The Ohio Attorney General's office is suing a Trumbull County-based shed builder, alleging unfair and deceptive business practices that violate Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against Timber Creek Structures, operated by Timothy Dotson of Girard.

The civil lawsuit accuses the company of taking money from customers for sheds and then not delivering them for more than 8 weeks.

The company also failed to respond to customer calls or inquiries about the status of their orders, according to the suit.

The Attorney General’s complaint says customers were given inaccurate delivery dates to customers.  Some customers took time off from work to receive sheds that didn’t arrive as scheduled.

Timber Creek is also accused of refusing to provide timely refunds when customers requested them due to non-delivery, and then charging excessive restocking fees and including unfair liquidated damages clauses in contracts.

There's an empty space of gravel that Adam DeLong of Youngstown prepped in his yard after DeLong said he paid Timber Creek Structures $7,000 for two new sheds.

That was back in September of 2023. As of October 2024, DeLong said he has gotten no sheds and is out $7,000.

"I just want what I paid for," he said, "I gave him money that I work hard for."

DeLong said he was initially told his shed would come in three to 10 weeks. 

He said he hopes others can learn from his experience. 

"Do a little bit more research than what I did. Don't just see a Facebook special and go there and talk to them. Look at the Better Business Bureau. Look at the Attorney General's website," he said, "If I would have done that, I would have never done business with these people, but you see something, and if it's too good of a deal, it probably is."

After being contacted by the Attorney General’s office in February 2024, Timber Creek agreed to deliver on time and stop charging "excessive and illegal" restocking fees. Since then, there have been 100 new complaints filed against Timber Creek, according to the complaint.

When WFMJ.COM published a story at the time of that agreement, Timber Creek issued a statement citing skyrocketing costs and difficulties in finding reliable employees.

The lawsuit asks the court to find the company in violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, order a stop to the violations, and appoint someone to take control of Timber Creek Structures' assets and stop them from doing business until they resolve the issues and pay penalties.

The suit seeks civil penalties of $25,000 for each violation and reimbursement for all consumers who were harmed by Timber Creek Structures' actions.

According to the Better Business Bureau’s website, Timber Creek Structures has an “F” rating, with 241 complaints over the past three years.

The BBB also posted the following alert:

BBB files indicate that this business has a pattern of complaints. Consumers that had placed their orders and paid in full either did not receive their order at all or they did not receive it in a timely manner. BBB submitted a written request on February 21, 2024, to the company encouraging them to address the pattern of complaints. We are awaiting the business’ response. As of today, April 3, 2024, BBB has had no response.

As of Thursday, Timber Creek has not filed an answer to the Attorney General’s complaint.

Tim Dotson told 21 News Thursday has no comment at this time.