ORLANDO, Fla. – The Better Business Bureau in Indiana has issued an alert about the website Angi, which matches consumers with professionals, after a pattern of complaints, including consumers who say they paid people who never showed up to do the work.
It comes as Central Florida couples allege, they lost money to a handyman they found on the website, who now has a warrant for his arrest.
Back in October News 6 reported on Chad Heasley allegedly running off with money from a Lake County elderly couple.
A Winter Garden woman contacted News 6 after seeing the report, saying she and her husband had the same issue with Heasley.
Both found Heasley through the website Angi, raising concerns about the safety of online platforms that connect homeowners with professionals.
Tracy Griffin and her husband needed new siding and roof repairs on their Winter Garden home.
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They turned to Angi for help.
“Angie says that they stand behind their contractors and they vet their contractors,” Griffin said.
Griffin was matched with QC Painting Inc., owned by Chad Heasley.
They signed a contract and gave two deposits, $2,000 and $3,000, according to bank statements.
But Heasley never showed up to do the work.
“We gave this man money expecting him to show up to our house and he didn’t after $5,000,” Griffin told News 6.
The Griffins filed a complaint with Angi, but they say it went nowhere.
“We said, ‘We want our money back,” and they said, ‘No.’” Griffin said. “After about six months, they told us to pursue other avenues.”
News 6 found reviews on Angi indicating Heasley was allegedly doing the same thing to other customers.
One person said he took $11,000; another made two payments totaling nearly $8,500 and never heard from him again.
“So, I think that Angie should pay us the $5,000 because we went with this guy based on Angie’s recommendation,” Griffin said.
QC Painting is now listed as “under review” and “not Angi approved” on Angi’s site.
News 6 uncovered that after the Griffins’ experience, Heasley started another company, Florida Priority Home Solutions, and advertised on Angi.
Back in October, News 6 reported how Irene Simon and her husband lost $2,500 to Heasley under this new company name.
When they asked for references, “He told me Angi was his reference,” Simon said. “He took the money and left.”
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An Angi spokesperson says Florida Priority Home Solutions represented its owner as someone else, Heasley told Simon he was the owner.
The Better Business Bureau in Indianapolis has issued an alert about Angi.
Jennifer Adamany is the Director of Communications for the BBB.
“We’ve had complaints related to consumers using Angi to find professionals that then take the money for the work and then do not do the work,” Adamany said.
News 6 contacted Angi regarding Simon and Griffin.
“We’re always disheartened when a homeowner has an issue with a pro. In each of these scenarios, the pro was removed from our network within a week of the complaint date and was no longer able to match with homeowners on our platform.”
“We always encourage homeowners to reach out to us when they have issues with a pro, so we can investigate and help resolve the situation. We are reaching out to both homeowners to help resolve their issues.”
News 6 tried reaching out to Heasley but received no response.