‘Completely ghosted us’: PNW customers detail financial losses, unfinished jobs tied to local contractor

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Picture writing a five-figure check for a new barn or out building, only to encounter months of delays and setbacks, which often ended with little to no construction on the project.

That’s the reality for certain families in southwest Washington and Oregon, who share similar stories of unfinished work and big dollar losses at the hands of a local barn-building outfit.

Dr. George Apostolopoulos lives on a little over an acre in the small community of Boring.

He says well over a year ago, he signed a contract with Wapiti Pacific to build a decent-sized pole barn next to his home.

He forked over at least $14,000 to get the process started.

“I kept asking for plans, and why aren’t things moving along. I got verbal reassurance the project could still be done by the end of the year, once you break ground things move quickly, but none of that was happening,” he tells KOIN 6 News.

He said there was a small septic issue he had to clear up with the county, but that was fixed fairly quickly.

Weeks turned into months, and by February of this year there still was no construction or firm plan.

That’s when he got a stunning email.

“I guess the ‘Uh oh’ moment came when he sent a notice he was going out of business suddenly,” said Apostolopoulos

He wasn’t alone.

“We were just thinking ‘Crap.’ We’re trying to get ahold of him to find out, and he just completely ghosted us,” said Anne Lynch Roberts.

She and her husband contracted Wapiti to build a structure on their property in Canby.

After putting down about $17,000 to get permits and construction underway, the couple says they effectively have nothing to show for it except for some design plans.

“It’s very disappointing. There’s no protection,” said Roberts.

Soon, she stumbled onto a private Facebook group that was filled with complaints about Wapiti and its tactics.

“There’s 30 people in our group, and he was still trying to collect money from other people, even though he was out of business,” said Roberts.

Both the Oregon Construction Contractors Board, and the equivalent in Washington, show complaints against Wapiti piling up this year.

Some of the dollar amounts tied to the open cases top $40,000, and in one Oregon complaint obtained by KOIN 6 a customer says they’re “out nearly 90k.”

The complaint also alleges that the little pole work that was done on their property fell apart earlier this year, and that “the trusses collapsed […] jeopardizing the integrity of the complete structure.”

The Wapiti website is no more, and emails to accounts tied to the company bounce back.

The address tied to the Oregon operation is a PO Box near Sandy.

Eventually, the owner and operator Matt Brindell did respond to KOIN with a brief email comment.

“We contacted all of the individuals who were in the process of being built but not built yet, letting them know that we were going to work through closing things out and figure out refunds, and sending those when appropriate…” Brindell wrote.

He added that they’re sending out promissory notes and called the larger situation “unfortunate.”

KOIN 6 offered to do an interview, including via ZOOM, but that didn’t happen.

For customers like Apostolopoulos, the entire experience feels beyond frustrating.

“You have to be pretty blind or willfully neglectful to not see a pattern here,” he said.

Most of these cases in Oregon and Washington are still open, and mediation is underway in some of them.

According to the state website, the construction license tied to Wapiti in Washington is currently “suspended,” and the one in Oregon is “voluntarily surrendered.”

At least one other customer who didn’t want to be named is contemplating a lawsuit, although it’s not clear how much money could be recovered in that situation.