Metro woman pays nearly $5,000 for shed that is falling apart
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - An Oklahoma City woman said she's had enough after paying thousands for a shed that is falling apart and a contractor who has dodged her calls.
"I mean, I've been lied to so much and I'm still being lied to," said Ericka Rumbo. Rumbo wanted a new shed to replace her old one.
She said she bought a shed at a Lowe's in Southwest Oklahoma City near the beginning of July for just under $5,000. She said Lowe's had contracted the building of the shed out to Building Products LLC, and a worker came by to start building on July 28th.
A worker came by and worked on the shed for several days, and when he said they were finished, Rumbo pointed out several issues.
"There are nails just sticking out everywhere," said Rumbo.
The shed she paid for had come with vents, but she showed us there were no vents. A wooden pole on the doors fell off when Rumbo showed News 4 the problems.
"Did you see that? It's literally falling apart in my backyard," said Rumbo.
The joists were meant to be 16 feet apart, but Rumbo measured them and showed that they were only a foot apart.
"That means to fix it, you'd have to tear it all down," said Rumbo.
There was over an inch gap in the ceiling where you could see the roof from inside the shed.
"That's just asking for hail to fall through," said Rumbo.
Some of the wooden planks inside the shed were torn apart. There were also nails left all around the shed, as well as shingles and trash.
There were gaps near the top of the shed, among many other issues.
"I'm not upset at the worker; it was over 100 degrees outside, and I could tell he needed someone else outside with him. The manual requires two people or more to build the shed. The person I spoke with laughed when I mentioned that," said Rumbo.
Rumbo said for over a week, she's been trying to get in contact with someone to fix her problems. She said she reached out to almost a dozen people between Lowe's, the shed manufacturer, and Backyard Products.
The whole time she's tried to get a hold of somebody, everything that was inside her old shed was sitting in her yard and on her porch.
"It rained, so all of that had to be moved to the porch," said Rumbo.
She said that she wanted it to get fixed, but because of the lack of communication and how long it has taken, she's just looking for a refund and for them to tear down the shed.
Someone from Backyard Products was supposed to come Thursday morning, but News 4 was with her Thursday, and in the afternoon, nobody had yet arrived.
"Everybody just seems to give me the runaround. They don't seem to care," said Rumbo.
News 4 called a manager at Backyard Properties several times and even left a message.
An hour or so after that call, Rumbo said they had a worker come by to take the shed, but she had to leave for work. She was told they would come back Friday morning.
A representative from Lowe's got back immediately after a Thursday email and said they are working as soon as possible on getting the situation resolved for Rumbo. They have her situation with Customer Relations.