Running along the floor when the wife came home.
Now it's important to remember this project cost $140,000.
More than two years on, these upstairs extensions are little more than hideously expensive store rooms.
Why? The stairs weren't built to plan.
They're so narrow you can't get anything wider than a filing cabinet through.
Furniture just doesn't fit.
What about if we get a change store?
But the stairs aren't only too narrow.
After they completed the staircase they realised that they weren't going to be able to meet the council head height regulations.
As you can see, I would have hit my head on the ceiling.
And they cut out this headliner here which wasn't on the plans.
And in doing so cut two thirds of the main supporting beam away.
There is just one upstairs bedroom that can be used as intended.
But only because the furniture came via the roof.
Jennings sent out a couple of their site cleaners and they go to manhandle it up through an upstairs window.
Out of the way to shift furniture.
It was a big job.
But battling the giant Jennings bureaucracy for the past 12 months hasn't been a big laugh.
How many different Jennings representatives had worked on this project?
A succession of at least four different senior managers plus about another eight under those during the project.
12 separate executives?
Yeah.
Ross, would you accept then that regardless of the circumstances that sort of turnover in project management staff would lead to problems with continuity or quality control?
It could. It could. There's no doubt about that. It could lead to that.
Ross Pellazizi is Jennings general manager for housing in Victoria.
Until we called his office he'd been unaware of the Browns case despite the fact that his company was facing court action over the matter.
Are you annoyed that you have to be brought into this?
Extremely annoyed. I'm extremely annoyed.
It's something that goes right against the very grain of what we're trying to do in terms of how we're trying to handle our business.
Apart from the loss of goodwill Jennings was out of pocket to the tune of eleven and a half thousand dollars.
Owen Brown had refused to hand over his final payment for the extensions.
What you're about to see is the power and speed of an executive decision.
The only fair thing I could save an entire...
This interruption to our interview with Owen Brown proved very worthwhile.
Remember he'd been seeking satisfaction from Jennings without success for 12 months.
Now who should be on the phone?
Oh, Pellazizi, yeah.
No, from our point of view the offer is still as it was before.
Within 55 minutes of that call a letter was hand delivered to Owen Brown resolving his dispute with Jennings.
An amazing result considering Jennings at one stage threatened to sue the Browns to recover that final payment.
That's quite a turnaround isn't it?
In terms of... well it's a turnaround in terms of...
if you put it that way it is a turnaround but at least there is a...
we're in a position to be able to say okay well that wasn't a good decision.
We've made a right decision.
Unfortunately for Ross Pellazizi Owen Brown's case is not unique.
So what have the delays been costing you?
About five thousand dollars a month.
And how long has that been dragging on for?
For 12 months.
Elizabeth and Alastair Grobler believe they're more than sixty thousand dollars out of pocket
because of problems with their Jennings project.
They developed this two unit site in Melbourne with the aim of a quick turnaround and a modest profit.
Again Jennings were late, very late, with the contract.
When was that supposed to be ready?
About four to six weeks after signing the initial agreement in January 1989.
And how long did it take to get just the contract?
It took five months.
It's certainly not in our interest given that we give a fixed price contract to have delays.
So I mean it's in our interest to get onto the job as quickly as possible.
Six months behind schedule the Grobler's project was not a case of better late than never.
This is the garage that Jennings built.
There's nothing all that unusual about it.
You'd certainly get the average Australian family car in there.
But if you did own a Falcon or Commodore for example the garage would stay empty.
Why? Because the driveway that Jennings built is hopeless.
Melbourne cabbies aren't known for being faint of heart but there was no way this guy was going to make it.
Others have persevered and failed.
According to the Grobler's their driveway is almost a meter too narrow.
A combination of this retaining wall being too far from the boundary and this one being in the wrong place.
Apparently it should be here.
Do you appreciate the pressure these people have been under and the effect it might have had on their families?
Chris, that in terms of this business any manager that works for Jennings and I think really anybody that works in the industry that has a conscience understands exactly that.
It really looks like it's going to cost us our home.
And then that's what it finally comes down to our home with security for the project and costs of just escalating and because of the bad wall we just can't sell.
We can't do anything. We couldn't even rent until recently.
The Grobler's claims appear justified.
Their development was due on the market around November 1989 before property prices really slumped.
This appraisal of the site indicates that by the time Jennings finished the job mid 1990 the average price of units in the area had fallen 15 to 20 percent.
And it describes the driveway as a hazard.
So unsuitable is the existing access that we feel our endeavours to achieve a top of the range price would be severely hampered.
We're human I guess like everybody else. We try to get it right all the time but unfortunately I can say that obviously we don't get it right all the time.
But at the end of the day we'd like to think that we stand behind the client behind what the company says and we get a result.
Jennings are negotiating. They've made two offers to settle but these have been rejected because they fall short of the Grobler's estimated losses.
Ross Belazizzi's best intentions appear to have come too late.
McClay Island in Moreton Bay just near Brisbane.
Home to a small community of people who've left the mainland in search of a more tranquil way of life.
And this was home for two elderly men 86 year old Frank Jackson and his nephew 63 year old Gordon Draper.
With no other family the pair had lived together and looked after one another for 50 years.
In 1988 they died Gordon first and his heartbroken uncle Frank three weeks later.
For the islanders who knew them their deaths came as quite a shock.
But what happened afterwards turned out to be far more disturbing.
Gordon Draper and Frank Jackson were personal friends of mine.
I treated them very well during their lifetime. I did the best I could for them after their death.
This story is about the way in which the estates of uncle and nephew were managed or rather mismanaged by this man the executor Don Weir.
As executor Weir was responsible for paying outstanding debts before passing on remaining assets to benefactors.
Don Weir did nothing but leave one very big mess.
If I could only have spoken to Don Weir even today it's a terrible thing that he's done and I don't think he has any conscience.
I think he has no morals.
Pat Johnson has good reason to be upset.
His son Graham was one of several people on the island who rallied around to help the men in their declining years.
Shopping, cleaning and cooking for them daily.
I would tell all gentlemen Gordon was an absolute charmer and Frank was a wealth of knowledge and we got on great.
When Gordon died in September 1988 Don Weir asked Graham to make the funeral arrangements and send the bill to him.
So Graham signed the funeral contract and instructed Metropolitan Funerals to send the bill to Don Weir.
Yes, yes I signed it and in good faith.
I didn't think any more wrong but I thought everything would be okay.
Being naive I suppose.
Everything was okay until last year when Graham received a court summons for the unpaid bill for $3,600.
Don Weir may have been the executor of the will and responsible for the payment of the funeral but that didn't seem to matter.
After earlier agreeing to pay the bill Weir wiped himself of all responsibility saying he wasn't liable because he hadn't signed the funeral contract.
Graham had done someone a favour and paid the price.
He can't pay it and I won't pay it because it's so wrong.
Did you tell Metropolitan Funerals that you would be happy to pay the account?
I said if there was any money I would be happy to pay the account.
And was there any money?
There wasn't any money as I've already explained.
Weir's claims there was no money in Gordon's estate simply don't gel.
We've uncovered documents indicating that Don Weir who was sole benefactor as well as executor received much more from the estate than he'd let people to believe.
What sort of assets did he have when he died?
Other than he had personal property he had a maybe a couple of hundred dollars coming to him from work and he had a car and he had the land on McClay Island.
Don Weir and Gordon had worked at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Brisbane.
But that couple of hundred dollars Gordon accrued at work was in fact a lump sum payment made after his death of around six and a half thousand dollars.
Don Weir requested that money be handed to him, money that should have paid for the funeral.
Do you think you've been a very good executor in this particular will?
Considering my personal circumstances at the time of which you have no awareness whatsoever I think I did as well as I could.
Could have you done better in hindsight?
Probably, yes.
But the story doesn't stop there.
Two weeks after Gordon died the Uncle Frank changed his will and decided to leave all his money to Don Weir's grandchildren.
Frank died a week later.
Now that money should have gone to a nominated trustee to be passed on to the children.
But the trustee never received any of that inheritance.
Don Weir was also executor of Frank's will and had power of attorney over his financial affairs.
Just a few hours after the old man died, $2,100 was withdrawn from Frank's bank account here in Brisbane.
Bank records show an additional $4,000 had been withdrawn in the previous three weeks.
And Weir never paid for Frank's funeral either.
Why didn't you do the job you were meant to do?
I refuse to answer any more questions. Will you please leave?
He should never have been appointed an executor but see he looked respectable apparently.
Had a good job. Had a family.
Can you assure me and other people watching this program that you have not in any way taken any money from these estates which you are not entitled to do so?
I most categorically can.
And that's what police investigating the case want to find out.
As for Graham's bill, Metropolitan Funerals has reviewed the situation and withdrawn legal action.
Is it a good warning in the signing of any type of contract?
It's a very good warning for anyone. Don't sign.
But I had an old garden just died on me. What was I going to do?
It may be hard to trace where all the money went but it's clear where it didn't go.
Gordon Draper and Frank Jackson remain buried in unmarked graves.
We need a holiday if we took a holiday
This mobile home was going to open up a new world for Glenys Callaghan.
Instead it's tied her up with problems paperwork and compensation claims that have got her nowhere.
It has. It's just been awful. Everything has gone wrong and as I've taken it to a lot of people to get things rectified they have then shown me another problem.
Glenys, a registered nurse of Beverly Hills in Sydney, saw the van as an opportunity to bring her divided family together for holiday trips.
In January last year, Jefferson Ford of Bankstown, called Dale Ford at the time, had just what she wanted.
A brand new Toyota diner for $41,990 with microwave and air conditioning. Sleeps four.
When I looked at it I was very happy with it but because the advertisement had said that it sleeps four, I noticed that there was only two seatbelts in the front.
And I would need it for a minimum of three people at any one time. So I mentioned this to them.
They assured me that it was safe and legal for me to or anybody to travel unsecured in the back.
Glenys discovered that it was illegal to carry passengers unrestrained.
So she asked Jefferson Ford to install two more seatbelts. Also to provide the promised one year warranties for the appliances, repair the fridge, lights and other defects.
But according to Glenys, after two visits the fridge had been taken away for repairs and the other jobs still hadn't been done. She felt she was getting nowhere.
So Glenys took Jefferson Ford to the Consumer Claims Tribunal for the seatbelts and warranties.
I agreed before we went to the Tribunal to give the lady the money or have them fitted. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to have them fitted herself.
At the Tribunal I again made my offer that I would pay to have them fitted or fit them myself. She said no I want a cheque from you to have them fitted. Fine I'll give you the cheque.
Terry Benson gave the cheque and warranties on the basis that Glenys wouldn't ask for more help. Other problems he said weren't his responsibility.
So Glenys has held off cashing the cheque for the seatbelts and she still hasn't got her fridge.
But it was those other problems that became the real bone of contention. They involve water entry into the van.
The air conditioning unit had been broken off in a low clearance garage. It was repaired but after a trip to Queensland the van leaked like a sieve.
We always attributed it to the large accident she had at the start which she explained at the first Tribunal hearing.
At first it did seem that the damage to the air conditioning unit was responsible for the water coming into the van. But various independent reports refute that.
They say that water was coming in through the window areas and collecting in the wall panels.
Well we found it as a result of our inspection that there was a crack in the roof panelling on the front roll and that's towards the front of the van.
And the water appears to be coming in that area going down between the inner and outer wall sections building up within the wall sections and then coming out on the inside around the window frame.
The report by Hills Assessing had been commissioned by Glenis and Jefferson Ford has never seen it.
Terry Benson says he was never told about the water problems.
Glenis was getting advice from all directions on how to fix the leaks. So she ended up at the manufacturers of the van, Camper Eyes Industries in Brookvale.
But they said it was a window problem and not their responsibility.
So Glenis went to a window specialist who tried to repair what he thought were defective seals but that didn't work either.
Just to make matters worse the metal struts under the van are deteriorating.
I was told they're rust proof but in fact they're not and as you can see they're rusting.
Inside 240 volt live wires have now been boxed in but the gas stove remains a real danger. It has no compliance plate, it's not vented to the outside, not fire proof and not secured.
The whole thing apparently is illegal.
So why have the problems got so out of hand? After all it's now 14 months since Glenis bought the van.
Terry Benson believes he has tried.
Those windows, if that was a problem, as a goodwill guest you're only six or seven months after we sold the vehicle I said I will pay.
Well why hasn't anything been done? Because it seems as though there's been nothing really done except the warranty of the microwave.
You are dead right and I cannot understand it either. We've also got a refrigerator of hers here that we're waiting for her to come in and get it fitted.
He says three or four inspection dates were arranged with Glenis but she failed to accept and didn't answer his letters. Glenis denies this.
While the merry-go-round continues the rot in the van is really setting in.
It's causing internal problems and rust. It's also causing the sheeting material to swell and the general distortion and deterioration throughout the inside.
What would need to be done to rectify the problems?
Well it would personally mean that the whole interior of the van has to be stripped out and then depending on the method of manufacture it may be required that the inner wall has to be cut away and then remanufactured in situ.
That could cost $11,000. In the meantime Glenis can't use the van and hasn't the money to re-register it.
Jefferson Ford's symbol is the four leaf clover but for Glenis the van symbolises nothing but bad luck.
It doesn't have to be meant for people, ordinary people aren't supposed to have these things.
When I actually brought it to my home, it was brought to my home and the people in my street saw it, some of them thought I'd actually won the lottery and then they were really surprised that I'd undertaken,
and when they found out how much it was and everything that I'd undertaken such a big commitment but I wanted it for use for the family.
Understandably Glenis wants her money back. She's lost confidence in the van and everyone involved in the dispute including Consumer Affairs.
But the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, John Holloway, has now personally intervened and is trying to resolve it once and for all. We'll let you know the outcome.
From my point of view now it seems like they wanted just cheap labour because he's positioned to be an apprentice to learn how to be a chef.
And that was an ongoing commitment as far as you're concerned?
Definitely yes.
Ever since she was a little girl, Natasha Stam loved to cook, her ultimate dream to be a fully fledged chef. And until four weeks ago she thought she was on her way.
Well there was that little heading that said apprentice chef and underneath it said we require an eager and enthusiastic person or an energetic person for the position of apprentice chef.
After answering that ad in a local newspaper, Natasha was thrilled to start work at the Monash Country Club north of Sydney.
Although her starting wage was just $3.78 an hour, it was the award rate for a first year apprentice chef and more importantly it was a start.
I was told that there was a three month qualifying period and after that they decided whether they wanted to keep me on or not. And so for the first three months I just worked very hard.
Initially things looked terrific here for Natasha but as with any apprenticeship her position needed to be formalised.
There was technical training that had to be organised and papers which by law had to be signed. But that's when her problems with the club began.
We got permission actually during work hours to go to the open day ahead of the ride and take and to get all the forms so I could get enrolled in the course.
So get your timing right, be accurate in cutting.
All Natasha needed then was for those forms to be signed by her employer. But even with the help of the head chef that turned out to be easier said than done.
I didn't hear anything about them for weeks and I kept asking who's got them, I need them to be signed, they have to be sent off otherwise I won't get a place.
And they just kept saying oh one of the committee members has got them. And every time I asked somebody they'd say no we haven't got them or we've lost them or somebody else has got them and it just went on and on and on.
Finally after working at the club for almost seven and a half months and missing the vital enrollment dates for her course Natasha was called in to see the club's secretary manager.
And I went in there and he said we don't need you anymore, your services are terminated as of today.
I was really upset because I put a lot of work into that, I love my work there I really did and I put a lot of effort into it.
And I used to love going there, ask my mum to hate my days off, I never knew what to do as myself.
When Natasha rang her mum in tears to say she'd been told she was no longer needed, Jill Stam who was well aware of the delays with Natasha's papers wanted some answers.
You know nobody seems to be terribly interested, I spoke to the secretary manager Mr Chittenden and I said to him if you're denying that she was employed as an apprentice chef what would her status have been?
And he said oh kitchen hand I suppose.
But if that's the case then Natasha has been severely underpaid, her starting wage of $3.78 an hour was eventually increased to $5.02 but that's still well short of a kitchen hands rate of $8.25 an hour.
A shortfall Natasha's mum calculates of roughly $6,000.
Under the legislation in this state, in most states, no one can be employed under the age of 21 in what's called a declared trade unless apprenticed or they've finished their term of apprenticeship.
Michael Booth is the principal legal officer for the Department of Industrial Relations and Employment in New South Wales and he says apart from simply disappointing Natasha the Monash Country Club may well have broken the law.
An apprenticeship can only be set up with the intention of the two parties obviously but it's the employer's final obligation to notify the apprenticeship and to forward the indentures and so on.
The club committee has refused our request for an on camera interview saying they never intended to take advantage of Natasha but didn't understand the legalities of an apprenticeship because they're only a volunteer committee.
But that's little comfort for Natasha who feels she's wasted the past seven months and now with no job has no chance of getting into her course.
I really thought I was working towards something. I was looking forward to going to the tech, looking forward to Karen working there, learning everything and then suddenly it was just cut off.
The Stamps will now seek the help of the Department of Industrial Relations to retrieve the wages they believe Natasha is owed but according to her mum that isn't the most important issue.
You know this is all about destroying a young girl's confidence, her dreams and setting her whole life back a whole year.
How important is it to you to keep going with a potential career as a chef?
Well I've been asking myself that all week. I kept thinking maybe I didn't really want to be a chef or anything but I do. More than anything I want to be a chef.
We've since had a letter from the Monash Country Club solicitors denying that Natasha was ever offered an apprenticeship.
According to the club part of the reason she wouldn't have been offered such a position is because there just isn't enough work for her.
Yet funnily enough Natasha has been back at the club every week since she's been sacked working as a casual employee assisting the chef.
Welcome back Lee. Well that's our program for tonight. If you'd like to write to us our address is the investigators GPO box triple nine.