CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ben Gwathmey and his wife became used to tight spaces after living in an Airstream camper for six months, so they decided to buy a tiny house.
"Compared to a regular house, it's cheaper to build, cheaper to maintain," Gwathmey said.
They used the popular website,Thumbtack, to hire a contractor. After paying him in full, the couple said the contractor never finished the job.
"Not even close," he said.
Action 9 received multiple complaints from customers about contractors they met through Thumbtack, too.
Joanne Roy said the man she hired "just lied and he kept lying, and he kept lying and changing things."
Michael Kellar said none of the work an electrician did on his house was usable.
Narendra Agrawal said he wasted $2,000.
Brian Fredette said, "We had an inspector, a licensed company, come in and inspect what [the contractor] did, and it was all wrong. I mean, they had to tear it all out. Everything had to come out."
After checking Thumbtack's vetting process, Action 9 learned that if the contractor claims to have a certain license, the company said it will verify it.
Thumbtack also said it checks contractors for "criminal convictions or sex offender registration," but still encourages customers to check reviews, insurance and licensing on their own as well.
Click here for more on Thumbtack's vetting process.
Make sure you look up reviews, contact your state's attorney general and/or the Better Business Bureau and make sure the contractor has a license if he or she needs one. You can search by name on many state licensing board websites.
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