BETHEL ACRES, OK. – Earlier this year our In Your Corner hotline started ringing off the hook with complaints against Tonia Allen.

Last year, Allen started doing relief work in Bethel Acres, an area devastated by a massive tornado.

Dozens of families say Allen and her charity, God’s Hand Ups, promised to help them rebuild their homes.

Randy Nance says he was suspicious of Allen from the start.

He says, “She told everybody she was going to build them a new house [and] that God had spoken to her from Texas.”

The Champion family and others signed a building contract with Allen.

They paid her $5000 of their FEMA money up front and they got almost nothing.

“She said it would already be spent on supplies, so we wouldn’t be able to get it back,” Clarence Champion says. “We go two vanities out of it.”

Some families gave Allen even more, up to $15,000.

We want to know where the money is.

Earlier this year we confronted Allen.

“Our contracts are clear. They’re concise,” she said. “We are building houses. They’re being built slow because we’re building on volunteers.”

She refused to tell us how many contracts she has with tornado victims.

Here’s where it gets really sketchy.

Allen told us she was no longer running God’s Hand Ups.

She said she was the new regional director for America’s Disaster Relief, an out of state charity doing disaster relief work in our state.

“We are a legal 501c3. We’ve helped people with electric bills. We’ve bought food for people,” Allen says. “As long as we’re doing that and keeping accountability of every penny spent, we’re not breaking the law.

Now there are new allegations being raised by that second charity, America’s Disaster Relief and it’s CEO, Jan France.

France tells the In Your Corner team several of the organization’s bank accounts are overdrawn and $70,000 is missing.

Allen says, “If I was taking money and running like the rumor is, we wouldn’t still be building houses.” After our investigation started the charity fired Allen as its regional director and there’s more.

We did some checking and Allen goes by a number of aliases.

She has criminal convictions in east Texas for DUI, theft, and writing hot checks.

Allen says, “I don’t think you need to be digging in my personal business.”

One day she was in Texas, the next entering into contracts with tornado victims in Oklahoma.

To this day Tonia Allen stands behind her word and her work.

She says she helped build two homes with charitable donations.

When we went looking for satisfied customers we found more victims, like Gaylord Sanders.

He’s still living in a donated trailer that was given to him by another organization.

He says, “I worked all my life and don’t have anything to speak of.”

Just like the Champion family, this veteran says he thought his down payment would go towards supplies to build his new home.

“If you want to be friends with me, bring my money back, Tonia.”

Allen says she was transparent with all the families and that Sanders attended every meeting and was made aware of the stipulations of the contract.

Allen refuses to give any refunds.

She’s under investigation in Pottawatomie County, but hasn’t been formally charged with any crimes related to these new allegations.

She had until last Friday to hand over receipts and contracts.

We know she missed that deadline.

We’ll keep you posted on the case.

OKLA. CITY – Our In Your Corner team has a warning about an IRS phone scam targeting Oklahomans.

The mystery caller left a series of threatening messages on Fredda Daniels’ voicemail.

He says, “The reason of my call is to let you know regarding the lawsuit that has been filed against you.”

Fredda was scared enough to notify the IRS and Kitt Letcher with the Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma.

“You have a person who calls you and says, ‘I’m with the IRS. We’re going to sue you. We’re going to put you in jail,’” Letcher said. “If it’s somebody is maybe isn’t an American citizen, they threaten them with deportation.”

Letcher says her office is receiving three to four complaints a day.

“They’ll even do things like give you a badge number and sometimes if they have enough information about an individual, they’ll give you the last four digits of that person’s social security number.”

Here’s the In Your Corner bottom line:

• If there’s an issue with your taxes the IRS will first notify you by mail.
• They won’t demand you wire them money or put cash on a prepaid debit card.
• Ask the caller for their badge number, then call the IRS directly to confirm the person’s identity.

“I knew that I pay my taxes,” Fredda said. “I knew there’s no reason the IRS would be messing with me.”

It’s likely whoever targeted Fredda is calling from a boiler room overseas.

If you receive one of these calls, hang up because the IRS will never contact you by email or phone asking for your personal or financial information.

BBB Tips

File complaint with IRS

Federal Trade Commission

OKLAHOMA – As summer temps soar, our “In Your Corner” team continues to keep needy Oklahoma families cool.

Delma Boone has high blood pressure, back and leg problems, and worries about a heat stroke because he doesn’t have cool air.

“For the last year,” he says. “It ran out on me last year.”

He’s not alone.

Out of Margree Ramsey’s two AC window units, one barely works and the other blows hot air.

She can’t escape the miserable conditions.

Margree says, “It’s small and when I turn that oven on all I want to do is run, because it be so hot in here”

Her son, who lives with her part of the time, is dying of bone cancer.

“Just trying to deal with it [and I try to] make him comfortable whenever he’s around,
Margree says. “It’s really hard.”

One new fan could save a life, which is why the In Your Corner team and the Salvation Army continue to hand out new fans and window units to vulnerable Oklahomans.

We helped Delma hook up his new fan and window unit.

“This is like I just won the million dollar lottery,” he says. “That’s how good the Salvation Army is to me.”

These families are taking nothing for granted and instead living in gratitude.

Click here to see how you can help. 

STILLWATER, OKLA. – The only way Bill Matthews can get around is with handicap equipment.

He says, “I had a nasty fall in 85 and injured both knees.”

The avid reader and Army Veteran says his current power chair keeps leaving him stranded with no way to get help.

“Once for about 2 1/2 hours in the bedroom,” Bill says. “I couldn’t get out, twice in my kitchen.”

Here’s the problem.

The shop he purchased his chair from in Texas went bankrupt and he doesn’t qualify for a new chair with Medicare for another year.

He was however measured for a new one through Oklahoma City’s VA.

“On that date I was approved for a new chair, which they would supply,” he says.

More than three months later there’s still no chair.

Bill fears what might happen to him without a new set of power wheels.

He says, “What am i going to do in case of a fire or tornado or earthquake?”

We got busy on the phone and contacted Cimarron Medical Services in Stillwater and they put us in touch with the Glencoe United Methodist Mobility Ministry.

Retired minister, Rev. Harold Wheeler, started the program.

He says, “There are too many people that need power wheelchairs and don’t have the resources.”

The organization repairs used chairs and scooters, cleans them up and loans them out to disabled people, like Bill.

The chair is something temporary to help Bill get around until his new chair arrives from the VA.

In return Bill gets his peace of mind and mobility back.

“It means I can take my trash out,” he says. “It means I can get to my medical clinic.”

Donate a used power chair or scooter:

Glencoe United Methodist Mobility Ministries, 580-669-1119

The KFOR morning crew surprises Scott Hines’ brother-in-law with a birthday shout-out. Happy Birthday Zac Gaines.

OKLA. CITY – Our In Your Corner team has a warning about a telemarketing scheme that targets seniors and the disabled.

The robocall rip-off is an old scam with new twists.

The caller promises a free medical alert system, but it’s a bogus offer.

Sometimes the product never even arrives and in the rare case that it does show up, you’ll likely be slapped with a large recurring charge.

Claudia McAlister received one of the calls.

She says, “A medical alert is not worth anything unless it’s monitored and if it’s monitored, that creates a monthly charge.”

Some shysters are even promising free groceries, while others claim to be from a legitimate organization like AARP.

Craig Davis is the Associate State Director for AARP Oklahoma.

He urges those who receive one of these phony phone calls to hang up without pressing any numbers.

“There’s also the option to press 5 to alert officials that you don’t want to be part of this,” he says. “What that actually does is it opens your telephone number up to other robocalls and then you’re on the list and you start receiving all sorts of scam calls.”

IYC bottom line:

• An offer is never free if you have to hand over your credit card or banking information.
• Sign up for AARP’s Fraud Watch Network here. Seniors receive alerts about the latest scams in their area.

OKLA. CITY – Hannah Dean hoped to be a big hit at softball camp.

“There were so many coaches [who were] gonna be there and it was supposed to be really good, one of the best camps,” she says.

The camp never happened.

Organizer, Andrew Heifner, sent Hannah’s dad and other parents an email notifying them of the cancellation, he said, “…due to low registration.”

Parents aren’t buying it.

Scott Powell paid about $200 for his daughter to attend camp.

Heifner promised a refund within 30 days.

When the refund never came, parents cried foul.  

Powell says, “If there was only a few of us and they cancelled the camp, I understand that if that was legitimate, but then the money should be sitting there.”

Just last week the Better Business Bureau put out a warning about Heifner and his company, Legit Softball LLC.

We know Heifner cancelled camps in Texas, California, Illinois and Oklahoma.

On his website he lists college scouts supposedly confirmed for the camps.

We did some checking.

A handful of those universities, like Ole Miss and Southeast Missouri State, had never even heard of Heifner.

They tell the In Your Corner team their coaches were never scheduled to be at his camp.

There’s more.

Heifner promoted Arrowhead Park in Broken Arrow as a host ballpark, except he didn’t have permission to be there.

There was no contract.

There was no permit.

Just like parents, our repeated calls to Heifner were not returned.

We know Heifner had parents send him camp registration money to an address just outside of St. Louis.

As of now it appears the money is gone.

John Miller is with the Amateur Softball Association of America, ASA.

He urges parents to ask plenty of questions, like is the deposit refundable?

He says, “Who is doing it? Where is it happening? Is it affiliated with someone?”

Hannah, just a sophomore, will get plenty more chances to get noticed on the field.

It won’t be at one Heifner’s camps.

The camp organizer sent players and parents several mass emails admitting his camp business is in the middle of legal proceedings.

We’re still waiting to hear from him on the status of the refunds.

We’ll check back.

Update: Earlier this year we told you about an Oklahoma contractor in hot water.

Ronald Roberts is charged with grand larceny in Garfield County after a rancher says he caught Roberts trying to swipe his farm equipment.

We launched our In Your Corner investigation into Roberts because of another criminal complaint.

Pastor Brent Avery says, “[He] represented his business as being faith based, Christian based organization and that kind of appealed to me as a believer.”

Pastor Avery is a tornado victim and says Roberts swindled him out of $40,000.

“We’re not getting our money back from him,” he says. “I know that, but if I can stop him and protect someone else, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

Roberts was locked up in the Garfield county jail, but shortly after our report aired the contractor posted bond.

We know he didn’t stay a free man for long.

Roberts was arrested, again.

This time in Oklahoma City for DUI and possession of drug paraphernalia, charges he later pleaded guilty to.   

He’s since been hauled back to Garfield County where he remains locked up.

Pastor Avery is still out the cash he gave Roberts and still waiting on authorities to file criminal charges against related to his complaint.  

We’ll keep you posted on things.

MOORE, OKLA. – Most of us watched the horrifying images play out on live TV.

We all remember the tornado path and the iconic image of the lone inferno in its aftermath.

That was Pastor Brent Avery’s rental home.

“The tornado hit on Monday,” he said. “We weren’t able to get to the property until a couple weeks later when we returned from a trip from Israel.”

The preacher and his wife were in the holy land leading a tour group.

When they returned to Oklahoma , they say Ronald Roberts snared them into a rebuild contract totaling more than $100,000.

Pastor Avery said, “[He] represented his business as being faith based, Christian based organization and that kind of appealed to me as a believer.”

In the end, the preacher says he was duped by Roberts to the tune of about $40,000.

“The reality was after he left the lot in the condition it was and took the money from us we no longer had the ability to rebuild,” Avery said.

Roberts not only says he’s a religious man, but claims to travel the country helping natural disaster victims do “clean up, demolition, restoration and rebuilds.”

On his website he lists big name clients like BP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and Chesapeake.

We did some checking.

None of the companies or government agencies we talked to have any ties to Roberts or his company.

They say he’s using their logos without permission.

Roberts is becoming a regular on our news channel.

Last month he was held at gunpoint by a rancher in Garfield County.

“He was stealing stuff that I worked hard for and based on his size, that was a weapon to me,” Mike Diel said.

Pastor Avery saw our report.

“Ron was a college football player,” he said. He’s a big guy, two of me, so when that rancher pulled out his gun and said, ‘Get on the ground.’ That was a wise move. He’s a big boy.”

We can’t talk to Roberts because he’s still locked up in the Garfield County jail.

Meanwhile, back in Moore, Pastor Avery was forced to sell his property because he no longer has enough money to rebuild.

“We’re not getting our money back from him,” he said. “I know that, but if it can stop him and protect someone else, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

Pastor Avery is already shopping around for new rental properties.

As it stands now, Roberts posted bond in Garfield County, but authorities won’t release him because he’s wanted in Mcclain County on a separate domestic assault and battery case.

Officials there tell me they plan to extradite Roberts in the coming week.

We’ll check back.

OKLA. CITY – Molly Kennedy contacted our In Your Corner team about dangerous tree limbs hanging over her home.

Large limbs continue to fall onto her home.

We found damage to her siding and window.

The 84-year-old widow is on a fixed income and tried turning in a damage claim to her insurance, but the cost of repairs doesn’t reach the amount of her deductible.

We knew we had to help her.

The In Your Corner team just made the phone call.

Randy Clifton and his crew from Arbor Masters Tree Service did the hard part.

He says, “I think we should take care of our elders and our widows and anything we can do to brighten someone’s day and it doesn’t take much time, if we’re able to do it, we’re happy to do it.”

The dangerous limbs were down in less than an hour.

“It’s like a miracle,” Molly says. “I feel so much better.”

We weren’t done there.

We had one more surprise for Molly.

City Glass OKC heard about her dilemma and plans to replace her broken window free of charge.

Molly says, “I’ve watched all these miracles and all these good things and I never dreamed I would be one of them.”

OKLA. CITY – For 28 years Pat Galegor has taken care of other people’s kids.

“I love children,” she says. “I love seeing the day-to-day changes in the children as they grow.”

She’s been searching for someone to keep the books at her home daycare business.

A family member recommended she hire Christy Burns and Carpenter Bookkeeping to prepare her taxes.

“She said, ‘I could have this done in a couple of days [and] I’ll bring it right back to you,” Pat says.

That was way back in February, almost two months before the tax deadline.

The daycare owner says she can’t file her taxes without the paperwork.

She says she tried calling Burns at least 25 times and even had her attorney draft up a letter to send to Burns certified mail demanding the bookkeeper

Right after our visit with Pat the In Your Corner team headed straight to the bookkeeper’s house in search of Pat’s missing papers and files.

No one came to the door, so we left Burns a voicemail.

The bookkeeper still hasn’t called us back, but we know she heard us loud and clear.

Less than 24 hours after we picked up the case, Pat got her apology and more.

“This is my 2013 taxes,” she says, “[Christy] brought them over this morning at 9:30, all prepared, all ready.”

The daycare owner not only has all her paperwork back, but her peace of mind.

“I appreciate you so much,” Pat says.

Again, Pat missed the tax deadline and will likely be slapped with IRS penalties.

She’s currently taking applications for a new tax preparer.

Finding the right tax preparer.

Update:  New details involving an Oklahoma salesman who’s become a regular on In Your Corner this year.

Russ Johnson is charged with defrauding customers in at least three counties, accused of selling fake advertising.

Johnson got paid, but at least three small business owners say they never received their advertising.

This summer Jimmy Hendershot told us he wasn’t convinced authorities were taking his complaint against Johnson seriously, but then our In Your Corner story aired.

“I got a call that next day,” he said. “They said, ‘Are you the one that was on the news last night? They said, ‘Well, they’re going to go ahead and file charges.”

Russ Johnson is now charged with two separate crimes in Oklahoma County for defrauding Hendershot and Jason Harper, owner of Worldwide Dent Repair.

“As far as the law is concerned I hope he gets punished to the full extent,” Harper said.

Harper fixes car dings for a living, but says this time it was his pocket-book that took a $2,000 hit.

He said, “The audacity of somebody to walk in, in broad daylight and basically without a gun, hold you up.”

Wednesday at court we tried asking Johnson and his attorney about the new allegations, but both men refused to answer any of our questions.  

Court papers show Johnson owes creditors a whole bunch of money.

Unless a judge orders the salesman pay restitution, there’s a chance his customers may never see a dime.

We’ll keep you posted on things.

EL RENO, OKLA. – We have new details involving an Oklahoma salesman.

Customers say Russ Johnson is running a fake advertising company.

Now we’ve learned he’s facing new charges tied to complaints against his business.

Already we’ve caught the salesman in several lies, like pretending not to know dissatisfied customers.

In Your Corner reporter, Scott Hines, asks Johnson, “You don’t ever remember meeting crystal Starbuck?”

Johnson replies, “No I don’t.”

Starbuck and other small business owners, like Jimmy Hendershot say Johnson sold them fake advertising.

“His deal is not too good to be true,” he said. “It’s fair. It’s as if he was working a legitimate advertising company.”

Johnson is facing a bogus check charge in Canadian County.

Now we’ve learned he’s wanted in Oklahoma county.

Wednesday, the District Attorney filed new fraud charges against the salesman.

To this day Johnson claims a media buyer in Dallas has some of his customers’ cash.

“I have to get my money back from the media buyer,” he said.

But when we asked for that media buyer’s name, Johnson refused to give it to us.

“I am not giving you anymore, No. You’re a pain in the butt, man.”

Johnson still refuses to give us that media buyer’s name, if one even exists.

He still hasn’t refunded any of his customers their money.

We’ll keep you posted on things.

OKLA. CITY – There are concerns over a letter popping up in mailboxes across the metro.  

A viewer received one and asked our team to investigate where it came from.

At first glance, you might think this letter is from a collection agency demanding your payment.

They toss around names of popular big banks and use threats like “10 day deadline” and “failure to call and make payments will likely result in interest accruing and penalties.”

We asked Elaine Dodd, the head of the fraud unit for the Oklahoma Bankers Association to size up the letter.

“That department of negotiations would imply that it’s some nationwide or federal agency or someone who is entitled to negotiate this for you,” she said. “It seems like they’re trying to put themselves in a position of authority.”

We traced the letter to United Debt Services out of Frisco, Texas.

On its website the company claims to be a “…federally regulated settlement firm…with thousands of satisfied customers.”

Here’s a big reason to worry.

United Debt Services has a failing grade with the Better Business Bureau.

Customers say not only did their debt negotiation program not reduce their debt, but it increased it with late fees, additional interest and negative credit reporting.

Here’s the In Your Corner bottom line.

There’s an up-front cost for this service and even if you pay it there’s still no guarantee they’ll be able to fix your credit or negotiate your debt.

“The fact is you can approach the credit card companies,” Dodd says. “You can approach people and offer to negotiate that settlement yourself.”

• Be leery of bad advice from settlement companies, like if they urge you to miss a payment. Don’t do it!
• Defaulting on your debt will only lead to late fees and penalties and major credit problems.

NORMAN, OKLA. – Not that there’s ever a good time to get taken advantage of, but Michael Coil is just starting up his new security business.

“I didn’t know where to begin, so I put an ad on Craigslist,” he said. “Emmanuel Williams contacted me.”

Michael says Williams pretended to be a business consultant from Tennessee.

“He promised to land me contracts at local franchises, corporations, here in [the] state of Oklahoma,” Michael says. “He said he was affiliated with other security companies worldwide.”

Michael wired cash and sent a series of personal checks totaling one thousand dollars to this rental house in Shelbyville, which sits just about an hour south of Nashville.

We couldn’t get a hold of Williams because he disconnected his phone, so we pulled online property records and tracked down the couple that owns the rental property.

They tell the In Your Corner team Williams was a tenant, but they evicted him in May because he stopped making payments.

Michael was so desperate for new clients he chose to ignore the warning signs.

We instructed Michael to file a complaint with authorities in Tennessee.

The In Your Corner bottom line:

• Deal locally, face to face and you’ll avoid most scams out there.
• Educating yourself is your best defense.
• Remember wiring money is like sending cash. It’s nearly impossible to reverse the transaction or trace the money. Don’t do it!

OKLA. CITY – Glenda Morris says she’s been to hell and back.

She says, “I remember the noise and all the stuff in the air.”

Her son was on top of her using his body as a shield.

He suffered six broken ribs, a collapsed lung, head injuries and a brick went through his face.

Both mom and son, and their dogs are lucky to be alive.

Now they say they’ve been victimized a second time, this time by Carlis Lee Loy.

The family left Moore and purchased this fixer-upper in Oklahoma City.

Loy was supposed to do the remodel.

“He didn’t do anything, except tear out the floor,” Glenda says.

He put some laminate flooring down too.

Glenda purchased the cabinets and materials out of pocket, but she can’t get Loy to install them or finish the project, even though he pocketed $9,000.

The worst part is she doesn’t have a kitchen to cook in.

She says, “He knew all about the tornado and how my son almost died and how this was insurance money.”

Loy has some major legal problems.

We know he was evicted twice and owes one of his former landlords almost $3,000 in back rent.

There are more customer complaints in the Oklahoma City area.

We’ve learned Loy is charged in Tulsa County with home repair fraud for allegedly ripping off a church.

We found Loy living at a south side Oklahoma City motel.

His wasn’t there, but his wife put him on the phone for us.

“Oh no I didn’t bail on any job,” Loy says. “I was fired on the one job, that was only job I was fired from because her son tore up the kitchen. That’s the only thing I’ve done that I know of that I’ve done wrong.”

The contractor promised to meet us in-person.

“I’ll tell you my side of the story, Scott,” he says. “I ain’t got nothing to hide.”  

We still needed someone to finish Glenda’s kitchen.

Neal McGee Homes heard about Glenda’s plight and agreed to take over her project free of charge.  

Seth Lewis says, “You get that moment when you know you have to step up and help.”

Glenda is starting to believe that life is worth living again.

“To know there are other people that are good in this world, because i had kind of given up on humanity,” she says.

Neal McGee homes says the work should begin in the coming weeks.

We plan to be there when Glenda whips up her first meal.

Loy so far has been a no show to tell us his side of the story.

We know he’s scheduled to be in court next month in Tulsa County.

We plan to be there.

UPDATE: New details involving a Midwest City business owner accused of taking insurance money for roof damage, but failing to complete the job.

Now there’s big news for one customer.

Wes Davis has 6,685 reasons to smile.

The In Your Corner team helped negotiate a full refund for Wes.

You’ll remember the homeowner was fed up with U.S. House Craft Roofing and its owner, Rich Hanks.

He refunded Wes his insurance money, but the contractor’s problems aren’t over there.

His roofing license is still suspended.

Plus he and his company are now under investigation by the Oklahoma Insurance Department for allegedly negotiating Wes’ insurance claim without a public adjuster’s license.

The Insurance Department tells the In Your Corner team it “took immediate action against Hanks’ public adjuster license due to the severity of harm to the public.”

An agency spokesperson wouldn’t go into any more details, but says the state’s investigation is ongoing.

Wes, whose home is for sale, can finally repair his roof once and for all.

OKLA. CITY – Wes Davis says he’s been waiting seven long months to get his new roof.

“I’m afraid of losing my money and not getting my roof done,” he says.

Davis complaint is with U.S. House Craft Roofing.

One of its salesmen was selling roofs door to door.

Wes says, “I wouldn’t have to pay a deductible and they would deal directly with my insurance company so I wouldn’t have to do a thing.”

The salesman had Wes sign a second contract with a different company, U.S. House Claim Services, essentially giving that second company permission to negotiate the claim with the insurance company on Wes’ behalf.

“They told me they work with a public adjuster closely to make sure I’m taken care of,” Wes says.

There are a couple problems here.

We checked with the state insurance department and its legal counsel.

U.S. House Claim Services and its owner couldn’t negotiate on Wes’ behalf or any customer for that matter because they didn’t have a license to do so.

There’s more.

Both companies are run by the same person, Rich Hanks.

Julie Meaders, an attorney with the Oklahoma Insurance Department, says state law prohibits a roofing contractor from serving as both contractor and public adjuster on the same roof deal.

She says, “They can meet with the adjuster for the company, point out damage, point out more damage than the adjuster saw in the first place, but the distinction is legally they are not supposed to be negotiating claims on behalf of the homeowner.”

Hanks refused to go on-camera with us, but says he is a licensed public adjuster now and claims he can negotiate a claim on behalf of a customer as long as he isn’t charging a public adjuster’s fee, which again, the state says is illegal.

We know Hanks and his roofing company recently had their license yanked by another state agency, the CIB, Construction Industries Board. That agency regulates roofers.

Jan Hubbard serves as the chief administrator for the CIB.

She says when a roofer’s license gets suspended that roofer is required to notify customers about their suspension, which Wes says Hanks failed to do.

“And then let the property owner decide whether or not they want to continue under the arrangements,” Hubbard says.

Wes is trying to sell his house.

He wants out of the agreement and a full refund from the roofing company.

Hanks agrees a refund is in order and we’ll let you know just as soon as Wes gets his money.

The In Your Corner bottom line:

• Make sure a contractor is licensed and insured.
• The same goes for public adjusters.
• You can find out which ones are in good standing with the state by heading to our website.
• Verify Insurance Agent (or) Public Adjuster License

OKLAHOMA CITY – This November, two NewsChannel 4 personalities will head to Arizona to compete in the Ironman competition.

Emily Sutton and Scott Hines will complete a grueling eight to 17 hour long test of human strength.

The Ironman starts with a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and then a full marathon, consisting of 26.2 miles.

Emily and Scott have teamed up with local non-profit, Go Mitch Go, to fight one of the leading causes of death in children, blood and bone cancer.

Emily and Scott have dedicated this journey to a cause bigger than themselves.

Mitchell Whitaker’s smile could light up this whole world.

He was athlete with an iron-clad spirit.

“He got the big things right. He was a kind child. He was a loving, tender-hearted child,” said John Whitaker, Mitchell’s dad.

Mitchell was diagnosed with leukemia at 8-years-old.

“Life becomes very simple,” John says. “You immediately go into treatment and everything changes.”

Mitchell’s blood cancer went into remission, but the cancer came back almost two years after his initial diagnosis.

Just like that, John’s best friend was gone.

The dying warrior’s last words were “keep fighting.”

“[The] darkest period of my life, it wasn’t his passing away,” John says. “It’s the moment you have to tell your son that it’s okay to leave you, to leave this place, to go onto eternity. There’s no coming back from that.”

In that moment, John and Tracy Whitaker made it their mission to find a cure to save other children from the disease that took their son.

Every 10 minutes, a young person under the age of 25 dies from blood or bone cancer.

Since 2005, Go Mitch Go has been raising money to fund cancer research.

They have raised more than a million dollars, funded a researcher at MIT and continued to spread awareness about blood and bone cancers.

Emily and Scott are using the Ironman to bring $200,000 to the fight.

The race and their training are a metaphor for Mitch, “keep fighting.”

“When you’re out there and you’re in so much pain, you’re aching in spots you didn’t think you could ache,” said Emily Sutton. “You think you’re going to pass out because of the heat, you’re like okay, it could be way worse. I could be going through multiple chemo treatments and wondering if I’m going to live.”

Earlier this month, they finished the local Redman half-triathlon with their Go Mitch Go teammates, a group of 14 training for Arizona together.

Their team has eyes set on Arizona and a more menacing beast, the full Ironman.

Glory awaits at the finish line for health, for awareness and for life.

OKLA. CITY – Over the years our In Your Corner team’s pulled off some epic surprises.

Tuesday morning, they were at it again.

This time it was Ann Berry receiving the goodwill.

The 71-year old is a heart patient and lives in poverty.

Some weeks she can barely afford groceries.

She contacted us because her stove is in real bad shape.

The burners don’t work.

We wanted Ann to feel special, so we pulled a few strings.

Hahn Appliance met us at her home bearing a big gift!

They surprised her with a brand new, working stove.

“Thank you Jesus,” Ann says. “Thank you Jesus. Whew! It’s beautiful.

The guys from Hahn hauled off Ann’s old stove and installed her new one.

The savvy senior has big plans in the kitchen, starting with homemade meatloaf.

Ann’s hungry to pay it forward.

“I love Channel 4,” she says. “That’s my station. I tell everybody if they need help to call Scott and he sure will do his best to try to help you.”

OKLA. CITY – Rob Ezzell says the city of Oklahoma City has been overcharging him for his water.

“When we first moved in it was $70, then it went up to $80 and $90.

Rob’s water bill topped off at about $140 this past January.

“It had almost doubled in that length of time,” he says.

Rob says there’s no way he and his wife are using that much water.

Rob’s complained to the city.

The city finally switched out their old water meter with a new one.

The city says it wasn’t because of a malfunction, but because of a citywide meter replacement program.

To Rob’s delight, his next month’s water bill was way cheaper.

“My water usage before they replaced the meter was 19 units and then it dropped to four,” he says.

Rob was told he’d get a large refund, but then the city rescinded their offer after Rob’s water usage spiked again to 15 units in May.

We can’t say for sure why that happened, but since May Rob’s water bills have been about four times cheaper.

Rob still wants his refund.

We reached out to the city, who sent a plumber to Rob’s house to do an inspection.

Water utilities spokesperson, Debbie Raga, says, “After having our on-staff plumber investigate the possibility of leaks, at no charge to the customer, we decided an adjustment was warranted in this case.”

Rob gets his $583 refund, after all.

If you have questions about your water usage or bill, contact the city and they’ll send out a plumber to inspect your meter and line.

OKLA. CITY – The notice looks like it could be from your car’s manufacturer and implies that your warranty has expired.

We asked Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak to take a closer look.

“More often than not they’re a solicitation to purchase a new warranty, a new type of service,” he says.

The card has the name, Vehicle Protection Center, on it.

We know they are a marketing company with a Missouri address.

We pulled their file with the Better Business Bureau.

The company has 231 complaints in the past three years, mainly for warranty and advertising issues and problems with their service.

Doak says, “They’re getting lists from maybe auto dealers or from people that have bought cars and they’re systematically sending these out,” Doak says. “[They’re] saying ‘Your factory warranty may have expired.’ They really don’t know whether your factory warranty has expired or not.”

Here’s the In Your Corner bottom line:

• The warranty service in question will run you thousands of dollars.
• There could be major exclusions to the coverage.
• Before you sign any contract understand the terms and conditions.
• Call up your regular mechanic and make sure they’ll even honor the warranty.
• Contact OK Insurance Dept.
• Verify the warranty company’s license.

Update:  Beth Worestine asked the In Your Corner team to get her money back from Kevin Quisenberry, the guy she paid to install the security system at her re-sale shop.

“He said, ‘I need $900 to pay for equipment,’” Beth said. “I’m one of those that knows don’t pay up front.”

We turned up the heat on Quisenberry and days later he delivered the cash in full.

“I just can’t be more thankful to In Your Corner and Scott Hines because it would have never happened without you.

Beth says she holds no grudge against Quisenberry. 

She’s pleased with how things turned out.

“If anyone has a problem contact Scott Hines, In Your Corner, cause it works.

OKLA. CITY – Beth Worstine wanted surveillance cameras for peace of mind.

She hired A Plus Security and Kevin Quisenberry to install the system.

“He said, ‘I need $900 to pay for equipment,’” Beth said. “I’m one of those that knows don’t pay up front.”

Beth ignored her intuition and handed over the cash anyway.

Quisenberry was out of town when we finally got a hold of him.

He says he ordered Beth’s equipment, but by the time he was ready to install it she refused to let him finish the job.

We checked with the Oklahoma Department of Labor, the agency that licenses alarm installers.

Quisenberry is in good standing with the state.

“We do have the capability to fine individually,” James Buck, Director of Safety Standards and Licensing for the Oklahoma Department of Labor, said. “We mainly focus primarily first on compliance through education.”

Anyone can access the state’s online database of licensed alarm installers and locksmiths.

“They should be carrying an actual license on them at all times that has their picture on it, valid expiration date and it has the categories which it was licensed,” Buck said.

Beth has since hired someone else to install her security system.

The same day we reached Quisenberry over the phone he sent Beth a text message assuring her he’d be sending her the money certified mail.

“[I was] quite surprised,” Beth said. “Channel 4 must have really done their job, cause I never thought I was going to hear from him again, ever.”

Beth is optimistic.

We’ll let you know just as soon as she gets her money.

Check out registered OK alarm installers and locksmiths here.