It’s been 8 months since a Nashville family spent thousands of dollars to upgrade their kitchen with brand new stainless steel appliances. They bought from a locally owned and well respected appliance store. The fridge, the microwave the dishwasher all work great. But Sherri Hite says the oven has been nothing but trouble.
In July 2009, the elementary school secretary and her husband spend $3,700 dollars for all new appliances.
All the appliances work, except the oven.
“The oven came in,” Hite tells me from her kitchen.
“They put it in, it didn’t work, nothing comes on, no lights nothing. So they take it back to the shop. It takes a week, they come back, put it in, and nothing comes on. So they took it back, and had to order a board for it, actually two boards for it. They call and say new the boards are in, and they say we have rewired it, we will bring it back out and I said no! I said I don’t want boards and rewired ovens. I want a new oven out of the box working on the first day. I am not taking the one rigged by you all.”
Hite says months go by. Hite says her family makes numerous phone calls to D.T. McCalls and Sons where they have successfully bought many items in the past. Hite says her family also calls the manufacturer, Frigidaire, many times trying to correct the problem.
Finally Mrs. Hite calls That is Messed Up.
“I needed help,” she says throwing her hands up in the air “Nobody would call us back. We were getting the run around. A friend said call Andy Cordan.”
I immediately call the company and talk with a friendly salesman.
By the next morning I’m on the phone with company president, AJ McCall who heads up a local furniture, electronics, central heat and air and lawn and garden company that has been serving middle Tennessee for 100 years.
I spoke with Mr. Hite,” the friendly executive says from the News 2 studio.
“I was not aware of the service issues till yesterday, and we immediately contacted the manufacturer. And they are sending the new oven out, a 27 inch oven. If I knew sooner, I probably could have had it taken care of sooner and that is my fault. I’m in charge. We contacted a representative of the Electrolux Corporation and they are shipping us a new oven for the Hite’s and I apologize it has taken so long, but didn’t know about the problem till now.”
The businessman says he would like the Hites to continue patronizing his stores.
“If you have an unresolved issue, that is the worst thing a business can have. You can lose a customer without knowing you did. That is the worst scenario you can have in business.”
Mrs. Hite says she would consider shopping at McCalls again, but she is not sure her husband will.
This is messed up. My sister got a vrizon phone set up an account month to month. She called me today very upset because she was had money already in her account to pay for 450 minutes on the 11th of march. she checked her minutes she only had a few left she tried calling verizon to see why and kept getting put on hold so she gave me all of her information for me to call she does not have a land line. I called and was told by 2 people the second one being a supervisor that she had no text message service and one text was sent and it cost her 20 cents so when it was time for her monthly payment to come out she was 20 cent short so instead of letting her know that she didnt have 450 minutes to use they started charging her .45 cents a minute and what was for her montly bill went to cover minutes that she thought was paid for already. I dont care how you look at it it isnt fair to do someone like that. They could have told her that texting was extra and that they could block it if she wanted to but they didnt. This probably isnt something you woukld think is important but my sister doesnt have much money and needs a way to call someone if she needs help and I sure Verizon doesnt care that they have caused her to be very upset over 20 cents.
More trouble for a Nashville Realty Company that has recently been in the news:
In the wake of a Messed Up investigation, Metro Public Works, Codes, and the Metro Health Department are all taking action against Barrett Realty Company.
The latest complaints center around city owned trash cans at 3 Barrett Properties. These trash cans are full of construction grade material, some of which has spilled into a nearby culvert.
Metro officials say it is not the city’s job to pick up these trash containers at the expense of tax payers.
Mike Brandle has lived on Barrett Drive for 10 years. The house next to Brandle’s is a Barrett run property. Brandle told us this property is currently empty and being renovated.
On the day Messed Up arrived in this South Nashville neighborhood, it was trash day, and garbage cans lined the street. The 3 cans in front of the Barrett owned property at 412 Barrett Drive were over flowing with what appears to be roofing material.
Brandle said these garbage cans are out here all the time, and that these cans have been over flowing with construction material like this for weeks.
We drove around the neighborhood to look at other Barrett properties. We found trash cans filled with similar construction grade material, and, at one location, the cans were turned over and in the culvert.
We returned to the neighborhood hours later. The city garbage trucks had rolled through, and most of the cans had been removed from the street. The cans next to Mr. Brandle’s home were still at the curb, however the roofing material was gone, replaced with contractor grade trash bags.
We spoke with Billy Lynch who heads up the Metro Public Works Department. He said Barrett’s use of the city owned trash cans is a clear violation.
According to Lynch, city haulers should not pick up debris like this because it is against the following code:
10.20.290 Building debris–Responsibility for removal.
A. Building debris such as scrap lumber, plaster, roofing, concrete, brickbats, and sanding dust resulting from the construction, repair, remodeling or demolition of any building or appurtenances on private property will not be removed by the department of public works, and the owner must cause such materials and waste to be privately moved.
Lynch said the construction material exceeds the weight limitations for a 96 gallon container. He also said the haulers removed the Barrett cans because citizens complained about the way they looked. Lynch said the company is abusing the city service, and that his agency picked up all the city owned garbage receptacles at the 3 Barrett addresses we visited. Lynch also said Public Works mailed a letter of violation for each address to the realty company.
Metro Codes also confirmed it has an active investigation on the three Barrett properties. Metro Health has issued the company a notice to clean up the spilled trash at 408 Wimpole.
Once again, Messed Up went to Barrett Realty on Murfreesboro Road for a reaction. A man in the office told Messed Up to leave or the police would be called. We exited, unable to obtain a statement from the company regarding the recent developments.
As you may recall, Barrett Realty is the same company Messed Up investigated in a story earlier this month. At that time, new renters said Barrett Realty moved the previous tenant’s belongings to the front lawn for the city to pick up. After Messed Up got involved the city cited the agency, and Barrett Realty removed the furniture.
We have a new development for those of you who have been following our gun story about Leonard Embody.
The state suspended Embody’s handgun carry permit on March 10th, 2010. This suspension was a response to a complaint from the Belle Meade Police department alleging that Embody “poses a material likelihood of risk to the public.”
According to a letter sent from the Department of Saftey,
“Mr. Embody must surrender his permit to the Department of Safety within ten (10) days of the notice, dated March 10, 2010.
It is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one (1) year in jail for the permit holder to knowingly fail or refuse to surrender the permit to the department within the ten (10) day period. He has thirty (30) days from the date of the notice to either petition the General Sessions Court in his county of residence for judicial review or make a written request for a departmental hearing regarding the suspension of the handgun permit.”
Messed Up asked Embody how he felt about these actions. This is his response:
“I have done nothing wrong. It appears this is an attempt by the Belle Meade Police to retaliate against me. Open carry is legal in Tennessee see Attorney General Opinion 05-154. I fully complied with Belle Meade City ordinance 11-602 which requires I open carry an army or navy handgun openly in my hand. I fully complied with any applicable State Laws including TCA 39-17-1314(a) which allows cities with laws or regulations concerning firearms which were in effect before April 8, 1986 to be exempted from any State preemption. I’ve not been charged with a crime, and have not committed a crime, nor have I been arrested.”
Belle Meade Officer Thomas Sexton stated in a letter to the TNDPS that Embody is a risk to the public for the following reasons: Embody (1) carried a weapon in Belle Meade, (2) carried it in an unsafe manner, (3) carried it in an unsafe location, and (4) carried it in an unsafe condition.
Here is that letter:
When we asked Embody whether or not he plans to fight the suspension, he responded:
“Yes, I will fight this and will add it to the list of reasons for a federal lawsuit against the city of Belle Meade. The ommision in their letter to the department of safety of the Belle Meade ordinance and of any detail concerning the unsafe manner in which they say I carried the pistol are telling. The Department of Safety suspended my permit w/o due process on the word of a police officer who didn’t detail why my permit should be revoked.”
How many registered sex offenders can live in one single family house? That depends.
According to the Metro Codes Department, if more than three unrelated adults live together, that is a codes violation, unless they have another certification that specifically addresses the use of the residence.
A Messed Up tipster recently went to the TBI sex offender registry and looked up Rayon Drive in Old Hickory. The tipster reported being surprised that eight registered sex offenders are all listed as living at one address.
Messed Up investigated by going to the house. Someone was inside, but nobody would answer the door when we knocked.
There was a van in the driveway with a decal indicating that this was a group home run by the Aphesis House, an agency that works with men who have addictions or who have recently been released from prison.
Messed Up calls Assistant Codes Director Bill Penn. He said the house is not registered with the city for such use.
Brendon Green lives across the street from the residence. The 31-year-old takes care of his grandparents and a younger sister. He told Messed Up the men have a right to rehabilitate somewhere, but he also questions having eight convicted sex offenders all living together in one place in a neighborhood filled with children.
“It’s sick,” the roofer said while smoking a cigarette on his front lawn, “and the state shouldn’t put them here. I had a baby sister and I ran one guy out of my driveway with a shotgun one night. He’d come out of the middle window and slip out.”
Green said that was approximately a year ago. Recently, he said these men have caused no trouble in the neighborhood.
“It is not right,” he added. “Too many children are here. I had to tell two kids, standing there [in front of the house]. I didn’t know the kids, and I felt strange walking up to them, but I said you need to stay away from that house there. I explained to them they are bad men and have done bad things.”
District 11 Councilman Darren Jernigan represents Old Hickory.
Jernigan was very concerned by the news when Messed Up contacted him.
“I was taken back when you told me we had eight sex offenders under one roof. I did some research. That property it is zoned commercial. I checked the occupancy use, and it is a Single Family Home. I called codes and turned them in for having too many unrelated people under one roof. That is a violation.”
Jernigan said the city codes department has little power to enforce this issue and he is looking to Capitol Hill for a new law.
“If it is a half way house, they can get a permit, and by state law we cannot prevent that because it is commercial. It is troubling. I am a father of four, I know what it means, kids walking down the street, so if you have eight individuals, under one roof, it is a breeding ground, they all have something in common, they can all get together and plan and do whatever. I am not against half way houses, but I am against where they should be, they should be better regulated how they are run.”
Jernigan said he has contacted Representative Mike Turner to try and get a law passed, but he was told that the issue will have to wait till next session.
In the meantime, Messed Up called the home owner who rents the property to the Aphesis House.
The owner says he didn’t realize that he had to be certified by the city to run a group home.
James Settles runs the Aphesis House.
By phone he told Messed Up, “If I’m guilty of something, it is trying to help people transition from one part of their life to the next. These guys are addicted to drugs and alcohol. There is an 8 p.m. curfew. They have to work a job. They have quiet reflective time every night. I can guarantee, they don’t stand on the front porch or congregate. The program is disciplined. They have relapse prevention and life skills to help them be the best they can be. They are there 90-days to six months. The goal is to transition one phase to the next in their life.”
Settles told Messed Up he is licensed by the state to run the program and he has all ready begun the process to be certified with the city.
Bill Penn at the Codes Department confirmed this, telling Messed Up that the city has given Settles 30 days to comply. To do so means he will need to apply for a permit and then request the fire marshal inspect the property. If that passes then it is merely a formality to get the use and occupancy permit issued.
The wall at the Nashville National Cemetery is finally being repaired after it was destroyed in two separate auto wrecks in the summer of 2009.
Kim Mahone’s grandparents are buried in a grave site next to the wall. She felt that the garbage, debris, rock and crime tape left at the crash site were disrespectful to her grandparent’s memory.
Mahone called Messed Up and we called the cemetery’s director, Paul Martin, who agreed.
The problem was allocation of funds to do the job.
We stayed on the issue and as of Tuesday, March 9, 2010, it looks like there is resolution.
Martin said work crews started fixing the wall, and it should be done by the end of the month.
“Of course we care about what happens in the cemetery and how it affects the next of kin of our soldiers,” Martin told Messed Up by phone.
He added, “We know the entire wall needs to be replaced but we wanted to fix this section first.”
“We hope everyone is satisfied with what we are doing, and this will resolve the issue. We apologize for the length of time it has taken to get there, but now, we hope all are pleased.”
Martin told Messed Up the rest of the cemetery wall will be fixed in 2011.
In January the Tennant family of Culleoka, TN were faced with an unimaginable tragedy: the loss of their beloved wife and mother when a tree fell on their mobile home, crushing her in her sleep. The insurance company has refused to pay for the totaled home, stating that the freezing rain on the trees was not a “storm related” cause of it falling. The family is now without a mother, wife, and somewhere to call home! The citizens of Culleoka plead for your help to help this family and an explanation why an insurance company, when they are needed the most, are not holding up their end of the bargain! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Feel free to contact me as I was one of the firefighters there that night working to free the victim from the home.
Sincerely,
A Devoted Viewer
There are 2 huge missing sections of roads (sinkholes rather than potholes) on the Ellington North ramp leaving downtown via James Robertson Blvd. I travel this way frequently and my car has hit this section of missing road twice now.
My car alignment is all thrown out of whack, the car vibrates when i drive and it feels like the wheels shake under the weight of the car. Something has been damaged and the car didn’t have alignment problems before 2 weeks ago, when, 4 days apart, I hit this godforsaken car-destroyer.
My car drives like crap and I believe it is the city’s responsibility to pay it. These holes are much larger than potholes- it makes driving conditions quite dangerous.
We met Hal Ferry at the bottom of the Broadway off ramp. He was carrying a sign saying he was a finance grad and needed a job. Many people honked and gave him a thumbs up on that cold morning. Messed Up did an entire segment on him, and posted his resume on our site. We called him recently and asked for an update.
Here is what Hal wrote:
Hey Andy,
Thanks again for the story. I have taken the job at the security company, and the one at domino’s pizza, but I still don’t have anything in my field yet.
However, there are some better prospects now. Edward Jones contacted me about being a financial adviser, and I am currently starting the interview process with them. Additionally, the Sara Cannon Research Institute contacted me for a financial assistant and I interview with them on Monday.
The following is one of the numerous complaints we received from Brooks and Dunn fan club members:
Have you recieved anything on how Brooks and Dunn fan club members are not able to get tickets for the Nashville show. I was on Ticketmaster from 10 am (the time they went on sale) on 3/3/10 until 6 pm trying to get tickets.
I feel like it is a big crock of crap that being on that long trying to obtain ticket the proper way got me no where.
by
Lynch said the construction material exceeds the weight limitations for a 96 gallon container. He also said the haulers removed the Barrett cans because citizens complained about the way they looked. Lynch said the company is abusing the city service, and that his agency picked up all the city owned garbage receptacles at the 3 Barrett addresses we visited. Lynch also said Public Works mailed a letter of violation for each address to the realty company. 
Brendon Green lives across the street from the residence. The 31-year-old takes care of his grandparents and a younger sister. He told Messed Up the men have a right to rehabilitate somewhere, but he also questions having eight convicted sex offenders all living together in one place in a neighborhood filled with children.
Jernigan said the city codes department has little power to enforce this issue and he is looking to Capitol Hill for a new law.
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He added, “We know the entire wall needs to be replaced but we wanted to fix this section first.”
We met Hal Ferry at the bottom of the Broadway off ramp. He was carrying a sign saying he was a finance grad and needed a job. Many people honked and gave him a thumbs up on that cold morning. Messed Up did an entire segment on him, and posted his resume on our site. We called him recently and asked for an update. 
