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"My husband and I recently hired Midwest Builders of Tulsa, Inc. to construct a 30X30 pole barn on our property. We gave them $6000.00 per agreement; the other $5,000.00 would be due upon completion. On our receipt, they stated that they would be responsible for getting the permit. They sent a crew out on 8/22/10- they dug 12 holes, each 2’ deep, put the posts in and put the forms for the foundation up. When we got home that evening, there was a big red sticker on one of the posts stating that until a permit was provided, all building was to be stopped and that per code the holes must be 3’ deep.
On 8/23/10 my husband made several attempts to contact John at Midwest Builders- no answer, and no return phone calls. My husband finally left a stern message threatening to cancel the check- he got a call back. He was told that we were going to pay $400 to $500 dollars to get an engineering report before they could get our permit. My husband thought that was odd and decided to call the Wagoner County Planning Commission- they said that they had no idea what this guy John was talking about. The Planning Comm. Said that all we needed to do was to bring them a copy of the deed, and some kind of drawing of the building that could in fact be drawn on a napkin if need be. On 8/26/10, I drove to the Wagoner County Planning Commission, I gave them those two items, they said they also needed a copy of the general liability insurance and workers comp insurance carried by Midwest Builders of Tulsa. The planning commission called Midwest Builders, there was no answer. I decided to drive to Sand Springs and personally get copies of these items so that we could get the needed permit.
When I got to Midwest Builders, I spoke to John, I told him what we needed and he said that they don’t carry liability insurance or workers comp. He said that they contract the work out. I asked for contact numbers and names for the contractors so that I could get the insurance information to the planning commission- he was vague and did not want to continue the conversation. I insisted he talk to the planning commission while I was there- He got on the phone with them reluctantly- he spoke with Brenda- she told him that the holes were not to code- and told him that the code went into effect in Feb. of 2006. She also offered to send him a copy of the state law that went into effect about 7 months ago that requires them to provide general liability insurance and workers comp. John told her that he hadn’t heard of either the code or the state law and he didn’t want a copy of the law. John told me he would make a few calls and get back to us and that if he could not resolve it, he would refund our $6000.00.
I picked up my husband from work at 3:30- I asked him if John had called him- he said yes, he said that John had a solution for all of this. John’s solution was to tell the Wagoner County Planning Commission that we were just going to buy the materials from Midwest Builders of Tulsa but that we were going to erect the structure ourselves and then he would send his crew back out. This infuriated me. We drove back to Sand Springs- John’s step daughter was there, I insisted that she call John to come back up there and refund our money. After a heated debate over the lack of ethics, dishonesty and lack of knowledge on Midwest Builder’s part, we were told that they would give us $4800.00 back. They made us sign the invoice before we could get the check and when we got to the bank to cash the check, we were told that it could not be cashed. The fact that we were losing 1200.00 for 3 guys to put 12 holes in our yard that were not even deep enough to be up to code was enough- but then to add insult to injury, they wrote us a hot check.
We would like for you to look into this- there is no telling how many buildings they have erected that are not to code or how many people that they have ripped off. These people have supposedly been in business 37 years- a seemingly reputable company.
Brent and Tina Willmann"
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