Upstate Roofing Company Answers Complaints

By: Diane Lee | News Channel 7
Published: September 02, 2010

GREENVILLE, S.C. --

When Baretta Splawn hired a local roofer after his house was hit by hail -- he says he was told the work would start in three weeks.

"And then I call when it's 5 weeks later and I get chewed out for 15 minutes, and then I call back several weeks later and again get chewed out, then the owner calls me and again chews me out."

The homeowner says he asked for his money back but nine weeks later he says he's still missing his $2500 dollar down payment.

Seven On Your Side contacted Bishop Roofing. Owner Sammy Bishop told us he blames the delay, in part on a shingle color change, but admits he's been overloaded with work.

"Stuff gets behind and that's what delays it, and i guess that we're at fault for not fully explaining that to him," said Bishop.

But bishops problems may run deeper than having too many jobs. The Better Business Bureau says the company has 24 complaints.

"We have unanswered complaints, unresolved complaints, and many of those complaints have ended up in a court situation because they've not been resolved," said Kathy Barrett with the BBB.

Online court records from Greenville and other counties show multiple judgments against the company.

We asked Bishop "Do you feel like you'll go back to these complaints that are unresolved and give these people their money back in those cases?"

He said "I don't know right now that we have anybody's money."

But homeowner William Hendrix showed us Greenville County Court documentation where a judge ruled that Bishop Roofing owes him more than two-thousand dollars ater he says his new roof leaked.

"I was not able to get anything resolved with them. I filed with the better business bureau. They did not respond to BBB. They suggested I file with the state licensing board, I did that, there was no response to that, then I filed with the magistrate court," said Hendrix.

Hendrix says after all that he still hasn't seen the money. Bishop told us he's appealing that decision because he didn't see any leaks.

But he adds, "we know we've made some mistakes."

As for Baretta Splawn, Bishop said he plans to send his check back soon.

And after we informed Bishop about this story, he says his company has reached out to the BBB and is planning on addressing the complaints. He's hoping that will help change his "F" rating there.