A paving company has been ordered to repay a Leavenworth County consumer and has been banned from doing business in Kansas, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.
In an order entered last week in Leavenworth County District Court, Judge David King ordered Carl Bailey and Mike Gaede, doing business as Bailey’s Construction and CTC Construction, to repay a Leavenworth County consumer $17,500 he had paid the company for paving his driveway.
The court found that the defendants committed five violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act in the transaction. The judge also ordered the defendants to pay a $100,000 civil penalty and refrain from engaging in business activity in the State of Kansas.
In March 2012, the defendants solicited the consumer at his residence to perform asphalt paving services. The defendants told the consumer he was getting a good deal because the asphalt materials were left over from a previous job. Before the paving was complete, the defendants demanded payment of $1,750, which the consumer agreed to. Because the consumer could not write very well, he requested the defendants write the check out for him. The defendants then wrote the check for $17,500.
The court found that the defendants presented the consumer with an invoice that contained no business address or notice of the consumer’s right to cancel. The defendants also failed to inform the consumer verbally of his three-day right to cancel. The defendants then cashed the check before waiting the required five business days. The court found these actions violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
“Consumers should be especially cautious when dealing with door-to-door solicitors,” Schmidt said. “Scam artists promise a deal that sounds too good to be true, and it usually is. Consumers who are in need of home repairs or driveway paving should seek out local, reputable companies and get multiple written estimates before having any work done.”
More tips on staying safe from rip-offs are available on the attorney general’s consumer protection website at www.InYourCornerKansas.org.