OKLAHOMA CITY – Maria Gore wants to know what happened to her cash and her custom china cabinet that never got built.
The woodworker who was paid to build it, Matt Stoots, closed up his woodcrafting shop for good.
He claims he already used Maria’s cash to purchase materials and tried delivering them to Maria for free, but she refused to accept the materials on his terms.
“Had a form on company letterhead he wanted me to sign,” Maria said. “He wanted me to sign that I forfeit the $1600 that I paid him.I told him [that] I was not going to sign it and then he said, ‘I’m not leaving the wood.’”
On the contract it states deposits are non-refundable.
However, Maria points out Stoots is the one who broke the agreement, not the other way around.
We got Stoots on the phone.
He claims he couldn’t give Maria a completion date and Maria became impatient, demanding materials and a partial refund.
He said, “You can do whatever the [beep] you want, but this and her project and anything else regarding me and any of my former customers is none of your business.”
Maria tells the In Your Corner team she’s not at a place right now to just throw $1600 dollars out of the window.
“I don’t have materials,” she said. “I don’t have a china cabinet [and] I don’t have my refund.”
The In Your Corner bottom line:
- Just be careful when putting down a deposit on any job..
- Maria is now suing Stoots.
- A court date is set for later this month.
We’ll keep you posted.
