Customers claim Lowcountry contractor left them out over $100,000

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A construction business that worked on projects throughout the Lowcountry is facing multiple lawsuits after customers claim the work was never completed or was completed incorrectly.

Ninja Renovation, owned by Scott and Megan Eller, BJ Robert Woods, and Kasey Dennis, began operating in 2022. After a 20-year friendship, Scott and Woods decided to team up, with Scott operating exterior jobs after owning Ninja Exteriors, and Woods operating interior projects.

Customers from Goose Creek, Summerville, Charleston, and Moncks Corner signed contracts with Ninja Renovation throughout 2022. Once customers signed their contracts, they claim the work took much longer than expected, work was never completed, or work was done incorrectly.

Depending on the project size, deposits ranged from $3,000 to $20,000. Kayla and Brian Greene first signed with Ninja Exteriors, meeting Scott, on March 1, 2022, to replace flooring on their bottom porch.

The Greene’s signed another contract with Ninja Renovation Group on May 10, issuing a check for $20,538.11, with Scott claiming the project would take 10 business days, according to Kayla. Crews visited the Greene house for months with city inspections failing, delays and improper installation.

“He said he could get it done; he didn’t get it done. He blamed his crew, he blamed supply issues, COVID, all of it.” Kayla says. “We understood, you know, people get sick and stuff, but we couldn’t leave our house for a year. We couldn’t use our front porch for a year; all of this was exposed for the longest time.”

After months of replacing materials that were installed incorrectly, for example using indoor pine wood on an outdoor project, Kayla says the project is still not completed.

“He’s been on this project so long that he has seen my kids born and walk basically. The amount of stress we’ve only got, we only went away from the house once this past year,” Kayla says.

A few customers claim that they only ever dealt with Scott when signing contract agreements and dealing with deposits.

Following her experience, Kayla claims she found other customers on Facebook community pages who had also used Ninja Renovation. Now, with almost a dozen customers accounted for that are out over $100,000, they are asking for the company to take accountability.

“To hear how many people were impacted, it’s so devastating because it’s thousands and thousands of dollars. Then not only that, the amount of time it took for us to take away from work and to accommodate and be here for this, was insane,” Kayla says.

Ninja Renovation is not a credited and has an F rating on the Better Business Bureau. The business still has their license, according to the South Carolina Secretary of State. Woods says that he no longer has any part in the business.

Working for a new business, Level Up Home Improvement, Scott met with Kim Roper for a project on the family’s garage. Signing the contract on March 1, 2023, Scott said the project was supposed to take a week and Roper handed him a check for $3,500.

After trying to reach Scott for the last two months, the project is still not completed.

“He’s very dishonest, and I’m not going to sit here and just keep waiting and play in this waiting game,” Roper says.

She has now turned to other help to complete the project while remaining out thousands of dollars.

“I don’t know if he will have enough money to pay everybody back,” Roper says. “And if you go sit in jail, where are you gonna get the money from?”

Currently, there are three lawsuits in Charleston County against Ninja Renovation, and three more in Berkeley County for breach of contract and bad faith. Another lawsuit, against Level Up and Scott, was filed by Goodrich Construction Management.

Scott and Woods both agreed to phone interviews with Live 5 News, placing blame on one another.

Woods claims the business relationship was terminated on Aug. 7, with all four business owners having equal ownership.

“All the people that he’s [Scott] stolen money from need to get their money back,” Woods says.

Scott claims that he only owned 2% in the business and had no decision-making power. He adds that he did not dissolve the business because Woods and Kasey did not approve.

“I want them to have results,” Scott says. “With that being said, it’s kind of hard when multiple individuals are involved, and the approval is not being granted by side.”

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