HAS GENERAL STEEL RIPPED YOU OFF TOO?

In good faith we sent our deposit for a steel building we were purchasing. We were promised many things which have not happened.

They have over $35,000.00 of our money and we have no building as they breached the contract. We were promised they would furnish us with reputable contractors to errect our new building. The contractors they referred us to were unlicensed…with a bad history.

They keep hounding us to sign a release for the building and I refuse. Our $57,000.000 building is now up to $115,000.00. It took them 3 1/2 months to even get us our blueprints. During that time they were still trying to get us to sign a release on the building.

We could not even get approved by the city without blueprints.

I also found out they are not manufacturers but brokers. I would have never dealt with them had I known this. They lie, lie, and lie.

There is so much more but I would have to write a book. I can only hope we get our deposit back.

We have been waiting to get a new building for over 8 years and now they have our money and we have nothing. I do not want to do business with people that are dishonest.

Cathleen
Rialto, California
U.S.A.

To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Larry , Pastor of a small church in Mississippi. I signed an arbitration agreement with Anthem Steel asking them to rectify what has become a very difficult and unfair situation.

I wanted to believe that Anthem Steel did not typically treat its customers the way they have treated me but unfortunately it has.

Spirit Filled Life Christian Church gave Anthem Steel a $ 28,539.00 deposit on the 70′-100′ metal building. .The initial cost of the building was $47,621.00 and the price was only good for that day and I had to fax a copy of a $12,000.00 dollars deposit check as soon as possible to obtain this building.

That was ok, so I signed the Purchase order faxed to me by Anthem Steel. I am not sure if the Arbitration was sent along with the initial purchase order or not however, I signed the Arbitration agreement.

Later Anthem sent me forms to specify details such as doors, window, insulation, trim etc. with additions in what amounted to enormous additional cost. The church paid an additional $16,539.00 on an additional $55,000.00 accessories that cost more than the building itself.

I was told by a representative that Anthem wouldn’t stand behind the warranty unless the additional material was purchased from Anthem. I was not aware until later the additional purchase order would assist the first purchase order. I later realized that I had been mis-lead. This was not ok.

I noticed that Anthem prices on the addition such as, window, insulation, trim etc, were about 5 times retail. I have since asked that Anthem design the building be designed to accommodate our church needs. We were willing to purchase a larger building from Anthem hoping they would allow our deposit to be used on a larger modified building and cancel the addition such as, window, insulation, trim etc.

But, Anthem continued to inflate their prices to such a degree that would not allow us to purchase or make modifications to our order. Realizing that I had sign arbitration and contract I was felt helpless to do anything but try to work with Anthem but they have made it impossible. Our church needs help.

We have made several attempts to contact Anthem with little success. This has been an on going process since 8-28-2006 with no resolution. It appears Anthem Steel is notoriously dishonest company and I feel most betrayed. It is a shame and disgrace for a company to rob the Church.

Larry
Mississippi, Mississippi
U.S.A.

Jeff Knight of General Steel has published another Letter From The President where he asserts that the complaints readily found online made by his customers and re-published by websites such as www.ripoffreport.com , www.steelbuildingcomplaints.com , www.consumeraffairs.com , and more – are fabricated by “desperate competitors.”

Come on, Mr. Knight. Today’s consumers are smarter than that. What’s next? Do you expect us to believe that the ongoing investigation by the California Attorney General’s office doesn’t exist either? How about the multi-million dollar Colorado Attorney General’s judgment in favor of consumers and in opposition of General Steel’s business practices? Did “desperate competitors” dream up that $4.5 million dollar penalty the state made you pay because the Attorney General determined that you were only delivering roughly 50% of the buildings consumers paid you for, too?

We are smarter than that. Consumers are keen to your ways and with so many options in the marketplace today, why risk our hard earned money to a company that continues to sell with false pressure tactics and nonsense “steel allocation” stories.

General Steel is a broker. Plain and simple. A broker with a radio advertising campaign. General Steel claims to be the “first”. General Steel expects consumers to believe that steel buildings were invented in 1995 by Jeffrey Wayne Knight. Really?

No factory. No “steel allocation”. No plant manager. No engineers.

Just stories.

We hear from General Steel employees that they too are growing tired of the lies. Daily sales meetings have been referred to as ‘daily indoctrination.’ They say the passionate morning meetings about every other company in the industry being evil have come to be routine and tired. General Steel’s management team feeds these lies to their employees in an effort to perpetuate these scare tactics on the telephone so that you as a consumer will fear selecting anyone other than General Steel.

If General Steel is the only company that follows through on it’s promises and delivers what it sells, why do they only have stock steel building photos on their websites?

General Steel claims to have won ‘Best In The Industry’ for five years straight. From who? We challenge General Steel to specify who awarded a company found guilty of deceptive practices ‘Best In The Industry’ for five years running. They won’t specify who awarded them Best In The Industry because it’s another lie meant to mislead consumers.

General Steel claims to have delivered a whopping 33,000 steel buildings. That sure is a lot, right? So where are the photos? Where are the thousands of satisfied customers? Why is it impossible for a General Steel salesman to refer a potential customer to a nearby General Steel building when General Steel apparently has over 33,000 delivered buildings across the country? With that many buildings, that’s roughly 600-700 per state!

Surely, it would be pretty easy to locate a General Steel building nearby for practically anyone, anywhere in the country to take a look at, right? Wrong. Staff say they are trained to dismiss the request.

Where ARE all these delivered buildings, Mr. Knight? We’ve seen the photo on your company’s home page of your personal riding arena located in Colorado. It’s impressive. But do you expect potential customers or even your own employees to believe your larger than life claims when you’ve already been found guilty of deceptive practices once?

So we continue to wonder…where are these 33,000 buildings you claim to have delivered? Or will we see your websites modified shortly to say “selected for 33,000 buildings” meaning, “we’ve taken deposits from 33,000 customers, but we haven’t actually DELIVERED 33,000 buildings.”

We’ll wait and see.

Meanwhile, if you’re a consumer considering General Steel…consider the heartbreaking stories all over the internet and the dozens and dozens of lawsuits involving transactions with General Steel.

General Steel complaints, www.ripoffreport.com and www.consumeraffairs.com are a couple places to start. Make sure you educate yourself before making what could be the biggest purchase of your life.

General Steel has used deceptive practices and vague contracts to scam us out of $112,000. It has been 3 yrs. since our first dealings with them and we have no building and they refuse to give us our money. I have a file full of faxed lies from their company. Apparently they don’t use e-mail as this is much easier evidence than phone calls and faxes. I am working with the Colorado AG’s office along with the Louisiana AG’s office in hopes of eventually getting our money back. Our story is the same as the others, quoted one price then charged a ridiculous amount for doors and windows, etc.

Don’t deal with General Steel!!

Todd
Minden, Louisiana
U.S.A.

Recently, another General Steel employee came forward with information she overheard at work. Specifically, conversations between General Steel’s attorneys. She detailed multiple conversations she overheard between General Steel’s attorneys and paralegals where they were BRAGGING OF HAVING JUDICIAL ARBITER GROUP “UNDER CONTROL” AND “IN THE BAG”. This information is serious cause for concern and makes us think both Judicial Arbiter Group & General Steel Corporation need to be looked into further to determine whether an inappropriate business relationship between JAG [Judicial Arbiter Group of Denver] & General Steel exists…especially considering the number of seemingly lopsided judgements in General Steel’s favor in the past – despite customers having been misled, outright lied to, building prices being increased on customers after a contract had been signed, etc

Judicial Arbiter Group of Denver Colorado, www.jaginc.com , has been working in concert with General Steel Corporation with respect to ALL of General Steel Corporation’s arbitration proceedings with dissatisfied customers.

Here’s the background: In General Steel’s contract terms and conditions there is a specific arbitration provision prohibiting any general steel building purchaser who has been scammed from bringing the issue to a public court so that it can be a matter of public record.

INSTEAD, you are required to arbitrate the matter with JUDICIAL ARBITER GROUP. Because General Steel is a frequent CUSTOMER of Judicial Arbiter Group in Denver Colorado, [JAG] Judicial Arbiter Group has a vested financial interest in protecting General Steel from windfall judgements so that they continue to be the arbiter of choice named specifically in General Steel’s contract. Arbitrations are expensive but General Steel requires you as the customer to be the one to foot the bill if you have a problem with them deciding to not deliver your building. Arbitrations cost upwards of $15,000 just to schedule! Public Court venues are typically a much more affordable place to sort out contractual disagreements but General Steel knows this and selects the arbiter that treats them the best. Apparently, Judicial Arbiter Group thinks this is something that will go unnoticed by news venues, city and state officials, and the droves of wronged General Steel customers. Well, it won’t.

In many instances, requested document discovery by the wronged customers was PURPOSEFULLY DENIED BY THE FORMER TRIAL AND APPELLATE JUDGES who work for JAG in an effort to protect General Steel. Several high profile cases have recently been stonewalled from appropriate discovery, reasonable monetary awards, and justice in general. Many customers who were scammed and had to spend tens of thousands of dollars pursuing their deposits back…were forced into a JAG Judicial Arbiter Group arbitrated hearing only to be awarded a SMALL FRACTION of their damages for the heartache and suffering brought on by General Steel Corporation & Jeffrey Knight. Beware.

You can find many customers cases and stories in THE DIRT section of this website. Most were required to go to a Judicial Arbiter Group arbitration, only to be denied reasonable requests for discovery. Is the risk worth it?

In short, beware. Jeffrey Knight & General Steel have been taking people’s deposits and then increasing the price of people’s buildings at will for years upon years. It seems as though practice makes perfect.

Not only has General Steel left a lot of consumers beaten and bloodied with nothing to show for their money but Jeffrey Wayne Knight, Owner of General Steel Buildings, thinks he can do whatever he wants…including assaulting a child.

Jeffrey Wayne Knight, the owner of General Steel Corporation was arrested and charged with third degree assault after police said he attacked a child during a dispute at a 24 hour fitness.

Jeffrey Wayne Knight, 55, of Littleton Colorado, was charged with third-degree assault after Thursday evening’s altercation with a minor. Because this victim is underage, we will protect his identity and not release his name.

According to an interview of 24 hour fitness manager John Campbell and documents filed in Jefferson County, Colorado, the minor was at the gym practicing with his basketball team when Jeffrey Wayne Knight “swung…striking him in the face.” The minor said it hurt and knocked him to the ground. When he was on the ground, Jeffrey Wayne Knight got on top of him and was holding him down by his shirt asking him if he was going to do anything.

When Jeffrey Wayne Knight let go of him, the minor got up and walked out. As he was walking out, Jeffrey Wayne Knight was yelling at him “what you just going to walk away?” When the young child walked away he noticed his jaw was in pain and his mouth was bleeding, police said. Police also noticed the victim had a loose tooth from the assault.

Multiple witnesses told police Jeffrey Wayne Knight “grabbed the kid and threw him to the ground” and that the minor was not acting aggressively toward Jeffrey Wayne Knight during the assault.

On December 14th, Officer Carmosino was issued a subpoena for a trial jury, reference a third degree assault involving Jeff Knight, DOB 10-13-57. However, the trial was continued to February, according to the documents.

It is interesting to note that when Jeffrey Wayne Knight, owner of General Steel, was arrested and charged with third degree assault, he misled police officers by stating that he was a “manager” at Helm Lending Group…most likely to avoid the negative press.

Lakewood-based General Steel Corp. will pay $4.5 million to settle a consumer-protection case following three years of litigation, the Colorado attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

General Steel is a nationwide provider of large, metal buildings and advertises on radio programs such as the Paul Harvey and Rush Limbaugh shows. The company has 30 days to make the payment.

In 2004, a Jefferson County judge found that the company practiced deceptive sales and marketing tactics by falsely implying that it had an inventory of buildings at factory-direct or clearance prices.

Since then, the court required both sides to identify customers nationwide entitled to restitution.

Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement that the settlement would “provide some relief for customers” that lost money as a result of down payments they placed on buildings.

“In order for the free market to function properly, advertisers must be held accountable for the accuracy of their pitches,” Suthers said.

A General Steel statement described the settlement as not an “admission of a wrongdoing.”

“Although General Steel vehemently disagreed with the court’s only findings that were based on an incredibly small sampling of only a handful of customers early in the case, after 3 years of protracted litigation and the extreme costs associated … it was in the company’s best interests to resolve this matter,” wrote the company’s attorney, Richard Taub.

Restitution totaling $4 million will be paid to 1,440 consumers involved in certain transactions with General Steel since 2000.

The attorneys general offices in Colorado and California will get $200,000 each. The remaining $100,000 will pay a $50,000 civil penalty and cover costs associated with repaying people.

Read more: The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5429441#ixzz1NQ9avp8G

We’ve been hoping that General Steel would stop lying on the telephone to customers in an effort to steal their deposit money but that hasn’t been the case. So we’re back and we aren’t going anywhere until they knock it off.

Recently, we noticed something interesting.

On the front of General Steel’s website they brag about having been awarded “best in the industry” every year since 2007. Or at least that is what they would like you to infer from the image on their home page.

The problem here is – it’s a blatant lie and they are clearly in violation Judge Jackson’s order. In his ruling, Chief Judge Jackson found that General Steel engaged in numerous false and deceptive sales practices including making misrepresentations to consumers in violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

LIE: “General Steel Corporation has been named “best in the industry” on numerous occasions”

General Steel has NOT been awarded best in the industry by anyone with any sort of authority in the industry. In fact, most figures of authority in the industry recognize General Steel for what they are. Brokers. Worse yet, scammers.

These declarations of awards are blatantly deceptive and designed to put you at ease before you write a check to Jeff Knight.

Why don’t they legitimize their claim on the website? Because they can’t. The awards simply don’t exist.

Beware, customers. Our investigations and evidence are helping to shut down General Steel and Jeff Knight. Don’t risk your hard earned money.

We have paid them $17,000.00 about four years ago and to this very day, we still do not have our materials for our building. We have to pay the bank every month for something that we do not have.

Cumberland of Crossville, TN

“stay away from this company! I received an estimate for a metal building, and was badgered into using their Design Services Group who required a $6000 payment in full BEFORE they would do anything on the estimate. I received nothing for my money, nor would they return it. The estimate I received on the metal building was 3 times more expensive than a Chief or Ceco building.”

-Sally Smith
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Oddly, General Steel’s prices shouldn’t be three times a Chief or Ceco building. We challenge General Steel to point out ANY significant differences between their building and a Ceco building. Ceco is a division of NCI, a metal building manufacturer MUCH MUCH larger than General Steel, a broker.