ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Contractor complaints are some of the most frequent cases that land in News10NBC’s inboxes.

But as News10NBC consumer investigator reporter Deanna Dewberry explains, most contractors rarely face criminal prosecution.

Why not? The answer is simple.

If a contractor took your money but didn’t do any work, that’s theft: plain and simple. But if the contractor takes your money, does a little work then quits, that’s considered a civil matter.

In 2017, Dewberry began investigating a contractor accused of repeatedly taking payment for jobs he didn’t finish. After years of her investigations, prosecutors decided criminal charges were warranted in one case.

But now, customers claim he’s at it again.

It was a cold day in late February 2020 when she last saw Scott Pepson standing outside Geneva City Court.

In exchange for the lesser charge of petit larceny, he’d agreed to probation and refunding a customer $3,400.

He declined our requests for comment, but we wanted to know if this contractor planned to pay back customers in a host of other cases for which he wasn’t charged. Cases Dewberry had investigated.

He said nothing. Fast forward to July of 2022.

Craig Carlson, homeowner: “He wanted half of the payment up front.”

Deanna Dewberry: “And how much was that?”

Carlson: “That was $2,750.”

Craig Carlson has been fighting to get his money back for almost two years, even winning a civil case against Pepson in small claims court, but still hasn’t recovered a dime.

Carlson hired Pepson to excavate the land next to his barn.

“It was supposed to be an area excavated as large as the barn – level – so you could pour a concrete pad. And it was neither level nor as large as the barn,” he said.

He says for weeks, he tried to get Pepson to return and finish the job and got nothing but excuses. 

Customer Joel Lorenzo has a similar story. He says his roof is “an absolute disaster.”

“There are pieces missing. The roof boards were too short for the area he used,” he said. “He cut square holes instead of round holes for the vent pipe.”

Lorenzo also hired Pepson in 2022. He says he wanted him to install roofs on four properties, but his work was shoddy, unfinished.

Dewberry: “What did he say his name was?”

Lorenzo: “Scott Adam.”

It’s not the first time Dewberry has investigated a case in which Pepson is accused of giving only his first and middle names.

In 2019, Ben and Julia Rawlins hired someone who called himself Scott Adam. They paid him $7,500. But their canceled check revealed Scott Adam was actually Scott Adam Pepson. The couple says Pepson filled in his real last name on their check, didn’t finish the work, and wouldn’t return the money.

Their story echoes that of Graceann Stulpin who, just a few months later, paid Pepson $3,800 for work he didn’t finish.

In 2018, Debby Morlok says she also paid him $3,800 before she says he walked away from the job. And in 2017, Olive Owens says she gave him a check for $5,000 for a roof he never finished.

For years, Pepson has promised Dewberry an on-camera interview, then stood me up. So this time, I visited his home in Geneva – and got the door slammed in my face.

Back in the news car, Dewberry reached Pepson by phone, asking first about the names customers claim he’s using.

“Most of them say that you tell them that you’re Scott Adam,” Dewberry said.

He insisted that’s his middle name and all his friends call him that.

“I’m wondering if you fail to give them your last name so they can’t Google you and find out your history,” she said.
 
Absolutely, he admitted. And he blamed my investigations for ruining his reputation.

Dewberry: “So you believe I ruined your name and not the people who are accusing you of wrongdoing?”

Maybe he was guilty of wrongdoing in the past, he said. But that shouldn’t be held against him today.

But in a judgment handed down just last month, a small claims court judge in Geneva awarded a couple $3,500 because they say Pepson did shoddy work, then abandoned the job before it was finished.

The couple shared Pepson’s multiple text messages promising refunds that never came. When finally they said they were suing him, they say he responded with this obscenity-laced tirade.

As for Craig Carlson, he’s had enough. He, like nearly everyone of the customers Dewberry interviewed, filed a police report. But police told him this is not a criminal case. It’s a civil matter.

“If I stole a lawnmower from somebody, that would be a larceny. But you can take thousands of dollars from somebody and there would be no repercussions. It just doesn’t seem like a very equitable system,” he said.

Groups like the Better Contractors Bureau believe the answer lies in licensing. They say if general contractors were licensed, we could weed out the crooks. Until and unless that happens, sifting out the swindlers is largely up to you: the consumer.

Before you hire a contractor, here’s Deanna’s Do List:

1. Get at least three bids.
2. Choose a contractor from the Better Contractors Bureau’s membership list. The Better Contractors Bureau assists homeowners in search of reliable contractors who adhere to a code of ethics.
3. Do a Google search of the contractor’s name and business. Often scammers change their business names repeatedly, so if you find nothing on your contractor, that’s a red flag.
4. Get a written contract (sample below).
5. Never pay the full price upfront.  The BBB suggests paying a third upfront, a third in the middle, and a third at completion.
6. Report problems to the BBB, the Attorney General’s Office, or the Better Contractors Bureau. Your complaint is important because the AG’s office rarely takes civil action unless it can see a pattern of business behavior.