LOCAL BUILDER PART OF BBB DIRTY DOZEN

Sam Weir Jr. and his company, Weir Builders, were given a dishonorable mention by the Charlotte area Better Business Bureau as part of the "Dirty Dozen" of companies in the Charlotte area. Photo Contributed/TCS

By Jon Mayhew

LINCOLN COUNTY -- While not on the official "dirty dozen" list of the top worst companies in the Charlotte area released Thursday by the Better Business Bureau of greater Charlotte, a builder once arrested and charged with fraud crimes in Lincoln County managed to get a "dishonorable mention" on the list.

Sam Weir and his company -- Weir Builders -- are on the list for defrauding customers by taking money for work then never doing the jobs the company was paid for.

The Carolina Scoop attempted to contact Weir by phone and e-mail. The phone number listed for Weir is not in service. The Web site, meantime, has been taken down.

According to Lincoln County Sheriff's Office public information officer Larry Seagle, Weir was arrested in the county on June 15, 2008.

"Besides being accused of taking money and not performing work, he was also charged with felony obtaining property by false pretenses," said Seagle.

The Better Business Bureau of Charlotte said Weir and his company have defrauded 25 homeowners in eight counties in the Carolinas of more than $100,000. The company, which operates under the names Crete Magic, Sun Masters and Weir Graffix, has 11 unanswered complaints in 2008 and 17 total complaints in the last 36 months.

While Weir is out on bond on the charges in Lincoln County, investigations are on-going in Gaston and Cleveland Counties.

The 12 business on the BBB's "Dirty Dozen" are all accused of taking customers' money but not delivering what was promised to the consumer.

At the top of the list is LA Weight Loss, which is now out of business.

The company has more than 130 unanswered complaints in 2008 in the Charlotte region alone. That's what the BBB based it's list on: unasnwered complaints.

In 2008, customers in the Charlotte region filed nearly 15,000 complaints against businesses.