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Man contacts Denver7 to help with what he says is a sprinkler scam

Posted at 7:30 PM, Jun 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-05 21:30:50-04

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DENVER – After a month of trying to fix the problem himself, one man turned to Denver7 after he said he was scammed out of $1,200.

Fred Ratliff said he paid for his sprinklers to get fixed, but ended up with nothing because the man fixing his sprinkler decided not to show up for more than a month.

“I gave him a check to buy the parts to fix my sprinkler system and bring it up to city code,” Ratliff said. “He was supposed to come back the following Monday to do the work, but he didn’t show up.”

Ratliff said the man had a valid reason.

“He said his son is in the hospital with leukemia, and he had surgery that weekend,” Ratliff said. “He was there with his son. I had two daughters who had leukemia, so I understood that."

"I waited three weeks, and finally, I sent him a message, and I said ‘what’s going on? I need to get my sprinklers fixed, summers coming.’ And he said, 'I'd get back to you.' But he never showed up,” Ratliff continued.

More than a month later, Ratliff came to Denver7 since he was having no luck trying to get the man to finish the job.

Denver7 called the contractor who said his son was going through major health issues and his family was in and out of the hospital. 

Denver7 took the man’s word for now, and the man agreed to honor his commitment and get the job done by the end of the week.

Contact7 will stay on top of him to make sure the job gets done.

“I appreciate you giving him a call,” Ratliff said. “That might be just enough to get him to do it.”