NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Imagine spending your life savings on a pool for your family. The contractor shows up and digs the hole, but he doesn’t come back to finish it.
WSMV4 Investigates uncovered that there are dozens of families who said that is exactly what happened to them. It all centers around a Middle Tennessee contractor.
One of the families said they were promised they would be swimming by last July. Now, a year has come and gone, and there is a chance they will never get their money back.
Gene Hynok’s unfinished pool is a constant reminder of his unfulfilled dream.
“They have taken a year away from our lives that we could have been with our grandchildren making memories,” Hynok said.
Hynok said he spent his life savings to install the pool, but the company never came back to finish it. You will hear a similar story from Jon Allen.
“Now to have my kids asking almost every single day, ‘Daddy, when is my pool going to be done?’'” Allen said. “I don’t have an answer for them.”
State Rep. Sabi “Doc” Kumar is also in the same boat. “Certainly, we have paid him much more than the work he has done,” Kumar said.
The “him” is Randy Westerbeck of White House, Tennessee. He owns Westco LLC, the company all three men hired to build their pools. They recently found out Westerbeck and his company have filed for bankruptcy.
“Welcome to my nightmare,” Allen said. “I never could have imagined this.”
Westerbeck’s attorney said there are now close to 40 claims against both Westerbeck and his business. With a Facebook page dozens of victims have joined, and more could be on the way.
“I hate it for the whole situation,” Westerbeck said. “It is not a good situation.”
Westerbeck agreed to sit down with WSMV4 Investigates. Westerbeck blamed employee issues, supply chain problems and extreme increases in costs for why his company failed.
WSMV4 Investigates asked Westerbeck when he realized his business had taken a turn for the worse.
“We have been struggling ever since we started, but to really understand and realize things were not going to work out was just recently in the last few weeks,” Westerbeck said.
He added that he did not continue to take on business after he realized that.
Meanwhile, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office tells WSMV4 there is an active investigation into Westerbeck. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance said it is also investigating complaints against his company.
“We have a closet full of toys that we got for my grandson to be able to float in the pool and have fun with us,” Hynok said.
For Hynok, it is more memories lost with his family.
We don’t know if we are ever going to get this finished,” Hynok said.
TDCI recommends people not pay more than a third of the money for projects upfront. More tips on how to find reputable contractors can be found here: https://www.tn.gov/commerce/news/2023/6/13/tdci-dont-sweat-home-improvement-projects-this-summer.html
Westerbeck’s full letter to his customers can be found below.
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