DEL CITY, Okla. – Virginia Dial is sick of the excuses.
“Very, very violated,” she said. “I am very hurt.”
She and husband Gordon said Ryan Little of RL Construction and Remodeling was flaky from the get go – demanding a cashier’s check, 40 percent down to redo their home from new flooring and walls to a revamped kitchen and living space.
“I’ve never hired a contractor, didn’t know I shouldn’t give a cashier’s check,” she said.
The Dial’s trusted him, even inviting Little to church one Sunday.
“Sat beside us, sang hymns like he really knew all about the bible,” she said.
That was before they paid him.
They claim, when they did, things went south fast and what little work was done had to be ripped out and redone.
“This, I had to completely redo because he had sheet rock up here with no wall behind it,” Gordon said.
Word around town – Little has been doing remodeling jobs in Texas.
We did some digging into his past and pulled up a string of convictions involving drugs and alcohol.
We wanted to get Little’s side of things.
The guy who answered Little’s cellphone said he was his older brother and told us to get lost.
The Dials submitted their complaint to the Oklahoma Attorney General.
They thought about getting police involved, but it was Little who beat them to the punch – calling police on them.
“Well, we refused to give him his tools and things because he couldn’t come up with the money he owed us,” Virginia said.
Gordon said police threatened to haul him off to jail if he didn’t hand over the tools, so he complied with the officer’s instructions.
Since coughing up the tools, it’s been crickets and more dead ends for the family.
The In Your Corner bottom line:
- A large sum of cash up front is a huge red flag, especially if they push you to pay with cash or a cashier’s check.
- We’re still hoping to hear back from Little.
We’ll check back.
