Over the past several years, getting around has become more difficult for Pam Frazier.
With Frazier's health deteriorating, she and her husband John Frazier decided to add onto their Independence home to make it more accessible.
"We like it so well here," said John Frazier. "We've got a lot of acreage. We've lived here 37 years."
In December 2014, contractor Bobby Cox gave the Fraziers a quote of roughly $100,000. He told them the new home addition and carport would take about three months to complete.
However, in November 2015, 11 months later, the job site was far from finished.
"He acted like this was normal," Pam Frazier said.
Photo of home addition taken by Pam Frazier in November 2015.
By November, the Fraziers had already made payments to Cox totaling about $85,000.
They said they decided to stop making payments after they asked Cox for an accounting of that money and he told them it was none of their business.
"We kind of knew, kind of had a feeling that there was going to be a problem," John Frazier said.
After the Fraziers stopped making any additional payments, Cox walked off the job.
The couple said Cox never put in a full day's work and left the project incomplete and a mess. He also left them without a working kitchen for over a year.
Photo taken by Pam Frazier in November 2015.
When the 41 Action News Investigators asked Patrick Shaver, the roofing sub-contractor on the project, what percentage of the work Cox completed, he said, "Oh I would say money-wise and everything else wise 20, 25 percent maybe."
Shaver took Cox to court because he wasn't paid for the roof work he did on the Fraziers' home addition. Court records show he was able to get a roughly $5,000 judgment against Cox for non-payment.
Shaver said in 18 years in the business, it's the first time a contractor has failed to pay him.
"Ripped me off, ripped the Fraziers off, you know, clearly," Shaver said.
"We expect businesses to respond to consumers that air their grievances to resolve them properly or at leas address them," said Better Business Bureau spokesman Aaron Reese.
But Cox never responded to the BBB after the Fraziers filed a complaint. Click here to read the complaint.
As a result, the BBB rating for his company, American Construction, dropped from an A to a C plus.
"Whenever we don't get any response from a company, something is usually wrong," said Reese. "We don't always know what it is, sometimes we find out later."
Multiple attempts by the BBB, Shaver and the Fraziers to reach Cox have been unsuccessful.
The 41 Action News Investigators also tried, including making a trip to a Parkville home listed as his business address. No one was home.
The 41 Action News Investigators also left phone messages for Cox, which were not returned.
"He just ripped us off," John Frazier said. "He didn't intend, I'm sure he didn't intend on finishing the project."
The Fraziers hired another contractor to complete the work. Instead of costing $100,000, it's going to cost them $185,000. They admit that cost is likely more money than their home is worth.
With their life savings gone, the couple had to get a home equity loan to complete the work Cox left unfinished.
Reese said the Fraziers did most things right in their attempt to get their home addition. He noted they were given a reference for Cox, and his company had an A rating before the couple's experience.
Reese said filing a BBB complaint was also the right move. He said the next step for the Fraziers would be to file a lawsuit.
But the couple said they can't afford an attorney and may not be able to recover the money even if a suit was successful.
Reese also said paying Cox 85 percent of his quoted price for unfinished work was a mistake. He said common practice in Kansas City is to pay half the money up front for construction work.
------
Andy Alcock can be reached at anderson.alcock@kshb.com.
