Charlotte County contractor arrested for allegedly taking money for job not done

Reporter: Taylor Wirtz Writer: Elyssa Morataya
Published: Updated:

Allie Marcus hired Brian White to do some work on her lanai. She paid a $4,600 deposit and was given a timeline of 12 to 14 weeks. Now, more than a year later, the project has hardly been started, and White still has her money.

Allie Marcus and her husband didn’t want to take the post-Hurricane Ian storm season lightly.

“If it were to happen again, we wanted to have some protection,” said Marcus.

They hired Brian White’s Harper’s 1980 LLC to put in some motorized shutter shades on their lanai.

“A neighbor of mine had a great experience with his company when he was an employee,” said Marcus.

But by this time, White was the owner. Marcus paid him a $4,600 deposit and White said the project would be done in 12 to 14 weeks.

Five months later, Hardly anything had been done, and White’s salesperson stopped responding.

“My text messages prove the communication just dropped off on their side. You know, we’ll check on it. We’ll check on it.” said Marcus.

Marcus’s husband texted White directly, asking for a refund.

“He said, ‘No, no, no, we don’t want to refund your money; we’ll give it to you within two weeks,'” said Marcus.

More than a year after the project started, Marcus has no shutter shades and no refund.

She’s pursuing legal action and has learned she’s not alone. Wink News has heard from several people who say they’ve paid White a deposit, with no work to show for it.

Nick Perrone canceled his contract despite putting down $2,000 after White stopped responding and he started seeing bad reviews online. He says he’s lucky compared to the others.

“Makes me feel angry that people are losing their money to someone who’s not doing the work they promised,” said Perrone.

Perrone and Marcus told WINK News they hope they can spread the word so that no one falls victim to White schemes again.

“I don’t understand how somebody can wake up every day and just cheat people right and left,” said Marcus.

Perrone and Marcus are in a Facebook group with at least thirty other people who believe he’s done the same to them, if not worse.

They’re hoping more people will contact the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

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