#44: Transcript from “New England NewsHour,” August 6, 2007
‘Consumer Crusader’ Transcript 8-6-07: Amaral Construction, LLC
This is a rush transcript from the “New England NewsHour” airing Monday, August 6.
NICOLE SAUNDERS, ANCHOR: New tonight on Consumer Crusader, local residents having work done to their homes are furious after finding their building materials missing and misused.
STEVEN CRAWFORD, ANCHOR: We’ve learned that the owner of a local construction company has been stealing his customer’s building materials for use in his own home.
NICOLE SAUNDERS: Consumer Investigator, Susanna Bloom, talked with these homeowners and attempted to get some answers from the contractor accused of theft.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSANNA BLOOM, CONSUMER INVESTIGATOR: George and Linda Lovell are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year and George wanted to do something special for his wife.
GEORGE LOVELL: She always wanted to add a four-season room to the house but we never had the time or money to get it done.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Now with all the children living on their own and the mortgage paid off, George was able to make Linda’s dream a reality. That is until he contacted the wrong construction company.
GEORGE LOVELL: Who would have know that this whole project would turn into an absolute nightmare?
SUSANNA BLOOM: On the recommendation of several friends and relatives, George and Linda contacted Amaral Construction to help them with their building needs. At first the Datchet company seemed to be the perfect fit.
LINDA LOVELL: Everyone had nothing but good things to say about them. They’ve been around for years and seemed well-respected.
SUSANNA BLOOM: The Lovell’s met personally with the company’s owner, Christopher Amaral, who assured them that the work would be done in a timely and thorough manner. George and Linda wrote a check on the spot for the 80% down payment.
GEORGE LOVELL: They began demolition the following week and all the building supplies were delivered a few days later.
SUSANNA BLOOM: It wasn’t until a few weeks into June that they began to notice some strange behavior in Mr. Amaral.
LINDA LOVELL: He began showing up at odd times and putting some of the wood in the back of his truck.
GEORGE LOVELL: He said he was bringing it back to his shop to do some extra detail work. Whatever that means.
SUSANNA BLOOM: After a few weeks, Mr Amaral had removed most of the materials from the property and Amaral Construction had ceased work on the home.
GEORGE LOVELL: We weren’t sure what was happening and when we tried to call nobody would pick up.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Little did the Lovells know, but the same thing was happening to other customers of Amaral Construction all over the state. Building materials: wood, nails, concrete, were either being take off of the properties by Mr Amaral or not arriving to the construction sites at all. Local restaurant owner, Arnie Trevino, was left with a half finished renovation.
ARNIE TREVINO: I’m expecting a short shut-down and all of a sudden I got a restaurant that can’t seat any customers.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Arnie’s restaurant, Mamma’s Cucina, was forced to close it’s doors.
ARNIE TREVINO: I spent a ton of money on renovating this place and now I’m losing more money because I can’t open up!
SUSANNA BLOOM: Arnie was talking with some friends about his situation and one of them had some interesting information.
ARNIE TREVINO: It turns out he lives near Amaral’s place and he said that there was a ton of construction happening at his house. When I heard that, I got in my car and drove over there.
SUSANNA BLOOM: What Mr Trevino found left him at a loss of words.
ARNIE TREVINO: He was out there just nailing up wood board on top of wood board all over the outside of his house. He was layering stuff like he was trying to keep the place standing.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Arnie confronted Mr Amaral about the lack of work and missing materials, but Mr Amaral refused to speak to him and locked himself inside his house.
ARNIE TREVINO: There was no talking with that guy. He totally shut me down.
SUSANNA BLOOM: We made our way to Mr Amaral’s Oak Circle neighborhood to get some answers. When we arrived at his home, we found him still working on his own personal construction project.
SUSANNA BLOOM: CHRISTOPHER AMARAL? I’m Susanna Bloom from New England NewsHour. Can we talk?
CHRISTOPHER AMARAL: It’s all falling apart. It’s all falling apart. It’s all falling apart.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Mr Amaral? Are these the building materials that your customers paid for? Why have you stopped work on their projects?
CHRISTOPHER AMARAL: No. No. No. No. Falling apart. Falling apart.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Mr Amaral?
SUSANNA BLOOM: It was at this moment that Mr Amaral rushed into his home and refused to speak to our crew.
SUSANNA BLOOM: Mr. Amaral! There are a lot of angry customers who want some answers from you! Mr Amaral?
SUSANNA BLOOM: The Lovell’s, Mr. Trevino and many others are now pursuing legal action against Amaral Construction.
LINDA LOVELL: We just want our house back in order and things to get back to normal.
GEORGE LOVELL: I don’t know what’s going through that man’s head but this isn’t how you treat people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUSANNA BLOOM: If you or someone you know is a customer of Amaral Construction and have run into the same problems, please call us on the Consumer Crusader Hotline at the number below. Nicole. Steven.
STEVEN CRAWFORD: Thanks, Susanna. Some pretty weird stuff going on there, Nicole.
NICOLE SAUNDERS: You said it, Steve. In other news tonight…