They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, so when Mike and Ada Simpfenderfer decided to renovate their kitchen, they went all out.
“We had been saving up to do a solid, top-notch kitchen renovation,” Simfenderfer said.
The couple hired home improvement giant Lowe's for the $60,000 job.
“They're a big company, and you'd think a big company would do what they're supposed to do, and they'd do it right,” Simfenderfer said.
Work began, but after a few weeks, it was halted.
“We've been ghosted,” Simpfenderfer said.
The couple said the work wasn't done and workers stopped coming: The oven wasn't installed, the wiring for a second oven wasn't finished and the electrical work under the sink was a mess.
“What if? I emailed, I called, but I never heard back,” Simpfänderfer said.
And the worst part was that the couple had paid the entire cost of the construction up front – $60,000.
“You have a contract. You failed to fulfill that contract,” Simpfenderfer said.
The state Contractors Licensing Board has always told the I-Team there is a limit to how much a contractor can collect up front — 10 percent of the project cost or $1,000, whichever is less — and then the parties must negotiate a payment schedule.
But the I-Team has learned Lowe's doesn't have to follow those rules. The company has applied for a $10 million bond with the state, which will allow it to collect the full amount up front. That bond is meant to protect consumers if Lowe's defaults on its contract.
But the Simpfenderfers didn't want to pay the deposit because they thought Lowe's could embroil them in a lengthy legal process.
“When something goes wrong, this is what happens: stall, delay, stall, delay, delay, delay, delay. They try to tire the other person out and make them go away,” Simpfenderfer said.
So the couple filed a complaint against Lowe's with the state Building Contractors Licensing Board, which referred the case to a state-funded arbitrator. The Simpfenderfers won their case and received $12,000 in damages. The couple thought their ordeal was finally over, but Lowe's never paid them.
“Lowe's has been consistent. And it's been ignored,” Simpfenderfer said.
The I-Team reached out to Lowe's, and a few days later, the Simpfenderfers received a check in the mail for $12,000.
In a statement to the I-Team, Lowe's said: “We apologize for the difficulties and delays experienced by Mr. and Mrs. Simpfenderfer. At Lowe's, customer satisfaction has always been our number one priority.”
The Simpfenderfers said the apology came too late and that Lowe's had lost a customer.
“I'm sorry for what my wife went through. This was her dream and they took that dream away and turned it into endless frustration,” Simpfenderfer said.
