RIDGEFIELD, Wash. (KOIN) - A 9-acre spread in Ridgefield is the sort of horse property some people dream of for years.

Matt Concannon purchased the land early last fall.

He and his wife wanted to make some modifications to the giant barn, so they asked a barn contractor Wapiti Pacific, which they originally hired for a different job, if they could work on their new spot instead.

“Would we be able to take our entire deposit and apply it to a remodel instead? And he said ‘Yes,’" says Concannon.

Months later, the husband and father says that was a huge mistake.

“He was here for maybe a couple hours for two or three days, but he wasn't really getting much done," says Concannon.

According to a report filed with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the job essentially proved too overwhelming for Wapiti, so the parties agreed to go their own way. Concannon states in the report that there was also an agreement to, "…refund us the rest of our money."

That was in November.

“Not a dime, not a dime. Never seen it,” said Concannon.

The amount due was nearly $15,000, and in complaints filed with both the Washington equivalent of a contractor’s board, and the Washington Attorney General, more details of what transpired are outlined.

The operator of Wapiti, Matt Brindell, did eventually respond to the AG complaint in March where he apologized and stated there should be a “…refund of $14.914.74.”

It never happened.

"Praise God that we didn't give him more money or get further down the road with it. I feel blessed we only lost 15k, it could've been way worse," says Concannon.

If the names Wapiti or Brindell sound familiar, it’s because KOIN 6 News first exposed issues with the company back in May.

A laundry list of high-dollar complaints to contractor boards were piling up in both Oregon and Washington, and even a dedicated Facebook group for one-time, angry customers surfaced online.

Scott Becker joined that group and quickly realized dozens of others were facing similar problems.

"We put a larger deposit payment down just to secure the prices of lumber and materials cost," he told KOIN 6 News.

Becker says he put down more than $50,000 more than a year ago for a pole barn on his Estacada property, only to have nothing ever built.

Earlier this year, he got the same mass email many customers did.

"He's closing down and that's when it all kind of went downhill," said Becker.

Becker and others in Oregon filed complaints with the Oregon Construction Contractor’s Board.

Many tell KOIN 6 News Brindell simply never showed up for the mandatory mediation hearings.

Leslie Culpepper, a spokesperson for the board, couldn’t discuss specifics about Wapiti but said they take complaints seriously.

"There are 42,000 contractor businesses in Oregon, and many different things happening every day," she said. “Where it's appropriate, fines or suspensions or revocations can occur."

Online records now show Wapiti’s license is revoked in Oregon, and suspended in Washington.

Wapiti’s website remains offline, and Brindell didn’t respond to recent requests for comment.

In May, he did say in an email to KOIN 6 News "…we were going to work through closing things out and figure out refunds and sending those when appropriate."

Concannon isn’t holding his breath all these months later.

"Yah, I feel taken but I feel really bad for some of the people who really got taken. We're going to be just fine, but I know some of the people in the horse community don't make a ton of money," he said.

Becker says he plans to take Brindell to small claims court to try and recover even a portion of the $50,000-plus he lost.