PLYMOUTH, Minn. — When a KARE 11 story aired featuring seven customers left with unfinished cabinet and kitchen painting jobs after hiring Patrick LeCorre of Edina and paying him thousands of dollars, Ada Berg from Plymouth was paying attention with a sense of hopelessness.
"Total hopelessness. I had spoken to an attorney and was basically told that money was gone and to take it as a lesson learned," she said.
Berg said her family was in the same boat as the other customers featured in the report. They hired LeCorre and paid him half up front.
"He had about three total days in our house. In those three days, he taped up for two days. And on the third and final day he added a ladder and fan to the room and took our cabinet doors," Berg said.
Then, Berg said her home sat like that for well over a month.
"My husband and I were frantically messaging the painter and asking for at least a part of our money back so that we could hopefully get something in return," she said.
Also watching the news report was Mike Kelly, the owner of "That 1 Painter," a new Twin Cities painting franchise.
"We're really working on becoming a part of the community and representing contractors in a positive light. Contractors don't always have that impression," said regional director Olivia Snyder.
That 1 Painter offered to step in and finish the Berg family's kitchen.
"We did it pro bono for them. So we didn't charge anything we just came in and did it out of the kindness of our heart to really show there are good painters out there who really do quality work and are responsible," Snyder said.
And Ada isn't the only former customer of LeCorre's receiving this treatment.
"That story found its way into the Gathering of Minnesota Painters, about 400 Minnesota contractors who share some deep core values," said Nick Slavik, a New Prague-based painter who serves the south and southwest Twin Cites metro.
Slavik said when the painters in his group saw what LeCorre's customers were going through, painters across the state wanted to step in and help.
Slavik is helping out another family that hired LeCorre. It is the side of contracting he wishes more people could see.
"If we do this over and over and over again, maybe we can dispel the stigma of the trades," Slavik said.
Now that she has seen it, Berg feels grateful.
"It really just restored my faith in people, honestly," she said.