SALISBURY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Carrying his tool bag, with the same bald head and beard from when we last saw him, John Jackson walked into a Salisbury home last month to collect cash and repair a fridge.
“Well, our refrigerator was not working properly,” recalled Charles Willeford. “The eggs were freezing; the vegetables were freezing.”
Charles Willeford says he did as anyone would do; he searched online for a repairman. The results brought him to a man who claimed to be “Jay” Jackson.
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“So, he came in and gave us an estimate. Something like $300 some dollars,” said Willeford.
Somehow in the 15 minutes Jackson was there, Willeford says that quote went up to $490 with the promise of a military discount later. As for the check?
“Instead of Jay Jackson, he wanted us to write it to John Jackson, which at that time, I was starting to say, ‘I’m too old to be this dumb,’ but I did it anyway,” Willeford said.
It didn’t take long for Willeford and his wife, Rita, to realize something didn’t smell right and it wasn’t what was in the fridge. They called their bank to cancel the check.
“No, he must’ve done it almost immediately,” he said, “because we did call the bank, and it had already been cashed. I bet he went straight to the bank.”
Rita Willeford explained the fridge repair that was done. “He took that off, and replaced a part in that that circulates the air,” she said.
Fortunately, whatever Jackson did to the fridge must’ve worked. Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter.
In 2020, after dozens of our reports on Jackson’s habit of taking money for repair jobs he never completed, a judge banned him permanently from advertising or doing business in the state and ordered him to pay more than $100,000 in civil penalties and restitution.
“You could see there was something about this guy,” Willeford said. “He was enjoying doing what he was doing.”
The North Carolina Attorney General’s office has received two complaints against John Jackson’s business since 2020. Queen City News has heard from at least three of his customers.
The Attorney General’s office continues to encourage customers of Jackson’s to file complaints with their office.
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