I-TEAM: Woman ‘ghosted’ after paying contractor for fence to honor late husband

TROTWOOD — A woman says she paid a fencing contractor the full cost of a job upfront for a job they still have not finished months later.

Deborah Williams and her husband Dwayne dreamed about renovating their backyard with a pool makeover and a new fence. Unfortunately, Dwayne got sick and died before that could happen.

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Williams still wants to make their dream a reality to honor her late husband.

“The goal (is) to get the backyard the way he wanted it, the way I wanted it, and just live in the oasis. It would have been our little oasis. That’s what I used to call it,” Williams said.

She hired Creative Renovation Concepts in Botkins to do the work. She paid more than $15,000, the full cost, upfront in July and is still waiting for her fence to be finished and lowered.

The pool she paid for is also still not complete.

Williams said the last time the company responded to her was the week before Thanksgiving.

“It hurts,” she said. “And he understood the symbolism of (me doing) this in honor of my husband.”

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As we showed you on News Center 7 at 6:00pm, the I-Team lead investigator John Bedell picked up the phone on Thursday and reached out to the contractor. He answered his first call and explained he’d been in and out of the hospital and had financial troubles that prevented him from keeping his phone on.

He said winter weather has held them up and they have to wait for the ground to thaw to finish.

Just minutes after the I-Team spoke with the contractor, Williams called him while we were still at the house and he told her the same thing.

Now, he says the fence will be finished in the next two weeks.

“Just complete what you started, that’s all I’m asking,” Williams said.

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