NBC 5 Responds to step in.

We called the owner three times, and each time, someone hung up the phone.

But not long after our calls, the owner of Lone Peak Roofing left an envelope at the couple’s home -- inside was $1,000.

The couple is happy to have some money back, but want to see the remaining $2,500 as soon as possible.

"This feels to me like textbook consumer fraud. You took our money without the intention of doing the job," Scott said. "[The owner] said, I’m going to prove you wrong. Well, I dare you to prove me wrong."

Hansen posted a complaint response on the Better Business Bureau's website.

Hansen said his salesman stole more than $15,000 in checks and he had about $4,500 in materials stolen from a job site.

He said this has devastated his company, but he has hired new employees and will be paying the couple the rest of their money back next week.

Update

The couple was hopeful, until they said they got a text response from Hansen about their $2500:

“You will not be receiving it, we’re going out of business go tell Samantha.”

When Scott said he’d talk to his lawyer, Hansen said, “It’ll cost you more to pay your lawyer than to recover $1,500.” 

Since our first story aired, we’ve heard from three other customers who say they were ripped off by Lone Peak Roofing as well.

One person wrote, “I'm writing this for my 93-year old father-in-law. Unfortunately, the day before your story aired my father-in-law gave Chase Hansen with lone peak roofers a check for $10,000.” 

Bottom line, Scott and his wife are angry, and they’re warning other consumers to stay far, far away from this roofer.

Here are Samantha Chatman's solutions:

-Be careful before handing over a lot of money up front.

-Check business reviews online

-Ask for references

-If you believe you’ve been ripped off, file a police report.  In some cases, if the authorities can identify a pattern, they may bring criminal charges.