6 MAY 07: HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION?
A familiar business name showed up on the Friday evening news - one I hadn't noticed in a while. It's a building contractor accused of doing shoddy work. And before you get ahead of me - I don't think the worker involved attends that big Baptist church on 54th Street.
The Better Business Bureau reports it's received six complaints in the last year about Liftech. Wouldn't it be fun to go through the bureau's files, and see which business has the most? Instead of the annual BBB "Torch Award," we could give it a lit stick of dynamite.
One woman complained she hired Liftech to repair the foundation of her home - and when the work was over, she counted at least 24 cracks. Perhaps she hasn't looked on the bright side of this. She has at least 24 places for hiding valuable papers from thieves.
The customer thought it was strange that the Liftech manager asked her to write a check NOT to the company, but to someone she apparently never knew. It makes you wonder if that person's business card has the title "Middleman" on it.
The customer wondered why Liftech's Mitch Baria didn't want his name put on the check for repair work. So she went online, and learned Baria faces fraud and "false pretense" charges in Mississippi. Who could have guessed Hurricane Katrina would blow someone all the way to Columbus, so long after the storm?
You may recall we brought up Liftech late last year, for using a "former pitcher for the Oakland A's" in TV commercials - a man who never really pitched in the major leagues at all. [7 Dec 06]. Now a company employee is accused of throwing some change-ups of his own. At least no "knuckle balls" came with it....
Liftech didn't return the TV station's calls, to comment on the customer complaints. That's curious, because a company attorney called the blog about the commercials five months ago - without my even asking him to do it, and on the very same day. Do I have THAT much more clout?
There are some basic lessons for homeowners here. Don't commit yourself financially to repair jobs, without some kind of guarantee. For instance, make sure the crew guarantees not to leave the state for 14 days - and has a working cell phone number.
It also might be wise to check with the Better Business Bureau first, and see if a repair company has a good reputation. If the crew recommends you call the Pretty Good Business Bureau instead, be skeptical....
E-MAIL UPDATE: Someone apparently has had enough of the Bill Purvis bashing:
Dear Richard; Someone posted a link/comment to your blog's publication of the anonymous Cascade Hills complaint letter on AboutColumbusGA yahoo group. We have responded on the group. Comments are welcome on the group.
The anonymous, unanswered and unexamined accusations are seemingly quite unfair. I have already found some of the things he said to be untrue.
Could your blog's published anonymous Cascade Hills Church complaint letter be from:
1. An investigation- trial date is near-someone allegedly tried harm on a church member
2. Or is it the actual alleged perp himself
3. Or is it some other misguided soul who prefers to harm a church with perceived wrongs rather than iron out misunderstandings and provide church unity.
We have posted info on the Reverend Purvis, and the Church Doctrine. We sought out info from the Church itself. Since someone posted the link to your blog's published anonymous complaint letter on our group, we owed it to the Church Congregation, Ministers, and the GOOD LORD, to provide a fair rebuttal. We found the 7000 member church to be totally accessible.
Thank You,
Deborah Owens deborahowens2000@aol.com
AboutColumbusGA Yahoo Group
Perhaps this group's discussion will bring answers and resolutions to some of the recent charges we've received. I mean, you don't simply pick up a phone, call a church office and say: "Hi, does your pastor drive a Hummer and a Lexus?"
If I were to guess which category the Cascade Hills complaints fit, I'd say it's number three. It's amazing how some people can do a better job "evangelizing" against a church or pastor they don't like, than for the gospel the pastor's supposed to preach.
By the way, people who watch all the way to the end of "Real Time" nowadays can hear Bill Purvis say this about Columbus: "There are plenty of good churches, where we can all find a place." He doesn't say Cascade Hills Church is the best, largest or most perfect. So you shouldn't compare Dr. Purvis to a Bill Heard car salesman - maybe more like Gateway Lincoln-Mercury.
Maybe there's someone wandering the streets of Columbus, looking for a church home....
Is there anything at all that can be done concerning the homeless man that camps out on or in the middle of Veteran's Parkway? He used to hang out around the intersection of Manchester and Veterans but now has moved North. He is going to get hit and my understanding is that he is not the most pleasant person wanting help so is there not an institution or something?
Is this the man who pushes an extremely full shopping cart? If so, I've seen him recently in the area of Airport Thruway -- so give him a few more weeks, and he may start selling his belongings at Columbus Park Crossing.
(Then again, he may be setting a great example for drivers on Veterans Parkway. If he can avoid spending money on high-priced gasoline and cars which produce greenhouse gases, maybe you can as well.)
If this man is obeying the law and doesn't want anyone's help, I'm not sure anyone can do anything about him. I can't realistically offer to take him into my home - because he'd probably insist on taking his shopping cart with him, and it won't fit in my trunk.
An "institution" for this man is as close as West Central Georgia Regional Hospital - but that's all the way on the other side of Columbus. Perhaps this man hasn't heard the hospital now has secured state money to stay open....
Thanks to everyone who writes us - and now let's write a little more about the weekend news:
+ The State Farmer's Market on Tenth Avenue relaunched itself as an "International Flea Market." Now you can buy antique furniture, to go with your fresh watermelons - and we hope you don't get the two of them mixed up.
+ The Bayonet reported a Mini-Mall opened inside Fort Benning, featuring an O'Charley's restaurant. There, you see - nice new restaurants ARE opening on the south side of Columbus. The problem is that they're so far south, many civilians can't go to them.
+ The Columbus Jazz Society held its annual "Ma Rainey Blues Festival" at her old home in the Liberty District. From what I saw on TV, she certainly would have the blues - because the attendance looked pitiful.
+ Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School held its first-ever "Hispanic Day." But there's something I don't quite understand about this. No field trip to Fiesta Columbus?!
+ Notasulga High School was put on lockdown, after authorities say they found three guns. You'd think the National Rifle Association make more of a fuss about this -- and offer target practice lessons after hours, to help students better keep the Second Amendment and prevent attacks.
+ Instant Message to the Columbus Finance Department: My federal tax refund came in March. My state tax refund came in April. So why hasn't my local Occupation Tax refund check come in the mail, after more than two months? Is Mayor Wetherington proposing to eliminate that, in his budget plan?
COMING THIS WEEK: How at least one Columbus police officer spent spring break.... you might be stunned....
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