Wichita roofer was paid but did no work and hasn’t refunded customer, DA petition says
Updated July 27: Mid-Continent Roofing and Restoration owner Brett Olivier told The Eagle by phone that he paid $13,205.65 to his attorney on July 25 to refund the customer in full, saying: “I did my due diligence to make it right.”
He said the customer’s preferences about weather conditions and other factors prevented him from completing the contract on the dates initially promised and that he now has concerns about the customer’s dealings with those who did finish the job and the customer’s insurance company. He says he lost money on the deal and didn’t provide a refund for months after the customer and district attorney’s office asked for it because he was “trying to figure out” what had gone on.
Olivier also said he is “restructuring” his business and roofing will “not be our main lane.”
Original story: Earlier this year, a customer complained that a Wichita business and its owner didn’t complete work on a roofing contract.
Now, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office is demanding the business pay up.
Wichita-based Mid-Continent Roofing and Restoration LLC, 602 N. Webb, and its owner, Brett S. Olivier, engaged in “unlawful acts and practices” when they performed no work or services and “provided no material benefit” to a Wichita man, who entered into the roofing contract after being referred to the business by a friend, according to a June 21 petition filed in Sedgwick County District Court. The petition alleges Mid-Continent and Olivier violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, which is meant to prevent deceptive, unconscionable and fraudulent business practices and gives consumers an avenue to sue.
Olivier could not be reached for comment despite multiple emailed requests, and a phone number for Mid-Continent listed on its website wasn’t working when The Eagle called. Neither Olivier nor his business had filed a formal answer to the DA’s lawsuit as of Friday, and there was no lawyer for either listed in court records.
Jason Roach, chief attorney for the DA’s Consumer Protection Division, said in a July 19 email that the customer had not received a refund from Olivier or Mid-Continent.
Two other previously investigated consumer complaints involving Olivier and his business “were both closed following compliance with a demand letter sent from our office,” Roach said, and right now there are “no other pending investigations” involving either.
“We do our best to work with businesses to resolve consumer complaints,” Roach wrote. Nevertheless, litigation is sometimes necessary to protect the community and hold suppliers accountable for violations of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.”
According to the DA’s petition:
The Wichita man hired Olivier and Mid-Continent on the advice of the friend, who is Olivier’s father — and after meeting with Olivier, wrote a personal check to him and Mid-Continent on Oct. 25, 2022, for $13,205.65.
Olivier promised the contract would be complete the weekend of Feb. 17.
Mid-Continent and Olivier, however, “failed to complete the contract” by that weekend, and Olivier told the customer he would do it the following weekend.
But he didn’t keep that promise, either. He also did not apply for a permit for the roofing contract through the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department.
The man asked for a refund on Feb. 21, to no avail.
Olivier eventually referred the customer to another roofing company to complete the work. That roofer ordered materials and referred other companies to complete the labor and gutter installation. That roofer also asked the customer to pay the materials supplier and labor and gutter installation companies directly, at a total cost of $12,204.78.
The man filed a complaint about his dealings with Mid-Continent and Olivier in April 2023.
In a May 6 email to a DA’s Office investigator, Olivier reportedly said “that a refund would be issued” if the customer provided “receipts for the crew and materials paid.” Olivier ignored a later demand from the DA’s Office for an immediate, full refund to the customer.
The DA is asking the court to fine Olivier and Mid-Continent $20,000 for violating the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and order they fully refund the customer’s money as well as pay investigative and court costs, the petition says.
For more information about how to file complaint about a consumer transaction in Sedgwick County, go to www.sedgwickcounty.org/district-attorney/consumer-protection-division.
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 6:12 AM.
