BBB says buyer beware at Springfield woodworking company

The warning is out against a local furniture company. The Better Business Bureau says "buyer beware" at Springfield-based Tree of Life Woodworking. It is formerly known as Viles Woodworking. The BBB gave it an "F" rating on Tuesday.

You can find dozens of complaints online.

From our research, it seems like things started out well-- a business owner with good intentions and a good product. But once orders started to get back-logged, the owner continued taking more orders and more money.

Many people are out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, with no way to re-coop their losses.

"We ordered a farmhouse table, a bench and two chairs," explained customer Jessica Wright. She never got them. Even though Wright put down $420.00 in cash.

"Basically, he (owner Tyler Viles) gave me a sap story about how he had gotten divorced, or was in the process of divorce, discussed that he was going through bankruptcy and he basically just tried to make me pity him."

Now, Wright says, Tree of Life Woodworking won't respond to her messages, and Viles' business phone number is disconnected.

Perhaps one clue something was wrong, Viles changed his business name a couple times... it has been both Tree of Life, and Viles Woodworking.

We stopped by his home workshop on Tuesday, but he was not there.

"I started doing some research on him and the company that he had previously, the Viles Woodworking name, and then I found a whole bunch of people who had commented saying that they had been ripped off, and that they never got their table and had to go through Pay Pal to get their money back," Wright said. Tyler asked her to pay in cash, and she did.

Buyer beware. Also, make sure you do your homework before you give any company your money.