A recent story of a Milwaukee resident having their roof torn off by accident offers a great lesson in how a roofing company can own a mistake.

WTMJ-TV reports that Betty Banks, a resident of the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Milwaukee, was told by neighbors last May that someone had removed shingles from the roof of her garage. Her neighbors told her that a home improvement company had pulled up and started tearing up the roof. 

"I had to track them down. They didn't leave any information," Banks told WTMJ. "And if it had not been for my neighbors I wouldn't have known anything."

Banks contacted the company, which initially denied being the responsible party. However, after Banks informed them that neighbors saw them doing it, the company eventually admitted it was them and promised to fix the garage roof.

According to WTMJ, the mix-up occurred because one of Banks' neighbors hired the company to work on their roof, and they simply arrived at the wrong location.

A month passed, and the company still hadn't repaired the roof. Frustrated, she turned to WTMJ for help. They contacted the roofing company, and five days later, they fixed Banks' roof. WTMJ declined to name the company since a background check showed it didn't have a "pattern of negligence."

"It should not have taken Channel 4 to call to get him off his behind and do something, otherwise he wouldn't have done it," said Banks.

In a follow-up, WTMJ contacted another roofing company to inspect the repair work. That company was Four Leaf, which boasts an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Owner Joe O'Brien inspected the roof, saying they "didn't do it the right way," adding that "if they were anybody working for us, they wouldn't be working the next day."

Given his findings, O'Brien sent one of his crews to Banks' home and replaced the roof free of charge.

"Words can not explain or express my appreciation," Banks said.

It's certainly not the first time this has happened to a roofing company, and likely won't be the last, but this particular event shows why it pays to be honest with customers — even unintentional ones.