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Bucks County man credits CBS3 for getting long-awaited refund after contractor never started home improvement work

Bucks County receives long-awaited refund after contractor never finished promised work
Bucks County receives long-awaited refund after contractor never finished promised work 01:59

LEVITTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Eyewitness News is getting results. A Bucks County man credits CBS3 for getting him a long-awaited refund after we reported that the man's contractor never started home-improvement work he promised to do months ago. 

Last week, Mark Zdanowicz showed Eyewitness News an old fence in the backyard of his Levittown home that he's been wanting to replace. He hired a contractor named John Wiley, of Advanced Fence Systems, to do the work.

Zdanowicz said he gave Wiley a $2,000 deposit in April, but he never showed. 

"We had a date scheduled for the end of May," Zdanowicz said. "Came and went and never called. Never showed." 

Zdanowicz then started asking for a refund in May and even hired an attorney. 

"We just want our money back," Zdanowicz said. "That's all, so we can move on with our lives." 

Over the last two months, Eyewitness News has shown you stories from several customers of Advanced Fence Systems – all of them telling us they didn't get what they paid for after giving Wiley's company deposits for home improvement work. 

Then, just days after our story aired last week, Zdanowicz received a full refund on Thursday.

"It was an absolute huge relief. We were expecting the process to drag on for months and months,"  Zdanowicz said. "It was huge."

Zdanowicz credits his attorney and CBS3's reporting. 

"I think that Eyewitness News was the catalyst to move them to give us the refund," Zdanowicz said. "I absolutely think it had a huge part." 

As for Wiley, he's declined multiple interview requests, although he said in an email last week he's working to get every customer resolved. 

Until then, we'll continue pressing for answers.

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