'We don't install windows and doors': Contractors with similar name to fraudsters speak out

Two Regina-area contractors are speaking out on the impact a recent fraud case has had on their business.

It just so happens they share a similar name to Prairie Boy Windows and Doors – the company behind a 53-victim fraud case which saw customers lose a total of $277,787.75 in deposit charges.

“I have been operating under my own name since 2011,” said Prairie Boy Landscaping Owner Chad Howie. “Never had a complaint until this.”

Howie said his landscaping business has been easily confused with the window company, with several customers inquiring if there was a connection.

“Not at all,” he stressed. “I’m on my own 110 per cent.”

He’s not the only prairie boy feeling the heat.

Southey-based contractor Cody Glidden owns Prairie Boys Spray Foam.

“We don’t install windows and doors,” Glidden said. “Our reputation has been built over the last 12 years.”

“Makes a guy wonder about choosing the name because I didn’t really look far enough to see how many ‘Prairie Boy’ companies there actually were,” he added.

Glidden said he found about the Prairie Boy Windows and Doors case about three years ago and has also gotten questions from curious customers.

“They said good word travels fast, but bad news travels faster,” he said. “It was maybe within a couple months we started getting peppered with questions.”

Prairie Boy Windows and Doors victim Sarah Turnbull lost an $18,000 deposit she made back in March 2022 and never got her order.

She told CTV News Monday the case could have far reaching effects on many other small business owners.

“I don’t want to pay with anything but a credit card anymore,” Turnbull said. “I know that adds costs to small businesses.”

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“It really impacts the small business community when someone does this,” she added.

Howie and Glidden reminded customers neither company was affiliated with the embattled windows and doors company but understand any apprehension.

“We do ask for deposits [of 50 per cent] up front,” Howie said. “Supplies are very expensive.”

“But what do you do? I’m just going to keep going on,” he added.

“I don’t know the actual impacts it has had because I’ll never know,” Glidden said. “You don’t know if a customer didn’t chose you because of a name.”

The companies hope their work speaks for itself, overshadowing this temporary confusion.