Bernice Miller, a great-grandmother who has lived in her three-level Sydney home since 1971, has been left frustrated and upset after paying $32,000 to tradesman Leon Leonidas Tsounakas for a new staircase that was never installed.
According to A Current Affair, Miller, who initially hired Tsounakas for painting work, trusted him to replace her old spiral staircase after being pleased with his earlier job. However, after removing the staircase, Tsounakas failed to complete the work.
“I trusted him, he had lovely brown eyes and he was so sincere with me,” Miller told the program. “I’m very upset because I had trusted him.”
With no exterior staircase, Miller now has no emergency escape from the top floor.
“I told him I was worried. I told him if there was a fire I’d need that fire escape,” she explained. “He doesn’t care.”
After A Current Affair intervened, Tsounakas contacted Miller, offering to “come to an agreement” if she withdrew her claims from the show and a local court, which had ordered his company, STS Painting Group, to repay the $32,000.
Tsounakas has since transferred $20,000 to Miller’s account, but still owes her $12,000.
“He knows I’m on my own, he knows I’m older, it’s mean,” Miller said.
Source: 9Now.
