Writing is on wall for fence contractor - you're in the Hall of Shame

(WJBK) - Spring is in the air - time for Jason Valuet to make some money.

"Right now it's the beginning of the season."

Fencing season - and Jason is good at selling fences.

"He came out right away," said Kathleen, a victim. "Very knowledgeable. very friendly."

"He seemed like a very nice guy," said Renee, a victim. 

Yep. Jason seems like a nice guy while he's selling you a fence.

"I really got a good vibe from the guy," said Scott, a victim.

But when he takes off with your money ...

"He was obviously a pretty good con man," said Scott.

That's a different story.

Rob Wolchek: "They say they gave you $5,000 and then you just bailed on them. And you kind of got a history of doing that don't you?"

"No I do not," Valuet said.

That's sure not what these people say.

"He never ever showed up and we never heard from him again no matter what we did," Kathleen said.

Jason Valuet's fencing business is about to hit the wall.

"If you have me do a fence for you and we do part of the job you're not getting a complete refund back," Valuet said.

Wolchek: "You didn't give her any money back!"

Because this fleeing felon fence freak has been found.

Wolchek: "What do you think of this guy?"

"I think he's a scumbag," said Rene.

Colleen and Ray have been looking for Jason Valuet since last fall. That's when Jason was supposed to install a vinyl fence.

Wolchek: "So you've given him $5,000 and all you have is some posts in the ground?"

"Not even all the posts in the ground," Colleen said.

Jason was recommended to them from Colleen's son Mike. Supposedly they were friends.

"Jason came out and he was all full of energy and excited and he's like, well you're Mikey's mom, I'm going to give you this awesome deal," Colleen said. 

Wolchek: "You thought you were getting a discount. a family friends discount."

"Exactly. Well, we got a five finger discount," Colleen said.

Jason took the first payment of $2,420 and put in the posts. Then asked for a second payment of $2,420 to put up the fencing. Once he got that check, Jason and his crew disappeared.

"They immediately just took it to our bank, cashed it right away and then they had the money and then they ran," Colleen said.

Rene hired Jason's company "Any Fence" to repair a sea wall. Rene paid $2,300 using a credit card. Jason came out and tore down the old sea wall behind Rene's Rochester house but said the water was just too cold to finish the job.

"A whole season of just having bricks sitting on the patio, no paver wall, dirt falling in the water," Rene said.

Rene's credit card company eventually refunded her money. He eventually refunded her the money. She says Jason was really mad.

"He wasn't very happy with me. He called me a b----," Rene said.
 
"He fooled me," Scott said.

Scott and Kathleen paid Jason a $2,450 down payment for a fence.

"He finally showed up. took out the wood for the flower boxes, threw all the bushes in the middle of the yard, piled them up," Kathleen said. "(He) said I'll see you tomorrow. He took the wood and we never saw him again."

Kathleen and Scott are retired and on a fixed income. But Jason didn't care. He wouldn't even pick up the phone - it went straight to voice mail.

"I'm handicapped and my husband is a vet and he said come on, come and complete the job," she said.

But Jason never did.

"Right now I can have it done within a week," Jason said. "Everything is first come, first serve. The phone has been ringing off the hook like crazy."
 
While Jason does make himself scarce once he gets your money, he has no problem coming out to do his sales pitch.

"You get a custom fit every time," he said. "There's nothing that's not going to fit. Any questions?"

Yeah, I've got a question for you.

Wolchek: "Hi Jason. how you doing?"

In fact, I've got a bunch of questions for you.

Wolchek: "Are you doing a fence job here?"

Jason Valuet: '"Possibly."

Wolchek: "Have you finished the other jobs you were supposed to do last year?"

Jason Valuet: "What other jobs?"

Wolchek: "Colleen's job? Colleen and Ray over there in Warren?"

Jason Valuet: "Colleen and Ray over in Warren? I know Ray and I know Colleen, yes."

Wolchek: "They say they gave you $5,000 bucks, you came in, put in some posts and then you never finished the job."

Jason Valuet: "We never finished the job because we got threatening calls from them."

Remember, Jason was friends with Colleen's family. Now, he claims he's scared of them.

Jason Valuet: "He told me he's the member of a bike club and watch my back and so on and so forth."

Wolchek: "So why didn't you just give them their money back then?"

Jason Valuet: "They signed the paper that was sent to them and then they get a check sent to them."

Colleen and Ray say they never threatened him or received anything to sign from Jason to get their money back -- if they did, they'd sign it.

Now I bring up Rene.

Jason Valuet: "Well, that one was actually a retaining wall that was in the water, she signed on, I don't exactly have the date. I don't have the paperwork with me."

Wolchek: "Well I do."

Jason Valuet: "Okay. The date that it was signed, was early in the year and the water was extremely cold and we needed to get in the water to do this."

Wolchek: "It's just like the Colleen and Ray situation. You started the job, you went out there -  I even have pictures of Rene's stuff - you piled up all the bricks."

Jason Valuet: "We got in the water and we brought all those out of the water."

Wolchek: "And then you never came back."

Jason Valuet: "The water was extremely cold."

Jason's scared of Ray and Colleen and he doesn't like cold water. I can only imagine what he's going to say about the disabled lady and her retired veteran husband.

Jason Valuet: "I talked to Scott and Kathleen Metcalf of Shelby Township. They say they gave you a check for $3,450, you worked one day and left and never came back."

Jason Valuet: "I don't. To be honest I don't have that one right in front of me."

Wolchek: "You don't even remember it?"

Jason Valuet: "I've been in business 18 years."

That's right. He doesn't even remember them. Let's see if he remembers some of his criminal convictions because he's got a bunch of them.

Wolchek: "You just got off probation for larceny. what was that all about?"

Jason Valuet: "What was that all about? That was a, well, you should be able to do a look up on that."

Wolchek: "Well, it's larceny. Who'd you steal money from?"

Jason Valuet: "I didn't steal money from nobody."

Wolchek: "Well then why'd you plead guilty to larceny? No contest to larceny? Home invasion second degree?"

Valuet "Wow! 1995,"

Wolchek: "'94."

Jason Valuet: "Yeah, '94 I was a 17-year-old punk."

Wolchek: "Assault and battery, 2003."

Jason Valuet: "My brother Kevin, city of Ferndale."

Wolchek: "You got in a fight with your brother?"

Jason Valuet: "I got in a fight with my brother."

The fence guy has an interesting de-fence. How's he going to down play this next conviction?

 "1996. Possession of a Molotov cocktail, 83 days in Oakland County Jail."

Jason Valuet: "Aluminum foil and Drano. Bill Nye the science guy taught me that."

Yeah, it's not Jason's fault. It's the guy on the Disney Channel's fault. In fact, everything is someone else's fault to Jason, even the people who paid him for a fence but instead got the shaft.

"You can't keep every customer happy," Jason said.

Hey fence dude, the writing is on the wall, you're in the Hhhhhaaaaallll of Shammmmmme!