Roberta Risk and Hilda De Wys.
People in the Canterbury town of Ashburton are calling for a builder to be barred from future work, saying they have lost tens of thousands of dollars on unfinished jobs.
Aaron Jessett of A&J Building & Renovations told RNZ he took "full responsibility" for the money owed but his customers say they are yet to see a cent.
Hilda de Wys said Jessett offered the most competitive of three quotes she received for replacing the leaking roof of her Ashburton home earlier this year.
"He was very easy to get along with and he seemed knowledgeable about it all. He's done roofing before and we didn't feel we had any reason to not trust him," she said.
