EAST HELENA — Customers of a longtime East Helena business have noticed a concerning change. High Plains Sheepskin has been around for more than four decades—selling sheepskin goods, including slippers popular in the Helena area and beyond. But starting several months ago, customer orders started go unfulfilled.
(WATCH: "Left high and dry" — Customers report unfulfilled orders from High Plains Sheepskin)
Kasey Womelsdorf got her first pair of High Plains Sheepskin slippers years ago. Womelsdorf said she loved them so much, she wore them out.
“When my birthday was coming up on Feb. 8, my husband called them and ordered another pair for me,” Womelsdorf said.
Womelsdorf’s account was charged $94 for the slippers, but they never arrived.
“I got concerned on May 1st,” Womelsdorf said. “For some reason, it just dawned on me that ‘Oh, I haven’t heard from them.’”
Womelsdorf is not alone. MTN spoke with multiple people who didn’t want to go on camera, but said they placed orders for slippers—some from before Christmas—and paid, but their orders never arrived.
There are negative reviews and angry comments on the business’s Facebook page, and the front door of the business is covered in notes from people who say they never received orders they paid for. Additionally, a notice on the door on July 2 indicates the business has not paid their city water bill.
The situation has moved beyond complaints online and notes on the door. Some people have even gone to the police.
“Earlier this spring—late March, early April—we started getting a few phone calls, people wondering ‘Hey, what’s going on down there?’” East Helena Police Department Chief Ed Royce said.
Royce said his department is investigating the situation. MTN attempted to make contact with the business. The store is closed and empty during listed business hours; emails from MTN were answered by a generic response, and the number listed for the business is disconnected. MTN also called a number listed as owner Casey Sasek’s cell phone on a business card; our message was not returned.
The most recent communication MTN could find is a post on Facebook from Casey Sasek in March. In the post, Sasek said they have been dealing with family emergencies and hope to “be able to get back into the store as soon as possible and get everyone updated.”
Customers say they have also been met with a lack of communication.
“Nothing,” Womelsdorf said. “There has been absolutely nothing.”
The East Helena Police Department is looking for more information to further their investigation.
“Our job is to help people, enforce laws,” Royce said. “If laws are being broken, we need to deal with that.”
As for Womelsdorf, what she wants is straightforward—a refund, or her order fulfilled.
“I would like my slippers,” Womelsdorf said. “That would be absolutely lovely.”
