PORTLAND, Ore. — When Ryan Conner put down a deposit for a new metal trailer to haul bark dust and trash, he expected it would be delivered in a few weeks. Five months later, Conner still hasn’t seen his custom-built trailer. His money is gone.
“It was a big hit,” said Conner. “$1,900 is a lot of money.”
He’s not alone.
A KGW investigation found more than a dozen customers across the country have complained they were defrauded by the same man. Rodney Powell has a history of taking money for custom-built boat or dump trailers and never delivering, according to records from the Oregon Attorney General’s Office.
As part of a court order in 2013, Powell agreed to stop manufacturing and selling metal trailers in Oregon unless he worked for someone else. Now customers warn Powell is back in business.
“It just blows me away that he has been able to continue to do this,” said Conner.
Powell primarily advertises his trailers on Craigslist. The online classified ads often include the same photos and details about the metal trailers.
“Three axle boat trailer- $3,550 (Oregon City),” read one Craigslist ad posted in April 2017.
Joseph Yates of Cokato, Minn. contacted Powell after seeing an ad on Craigslist.
“The guy seemed good. Very good conversation. He seemed legit,” said Yates, who paid Powell $5,300 for a pair of trailers that were never delivered. “There were lots of promises but no trailers.”
Kyle Worman of Ketchikan, Alaska also spotted an ad on Craigslist offering a “3 Axle Heavy Duty Boat Trailer- $3,800.”
“You never get a straight answer out of the guy,” said Worman. “It was just one excuse after another.”
Worman is one of more than a dozen people who filed a consumer complaint with the Oregon Attorney General’s Office about Powell’s business practices. Several of the complaints also mentioned American Marine Specialists, a defunct company once owned by Powell’s father, Darwin Powell.
Cindy Scott of Portland filed a complaint against American Marine Specialists in May 2018. Scott, the owner of C&L Metal Sales, said Rodney Powell wrote her two bad checks for materials used to make trailers. He hasn’t responded to her calls and never returned the materials.
“The two checks came to a total of about $4,000. For a small company that’s a hard hit,” explained Scott.
In October 2013, Rodney Powell entered into an agreement with the Oregon Department of Justice in response to allegations of unlawful trade practices. As part of the court order, Powell agreed to refund eight customers. He also agreed to permanently stop selling or providing metal fabrication services in Oregon, unless he’s working as an employee for somebody else’s company.
Powell assurance of voluntary compliance (Text)
Powell may have violated that agreement when he sold Ryan Conner his trailer on May 2, 2018 in Corbett, Oregon.
Conner provided KGW a copy of the contract between the two parties. Rodney Powell is listed as the seller of a 12-foot hydraulic dump trailer. Conner agreed to pay $3,800, including the $1,900 deposit.
“He took that deposit, told me it would be three-and-a-half weeks for the trailer to be ready and he would deliver it when it was done,” said Conner.
Since then, Conner said Powell has given him the runaround with excuses and delays. Conner doubts he will ever see the trailer he ordered or get his money back.
“I asked him several times if he’s ripping me off. I just said, ‘Hey man, just tell me so I can know and can move on.' He never did,” explained Conner.
Reached by phone, Powell defended his business practices and said he has satisfied customers around the country. Powell claimed he has sold 250 trailers over the past two years.
“I have not ripped anybody off,” Powell said by phone.
When KGW requested an on-camera interview, Powell said he was not available because he was visiting Daytona, Florida for the next two weeks.
The following day, KGW found Powell working in a small warehouse in Vancouver. He declined to comment and shut the warehouse garage door.
Several customers said they reported Powell to police, but no criminal charges have been filed.
“I can’t seem to get any help. There’s not a lot I can do,” said Yates, the customer from Minnesota. “And he just keeps getting away with it.”