- Report: #564026
Complaint Review: CHRISTbilt Steel Buildings - Acworth, Georgia Internet
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
CHRISTbilt Steel Buildings
212 Bentwater Drive, Acworth, Georgia, Internet, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
www.christbilt.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
CHRISTbilt Steel Buildings Panelmaster Steel Buildings, CHRISTbilt Corporation, Charles LaBoone and Ashley LaBoone dba Panelmaster and/or CHRISTbilt failure to supply goods as ordered, failure to refund downpayment, harrassment. Internet
Report Attachments
I require a large metal building for my farm. I was attracted to great prices advertised on EBay, through both auctions and the EBay store. CHRISTbilt had 100% positive EBay score and also supplied long lists of credentials including a Better Business Bureau score of A-.
The company owner indicated that my order was best placed directly through the company, rather than EBay. We negotiated prices and features for my building. I gave the company a $10,000 downpayment on the building and the company prepared preliminary plans for the building.
Meanwhile, the company owner made repeated requests for a second payment, giving many reasons that I should hurry these payments along. Two of the reasons given were that the engineer was going on holiday and steel prices were increasing. Since the plans were not complete, we indicated we would not send more money before the planning was complete.
The company then cancelled my order and reminded me that downpayments were not refundable. The company owner a message on my answering machine that gave me full a picture of how I had been scammed. The tape can be heard at www.youtube/user/christbiltinquiry .
After cancellation, together with one of his employees, the company owner attempted to reverse his decision to cancel my order and convince me to send more money. The employee threatened me with lawsuits, told I had breached the contract and referred me to their law firm. Later the owner changed his story and said that my payment was not a deposit on a larger order, but a fee charged for engineering and plans for the building.
Using internet complaint sites, I located other victims of similar scams set up by CHRISTbilt. Each of the victims I found filed criminal charges. The sheriff's office near the home based office of the company owners Charles and Ashley LaBoone were quick to comply, as they had been involved in similar matters with this same company in the past. On February 2, 2010, Mr. LaBoone was arrested for theft.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Roof
Rocky View,Alberta,
Canada
eBay reacts by closing CHRISTbilt storefront
#2Author of original report
Fri, February 12, 2010
On Wednesday Feb. 2, 2010, an eBay search for CHRISTbilt turned up nothing. Obviously, eBay decided to act on the side of consumer safety. The owners of CHRISTbilt will have an opportunity to face the allegations by responding to the charges of theft. A date for the arraignment has not been announced.
While I was sharing my experience with eBay via their interactive Q&A forms, I felt they were unlikely to hear me. My questions were answered with form letter style answers that said they would look into my concerns. As a frequent user of eBay, I am reassured that customer safety is indeed one of their concerns. CHRISTbilt had a large site and lots of auction listings, so this decision has definitely removed some advertising revenue from their coffers.
EBay's move was faster than the Better Business Bureau. I have been working through the BBB complaint system for almost 4 months. Like eBay, most of the feedback I get from the resolution person there are form letter style and automated replies. I can see why most consumer complaints end with the consumer walking away from the process. The eBay experience has energized me, so I'll definitely keep plodding along. Next on the list is Dunn and Bradstreet and the listing kept for companies that supply federal government contracts.
Report Attachments
