TOLEDO, Ohio — Unfortunately, being ripped off by a shady contractor is all too common these days, but it usually happens to homeowners who aren't contractors themselves.
But it does happen.
One local contractor said he was ripped by a fellow Toledo contractor, Mike Windle, who allegedly owes him and other thousands of dollars.
Owner of Essential Exteriors LLC, Justin Douglas, said he was hired by Michael Windle of Rite-On Roofing & Siding LLC to help him finish some roofs. After completing jobs on 5 homes for Windle however, Douglas said he was never paid.
This week, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against Windle accusing Windle of stealing at least $54,000 from homeowners.
"This guy should change the name of his company to Rip-Off Roofing... add that Hard-working Ohioans paid for a service, and no work was done. That is not how we do business in Ohio," the attorney general said in a statement.
Douglas said Windle scammed him out of around $17,000, a good portion of which he needs to pay his workers' wages who have also yet to be paid.
"We just trust that usually we're going to get taken care of because we're the guys doing the work, but it just didn't happen," said Douglas.
Douglas said Windle's professional reviews on Facebook and the Better Business Bureau's site were good, which is why he decided to work with him. But after a handful of jobs, things started to go south.
"Delaying, delaying. Material shortages hit everyone a little bit, but not where you're getting delayed months and months," said Douglas.
The big problem, Douglas had nothing in writing to formally accuse Windle of any wrongdoing. He says the texts do not hold up.
Windle has been in jail for about a month with bond at $40,000 and is ordered to reimburse his customers and pay his fines for allegedly failing to provide goods or services throughout 2021 and 2022.
Windle's company had its accreditation revoked from the BBB too.
Douglas said he will get everything in writing moving forward and he warns others to be cautious of contractors asking for large down payments in the beginning which is what he says Windle often did.
"There's people in Michigan. There's a Facebook Group that everyone's joining in from those people that want their story told, but don't necessarily want to come forward," he said.
Windle will be in court on March 14.