In August, News 4 learned that the family's contractor stopped communicating with them and the pool build was put on pause.

This was what the backyard looked like two months ago:

"We've now gone two summers without a pool. It's hot. We wanted this dream pool for our family that we saved up for, and we're just paying for everything out of our savings," said Courtney Carrier, the client.

This is what it looks like now:

"It is like a weight lifted. We actually can enjoy our backyard. It's not dangerous. It's beautiful to look at, and we're just also excited," said Carrier.

Rose Hill Pool & Builders saw the story after it ran in August on News 4.

"Any time we can step in and help, you know, any family's out, our goal is to help get, you know, people swimming and change their dreams and make their dreams come true," said Derek Swann with Rose Hill Pool & Builders.

Carrier says while they ended up paying for most of the materials, Rose Hill took care of construction for free.

"Everything just went smooth. Once they took everything over, we just got to sit back and relax and enjoy things getting done," said Carrier.

Now, nearly two years from when the family first started the process of putting in a pool, they're ready for next summer.

"We are so excited our pool is finally done," said Kamber and Kymbree, the Carrier's kids.

Since News 4's story ran in August, we asked the Carrier's if their previous contractor ever reached out to them again.

They said they still haven't heard anything from him.

KFOR's In Your Corner Team stepped in to help a Holdenville family Monday, who said a moving company was holding all of their possessions "hostage" until they promised to fork over thousands of dollars more than the original quote.

Sara Treadman told the station with a toddler and another baby on the way, her family made the decision to move from Iowa back to her home state, in order to be closer to family.

"I felt a calling to come back for long time [but] I only wanted to come back to my home,' she said.

Treadman and her husband said they did their research and chose Safe Ship Moving Services for a combination of what they thought were solid service reviews and a lower price than competitors.

According to its website, the Florida-based company acts as a broker for a wide range of moves, 'coordinating and arranging for the transportation of household goods by an FMCSA authorized motor carrier'.

Accordingly, the couple said a company known as Jackson Movers was contracted to complete the move.

"They told us that we got a sale Labor Day sale. That’s why it was so much cheaper," said Sara.

"[We ordered] the white glove service. They're supposed to come in and pack everything for you," she added.

"[The cost for that service] was $15,192," added her husband Rich Fehl.

That white glove service Rich and Sara ordered was anything but what was advertised, according to Rich and Sara.

"They ran out of boxes went to Walmart, bought more boxes," said Rich.

"[They] left our house in Iowa with trash, with unloaded items with items our realtor found in drawers they never even took out to accommodate [and] we have all of this documented," added Sara.

According to the couple, the worst was still to come; in Iowa, the couple said they were told the estimated cost was a lot lower than it should have been.

"[They said] we had additional cubic feet, and they would not load anything unless we agreed to pay more."

But, the couple says the new quote was not presented in writing, and the old quote was based on a document estimate made by Safe Ship Moving Services.

When the moving truck finally pulled up in front of their home in Holdenville, the movers wouldn't unload it.

"They refused to open the truck. They wouldn't even unlock it to let us see inside [and] this is after we received a text message on Saturday saying we only owed them [a little more] than $1,000."

"I had $1,136 in my wallet to pay to them ... then I get a call from Jackson movers, the operations manager, yesterday saying I owed them $8,000," Rich added.

The couple told KFOR it felt like a shakedown.

"They said they would not open it until we gave them cash or we can do a wire or a money order from the post office and I informed them today is a federal holiday," said Sara.

Numerous calls to Safe Ship failed to resolve the situation.

"We were not making progress on our own and we had been completely shut down," she added.

That's when KFOR stepped in to help.

While phone calls and emails from the station to Safe Ship were not returned, the moving company agreed to honor the original balance due by the couple, the same day.

"The phone rings [and] it's the broker [from] Safe Ship and they say 'we want to charge you the original price that we gave you'," said Sara.

A binding estimate from a moving company, like the couple received, usually means any changes need to be made and agreed to in writing, by both the consumer and the moving company, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Learn more about how moving charges are often estimated.

As far as Safe Ship Moving Services, a profile on the website for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows dozens of Complaints lodged against the company - including 42 so far this year:

According to the agency, the majority of those complaints are due to estimates/final charges and consumer complaints for deceptive business practices.

FMCSA's Protect Your Move website helps consumers visitors to look up interstate moving companies by state or by name, to review both the consumer complaint history, and the company's on-road safety performance records. 

Sara said while she's moved several times in her life, she never experienced anything like this move.

"Moving companies are hard. It’s a business They’ve got a bad rap. You’ve got to know what you’re getting into and we did not," she said.

UPDATE:

In an email sent Tuesday evening to the station, a Safe Ship Moving Services provided a statement addressing their policies in charges over and above their estimations, while saying the company is "committed to resolving this matter to the satisfaction of all parties involved":

Charges Over and Above our Estimations: Safe Ship Moving provides customers with transparent estimates, and any charges over and above the initial estimate are typically communicated and explained by the contracted moving company, in this case, Jackson Movers LLC. We ensure that the carriers we partner with adhere to industry standards for pricing and billing. If you have specific questions about the breakdown of charges, I recommend reaching out directly to Jackson Movers LLC for a detailed explanation.

Delivery Protocol and Cash Transactions: Safe Ship Moving does not have policies regarding cash-only transactions. However, most of the individual moving companies may have their own protocols. Attached I have included our TERMS OF PAYMENTS as in listed in Mrs. Treadwell's Estimate. 

Maxwell Parker, Safe Ship Moving Services

“I’m glad it’s off my property now and I don’t have to deal with the smell and the headache,” said David Folkert.

Tuesday, Folkert said the Wichita Wildlife Refuge brought front-loaders, tarps, and winches on his family’s property to clear the remains of two refuge bison.

“After over a week of silence from them, they came out,” said Folkert.

Unfortunately, the bison’s heads were missing.

“It’s not my job to guard these carcasses that they left on our property,” said Folkert. “Sheriff’s office told me there’s probably going to be poachers coming after the heads.”

In a previous statement, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said in part, “Two members of the refuge’s core American Plains bison herd moved off refuge several weeks ago.”

On September 24^th, Folkert’s mother spotted them in her yard. He said she was delighted. A short time later, two refuge workers knocked on her front door asking where the animals went.

“She told them where the property lines were at that time,” said Folkert.

The next day, Folkert’s family discovered the bison’s bloated remains on the family’s property in a dried up creek.

During a recorded phone call, the refuge’s deputy director told Folkert the bison had been spotted on a cattle ranch neighboring Folkert’s property. They were worried the buffalo could’ve been infected with a disease that is difficult to test. Without a way to quarantine the bison, the deputy director said the workers had to euthanize them on the Folkert’s private property.

“It’s a disease called Mycoplasma bovis that livestock cattle can have and it doesn’t really make them sick, but it can be really devastating to bison,” said Amber Zimmerman, the deputy director of the refuge. “It’s a deep lower respiratory disease. Some herds that have actually gotten it, it’s taken out half of the herd.”

Folkert’s family is upset that the refuge workers never asked to go on their property, or informed his family when they had just shot and killed the two buffalo.

“Our staff was unaware they were on your mother’s property and immediately when It was brought to our attention they did exit the property,” said Zimmerman.

“Almost 24 hours later, it took me going out to the refuge and confronting them before they contacted us,” Folkert told News 4.

“We called your mom because we were under the understanding that she is the land owner and so were legally supposed to go to her,” said Zimmerman.

However, Folkert said his mother was too upset to talk to them.
“I left my number for a reason and not anybody has reached out to me to say ‘Hey I understand my mom’s saying no, but you know I’m willing to help resolve this,’” said Folkert over the phone with the deputy director.

The Friday after News 4 ran the first story, Folkert said he caught refuge workers sneaky onto his property again.

Last week, News 4 reached out to the nearby Comanche Tribe, who called the situation “disheartening.”

“That would’ve been a blessing to have additional food, to be able to give to our people,” said Martina Minthorn, the Comanche Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.

Zimmerman told Folkert the refuge is donating 77 bison that are mostly going to local tribes.

“Right now, the only thing we can donate are live healthy bison,” said Zimmerman. “We really do value our relationship with all of our local tribes.”

During the phone call, the refuge said since Folkert called News 4, the deputy director had to wait until she had the green light to call him a week later.

“Unfortunately, after all of this hit the media, at the national level, I was no longer able to contact you directly until I got approval all the way up through the Department of Interiors,” said Zimmerman. “So yeah, media involvement definitely curtails our ability to call back at that point.”

Wednesday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sent News 4 the following statement:

"We want to thank the Folkert family for their cooperation in the removal of the bison from their property. With their permission the bison were removed Tuesday. During their conversation, Refuge Manager Amber Zimmerman reiterated to Mr. Folkert that the bison were humanely euthanized following standard procedures to limit the risk of introducing diseases such as Mycoplasma bovis to the core refuge herd. Again, we appreciate the Folkert family’s cooperation and value our relationship with them and all our neighboring landowners.  " 

“They've had over a week to come together with their story,” said Folkert.