Release the Hounds!

12/16/09

***UPDATED 4/29/2010 See below***

 So, time to release the hounds. Our stone is gone and we want our deposit back! Of course, the stone guy is being unresponsive.


His name is Sammy Robert Mullis, or Sammy Mullis.
Phone number is 828-423-3630.
Date of birth: 09/23/1960
Garinger High School, Charlotte, NC; Class of 1969

When we were first going to hire him, we did a google search and didn't find anything bad (or good). So here is our story for to any future clients of his:

We heard from a friend on November 5th that our neighbor just got a great deal on soapstone countertops. That night, I walked over to the neighbor's and got the information. I called him that night. He called back and arranged to come over the next day, November 6th. He came over, quoted Marc a price and he left so Marc could discuss it with me (I had an OB appointment.) We decided to do it. We called him and he came back. We gave him a check for $1,350 (50% deposit) and he said he's have it in "late next week".

After much haranguing, he did come and do the templates on Monday, November 16th. He said he had "one more job to do" and then he'd be over to do ours on Wednesday or Thursday. I think this Monday is actually the day he installed our neighbor's countertops. This gave us some false confidence that he would do ours as promised.

Wednesday passes.
Thursday passes.
Friday he texts and says he will be there Saturday.
Saturday passes.

I'm freaking out. I'm 7 months pregnant and hosting 9 people for thanksgiving. With a new cooktop, sink, garbage disposal and faucet sitting in my dining room, waiting for countertops.

We called the stone supplier. They did indeed have our stone. They were waiting for him to pick it up. (Even though it was confirmed on the phone the 21st that he "had our stone" and "was working on it".)

Over the next weeks, Sammy continued to text us with updates and to tell us he would have it in "Wednesday" or "Saturday" or "Monday". He said he was in the hospital. About to die. Oh, wait, he's ok, and he'll be there tomorrow. Pffffffffff.

All lies.

We found out this week that our stone is gone. Sold at auction this weekend. And if that isn't bad enough, they confirmed that he had called earlier that week to cancel the order. Probably right about the time that he texted Marc saying he'd have it installed Saturday.

Let this serve as a warning to you, future clients. And if you'd like to help us find him and get our money back, we'd appreciate it. We need his current address to file a small claim against him. This is what we are looking for.
Or you can search him in google, and then click on the link in to my blog so that is climbs in the google ratings.

Here is a link to his google results. Find 86'n it and click on the post "86'n it: Release the Hounds" it might be on page 2. (or click that little up arrow to "promote" it.)

Here is the other information we have:

Default Judgment for $30,300 against Sammy Mullis
Catawaba County Court Records
March 28,2008
(for home renovation project)

Evicted from
225 Westover Drive, Asheville, NC
3/2009

Filed for Bankrupcy
1/16/2001
Address at this time:
20 F Ryder Street
Landis, NC 28088

(all of these are public records)

Said he has a "shop in Burnsville, NC"
Said he is living in Johnsoncity, TN
Lived in Kannapolis, NC

***UPDATE 4/29/2010***

Ok, this update is long overdue. It turns out, that when you STEAL $1,350 from someone, it is a criminal case, not civil. Great! I found this out because we discovered that he had just got out of jail in Yancey county. What for you ask?? Well, doing the exact same thing to a lady up there. He took her deposit $$ and ran. Awesome thing about Yancey county is that they are diligent up there and they setup a "sting" operation to catch him. It worked! 

So we filed a criminal complaint against him, and when he showed up for a court date in Yancey county, the kind sherriff transported him to our county! YAH! He got out on bond, but still. YAH!
Fastforward a couple of months of him getting the case continued, then him not showing up to our court date. So there currently is a warrant out for his arrest. Only bit of good news is that we found out that the case in Yancey county was dismissed because he paid her back. So, there is hope...

So Sammy, or anyone who knows him, if you are reading this just give us back our dang money. Baby needs diapers!

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26 comments:

  1. NO WAY!!!!!! I am so sorry. . . . That really sucks!!!

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  2. This totally sucks. I hope you get your money back.

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  3. I clicked on your link through google to up it's ratings. That seriously sucks!

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  4. Crappy! I did the google thing for you. I hope you get your money back.......

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  5. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm currently working to get rebate money a company owes me for a furnace we puchased. I'm working through the Better Business Bureau complaint process but am starting papers to take them to small claims court.
    So sad that there are people out there like this. :(

    Good luck!

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  6. oh my god - this is my worst renovation nightmare. do you have a local news "Shame on You" type show? My first thought is to call all the local news stations you can find.
    Stay strong - honey!

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  7. ps: who was the person who told you about the good deal - because it sounds like they were part of this scam.

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  8. I just did a BBB complaint. Hope it helps someone else in the future.
    The person who told us about the guy is a good, good friend. Our neighbor feels so bad too. He got his counter tops, and we just happen to not. Bummer.
    We are going to a party this weekend with lots of local news people and Marc already has plans to talk to them about a "Shame on You" segment! :)

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  9. WOW. Terrible! I hope it works out for you!

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  10. PS. I'll put a post on my blog linking to your post. Hopefully you'll see more traffic that way.

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  12. Wow - that's terrible. If you hadn't noticed, he took the myspace pic down, hopefully you can find it in a cache somewhere and repost.

    I guess this kind of thing happens, it is just so hard to believe that someone would skip out on a pretty simple job like yours, and risk legal action and future business, over a few bucks. I don't think there's any way you could have reasonably avoided this, though.

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  13. Sounds like you have an awesome attitude!
    Let us know how everything turns out.

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  14. That blows.

    I really hope you get something ($$$) back. Or least can hound the living daylights out of this guy.

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  15. I posted on a music message board I'm a member of that has a Carolina section. One of the responses:

    "Oh, wow..I know that house.
    I know a tile guy who lives down the road from them, I'll forward this.. "

    I *think* you're in Asheville, right? It's not a big enough town for this dude to hide.

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  17. The only thing I'd suggest is maybe crop the women out of the picture or put a bar over their eyes. Unless they're a part of the business/scam, they don't need to be shown, do they?

    Hope you get your money back, the news segment is a great idea. I hope it works!

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  18. I wouldn't worry about editing the picture. The guy posted it on the internet himself, so it's in the public domain already.

    Have you posted on Craigslist? A post in the skilled trade section and another in the Rant and Rave section might get some action. They might not be smart enough to feel threatened by a blogger (though it worked for me once with window treatments), but people don't like their name on Craigslist for some reason.

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  20. Anything would help and we'd greatly appreciate it! Feel free to post it as a comment or email me at bunnymendelbaum@yahoo.com
    thanks and have a great holiday!

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  21. I'm truly sorry to hear your story. I've posted about it on our site at:

    http://www.homeconstructionimprovement.com/we-really-dislike-thieves/

    I hope it helps.

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  22. I feel your pain friends. I am a contractor myself, and recently recommended a roofer that I met only briefly. He seemed a good person, and I did a check on his business on our state's Attorney General's website - which has a section for contractor listing. The roofer had a clean listing on the AG's site, so I had no problem handing his phone number of to my client. Well, the roofer took the deposit, and then disappeared. We found out he was in jail. We then found out that he had a record a mile long, and had duped people before. The big burn is that he was listed on the AG's site as a clean business - no flags, no mention of his record, no tie to his past. There is a lot of alcoholism, drug addiction, and serious relationship/child support issues in the contracting market. Homeowners need to keep this in mind when they are looking to get work done. They definitely need to keep this in mind when they are looking for bargains. Everybody wants a bargain, but the way that the market works in reality is kind of a version of rent control. more often than not, the guys that you can trust, the guys that have their stuff together, are premium guys. Yes they cost more, but you can hand them the keys to your house and not worry a lick. Don't be so quick to bargain hunt for work. And definitely check references and do background checks.

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  23. I am a contractor that got Sammy's name from a friend of mine. I took over a job in Banner Elk for some people. Their contractor had gone bankrupt. Sammy had done the insulation and did it well. He also had done a few other jobs for me. Your story could be mine exactly. He has the granite for this house, it was suppose to be in weeks ago. He was in the hospital about to die. Even sent a picture to me showing probes all over his head. I am looking for him also. Last I heard he was in Elizebethton, Tn. If I find anything else out I will let you know. How I wish I would have seen this before. Good Luck!

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  24. I had a wholesale granite distributorship in Asheville NC, Sammy stole over 8 slabs of granite totally well over $7k, he has paid me only $500.00 in 2 years. I am looking for him or any information about him. DL number, car license # anything to give to the Police to help them locate this guy. If you have any info please contact me at DMEvans56@gmail.com I may even put in a reward if we can find this guy..

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  25. sammy got me also.. we were dealing with him out of bargain cabinets in elizabethton tn. another contact number is his sons 704-680-2242 . if u find him please contact me at derekholly@yahoo.com

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  26. They arrested him last week in GA: http://www.lookwhogotbusted.com/whitfield-county-ga/mullis-sammy-robert

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