Unhappy customers say they're owed thousands by Bible Hill shed builder

A Bible Hill, N.S., businessman is under fire from frustrated customers who say they have paid thousands of dollars in deposits for sheds that have never materialized.

CBC News has spoken to seven people who say they're out a combined $15,000 to Mike Upton, who has operated under several different business names.

"[Upton] told me he needed $1,500 for a minimum deposit and we said OK," Lauren Eldridge said. "He said after he gets that, then he will make the shed and deliver it so we said OK."

Upton told CBC News he is owed money by other businesses and got behind in his orders. He acknowledges his debts and said he plans to repay them once he gets back on his feet.

'We waited and waited'

Eldridge said she gave him the money the first week of June with a promise the shed would be delivered in two to three weeks.

When that didn't happen, she started calling every day.

"He's very nice," Eldridge said of Upton, who she said repeatedly made promises that were never kept. "Every time I call him or go see him he says, 'I'm sorry' and some huge emergency will come up.

"We waited and waited and waited and every two days he'd say, 'It's tomorrow or the next day,'" she said.

That sounds familiar to Ryan Geldart, who gave Upton a $1,500 deposit on a shed on July 21, 2014.

It was supposed to be delivered in August shortly after he moved into his first home but he, too, said he was given excuses for the delays.

"It kept on being two more weeks, three more weeks, four more weeks and that kept on being dragged on into October."

At that point he asked for his money back.

"I did not receive anything from him other than promises and at that point we took action and took him to small claims court," Geldart said.

$1,600 judgment

Geldart was granted a judgment of almost $1,600 against Upton, his wife, Lisa Muise, and Pictou Road Solid Wood Construction. Pictou Road Solid Wood Construction is a business owned by Muise that has had its registration revoked by the province's Registry of Joint Stocks for non-payment.

Geldart hasn't managed to collect anything on the judgment and said he has given up on getting his money back

Another judgment ordered Upton to pay a former client just over $2,000, while Eldridge and several others have filed claims against Upton.

There are also liens against Pictou Road Solid Wood Construction for almost $9,000.

All of this has Brenda Ryan wondering whether she will get her $1,000 deposit back. She said she gave Upton the money two months ago with a promise the shed would be delivered in a week.

Sentenced for fraud in 2009

"I've been put off many, many times," she told CBC News as she left the business after again being promised her shed would be delivered. "It's a small business and you try to support those small businesses."

Upton has a criminal record that dates back to 2005 when he was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing and attempting to rob the East Coast Credit Union in Upper Stewiacke twice in two weeks.

In 2009, he was sentenced for fraud and theft over $5,000.

Upton told CBC News "the past is over" and he's changed.

On Thursday, he refunded $2,000 to a man named Paul Higgins, who had given him a $3,600 deposit.

RCMP say no charges

Upton said he plans to repay everyone he owes and has "no intention of ripping people off."

A complaint was laid with the RCMP but spokeswoman Cpl. Jennifer Clarke told CBC News the investigation has "concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support a charge in the matter."

When Upton first started selling sheds his business was registered as Mike Upton's Solid Wood Mini Barns. However, he declared bankruptcy and the business was re-opened as Pictou Road Solid Wood Mini-Barns showing his wife as owner. The current company, Better Built Construction, is registered in the name of Richard Muise.

The Better Business Bureau of Atlantic Canada has posted an "alert" on all three businesses.