'Very happy': Oklahoma couple reimbursed one year later for custom table that never showed up
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Jarrod Rees and his wife purchased a custom table last year, but it never showed up on the delivery date. They were still fighting to get their money back a year later, but with the help of KFOR's In Your Corner team, they were fully reimbursed this week.
Rees was on the hunt for a dining room table March 2022.
He and his wife stumbled upon Jameson Brothers Designs on Linwood where they found the perfect cut of wood they wanted to create a table with.
The couple put down a deposit of $1,905.05 to seal the deal.
Rees told KFOR in a previous interview he checked in with the business' owner, Adam Jameson who told him the project was right on schedule.
Come November, Rees said he couldn't get a hold of Jameson or the business.
He stopped by the location and found out Jameson Brothers Designs was no longer there.
Rees claims to have reached out to Jameson several times via phone call, texting, and email. No word on the table or a refund.
“It’s extremely frustrating and I’ve never been taken before, so this is kind of a first for me, and it’s very frustrating because he seemed very legitimate. It was a very big operation. I’m very, very surprised. I’m actually very shocked that I even had to call you guys,” explained Rees.
News 4 aired Rees' story on Feb. 20.
Jameson Brothers Designs' previous landlord for the Linwood location told KFOR in an email Jameson was evicted from the property because he failed to pay rent on time.
That landlord also shared a family member of Jameson's contact information.
"She frequently helps him financially, so if you could pass the information on to the folks that gave him the deposit it might help them," the previous landlord said.
KFOR put Rees in touch with the family member on Tuesday.
"When I contacted the family member, they told me that there was a cashier's check made out to me and we will be getting it very shortly. I said, 'Okay, well, that's great.' I greatly appreciate that person. I greatly appreciate them taking my call. Second, I'm thrilled to death that there's a cashier's check out there for me. I did tell the family member I'd like to have it in the next couple of days to put this matter to rest and the family member came through," explained Rees.
A cashier's check was then hand-delivered to Rees Thursday morning.
"I was very happy. I'm glad that Jameson Brothers came through and refunded my money and I wish him nothing but the best. I hope that the business comes back because they're very talented. The owner of the company is very talented. He's a great craftsman, and I hope that they can turn things around and make things better," said Rees.
Another plot twist: the original slab of wood Rees and his wife were supposed to have was found at an Oklahoma City wood company.
"When I saw your news story, that's when I recognized that we actually have that piece of timber over here in our shop," said the CEO of Urban Wood Company, Ryan Moore.
Moore told KFOR he allows other wood businesses in the area to use their vacuum kiln.
The kiln is meant to dry the wood.
The kiln is how Moore met Jameson.
Moore explained Jameson dropped off three or four slabs of wood to be dried and smoothed, but once Jameson went out of business, he allegedly told Moore to keep the wood as a form of payment for using Moore's resources.
"As part of the payment, we were going to sell some of his wood here on consignment and then we would just split what was leftover after the charge for the kiln drying and the C and C. We sold some of his wood and I tried contacting him a few times to tell him that we sold some and have money for him and I still haven't even heard from him, so it's a bummer," said Moore.
Moore added Jameson told him there was one slab of wood in that pile he gave him meant to be a table for a client.
That's the same slab Rees paid for.
Once Moore saw the story on News 4, he reached immediately and wanted to help Rees with getting a new custom table.
Moore has offered to build Rees a custom table with the same slab for free.
"I just didn't want it to be like tarnish on this industry of furniture makers and so I just wanted to help out," said Moore. "That was amazing that you reached out right away. I mean, I took a shot. I didn't know if you would even answer an email, you know, but I took a shot that maybe you would get it and you answered right away. Within a couple of days, I can't believe that we're able to join customers with something that they thought was forever gone."
Moore said despite this story about Jameson, he thinks he's a very talented builder and wishes him the best.
Rees and his wife plan to visit Moore's shop to look at the slab of wood and see what the next steps are.
"Thank you for in your corner. I greatly appreciate it. It's been a great experience and I highly recommend it to anybody that needs to get that final answer done, that final last step if they need help. I hope people continue this. What you guys do as in your corner is it helped a lot of people in lots of different situations," said Rees.
Moore, also said he was thankful for the opportunity to connect with Rees as well.
"It was great. Hey, thank you guys for doing that. Really. Like, for you guys doing that story and putting that out and, like, being in people's corners is a great help and great use of the media, so thank you," stated Moore.
As for Jameson Brothers Designs, there are at least two other customers who paid for a table they never got.
One person paid $1,034.17 and the other claims to have paid $1,500.
KFOR has passed along the proper contact information.
They're both now working to figure out a resolution.