People in the Canterbury town of Ashburton are calling for a builder to be barred from future work, saying they have lost tens of thousands of dollars on unfinished jobs.
By Katie Todd of RNZ
Aaron Jessett of A&J Building & Renovations told RNZ he took "full responsibility" for the money owed but his customers say they are yet to see a cent.
Hilda de Wys said Jessett offered the most competitive of three quotes she received for replacing the leaking roof of her Ashburton home earlier this year.
"He was very easy to get along with and he seemed knowledgeable about it all. He's done roofing before and we didn't feel we had any reason to not trust him," she said.
De Wys said nothing happened for weeks after she paid a $4328 deposit and scaffolding went up.
She said Jessett told her he had been holidaying in Australia, then asked for a further $8000 for roofing iron, which she paid.
Again, weeks went by with no action, de Wys said.
"We still kept trusting and hoping and waiting and he kept saying he'll let us know and he doesn't, with nothing happening. We came to a point of realising there's something very wrong here and that's not a nice feeling," she said.
When confronted Jessett could not name the supplier or delivery driver he claimed to be working with, she said.
De Wys said Jessett agreed to refund the money in May but he had not done so.
She later hired another roofer to do the job and discovered that at least five other people in the town also claimed to have lost money to A&J Building & Renovations.
"Funnily enough, I almost felt a little bit better because I thought 'oh, I've been a fool' but really I think we've all been fooled. It's because we've always trusted people and especially here in Ashburton. With people doing those sort of jobs there has to be some trust between you and that's been broken by this man," de Wys said.
A Tinwald couple told RNZ they hired A&J Building & Renovations for a bathroom and laundry repair job that Jessett left unfinished.
They said that left them at least $10,000 out of pocket, including materials they paid for, the cost of hiring new contractors to fix or restart poor-quality work and the cost of visiting a laundromat for weeks.
Some of the money was meant to go to a local electrician who also told them he had not been paid, the couple said.
A scaffolding company and a roofing supplier told RNZ they were both owed thousands by A&J Building & Renovations.
Electrical apprentice Meagan Bell said she had worked alongside Jessett at an Ashburton site last year and recommended him to a colleague for a home roofing repair job.
She said Jessett started the job but did not finish it and her workmate was not refunded the $2000 in cash they paid for materials.
"Aaron would [say] 'yup I'm going to come around this weekend' and then he wouldn't show and then 'oh, sorry, man, I'll come around next weekend' and then he wouldn't show," she said.
"I hate that he's taking money from people and not doing the work."
Bell and her colleague had cut their losses but de Wys's daughter Roberta Risk said she was furious.
She had complained to police and the Commerce Commission and was in the process of lodging a Disputes Tribunal claim to try to get her mother's money back.
Risk said police told her it was a civil matter and there was little they could do.
Police declined to comment without a privacy waiver from Jessett.
The Commerce Commission said it had received a report about A&J Building & Renovations and Jessett that was yet to be assessed.
"We consider our enforcement priorities and enforcement criteria when determining whether to take a concern further. While we cannot investigate every concern, they collectively provide us with crucial intel and data on trends," a spokesperson said.
Risk said she did not want anyone else to lose money.
"He's managed to get away with it. It's just been baffling really because it's a small town and I wouldn't imagine someone thinking that they could do that and not come unstuck very quickly," she said.
It had been immensely stressful seeing her mother's savings drained and knowing her house was still leaking for weeks, Risk said.
"Water was pouring in whenever it was raining and she's got arthritis and she's having to get up in the night and change the towels," she said.
"I've lost a lot of sleep. It's been very stressful."
RNZ made several attempts to contact Jessett to discuss the complaints.
He sent one short reply via social media but did not respond to subsequent messages or emails.
"I'm at fault and take full responsibility and I'm working out a plan to pay everything back," the message said.
Jessett did not specify what he was at fault for.
The A&J Building & Renovations Facebook page has been removed but the company remained a registered business.
RNZ has viewed a TikTok video posted by Jessett in recent weeks that offered investment advice.
De Wys said she did not believe she would get her money back but hoped Jessett would see the pain he had caused.
"I just hope he comes to his senses one day and realises just how many people he's been ripping off and hurting," she said.
Consumer NZ said people should check tradespeople's experience, licences, insurance, guarantees, examples of work, availability and any red flags online before hiring them.
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