More complaints filed against Fort Wayne Snow Removal

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The BBB is concerned about the company 'Fort Wayne Snow Removal'.  After we broke the story Monday night , more customers have come forward with complaints.

Customer complaints

The customer NewsChannel 15's Megan Reust spoke with has a story that's all to familiar to the BBB when it comes to Fort Wayne Snow Removal.  Paying for services they never received.  As well as excuses from the owner as to why they never got them.

It was supposed to be a Christmas present.  Snow removal - so Shane Albahrani's parents didn't have to worry about clearing the sidewalks and driveway.

"He was a local guy.  I work for a small business.  It's always good to help the local small business guy out.  So, I didn't really think anything of it.  But then it just turned into a nightmare," Albahrani explained.

The problem was snow fell and Fort Wayne Snow Removal never showed up to clear it away.

"He gave me some excuse that the addresses were mixed up. He said they went to my address and not my parents address but if they had my address someone would have shown up at my house don't you think?"

Albahrani isn't the only customer this has happened to.  The Better Business Bureau said there's now a total of 20 complaints.  The BBB encourages people who have had service issues to file a complaint - click here .

Better Business Bureau complaints & correspondence with the owner

Several of the 20 complaints filed deal with services that were never rendered the day after Christmas.

"We did not have a lot of snow I believe.  But when we did have it, he did not show up.  All of the complaints refer to that day after Christmas," BBB Dispute Resolution Specialist Maria Anciani-Dutt said.

For the past few weeks, the BBB has been trying to call the owner, Brian Thornton, to figure out what happened.  But they said he has brushed them off.

"'I will call you by the end of the day.  I'm on my way to a meeting.  The next time he said I need more time.  I need to investigate this.'"

The BBB said two of the 20 complaints were filed outside of the state.  One in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania.

Looking for answers

So, for a second time this week we went out looking for answers.  A news crew went to the address listed under the business - 2824 Covington Pines, Fort Wayne, IN 46804.  No one came to the door.  NewsChannel 15 called the owner of Fort Wayne Snow Removal, Brian Thornton, Monday night and again Wednesday.  He never returned our calls.

Former employee speaks out

After we broke the story Monday , a former employee of Fort Wayne Snow Removal reached out to NewsChannel 15's Megan Reust.  She claims the owner had trouble paying her, and that led to her leaving the company.  For her protection she asked we conceal her identity.  She said she started working for the owner - Brian Thornton - in September of last year.  She worked on building the website and clientele base.  Thornton spread his snow removal business to 16 cities across the Midwest.  She said she helped him do that.  All of the websites set up for them look nearly identical.