I have decided to report my experience with Ronald "Ron" McWilliams and his business accomplice even though it has been five years after it first happened. I hope it is not too late to save people from falling into the same pitfall.
In June I wanted to finish the basement of my new property in Chicago. As a first time home owner, I was totally naive about things. I simply picked up a Yellow Book and called the number of a remodeling business nearest to the property I could find, which, as fate would have it, was McWilliams Restoration Company.
To cut a long story short, "Ron", the company's owner, prepared a contract for $17,000, to be paid in installments. He showed up a few scattered to do what appeared preparatory work that ended up causing more than $8,000 in damage.in the end, he pressured me and collected a total of $11,000 before he disappeared.
It turned out McWilliams Res. Company was not licensed, insured or bonded as Ron represented to me. Ron also had no bank account. The checks he took from me, I later found out, were endorsed to his silent business partner, Terri Gallimore (24324 W. Blackcherry Lane, Ingleside, IL 60041/847-546-4434), who then cashed them.
I complained to the City of Chicago Dept. Of Consumer Services, which October 13 ordered that he pay back the $11,000 plus more than $5,000 in fines for consumer fraud and operating without licence. A Cook County Circuit Court Judge also ordered him to pay more than $40,000 in damages and fines (Case Number 05 M1-143106).
Ron McWilliams has since ignored both court orders and continued to work as a remodeling contractor in the Chicago area.
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