Swindled
Susan Frye recently paid about $20,000 to remodel a cabin on her Donnelly property, but the contractor never came close to finishing the work she hired him to complete.Frye, 61, is one of many locals that paid thousands of dollars for construction work, only to see that money vanish into the pockets of contractors who left behind substandard work or none at all.“We have a lot of people in this county who hire contractors to do work for them and the contractor takes a big down payment and then either bails or does a terrible job and then walks away,” said Valley County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Naugle.“There are a lot of people doing construction and contractor work out there that are ripping people off,” Naugle said.Frye said she had hired four or five contractors to complete her project, but most never showed up and others did such poor-quality work that she had to have it redone.“It’s really sad because I know so many people that are having the same problem up here,” Frye said.Robin Gorczyca, 67, hired a contractor in 2022 to remodel her condo in McCall for about $130,000.
