KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A retired Seymour man paid roofing contractors nearly $7,000 last December. However, the roof was never installed. The contractors received their money from Michael Pinner but never returned, only providing excuses.
Now, one of the contractors has apologized. He offered his regrets and made a promise to return the money.
The roof on Michael Pinner’s house in Sevier County started leaking last fall. He found a roofing business out of Jacksboro, in Campbell County, on Facebook. The contractors received their money in early December, and by mid-December, the new roof was supposed to be on the house.
Pinner counted five areas in the ceiling of his mobile home stained by leaking water. He took WATE into his bathroom where with a flashlight, he highlighted a water stain there from a leak. Water has also soaked the ceiling in his closet, where a one-inch wide hole has opened up.
To stop the leaks, Pinner would need a new roof on the mobile home he and his late wife moved into more than 25 years ago. In early December, he hired JWB Roofing and Repairs out of Jacksboro. A check for nearly $6,900 was paid to the roofing company but no one ever came to install the new roof. Pinner said he contacted one of the contractors, Tyler Doney, several times.
“Another time I called him, he was going out of town, he had a death in his family. He said he’d have his brother and a crew come out here. Two weeks went by and still nobody showed up,” said Pinner.
The start date was Dec. 12. Five days later, a new roof was supposed to be on the mobile home.
After no work was done, Pinner contacted the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office and filed a fraud charge.
“So he called Tyler and Tyler told him he’d try to get it done. He said he’d see what he can get started on. Then a while after that I talked to him. He said, ‘Well I got money for the materials, but I can’t get nobody to do the work’,” Pinner said.
To understand the long delay, WATE called Doney with JWB Roofing. WATE asked him about honoring the contract signed last December.
Doney blamed his former partner for not getting the job done. He said it was Roger Blankenship’s signature on the contract.
“I had no clue, Mike, no clue at all that your job was supposed to be done,” Doney said.
Doney said he had talked with a detective from Sevier County and assured him he was going to return.
“I’m saving, I’m trying, I’m doing everything I can do. I just don’t have it. I didn’t know the circumstances when I got the check Mike and I apologize to you for that. I’m just telling you if you can bear with me until the end of September, let me get some finances in order, I’ll take care of it,” Doney said.
WATE also tried to contact Roger Blankenship, the other contractor, but his voicemail is not set up. With the promise of a refund, Pinner plans on hiring a new roofer two months from now.
“I want my money back so I can get my roof fixed, I don’t trust them anymore,” Pinner said.
Pinner contacted the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office late last spring. State laws say if a contractor does not start working within 90 days, and there is no response after filing a demand letter, you can contact local authorities and they will start looking into a possible charge of theft.
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