Woman loses more than $7K in bad home improvement deal

RIVES JUNCTION, Mich. (WLNS) — Several phone calls have been made to 6 News about Aaron J. Austin failing to do the home repairs that he was paid for.

One woman said his neglect cost her a lot of money and her wheelchair-bound mother to miss out on a special day.

“I just don’t understand what kind of person does this,” Jennifer Tice said. 

Jennifer Tice wanted to have a wheelchair ramp built onto her home in Rives-Junction so that her 62-year-old mother could visit and be comfortable at her home.

“I posted on a local Facebook group looking for recommendations for builders putting it out there to see who was out there in the area,” Tice said. 

So when she came across A & A Exteriors and saw that the company had an affordable price, Tice jumped at the opportunity. 

Tice said when the owner Aaron Austin asked for a down payment, she knew that things were looking up.

“Everything seemed great. We weren’t too worried about giving him money down because every single builder required a percentage of it done,” she said. 

According to Tice, Austin communicated well, had written up a contract, and said he’d do the work, but when she gave him the $7,000 down payment, things started falling apart.

“He had his daughter and his daughter was sick and he had to take her to the hospital, he was sick and had to go to the hospital then the very last thing he said was that the transmission went out on his truck and that’s what he was waiting for. But by that point we kinda figured it wasn’t gonna happen,” Tice said. 

Not only are they out all of that money, but Tice also said that Austin’s neglect caused her mom to miss out on a special day.

“My mom was going to come up and watch her oldest grandchild graduate high school and she wasn’t able to come,” Tice said. 

Jennifer has accepted the loss and now wants others to beware.

“He owes so much money to so many people. We’re never gonna get that money back. It’s more or less trying to stop him from doing it to other people,” she said.