Promises Are Great, But Action Is What Counts

RALEIGH, N.C. — Promises, promises. Lots of businesses make them once 5 on Your Side calls – but do they follow through?

To find out, 5 on Your Side revisits issues. Here are some updates.

We told you about some people who just wanted to have decks built onto their houses. They paid Phil Piurkoski and his company, Dimensional Decking, but never got the decks. Now, 5 on Your Side has 11 complaints against the company.

When we talked to Piurkoski, he promised to pay back the homeowners who complained.

"If they don't want me to do the project, then they'll get their money back, yes, ma'am," he said.

Soon after, Piurkoski sent Paige Briggs and Monty Monteith checks totaling $3,500.

Another recent story told you about Shirley Chason and her sister, who just wanted Chason’s chairs back.

Last August, they went to Fisher Upholstery in Fayetteville and paid owner Herman Fisher to re-do four chairs. When they couldn't get their chairs or their money, they contacted 5 on Your Side. After our calls, Fisher finished two chairs, and followed through on his promise to return the other two and refund Chason's $500 deposit.

Then, we told you about 17 couples that just wanted the wedding pictures for which they had paid Mark Fowler Photography a total of more than $27,000. Some got incomplete albums. Some got a few photos, but no albums. Some, including Shannon Emerick, got nothing.

“Those are irreplaceable,” Emerick said. “I cannot re-do my wedding. I can't re-do those pictures.”

After our latest story, Fowler promised to get all the couples who needed them CDs of their images and copyright releases so that they can get the photos printed somewhere else. We're happy to report, all of the couples now have their photo disks.

At least 10 couples got their releases, too. And while that's a start, the CDs and releases don't make up for the albums the couples paid for. Fowler tells us he is now working to complete those.

And finally, another problem solved – this one without any loose ends. It involves a roofing contractor.

The roof on Robert Shertz's home looks great now, but it's not the work of the company he originally paid to do the job.

Last March he hired B&B Contracting of Holly Springs. Shertz paid owner John Black $5,000 of the estimated $11,000 total, but Black never started the job. Eventually, he refunded $1,000.

When Shertz couldn't get the rest, he called 5 on Your Side. After we called John Black, he paid Shertz the remaining $4,000.