Customers say central Ohio haunt business ghosted them

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Businesses across the United States looking to add some spooky fun are turning to a central Ohio company. However, some are saying the real scare is coming from that business owner. 

 A Texas restaurant manager reached out to NBC4 Investigates, hoping to get an answer and a refund. She’s not the only one.  

NBC4 Investigates spoke with people at two businesses: one in Texas and one in Utah; both ordered products from the Columbus-based The ScareFactory, a company that makes Halloween props and animatronics used all over the world. 

However, once the money was sent, these businesses say communication stopped and orders weren’t delivered.  

If this story sounds familiar, it is. Last year, other businesses reached out to NBC4 Investigates with the same issues, and now it’s happening again. 

 "We definitely feel very disappointed, you know, feel very taken advantage of and just wronged," Sabrina Herrera, with the Texas business that reached out for help, said.  

For a restaurant in the hill country of Texas, this Halloween was supposed to be a special one. 

"We thought it would be a great idea to do this custom order to really just kind of take our decorations to the next level," Herrera said.  

Taking it to the next level is something a ski resort in Utah also wanted to do. 

"We thought it was a really unique idea because we have a lot of haunted houses in Salt Lake,” Snowbasin Director of Resort Sales and Service Tyce Welling said. “We're just north of Salt Lake, and we thought it would be a really good idea to kind of have that same feel but outdoors in an actual forest up in the mountains." 

For both of these businesses, the start of this story is very similar. 

 “Originally had really quick responses,” Snowbasin Director of Health and Safety Kaitlyn Schwalbe said.  

Snowbasin said it reached out to ScareFactory in the spring and placed an order for two animatronics. The Texas restaurant it placed a custom order in late August for three witches around a cauldron. 

“He was very responsive in the beginning, took all the questions,” Herrera said. 

Herrera paid the deposit, then said the ScareFactory went silent. So the Texas restaurant hired a private investigator. 

“He wasn't an expert, of course, but to him, it looked like they were pretty far off from being complete,” Herrera said.  

Now they’re taking legal action and have tried multiple times to serve The ScareFactory owner with a settlement demand. 

“I clicked on reviews and I started reading these horror stories,” Herrera said. 

One review is left by Snowbasin, saying it expected its order on Aug. 15. 

“We have confirmation on our end he has received every penny of our payment and that is when we lost contact,” Schwalbe said.  

NBC4 Investigates was shown a chain of emails and calls from Snowbasin that went unanswered for weeks. 

“At first, I was a little embarrassed, like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did I not see this beforehand?,’” Schwalbe said. “But had to let that go and realize like, okay, this is someone who's been doing this to a lot of people." 

Then NBC4 Investigates made a call. We sent an email to The ScareFactory on Oct. 2 and called on Oct. 3. On Oct. 9, Snowbasin’s order showed up. The shipping date was marked Oct. 4. 

“I don't think that there's any reason for this to continue,” Schwalbe said. “It's time for us to come together as a community and support each other and not let this happen to anyone else in the future.” 

There were 37 reviews online complaining about The ScareFactory. Court documents also outline multiple complaints against the company for failing to deliver. The Ohio Attorney General’s office shows five complaints from across the United States. 

“These are not cheap,” Herrera said. “They're a big purchase that have required a lot of savings. And it's just really taking advantage of, you know, the hardworking people that are across the United States." 

We got in touch with the owner of The ScareFactory, David Fachman. He did not want to do an interview but he said everyone who placed an order has received it in its entirety. He said the Texas business received a refund, but they tell us they have not received one and are still waiting on almost $8,000. 

Both Snowbasin and the Texas restaurant said they plan to pursue legal action.