Merchant Financial Investment Corporation

Based on my personal experience, I would highly discourage any buyer from considering building with Andy Bendetson. Many weeks after accepting our offer for a custom house to be built in Century Mill Estates, Andy informed us that many of the items in our requirements list were not included (even though these items were clearly documented in the offer that he accepted). It wasn't until we refused to sign the P&S and had walked away that Andy eventually capitulated. Prior to signing the P&S, we asked many times if the allowances were sufficient and were told by Andy that the buyers did not typically go over unless they wanted something “crazy”. However, once we signed the P&S and were given the list of vendors to work with, the vendors informed us that many did not offer selections within the allowances and that the base selections were so under=priced that there were no alternatives within the same price point. When we asked if we could use other vendors, we were informed that a $5K administration fee would apply (which was not in the P&S). We had signed the P&S 6 months before the Closing date with reassurances from Andy that the timeline was do-able and with a contractual guarantee that an extension would not exceed 30 days. However, 6 weeks before the final extension date, Andy stopped all construction on the house. When confronted after 2 weeks with no progress, we were reassured that the mismanagement would be addressed and additional vendors would be brought in to resolve the backlog. 4 weeks later, no further work had been completed. We have now ended the relationship and have demanded our money back, per our contractual terms. However, Andy is refusing to respond to all correspondence from our lawyer and has not reimbursed us for any of our money. Note: Once the P&S was signed, Andy refused to respond to any communications; the only way to get his attention was to go on site and find him. Even then, we found him to be very rude and dismissive. Fred Coon, the foreman, was very good to work with and tended to be responsive, but it was clear that he took his direction from Andy. Overall, we found Andy to be extremely deceitful and dishonest.